So, having had my yearly dose of Dakar, I find myself looking for frame mounted nav towers to mount my lights and instruments on.
The navigation tower kits are easy to find.
What isn't easy to find is a fairing that would even remotely fit.
Then I ran across this thread on ADV.
Dakar CRF250L Evo-1 305cc Big bore - ADVrider
It's a CRF with a KTM rally fairing. I think it looks a little big for the CRF?. But I also really kind of dig it, except for the price!
So what I guess I'm asking is....does anyone know someone with a rallied Kawi and what they used for a kit? Or just have an idea as to what might fit visually. I can adapt almost anything as long as it comes close.
I know there was a Kawi or two in the Dakar but I can't find any details on the bodywork.
Right now, I might just settle for a tower with a rally/headlight fairing, then work on connecting it to the body work later with fiberglass.
Open to any suggestions, other than don't do it.

 

Go to the ADVrider forum, in the Thumpers, under the KLX650 riders UNITE! thread you can find Foggy's (John Fogarty) Dakar style KLX650. He is back row on the right, his son Aaron raced it in a big 700 mile Aussie event:



I don't know if he's planning on laying up any fairings or not, there was a fair amount of discussion in the last several pages if I remember right. He has some video in the thread too. He runs my tensioner, wish he'd put the sticker on, but that's okay... He got a write up in the Australasian Dirt Bike magazine, sent me a copy. Talk about trick... look the stuff up, kinda cool.

 

In the "Thumpers" section of ADV, I saw a generic kit that a guy purchased and installed on a KLR650. It was apparently a lot of work, and it looked "OK" when completed. I'm sorry I can't remember the brand or source for the "kit", but I'm sure that someone over there will be able to provide that specific kit info or maybe even another. From what I've seen these can be quite expensive.

I'm a Dakar fan too...never miss a coverage episode. The enduro competitions I participated in for decades were often very tough...but honestly pale in comparison to the death march that is the Dakar. Still, I've never had much desire to have real Dakar bike in the sense of the big fairing and dashboard geegaws. I've seen one of these bikes in person, and they get a bit unwieldy compared to a slimmer dirt bike. They do look cool, but if I couldn't have one that was at least a 650cc, I think I'd pass. Our KLX's low power would seem to be a poor candidate for this transformation. And hey...not trying to dissuade you in this pursuit, because I'd like to see such a beast regardless of how it would perform. If there was a Kawasaki in this year's Dakar, I didn't see or hear of one...possibly way down in the standings. That Netherlands guy, Verhoeven(?), usually rode one in years past and at least made a showing, but he was on Yamaha this year. To beat Coma this year, Honda had to really step it up...they did...but they still failed.

 

Sorry, but the crf250L looks like crap

just sayin

 

I agree, it does look like crap if you really look at the size mismatch of the parts. But at first glance, it almost works. And then you see the seat, then the size discrepancy of the front end.
I thought about doing it to my 650 like Fogo...and I might, and then use the 650 instead for the long distance off-road trips.
Fogo's is a bike I'd love to hit the open desert roads on...700cc thumper!!!
I just need a roadbook (I've always made maps that way for riding, then discovered the real thing and want one, tried the bar mount version, didn't like it), gps, and the dash to not move with the front. As much as I try, I can't read crap attached to the front end when I'm bouncing down a trail and I have to look down. It moves too much and takes too long to read off-road.
I only want to solidify the lights and instruments to the bike. I don't want to go all out Dakar with fuel and water storage. More like the new CCM 450. Slim and agile still. I don't want a pig.
As to the Kawi's in the Dakar, I think there was one or two. None of the Kawi's made it, or the rider didn't, as far as I remember. They never said in any coverage I could find, in English or Spanish, what 450 it was. And with all the extra, it was hard to tell. I think the KLX450 is still available overseas, but the KX450 might be the base. I have no idea.
The 450 and 250 are close enough in size it might work if I could find the source, if there is one. But it's probably unobtainium.
And fiberglass from the ground up is not what I was hoping for but is probably my future with this project. I'll probably end up making a mold from the current front end and then continue it down and back to the tank. That way I'll keep the stock lines and shape.
I've been thinking about this since I got the bike. And I have finally reached the point, with the bike in it's current set-up and use, that this is the logical step in making all the extras work best for me.
If, like I said, I can keep it light and slim...

 

I was going to do this to a dr650 when I wanted one of those...an xr650l when I wanted one of those.......a drz400 when I wanted one of those...I love the functionality of them. Many who installed them on their bikes saw increase in mpg, top speed, and not to mention an improvement in high speed stability even with knobby tires, all do to the fairing.

The easiest way is to fab it up yourself as it won't cost you $1500 for a fairing. Basically use carboard and tape, make sure bars don't hit, figure out inner brace or mount to the tank somehow. Follow up with fiberglass, shave it to fit and color accordingly.

If I were you I would take a picture of your bike and upload it to paint and play around with how far down you want the fairing to be.

Further, you would have to fabricate light mounts that would free up your steering (a fixed headlight on the frame quickens the steering, but I'm sure you knew that). An all in one headlight bracket with a large aluminum tower on top for speedo and nav system would be ideal. Very doable. If you decide to pursue this let us know, it would be one heck of a project.

Honda XR650L Adventure from South Africa - ADVrider XR650L

DR Windshields, Deflectors, Fairings, Bugslappers - Page 20 - ADVrider cheap but effective

DRZ 400 s/e windshield thread - ADVrider another idea.

 

Hey Matt, thanks for those links.
Familiar with the 2nd link - it's what gave me the idea to add/try my old windshield.
I would love to remove the weight from the steering. And also the wind buffeting from the front end would be more tolerable if felt on the bike instead of the bars.
And with the dash more forward, I might be able to see the idiot lights and I might not ride miles with the turn signal on (my biggest pet peeve). And I could access the instruments better while standing.
This is going to take a long time...I'll keep updating this as I progress...the bike will remain ridable during most of the project.
Maybe I'll keep my eye out for a spare KLX to ride during the transformation.
First step is deciding on a tower set-up. Step two will be welding or bolting on the headstock base piece. Then it will be head scratching/mock up time to find the best dash configuration. Finally, it will get really rough as I start making a mold for body work.
I really don't like working with fiberglass, hopefully I'll be better by the end.

 

Practice makes perfect!!! I have some more links of how this guy went step by step in molding and making his fairing, but for the life of me I don't remember what bike or where to find it...I'll keep looking.

 

I did something similar to my KLR650. The KTM front end looks slightly too big even for this. On the CRF it's way too big. Props to the guy for the very good install. It's MUCH neater than my poor effort. I do like the projector inserts on his build. I put a HID in mine and the light emitted is awful.

 

We had an old guy who made his own fiberglass fairing, leg guards, and saddle bags for his Rebel 250. They weren't pretty, but he really wasn't that skillful in execution. He formed his parts with metal screen, integrating the brackets, then laid fiberglass cloth strips over the screen. He just didn't get the shape particularly symmetric and didn't make a great effort to get a good smooth finish. He did paint the parts reasonably close to the bike color. But then again he was like 70something.

A fairing frame could be done with metal screen like he did or pull the headlight and such then make a styrofoam to get the shape and keep it relatively symmetric, then glass over it and either use it as a mold or finish it as the fairing. A lot of work, but that's what it's gonna take.

I'd still go to ADVrider and get with Foggy to ask about what he did and how. He's a great guy when it comes to sharing information and just being nice.