I always wanted to add a rollchart holder to my bike and mod it so I can take notes during my ride. BigDog showed me his setup and thought it was great… but… I just don’t have the room for a rollchart.. and I NEVER use the plastic map holder on the top of my Wolfman Enduro Tank Bag.. so … I bought some waterproof paper from here on ebay, 100 sheets for $24 bucks!

Looking around the garage I found a slat from our sliding glass door blinds.. worked perfect!  I then cut the pieces of paper 3.5″ x 8.5″ in size, this allows me to get 3 slices out of one piece of paper.

On the trail I can just save a waypoint, then document the waypoint number and description on the paper, saving time of trying to name the waypoint while on the trail… wastes a lot of time trying to do that!

I’m happy with how its working and for BigDog teaching me the little things….

Ever since I saw this new adventure motorcycle it has intrigued me to say the least… take a look at a few more photos..

From the bit of research I’ve done, the word is the engine will be supplied by BMW, fuel injected, and a very unique fuel storage location. A main rear tank and front left side tank that would hold 4.5 gal of fuel, while the front right side will house the air filter. A dry weight of 287 lbs and electronic adjustable suspension with controller just in front of the bars. Rally Raid Products reports they have been working with this project for the last 12 months.  And a trail/supermoto & adventure models will be available autumn 2013.

The bad…

Probably won’t be available in the US of A!!!  But, if BMW is in on the project and they just sold the Husky line to KTM, you’d think this would be a good market for them here in the States, possibly their replacement for the G450X?  I hope so!!  Man, I sure hope we get this bike over here… we need an adventure bike in between the 250cc and 800cc market already!

We’ll see what happens… I’ll keep my eye on it later this year for some rider reviews!

 Update (6/6/13)

Head over to the forum on advrider.com for the latest talk about this CCM.. theres rumbling about coming to USA and pleads to CCM for a wide ratio 6-speed tranny!! Come on CCM!! Check out their website for more details about the motorcycle, www.ccm-motorcycles.com.

Click here to view the embedded video.

BigDog has always labeled the Garmin 276C as the ADV’ers GPS of choice.. so I took his word on it and started looking for one at a decent price. Well.. they are getting very hard to find. It just so happened I was chatting with my riding buddy Pax and mentioned I was looking for a 276C to replace my 60CSx and he says he’d sell me his 478C if I was interested. Heck Yea! So I snag Pax’s 478 from him and check that one off the list.

Next up was some LED auxiliary lights.. BigDog has some super bright ones on his KLR which came in handy on our ride, and has since put a set on his Terra 650. So I checked into them and as they are super bright they were out of my price range for what monies I had for winter farkling. But I did find another set that I’m very happy with so far, price and quality. They’re a set of MondoMotos’ MM10 CREE XM/L LED lights . Here’s his thread on ADVrider Vendor forum, btw, he offers a small ADV discount as well.

Here’s what you get in the box: (click photos to enlarge)

And dimensions for proper fitment:

Bullet Lights

Light Switch

A few comments about this switch.. it works great, looks great, and has LEDs for when the lights are on or off. But… the only option they give you for mounting is a little sticky 2-sided tape. This isn’t very useful when trying to mount it on your bars or near your left grip. So I’ll be making my own mount for the switch or you can use a different switch, maybe a HDB integrated switch would work well if you run HDB clamps.

Get It Wired

Now its time to get these wires installed!

On my WR250R I run a Eastern Beaver 3CS fusebox and I have one switched circuit unused, so I’ll be using that to run up front for powering my GPS and providing my LED switch a switched power connection. I have wire loom already run from my controls to my battery, so I’ll pull my third 3CS circuit up threw that first.

Tape them up good..

Here’s my wire loom, pushing these wires through was a breeze!

Now on to the lights wire harness, these wires will be up at my headlight:

And these are at the battery:

In order to pull the wires through the frame under my gas tank, I had to cut the wiring harness right here at the line:

Pull the wire harness from the front to back.. following the other wires…

With a little work I pulled them threw the wishbone…

Once I got the wire harness completely pulled through its time to reconnect the wire harness, remember I cut it in two pieces! How would I do that.. well with trusty ole’ SAE connectors. I could of soldered them right together but I thought for “future” upgrades it may be nice to be able to disconnect these. You can do whatever you feel best.. So I begin to solder…

SAE Connectors can be bought at any auto parts store for a couple bucks…

And here they are at the seat compartment…ready to be reunited.

