Hey JennyMo

Who makes the fairing on your mighty XR ?

I've just bought a Supermoto'd XR650R, there is a whole pile of street stuff to rip off and sell before I turn it into a Desert machine and I think the fairing is just what I need - amongst many other things

Can you tell me who makes 'em and if they might ship them to England

cheers

Dick

Great info man, but I am not sure that the electric start is worthit the money , mine start pretty well as it is.

I agree, I was surprised how well the bike started when I got it (very much like my 400 which is no problem) - and yes, the Boechat kit is very expensive... however, it certainly is worth it once you've dropped it, up to your knees in mud, fully loaded with luggage etc etc - on a loaded touring bike I'd say it's invaluable, and means there is no reason to buy a KTM 640 or BMW X-challenge which were the other two contenders I considered... Even with the fairing kit and e-start, the price of the XR650R in the US means it was still less than a KTM 640 would be in the UK...

Dick - the fairing kit is by African Queens - another expensive piece of kit from Europe, but again, I think it looks better than any other out there? No problem shipping to the UK, that's what they did for me...

However, it is not a simple bolt on and ride piece of kit - it needs a fair bit of prep of the gel coat and painting, and you need to use your own bolts/rubber mounts to mount the faring to the headlamp/instrument bracket yourself (once the tank and bracket are fitted) to make sure it all lines up properly. The alloy lamp/fairing brackets they supply are nicely made, and I recommend you get their headstock bracket, although you will need to grind the welds down to make it fit properly.

Hope that helps...

JennyMo xxx

I really rate the rear Dunlop D908RR for travelling and dual sport type use, but hate the front, it makes the bike weave badly at any speed above 70 mph, and feels nervous at lower speeds as well.

I much prefer the Pirelli MT21 on the front for all road road and off road use.

The Dunlop D908RR seems to last longer than the MT21 on the rear, and its no problem mixed with the MT21 on the front.

Four of us used varying combinations of tyres on XR650R's for a mixture of terrain, roads, rocks and sand in Morocco and D908RR rear/MT21 front seemed the best combination.


SEATS.

We also used either standard seats with gel pad/re upholstered seat by a local guy, and American Renazco seats on 2 of the bikes. The Renazco seat was by far the most expensive option, but seemed to be by far the best for comfort as well judging from comments from the group, but of course this is subjective.