Your input please on a SMALL dualsport

[Too40gawlf]

So here are some pics:







High fender (KLR250) is en route, should be here end of this week or next week (most likely).

Have some bar style hand guards coming in, as well as an oil change planned for this weekend. Bike was bought with 570 miles and now has 647. Not yet broken in yet - so the synthetic is going in this weekend or next and getting rid of the factory sludge.

Stock tires seem fine and since my riding is on pavement, Im going to give them a shot before deciding on if they will need to go.

Bike is terribly cold blooded, which according to the Sherpa groups can be cured with a jet kit. A jet kit is sorely needed but Im not yet comfortable enough to rip the carb out.

[bluepoof]

Congrats -- what a great looking bike! Sounds like you got a really good deal. Can't wait to see pics of it off in the dirt!

[exploring/carolina]

Congratulations! Nice looking ride!

["A"]

Nice

My Sherpa is still missing pieces, though I'm making it shed lots of dead weight..




Mirrors were the first thing to go.. then the steel handlebar... passenger pegs and many steel brackets.. ads up to be a good 10 lb.




Since it is missing the OEM headlight/turn signals, I'm trying to convert it to a single round headlight with slimmer turn signals... until then, I waste no time getting it dirty..

[Too40gawlf]

Originally Posted by bluepoof

Congrats -- what a great looking bike! Sounds like you got a really good deal. Can't wait to see pics of it off in the dirt!

Thanks Carolyn, thanks the rest of you guys!

[Too40gawlf]

Alright, so I now have a bit over 75 miles on the bike and am really excited about it. Based on what Ive seen so far, I'll give a review for anyone that cares.

So aesthetically, I like everything about the bike but the low fender. I realize the low fender makes the bike more amenable to highway riding, but I cant get over how good the Sherpa's with high fenders look. I'm gonna go with the high fender look and see how that works out. My 2009, didnt come with gold wheels and Im sort of torn over that. I kinda like the gold wheels, but a part of me also likes the solid silver ones. In the end, I decided I could deal with a newer bike and forego the goldwheels. Everything else on the bike looks great.

Feel. The bike feels pretty good. With all fluids, Its about 100 lbs lighter than the 250 and is almost an inch taller. While this is very low in relation to other dual sports, being used to the Ninja, the extra little bit of height takes a bit of getting used to. In fact, on one of the first intersections on my way home, I almost dropped the bike as the pavement wasnt level and slopped off to the right. However, as the bike is light, I was able to 'leg press' it back up.

Seating position. Having ridden a ZX-636, and then back on a Ninja 250, it felt like going from straddling a log to sitting in a lazy boy chair. Jumping on the Sherpa feels like getting on a bar stool. At first, it takes a second to comprehend that you ARENT standing. However, it is very comfortable and it feels like you are in good control.

Power. Stock,the Sherpa isnt lacking in acceleration. Stop light to stop light, you will have great zip and all the acceleration you can ask for. Dont think that you will out accelerate a properly motivated car, but you will certainly buzz up to the speed limit with no effort at all with a happy level of acceleration. The Ninja 250 in comparison is a lot faster, but that isnt a fair comparison. The bike is highway capable but with a grain of salt. I was able to get up to an indicated 73 mph but that was it. If you are doing highway riding, the right lane is where you better spend most of your time. Passing must be done very judisciously and with a good bit of care, as you cant jump in the lane next to you and shoot up ahead. Here is the kicker though. The bike felt GREAT on the highway - wind was almost not a factor at 65-70mph and the bike felt very stable. It may have been a result of riding on a very calm windless day, but my Ninja 250 feels like its much more suseptible to being blown around. The Sherpa did not have any of those moments on a 50+ mile highway ride. When the wind picked up, I bent over and tried to tuck as much as possible and sliced through it. Overall, I was VERY impressed with the highway performance of the Sherpa. The 6 speed transmission was incredibly smooth and fun to use.

Brakes. The front brake on the Sherpa is absolutely HORRIBLE. Having ridden nothing but sportbikes, Im used to a very light touch on the front brake initially with a moderate pull afterwards, only using the rear brake as a small supplement to the front. This approach on the Sherpa will make you plow into the backseat of the car in front of you on the highway. Literally, the front brake is very weak - and this isnt a problem unique to my specific bike - its a common issue amongst Sherpa owners. A few miles into my ride on the highway, I was crusing at about 70 mph, when I saw the car about 200 ft in front of me decelerate rapidly. 'No worries' I thought, I started braking like I would on the Ninja and realized that that approach would not work. On the Sherpa, you HAVE to use the rear brake more liberally when slowing down from speed. I very quickly ate up about 150 ft of space before I applied my hoof more forcefully on the rear brake and was able to come to a stop about 10 ft short of the car, but with a few seconds of "Oh crap, I dunno if Im going to stop in time." The double piston rear disc brakes are actually pretty potent on the Sherpa, but you have to condition yourself to not use the sportbike braking method when riding the Sherpa.