To help tuck the relay under the seat I also decided to cut the tab off the relay with my dremel…

Now that the wire harness is in place and I’ve pulled my 3CS circuit for my GPS, I solder the red wire at the switch connector to the hot of my 3CS. This will make sure that when the key is off, no power is getting to the lights. I also solder a SAE connector to the 3CS circuit to power my GPS.

** NOTE ** : Make sure the shielded plug of your SAE is the hot wire from your battery! This is the universal wiring of any SAE connector.

Before connecting any of the accessories.. I want to make sure that the circuits are getting proper voltage.. use a handy dandy digital multimeter to test. I got this one at Harbor Freight for a few bucks.

Woohoo.. got power!

Now I can mount my bullet lights… but wait.. where? Ah Ha.. I’ll make a nice little mount out of aluminum to hold my LED lights, both aux and turn signals. Using Kydex I made a template to be sure my plan would work. Then, I transferred it to my aluminum stock..

Using my jigsaw with a metal blade, cutting the pieces out was pretty easy…

To help drill the holes, us a punch to make a mark, this will allow accurate placement of the holes and help guide the drill bit.

Using my dremel, I clean up the cut edges a bit..

The mounting bolts for the light brackets are a bit long.. so cut those off too..

Now.. because I’m running Cycra hand guards that mount to my triple, I use longer bolts and I must get those tightened down before attaching the bullet lights. So far its looking good!

Here’s the mount with both lights mounted up..

Tuck the wires nicely under the number plate.. the WR has plenty of room for all these cool accessories..

Time to turn these bad boys on…

Man, these are going to be awesome when I get stuck out on the trail again!

Connect My GPS

I wanted the ability to move my Garmin 478C GPS from my WR250R to my Versys very easily. So.. the solution to this is easy, all I needed were a couple more SAE connectors. And with the GPS you get a power cable that plugs into a standard wall outlet and powers the unit. Instead of buying another power cable to connect to a Powerlet or hard wired to the battery.. simply cut the wall power cable and use the Garmin plug for both bikes AND the wall outlet.

Sure does save me some money.. now I just solder a SAE connector to each end, leaving a nice Garmin outlet pigtail for my 478C…

One more thing! IMPORTANT!

To make sure I don’t accidentally ground out the GPS circuit when my GPS is disconnected, I put a SAE cap on my SAE connector.

And now the finished product… Lights and GPS mounted up.. ready to ride!

I couldn’t be happier with the way this all turned out.

UPDATE! Light Switch Mount

Ok.. here’s what I’m going to try out.. I took a piece of Kydex, heated it up and bent it at a 90.. drilled a hole in it and mounted it on my mirror stem.

Easily reached with my thumb.. thumbs up!

The only thing left is…. Let’s Ride!

Kalani has done us all a favor and threw down a video of him replacing his clutch in his WR250R.  Man, I’m so thankful for fellow riders like him who take time to share with all of us! Thanks Kalani.. I enjoy all your videos…

If you haven’t check out Kalani… well do it NOW.

++AccidentalBroadcast YouTube Channel | @iamAccidental

The testimony of Supercross Champion Trey Canard and his ascent back to the top.

It was the most horrific crash I’ve ever, ever seen in a AMA Supercross race. I was watching the race, and it happened so fast… I knew for sure, Trey was seriously hurt, if not fatally…. be warned this footage is a bit disturbing.

After my mind tried to process what just happened, I just sat there with my jaw dropped and immediately started to pray for Trey and Ryan Morais. The race was red flagged and delayed over 20 minutes as medical staff attended to both riders… I thought there’s no way Trey will be back after this, no way!

I was wrong…..

REvival 41

Trey Canard’s crash last season was one that most riders don’t come back from. But #41 knew he had a higher calling. When others doubted and the pain progressed, he knew he was destined to race again. This is the story of Trey’s year-long journey from back injury to the starting gate of the 2013 Supercross season as he strives to put #41 back on top.

REvival 41 tells the story of Trey’s comeback, his attempt to reconcile the tragedy of his past and the pain of his present, with his unshakeable belief for the future. It’s the human struggle to persist, continue and hope in the face of overwhelming pain.

