I'm planning a year long lap around South Am in a year and 1/2. I have a 99 KLR which i've added; happytrails super rack/ alu boxes, bash plate,hiway pegs, cstand, rad guards, a plug for vest, tank bag and panniers. heres what i'm considering adding; 1)hi shield 2)acerbis hand guards w/ shields 3)louder horn! 4)hot grips 5)throttle lock 6)plug for rechargable camp lite 7) beefyer suspension (progressive?) head and tail lite flasher deals (modulator) 8)LED aux tail lite 9) briter headlite bulb 10) disk guards 11) Pirelli MT60 90/10% tires 12)inline fuel filter. i hope to ride lots of remote roads and climb some peaks along the way-are those tires enuf or mt70's? what about kn air filts. any engine mods suggested? electrics? anyone ever try and island hop the caribean from venez towards florida with a bike? ferries? please post or E ant info from ya'll's wealth of experience. tom

[This message has been edited by tomrsewell (edited 29 October 2001).]

The stock tires are OK for the street but will let you down in mud and make sand and such very difficult. I know this because I've used them in Mexico and they performed well on hard rock but made the going very difficult otherwise.

I've found that I can use heated hand grips OR my elec. vest but not both together: The alternator just can't keep up.

If you plan on climbing in rough terrain you might try a smaller (14T?) sprocket for the front. I'm told that it improves things greatly off-road.

Not sure what you mean by 'climb', but if you mean something where you have to really get on the gas and get some speed, those tires are going to make your life miserable. If you're going to try to climb anything with a bike that heavy, you'll want some real knobbies - try a set of MT-21's, though they won't be useful if they're worn down - they only work really well when they're early in their life cycle.

As for air filters, try a UNI filter. I woudl not bring a K&N filter becuase they're not easy to wash, and I've seen guys whose K&N filters get clogged in dusty conditions where foam filters kept working just fine.

best of luck,
Wright

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Wright Bagwell
http://www.geocities.com/wwbagwell/

by "climb" i mean on foot, like mountaineering/trekking. i'm not so lazy i need to ride my unenvironmental mx up trails. sorry for the confusion and EARTH FIRST!

I installed an over-ride switch for the fan, for piece of mind more than anything. Most of the bike is stock, and I regret not fitting a center stand.

If you want to go hiking and leave the bike parked, I strongly recommend that you can securely lock everything inside stromg boxes, and put a cover over the bike. I have been hiding gear in trees, etc, and not too happy about it.

Happy travels

By climb I mean very steep roads. Yes they can be amazingly steep and gravely to boot. The KLR's stock setup is a bit of a compromise between off and on road so some slipping of the clutch may be necessary if you want to climb at a pace less that breakneck. For pure off road, a smaller front sprocket is a must.