Handling. As I said before, the Sherpa was far, far more stable and smooth on the highway than I expected. ON the street and in the curves, this bike is pretty easy to handle. The bike and tires have a lot more potential in them than I was willing to push them to. However on curves, onramps, and turns, I had no problems leaning the bike and cutting a smooth turn or negotiating a nice curve. On the way home, I purposely rode through a very small stretch of road that has a number of tight twists through a wooded area just to see how the bike would handle it and I was very much impressed. If one wants to, this bike certainly has the capability to provide some fun on the twisties (I know, I know, its a dual sport). Its actually a fine handling motorcycle on its own. Im going easy on the tires as Ive heard mixed reviews on them and will give them a lot of leeway before I make my mind up on them. I know Pirelli makes some very street friendly dual sport tires and if I sense any uncertainty in the stockers, I'll go this route.

Offroad/dirt. I havent taken the bike offroad yet and aside from some very tame trails or fire roads, I dont plan to. My intent for this bike is supposed to be an urban warrior more so than a dirt digger. I've heard the stock tires are awful in mud and wet vegetation so evenif I do venture off the pavement, I wont get too ambitious.

Carbs/cold bloodedness. This bike is more lean than a Somali militiaman. Its almost inconceivable that Kawasaki put this bike to market the way it is. With the factory settings, you have to run the bike for 5-10 minutes and a couple of miles to get it to run right. This just doesnt work well in an urban/city environment, because as soon as you leave the garage, you are in traffic and cant have a sputtering bike. Alternatively, if you have the choke up to keep the idle high, it becomes a chore riding in 1st gear as the motor is revving at too high an idle to be conducive to smooth riding. Ive read that the Dr. Jeykell jet kit will reduce this problem significantly, but I am a little hesitant to rip off the carb so early into owning the bike. However, the re-jetting is a must if you are planning on doing any type of commuting with this bike.

Overall. This is a very fun, good looking bike. The two biggest draw backs are the horrid front brake and the attrocious settings on the carb. The carb can at least be addressed, but the brake issues is something you have to learn to adjust your riding style to. Im very excited about this bike and cant wait to tweak it to my preference. The riding feel of this bike is totally awesome and once its tweaked the right way, I anticipate a lot of smiles coming from riding this Sherpa.

Sorry for the long schpiel, but I felt like doing a little writeup.

["A"]

I tried a supermoto fender on my Sherpa today:



I didn't think the low fender, which also acts as lower forkleg stabilizer has that much effect on the stability of the front end, especially riding in the dirt..

With the low fender removed, the front end seems to wonder around in the dirt.. not as solid as before.. I think I might be fabricating some lower fork stabilizer/clamp for the Sherpa..

Oh, I ditched the OEM mirrors, which are very heavy items, for some cheap plastic mirrors, they might not hold up in case of a dump in the dirt but they sure do the job and about 1/3 of the OEM mirrors in weight.

[Too40gawlf]

Very cool, A.

I have a KLR250 fender on mine at the moment, but Im actually going to mount a UFO fender tonight to see how that looks.

Here's mine:



I got the re-jet done and had to tweak the idle speed to get everything to run right. She seems good now, but havent taken her for a ride since the weekend. I also have some Tusk slim handgaurds waiting to go on.

The next big thing Im looking at is a bigger fuel tank, as the stock 1.8 gallon tank is not very useful for longer trips (I ran out of fuel on the interstate at 70 mph this weekend and had to pull over to switch to reserve).

[Snake]

Check out this thread on how to choose a Dual Sport. http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=78456

["A"]

The tail end of that KLR fender seems to block some airflow to cooling the engine.

Originally Posted by Too40gawlf

I also have some Tusk slim handgaurds waiting to go on.

Make sure not to over tighten those handguards, in case of an impact, they are suppose to absorb much of the blunt force, not transmit the force directly to the handlebar and bend it.

Originally Posted by Too40gawlf

The next big thing Im looking at is a bigger fuel tank, as the stock 1.8 gallon tank is not very useful for longer trips (I ran out of fuel on the interstate at 70 mph this weekend and had to pull over to switch to reserve).

I'm getting about 120 mi. before switching to reserve and adding about 1.6 gal. into tank for that range. That's about as long of a distance that I can take for one sitting on the Sherpa.

[Too40gawlf]

Originally Posted by "A"

The tail end of that KLR fender seems to block some airflow to cooling the engine.



Make sure not to over tighten those handguards, in case of an impact, they are suppose to absorb much of the blunt force, not transmit the force directly to the handlebar and bend it.



I'm getting about 120 mi. before switching to reserve and adding about 1.6 gal. into tank for that range. That's about as long of a distance that I can take for one sitting on the Sherpa.

The KLR fender seems to work fine. I put about 130 miles or so of mixed riding in last weekend and didnt notice any issues. The UFO Fender likely flows better air, but unless I see a pressing need for more air, Im going to go with the KLR look.

I havent started messing with the handgaurds, but I'll keep your advice in mind.

I've actually found the Sherpa pretty comfortable. I get more sore on the Ninja than I do on the Sherpa. If I can figure out how to make a 3 or 4 gallon tank work, I would have no problems doing 200+ mile trips. Im quite satisfied with the highway performance of my Sherpa - I managed to get an indicated 81 mph last weekend and it cruises comforatably at an indicated 70 mph. The bike feels incredibly stable for a such a light bike as I have not had any major wind issues to date. I havent noticed any major issues with the high fender at highway speeds either.