“People say that what you believe in is a fairy tale. But I don’t believe that at all…I believe that I was put on this earth to ride a motorcycle” -Trey Canard

Directed by: Jason Bergh
Produced by: Cole Angenendt, Jason Bergh Sal Masekela, Shane McCassy

www.REvival41.com
#REvival41

Trey finished a hair behind first place at the 2013 AMA Supercross opener in Anaheim and a week later was in 2nd place in the last lap before going down and finishing 5th place. He’s come out fast and determined as ever… but more than that, Trey’s heart is larger than any motorcycle win or success, he’s a man of integrity, superior sportsmanship.. and an unwavering faith in a do-or-die sport. A young man I highly respect and look forward to watching his epic journey unfold!

#41 is back!

We would leave on Friday, July 13, 2012 from Wentzville, travel south through the Mark Twain National Forest and stay the night in Eminence, MO.  On Saturday, ride the best road of the whole trip, hang out at the amazing Alley Spring and end up at a cottage in Lake of the Ozarks.  Sunday would take us to the famous Missouri swinging bridges, then back home to our families. Here’s the basic route we would take:

I’ve put together this video that highlights our ride… there’s so much more great footage I just couldn’t add to this video. I’ll post up full videos for those of us who were on the ride, its always nice to re-live these trips, especially in the dead of winter!

YouTube

Vimeo

Photo Gallery

Here's the route we took, for the most part anyways!!

K Funk @ Lost Creek

JZ @ Lost Creek

Under Swinging bridge

Hanging out at Bo's Hollow

Mike taking shots at the look out near Akers Ferry

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(36 Photos)

From: Basher
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 10:36 PM
To: Mark Sampson

Subject: Riding

Mark… sorry I missed your call I was out all night.. do you have any plans to ride this weekend.. I was thinking of getting a ride in. I can call you tomorrow..

Bill

The following morning…

From: Mark Sampson
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2012 6:13 AM
To: Basher
Subject: Riding

My plan is on this page Bill.

HERE (link to ADVrider post of his)

I’ll be leaving in 2-3 hrs———and won’t be by the computer anymore for a few days.

Mark

That’s how it all went down… I had a half day of work on Friday which would give me enough time to pack up the WRR and get her ready to meet BigDog at Loggers Lake by dark-thirty on Saturday evening.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Saturday morning I was up early and ready to head out..

I’d make my way south to ride through Mark Twain National Forest before meeting up with BigDog. On the way down, I decided to take the eastern route which passes by this old bridge spanning over Mill Creek.

It’d take me along some beautiful creeks.. most of which are spring fed.

And I never miss riding some of my favorite trails on the way down..

Some had a lot of standing water on them…

This old truck is still sitting there.. just love it’s character.

After stopping in at Bixby for a good lunch, I headed on down to Loggers Lake.. on the way there I ran into “this is a RV” on his KLR. He said the campground was blocked off..”toondebt11″ (Kevin) confirmed it. So we headed back into town to try to text BigDog, but without any luck, Kevin and I decided to hold up at the campground and wait for BigDog. “this is a RV” would head home..

Loggers Lake Campground closed…

With the campground closed, we decided to head a few miles over to Link’s and see if we could camp there. Once we got there it was dark, no one around, cold and the wind was blistering.. Right about then Kevin said he’s heading north, so BigDog came over to me and said,

Well, looks like its just me and you, buddy!

I could read his mind, I knew the adventure wasn’t about to end here.. so we saddled up and headed towards Lesterville. I told BigDog I was getting hungry so the plan was to eat in Lesterville… but as we pulled into Centerville we saw a nice litter diner all lit up. I think it was called the 21 Diner, they had a 21 Burger that was a one pound burger. We both passed on that!

As always, BigDog made more friends and this time with the nice old lady cooking up our meals. He asked her about a place to stay and that’s when she told us about this house that you could stay in called the Butterfly Inn.  We had no clue what we were going to end up with.. but thought what the heck, lets call them. BigDog talked to the nice lady and she said come on up… we finished our meal and headed back in. Earlier BigDog had seen the “Butterfly Inn” sign on the side of the road, but we were looking for a Inn.. not this…

Watch BigDog’s reaction to not pulling into a nice big fiery campsite… then take a look at our digs for the night!

Sunday, December 2, 2012

This place sure was too fancy for the both of us.. it was the nicest campsite we’d ever stayed at! This is why you never ever bail on a BigDog Adventure!

