Kawasaki KLR 650 Upgrades nd Mods [Part 2]

There's not a huge difference to doing a super bike like this and doing a minimal bike like this because I've driven both bikes around the world with no problem with minimal gear and fully decked out. So it's up to you whether it's in your budget and if it's something you want to do. All right, let's switch out the bikes. All right, we're ready. Okay, so this is my 2015 Kawasaki KLR. It's fully decked out. I've basically done everything you can possibly do with it just for fun. Not because it's functional, but because it's a hobby. I had nothing else to do. And yeah, I just decided to build it up and this is what I got. So the best thing on the motorcycle you could possibly do is your center stand. The center stand is a very easy thing to put on and it allows you to put the bike up away from the shock. So it gives your bike some time to rest when you're traveling. It allows you to change tires very easily. Here, it's a lot harder to tip the bike over than if it was on the stand. So I definitely recommend a center stand. It'll make your life so much easier. When I had the 2x4 on my other KLR, it was such a pain in the butt. It's functional, but it's very inconvenient. So the very first thing you're going to notice on the bike is the windscreen and the fender in the front. I was going for was a very different aesthetic look to the bike. So because of my hobby, I just wanted to make it a little different than other ones. My upgrades are actually bringing the fender from the top to the bottom. I also changed out the fender. I added some fork stabilizers and I added a windscreen as well, as well as some risers so that the windscreen will actually be faced more towards the wind rather than staying on the stock size, which keeps it more of an aerodynamic shape. Take care of most of the wind. It's not 100% efficient on cutting the wind, but I just like the look of it. It's very different and it makes my KLR a little more unique. Upgrade is going to be the shield here. You don't really need it. I like it because you can put a GoPro mount on there. You can put your GPS. You can basically put anything you want to put on there. So in the future, I'll probably put more stuff on there. Next upgrade are going to be the handlebars. These are the crash bar protectors. Usually on the KLR, you don't have the entire encompassing crash bar piece of metal that goes around it to protect your hands in case you crash. My experience, anytime I've crashed, the side panniers take the front of the fours or the crash bars take the front of the fours mostly. Of course, there are different scenarios and circumstances that will change that for everyone, but in my experience, it's not something you necessarily need, but it's really nice to have and it's a lot better than the stock ones. My upgrade was the entire metal hand guard that goes around as well as the plastic in front. Definitely an upgrade I recommend for any motorcycle is going to be the tank bag. The bigger, the better, in my opinion. One, because you want to put as much weight as you can towards the front of the bike because the majority of your weight is going to be on the back. So this allows you to do that very efficiently. All right. So what happens when you travel is the number one thing you should worry about is water. So you always want to have as much water on the bike at all times. So as I mentioned before, I usually have tank bags in front of my bike, whether it be backpacks from Walmart or whether it be stuff I find in the garbage. I basically just droop them over. And in my front cases, I put the most heavy of items. So water is what I usually have in my front of my bike. So this is an upgrade that's kind of convenient, kind of nice, but it doesn't hold as much water as you want it to. Take fuel containers as well and put the fuel container instead of the water bottles. So if you have a motorcycle that needs a lot of gas, this is a really good upgrade to have so you can put gas in there at any time. KLR has a really large range when it comes to travel. The only place in the world where I've run out of gas or have needed to carry extra spare fuel has been in Alaska and has been in Bolivia. Those are the only two places in the entire world where the range of the KLR was not sufficient enough to not have to carry fuel. So it's a very rare occasion I should carry fuel. But when I do, it's easy to get a plastic container or water bottle to take with me just for that small amount of trip, because it's certainly not worth it to take so much fuel in these fuel containers instead of bringing water when you'll only use it once or twice in your entire trip. Other upgrade I definitely recommend are highway pegs. If you saw my old 07 KLR, the highway pegs were very sophisticated. These are very simple. These basically just go over the crash bars of the bike. It's basically a U-shaped piece of metal and you strap it on. So the next upgrade on the bike are the crash bars. These are great to have if you're going to have an impact on the bike, because you can see it'll take the force of it. If you bust anything off the side here in the engine, you're going to have a lot of problems in the future, because when you're traveling around the world, it's hard to find parts and especially big parts like the side of an engine or anything else. So it's always very important to protect your engine. Okay, so one thing on the crash bars is that it's a nice thing to have. You can put highway pegs, you can put the tank bags over them, but it's not a necessity. What I figured out is that when you crash in the KLR with panniers, is that the panniers usually take the brunt of the force. So when the bike falls, the entire hit is here first, and very minimally, it happens to be here. So having crash bars isn't a huge necessity, but of course, this is your fully decked out KLR, so why not have them? But I've never come across a situation when I've crashed personally, that these were any use to me. The next upgrade on the KLR are the mirror extensions. These move the mirror more to the right. Usually they're just very kind of straight and up that way. It helps you see around traffic a little better. Again, not something you need, but it's kind of cute to have. The next upgrade is obviously a power outlet. This connects directly to the battery. It's a really great thing to have. You can charge your GPS or anything else that you need. Great is that if you have a GPS or a phone, one of these adapters to carry this on your bike at all times is a really great thing to have as well. So here you can see where I usually mount it. That's where it is right now. It's not on the bike currently, so it's a really great thing to have because you can see your phone, you can use GPS, you can fly your drone. Whatever it is that you need to do, this will allow you to do it. The next upgrade are these on-road off-road pegs. They're a good thing to have. They're kind of fancy. They're much wider than the stock and they're really nice to have because I feel more comfortable and more control over the bike when I stand up because I have a more of a surface area to control the bike with. Yeah, definitely an upgrade to your bike that you definitely want to have are panniers. I cannot stress that enough. It helps you if you crash and you can just carry so much more stuff on it when you're traveling. It's super convenient, it's super great, and it's probably the best investment you should make if you travel on the weekend or around the world. So the modification I have back here is a modified exhaust. It's a slip-on exhaust. I didn't change out the entire system, but basically it slips on and it slips off. Super easy, super simple. The benefit about this is that you cut down about five to seven pounds of weight from the old stock exhaust. So for me, it's a huge benefit because I carry a lot of gear. Not only is the sound different and it sounds better, but the performance, it gives me a little more power than I'm used to. So it's a great, great modification to have in my opinion. The modification is going to be a skid plate. It's a great thing to have. As you saw from the last KLR, I also have a tool tube on here. It was very simple to put on. I just put some hose clamps. I ran it through the skid plate and it's perfect. Another modification to the bike is whenever I travel, I have these dry bags that I put on here in the back. This is a great place to have clothes and I usually have the drone on there. All right. So one of the biggest controversies in the upgrade community of KLRs is something called the doohickey. The doohickey is right about here. It's a little spring and a little piece of metal that's connected together that moves up and down whenever you pull the clutch in. So the controversy is that they say it's a very weak thing on the KLRs and that anybody should change it. In my experience, I've never changed a doohickey except on one bike. I've never had an issue with it. I've driven KLRs across the world up to 50,000 miles per KLR and nothing has ever happened to the doohickey. Is there a probability that something happens to it? Absolutely. Anything can happen at any time. So is it a good preventative measure to do the upgrade on the doohickey? Sure. People who have had like 10 KLRs and every doohickey of theirs has exploded. So again, it's difficult to say whether something's going to happen to you or whether it's not. So it's up to you to decide whether you want to take the time, the money, and the effort to change the doohickey because it's quite a complicated process. Another upgrade that people are controversial about on the KLR is upgrading your rear stock suspension. These new KLRs, the front suspension has actually been upgraded and improved already. But the rear one, people say that they still have a lot of issues with it. Again, I will point out that I have never upgraded the rear shock in a KLR and never had any issues with it. It's up to you to decide whether you want to take this as an expense or not. The reason that I choose a KLR is because it's a very cost-effective motorcycle. It's very cheap. And the moment you start adding too many things to the bike, it becomes a very expensive bike. So it's up to you to decide what it is you actually want from the bike. There you have it. You have a KLR that's fully upgraded. You have a KLR that's minimally upgraded. Both can take a trip around the world. Both can take a small trip around the world. Whatever it is that you want off the bike, you have to decide what your budget is, what you're looking for from the bike, and most of all, what safety are you looking for. Whether you have a budget for it, whether you're looking for certain safety equipment, you have to decide what's best for you and in your price range. You don't need a lot of money or a lot of fancy gear to travel and have an adventure. All you need is an ingenuity, have a sense of courage and adventure, and anything can be possible. So thanks for watching. If you have any other suggestions or would like to see other videos like this, please drop me a comment below. Tell me what you want to see and I'll be sure to get to it. So thanks for watching and get out there and have an adventure.