Before leaving town, BigDog took us back to this old mill, it was amazing! The second best one we’d see on this ride…

The Reed Spring Mill

This 56 degree spring is channeled into small lakes, with waterfalls, which eventually empty into the Black River. It is not known how far into the hills this beautiful spring starts but it has served the area surrounding Centerville in the most useful ways in every era of its time. In 1881, Nathaniel Scott built the dam and grist mill to grind the corn into meal and wheat into flour. Shortly thereafter a saw mill was erected supplying much needed lumber to early settlers to build their homes. Sometime before 1915, Dr. Shy had the idea of generating electricity from its water power, so they took off the overshot wheel, installed a turbine and ran electric lines into town. Though the lights were bright at the mill, but dim in town, this supplied the towns’ electric until 1929. The original building and wheel were taken apart, board by board, and sent to San Francisco for exhibition at the 1939 Worlds Fair. This display is now in storage at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. Although privately owned, this incredibly picturesque mill is fully visible from the road.

One of the locals told us this mill site is going to be willed to the state after the current owner passes on.. hopefully they will keep it restored for many, many years to come!

Photo Gallery

It was still very early as we left the mill and we were both hungry, so heading out of town we’d stop at a small cafe for breakfast, I thought it was called Cindy’s?! It was very good eats for sure.. but we had much riding to get done… so we said our “goodbye’s” to the local old fellas that are always hanging around these places and away we went..

I just followed BigDog since I didn’t have a route, and I think for the most part BigDog was wing’n it, at least for a few hours in the morning that is..

We turned in this grassy drive.. I had no clue what I might see next..

Then around the corner was this neat, bubbling spring.. You could see the bubbles coming straight up out of what looked like quicksand to us. Neither one of us took the dare to jump in it and find out for sure!

My WR250R was eye’n BigDog’s old KLR all weekend long…

A new tradition BigDog has picked up on in his old age……. climbing up these things!

Yep.. you see him up there yelling down at me to hurry up..

This is where I yelled back…

I ain’t lettin’ no old man out do me!!

So up and up I went..

Guess I was wink’n at old BigDog… man he flew up that tower too! Sure enough.. it was locked at the very top.. dang it!

That’s ok though, we sat up there and talked a bit, told a few stories, poked fun at life and what not.. oh and the view was stellar too.

Back on the ground, I finished off one of those little Cutie oranges and we hit some tarmac… it was time to head west to find a spring…

A spring hunting we will go,
Hi – HO ‘a Merry OH, a spring hunting we will go…

We continued moving west, and I could see a few Waypoints pop in and out of view on my GPS… but the way of the BigDog is always a bit different and I’m always in for a surprise. And this next stop was, well just epic!

There was a lot of this…

Around a corner I come to see this.. which usually isn’t a good thing. BigDog sitting on the other side of a creek crossing, or in this case, water hole with his camera out and ready! So I stopped and took his photo first…all the while I’m scoping out the line he took through the creek..

You can see his track coming out on the left side of the creek.. but I’m pretty sure he entered on the right.. I would figure out quick why his camera was out..

There was a large mass that kicked me left as soon as I hit it.. but no worries, I put ‘er on the pipe and powered right through that crossing! Glad BigDog got a good photo of me and it didn’t end with my WR taking a drink.

Just a few miles down the road, BigDog led me to, now, one of my favorite sites.. .

The Klepzig Mill

Missouri is rich in history and I sure hope these sites stay around so I can bring my boys on a ride down here some day. Since Rocky Falls Shut-Ins was so close we had to stop and check it out.. its another awesome waterfall in the Ozarks.

Rocky Falls Shut-Ins

Few places in the Ozarks provide a glimpse of earth’s turbulent past as well as Rocky Falls. The reddish-brown rock you see here is rhyolite porphyry. It formed as molten rock deep within the earth and flowed onto the surface about 1.5 billion years ago. At the time, no living thing existed to see the awesome flow of glowing hot lava slowly advancing over the barren landscape.
Normally, a stream eroding softer dolomite, a type of limestone, would make a wider valley for itself. Since the rhyolite is harder, the stream tends to stay within whatever cracks that it finds, deepening them only a little by erosion. Thus a“shut in” is formed where the harder rock has “shut in” the stream. Farther downstream, past the constricting rhyolite, the stream valley widens once again. This allows the stream to expand into a pool.

Here’s a little look around Klepzig Mill and Rocky Falls.. man it was beautiful! I’ll definitely being returning in the spring…

By this time.. I could tell.. BigDog was really itchin’ to find that spring, heck I think he even put that KLR into 5th gear a time or two heading out west… He had told me earlier that there seemed to be an error with the Waypoint he had for the spring.. but said he thinks he figured it out. We were to meet up at an entrance to the property where the spring was and let ourselves in with a golden key. What an adventure this was going to be.. and boy was it! Have a look…

Stupid Dog Spring

That was a lot of fun.. the unexpected is what makes trips memorable, and this one was making out to be one for sure.  We decided to make our way back east a bit so Monday’s ride wouldn’t be as many miles for the both of us… so we headed back to Eminence..

On the way, BigDog spots another one of these..

He headed up while I gave my beautiful wife a call to check in on my family… and this time.. the ole man out did me! Back in town we stopped at a place to eat but they were closed, we also checked out a campground there in town and it was a dump! So we decided to see if Alley Springs campground was open… and it was. In fact, we had the entire place to ourselves.

After finding a nice site, BigDog got his Sven saw out and went to work. We gathered wood, put up our tents and started dinner.  I had a Mountain House Chili Mac while BigDog heated up a can of chili… we even figured out how to open the can with OUT a can opener! HA! Add that to my ADV packing list…

Another must have ADV accessory is the Dingweed’s ADV Multi-purpose Tarp-o-matic 3000. Mine was a 2012 model.. I think BigDog had the older model.. nah nah!

Mmmm.. dinner is served! We talked about how if our wives brought us a Mountain House for dinner at home we’d think they’d drove off the deep end… but out here, these things are so tasty!

Before bedtime BigDog read an adventure rider story.. it was a good one, reminded us of a lot of things we already know about lightweight adventure riding, heck we both own WR250Rs.. “We got this!” That little book also was a good reminder of how to view riding lots of miles on a trip.. don’t fret the little stuff and keep plans open, don’t be tied down by deadlines but have a high view plan or route.

It made me sleepy so off to bed I went, Big Agnes awaits..

About 3am I hear some rustling in the woods.. it’s making weird noises, huff’n and puff’n.. then.. I hear the Sven saw at it again..

BigDog….is that you?

Yep.. I can’t sleep so I’m gonna stoke this fire back up.

Ok.. well I can’t seem to climb out of Big Agnes just yet…

Off to sleep I went and I slept hard for the next couple of hours.  BigDog said he too went back to sleep, getting that fire going again at 3am really made it easy to have a nice morning fire as we broke camp.

Monday, December 3, 2012

The morning fog was thick over head, we couldn’t tell if it was rain clouds or just river low-land fog. Soon the fog started to lift and we could see blue skies above.. that was good considering they were calling for rain today, but we wouldn’t see a single drop!

Today we would head back home.. but first a little breakfast in Eminence and.. one of the best roads we’d ride all trip long!! I had two loops I’ve planned on riding two times previously and never got the chance. But this time.. I wouldn’t pass them up, not a chance..

I just sat here and took it all in.. what a great trail this was, winding along the Jack’s Fork river.. up and down valleys finishing up with a small remote logging road.

BigDog and I ran up Hwy 19 for several miles just enjoying the scenery. Unfortunately, it was time for us to part ways.. I would head north through Hermann and BigDog was heading to Bixby for a coffee then.. wander his way back home.

This little trip was exactly what I needed…a refresher, a relaxing couple of days riding on my motorcycle, and another great time with a really good friend who has taught me a LOT about adventure riding, climbing lookout towers and most of all, just enjoying each day we are blessed to have. BigDog… its time to fill up that bucket list buddy!

Read BigDog’s Ride Report

Follow along on his journey at http://www.wherethehellismurph.com.

Ride along with Hot Rod Builder and Award Winning Filmmaker Brian Darwas as he travels coast to coast on the ultimate antique motorcycle endurance run, “The Motorcycle Cannonball”. Witness as these bikes are pushed past their limits!  Get an upfront look at parking lot engine rebuilds!  and watch as the top guys in the motorcycle industry machine parts in the back of their vans to keep their bikes on the  road, and in the race!

I followed some friends as they rode on the first Motorcycle Cannonball. The run was all pre-1916 motorcycles. Some were single cylinder engines, some had no transmissions (just a belt and a tensioner). They started in Kitty Hawk, NC and rode clear across the country to Santa Monica, CA. Literally “Coast to Coast”, on all secondary roads, no highways! . . and since I like to witness pain and suffering I tagged along and made a movie about the trip.Brian Darwas

Looks like a good Christmas gift eh! Order details here.

I went with the All Balls Steering Stem Bearings kit from Rocky Mountain ATV, Part # 1005880017, about $35 bucks!

What’s in the box…

First thing to do now is.. put my steering stem in the freezer for later..

I forgot to mention in Part 1 how I removed the bearing races from the frame. Using a large flathead screw driver and rubber mallet, I carefully tapped the inside of each race, moving around the race often. It has to come out as evenly as possible, there’s just not that much tolerance to work with. Here you can see the top race as it comes out of the frame. From the bottom, I tapped the screwdriver evenly.. and it started to come right out.

Now that my top and bottom races are out of the frame, its time to remove the bearing that’s on the steering stem. Using a pair of pliers, I twisted the bearing cage off, or use a dremel to cut it away. Now you are left with this…

Using a chisel, I pushed the bearing away from the clamp…

This gives me enough room to get my dremel on it to cut it off.

Being very careful not to hit the stem with the dremel… and you don’t have to cut completely through, as when it gets close the bearing will literally pop off, you’ll hear it snap!

I was also shocked at how small the stock bottom bearing seal was compared to the new one I got in my kit.. no wonder why the bearing died on me!

DIY Bearing Press

Now its time to put the new bearing races in the frame… I’ve heard different opinions on this, some say they go right in with a hammer and piece of 2×4.. others have crazy trouble getting them on. Then there’s some who buy a tool for pressing them in, only costs about $15o bucks, or if you’re like me… make your own tool! (or bring your idea to your buddy who can weld up some stuff and let him make it.. haha!)

That’s what I did.. I talked to my buddy about making a bearing press with my old races, threaded rod, washers and a couple nuts. In about a half hour..  my bearing press was finished.

All you need is your old bearing races, then weld a couple of washers to them so the threaded rod has a good solid platform to press against. Well, pictures tell a thousand words so here it is..

I got the races started in the frame with a piece of 2×4 and hammer, making sure they go in very evenly. Then using my DIY bearing press, I placed the old races, which in opposite direction as the ones going in the frame, and tightened the nuts up.  Each time I tightened the nut, I made sure the old race was perfectly on top of the new race in the frame.

Here’s the top one getting pressed in… use a large adjustable wrench on the other end to keep it from turning.

The short end is the one to tighten..

For the bottom race, I turn my press around and tighten it from the bottom…

Pressing the Stem Bearing

Ok, now it’s time to pack the bearings. Starting with the lower bearing first, its the one that has a larger diameter hole in it and has a bit of a rim on the bottom of it.

Get a good gloop of this stuff in your hand..

Roll the bearing into your hand, pressing firmly so the grease flows inside the bearing cage…

Next, put a layer of grease on both the top and bottom races. Now, I head back to the freezer for my stem.

PUT THE LOWER SEAL ON FIRST THING!!

I saw many posts and YouTube videos online of guys using a piece of pipe to pound the stem bearing on the stem.  Well.. this just doesn’t work, and I advise against it. Why? Because with these bearings, the bearing cage is set higher than the race they are on. So as you pound with that piece of pipe, you will damage, if not ruin, the bearing cage. It took me two trips to the hardware store to determine, that just won’t work.

So I went ahead and purchased a Tusk Steering Stem Bearing Installer from Rocky Mountain ATV as well. I’m sure you could also make something similar but you really need to get this one right!

Here’s a shot of the installer sitting perfectly on the bearing… here you can see what I’m talking about..

Using a hammer, a few good blows and the bearing is on! Now put some access grease up and down the stem…

Installing Steering Stem

Everything is well greased and now I’m ready to put the steering stem back on the frame. Slide the stem through the frame, put the top seal on followed by the first locknut.

Second locknut and lock washer…

Now.. tighten up the locknuts just to keep it all in place. Set the top clamp on and then the top locknut. You kinda have to put it back together and then dial it in. We’re ready for the front forks…

For me, I installed the top clamp, bars(kinda) and front wheel, I left the fender and headlight off until I was happy with steering adjustments. The key is to make sure you absolutely feel no “wiggle” movement when you grab the front forks, and that the steering isn’t too loose. The front wheel, with a slight push, should fall to one side but not “bounce” off the frame stops.

I figured I’d get it as good as I could, take it for a short ride then check it again.. thats just what I did.

Oh yea.. before installing my front fender, I gave it a little love…

I’d also like to mention here the correct way to put on your front wheel to ensure proper alignment… watch this video to see how: