Lynx Fairing install, WR250R - part 2

Lynx fairing install, Part 2.

Having done the front, I decided to tackle the wiring harness while I wait for my new dash.

The supplied harness comes with all the relays and connectors, and two wires that connect directly to the battery. The positive lead has a waterproof fuse built into it, while the negative lead is just a plain wire. Both wires are in a plastic sleeve to protect the insulation.

I wanted this to be as neat as possible, so I decided to follow the stock wiring and zipties the new cables to it.

First, I removed the bracket that holds the coolant overflow tank, so I would have a better access to the wiring. Moving the whole assembly to the side by an inch gave me enough room to accomplish this. From there on, I just followed the wiring harness and used a ziptie every few inches.

Lynx Fairing install WR250R - part 1

Having recently sold my BMW G650GS, I found myself with only one bike, the trusted WR250R. Honestly, selling the BMW was a tough decision, but since I got the WR I found myself riding the WR more than the BMW.
Now, there is no such thing as a perfect, do-it-all bike, but since I find myself more and more on dirt, the WR is about as good as it gets. It's excellent on unpaved roads, and it does rather well (for a lightweight 250) on pavement.

Of course, in its stock form it is not ideal for any long distance riding, so a few upgrades are necessary. But more on this later.

Upgrade number 1 - fairing.

Unlike the BMW where I could find numerous windshields from tall to small, there is almost nothing for the WRR. The dirt fairings are too small to offer wind protection on pavement, and the taller windshields that are good on pavement are too bulky off-road.

All, except one - Britannia Composites' Lynx Fairing.  www.britanniacomposites.com

I've been lusting after one of those for about a year, but lets be honest, the almost $600 price tag is pretty steep. But once I saw one in person, I was sold.  The quality is there, the light output is great, and the sliding windshield makes it a true dual purpose fairing. I'll get to that later, in one of the future post.

So I emailed Ian at Britannia, and my fairing arrived about a week later.

The box contained the fairing, windshield, wiring harness, some nuts and bolts, and decent instructions. All was well packed and wrapped in a large quantity of bubble wrap.

Step one was to install the dash.

My forks were already out for service, so I had almost nothing to remove. Well, the stock instrument cluster and brackets needed to go.

Instrument cluster is easy - three nuts and it is free to be removed. Snap the ziptie off, roll back the rubber seal, and, using something (I used a small screwdriver) press on the tab on the connector and pull the connector out. Instrument cluster is now free. Set it aside carefully.

Here is the bracket that has to come off.   

Next step is to remove the bracket. It has a couple of regular bolts and it shares a safety bolt (tamper proof) with the ignition cylinder. That one has to be drilled, unless you want to use a hacksaw and leave a piece of the bracket behind. I did not want to do that.

A lot of people complain about not being able to access the safety bolt with a drill. I found an easy way - angle impact driver. After making a mark with a centerpunch, I started with a small drill bit, progressing to a larger and then the final bit. It took only a couple of minutes (drills with a hex shank).

I drilled both safety bolts and knocked the heads off with a punch, which left me with the studs in place. A pair of pliers and these, too, came out, leaving the bracket intact.

Of course, I did not feel like redoing all the cables and wiring, so I cut the wire loop with a saw, and took the bracket out. This can be easily fixed if I ever need to reinstall it.

Next step is to lift the handlebars out of the way and slide the dash (along with washers provided) under the raiser bolts. An easy job.

And here is the dash from underneath. The holes came pre-cut for the instrument cluster and for ignition access.

 I did not want  to have to reach through the hole to access my ignition, so I relocated the ignition cylinder higher up. I also laid out my instruments like I wanted them.

There was a small issue with the dashboard, but Ian promptly shipped me a new one at no cost. It's great to see a man who stands behind his product and goes out of his way to communicate with the buyers.

While I wait for my new dash, I'm using the time to work on a better layout and reinforcement for the ignition mount, which I will discuss in a future post.

WR250R fork service

During my last ride I had noticed some fork fluid leaking. While that was due to the icy conditions we encountered, and any water immediately freezing on the forks and the ice getting under the seals, I figured it was time to replace the seals and change the fluid anyway. At over 8k miles on the clock, it doesn't hurt to look at the internals.

The first thing that surprised me was how clean the fork fluid was. I had seen some forks (on other bikes) in the past, where the fluid was all dirty and cloudy. The WR oil was fairly clean, with no metal particles in it, and only slight discoloration.

So, this being my first time tackling USD forks, it took me longer than usual. On conventional forks, the procedure is much simpler, and takes only a few minutes. On the WR there are more parts to change, and the seals cannot be driven in with the inner/outer tubes apart.

These are the tools I used:

Nothing special. A Torque wrench, 17mm wrench (for a nut on the damper rod), 14mm hex (for damper rod base valve), a screwdriver (to pry the old dust seal, plus retainer ring), a small brass hammer, and an electric impact driver (air gun would have been better), and a little piece of aluminum barstock I had, where I notched it to keep the damper rod from spinning.

You will need seals of your choice and some fork oil. I went with Yamaha seals (the oem lasted fine) and Maxima 5W oil - 2 liters.

Loosen the fork caps on the bike. Once you remove the forks, remove the fork caps completely and turn the forks upside down. When all the oil drains, take out the springs and the little rod in the damper, move damper rod up and down a few times to drain rest of the oil, and set the forks on a bench.

With a screwdriver, carefully pry the dust seals out. Make sure not to scratch the forks! With the dust seals out, you can now see the retainer ring. Remove that as well. You can now hold the outer fork and carefully pull the inner fork tube out. It won't be easy, but it will work. This will also remove the oil seal. I ended up using the inner tube to drive the seal out, and it took only a few quick pulls.

Next, loosen the base valve - 14mm hex. First you have to remove the rubber plug in there (again, a screwdriver or a pick). The base valve is torqued and has Loctite. I used a wrench, then spun it fast with the impact driver. One of them came out fine, the other spun inside, hence the aluminum bar.
Once the base valve comes out, pull the damper rod, and set it aside.

Next I pulled the old bushings and seals off. (Yamaha calls the bushing "piston metal)

I wiped everything clean, then sprayed brake cleaner through all holes and on all internal surfaces. You do not want any sand or dirt in there. Here is a nice, clean fork.

Here is the old bushing vs the new bushing. Look at the wear on the inside (new one is on the left):

Next, with the forks clean, spread a little fork oil on the inner tube, and get a small plastic bag. I used the one that the parts came in. Slide the bag over the fork, lube it with some fork oil, and push your seals over it. This prevents damage to the seals during installation.

And here is how it all stacks up. Dust seal on top, bushing on the bottom.

Now, both my damper rods had a little bit of rust. I cleaned that off with 2000 grit sandpaper soaked in oil.

Now, grab your clean outer tube and your clean base valve, spread some oil on the o-rings and on the damper rod where it touches the inside of the fork tube,  and a bit of Loctite on the threads. Slide the damper rod all the way in, until it touches bottom. Hand thread the base valve into the damper rod, then use your impact driver (or air gun) to tighten it. If you go fast enough, it won't spin. Next, torque the base valve to  40ft/lbs (per manual).

With that done, slide your inner tube into the outer tube (lube the bushings and seals). The first bushing goes in easy, the second is a bit of a pain to seat. I used a small punch and a very gentle hand to get it started. Push it deep enough so you can start your oil seal. I don't have a seal driver, so again using a flat punch and a very gentle tapping all around, I seated my seal until I could see the retaining ring slot. Pop the ring back in, make sure it seats all the way, and compress your fork all the way.

Standing the fork vertically, fill it to the top of inner tube with your fork oil. You have to remove the spring guide and the rod inside the damper for this procedure)

 Move the damper rod in and out about ten times (slowly) and add fork oil as air is displaced. Then move your outer tube up and down (a little) about ten times, again adding oil to maintain oil level at the top.
When no more air escapes and the oil level does not drop, use your method of choice to extract enough oil to achieve oil level of 105mm from top (per manual). My method of choice is an old sprayer top with a straw cut to length. I just rest it on top of the fork tube and pump until no more comes out. It works great.

Next, put your clean spring back in, slide the damper rod up (took me a while to figure that one - I used a screwdriver between the coils to push against the nut on top). Once fully extended, put the collar back on the spring and thread your top cap by hand. Using the 17mm wrench, hold the lower nut, and using a 19mm socket torque the cap on at 11ft/lbs (per manual).

Bring the outer tube up, and temporarily crew in your cap bolt. Voila. You'll have to torque that after you have the forks back in the tripples.

What I do is to leave the dust seal on the fork leg without installing it. After I'm all done with all of the above, I compress the forks several times by hand, applying as much pressure as possible. Just push the fork leg against the floor (with a rag as a cushion) and lean against it. After I get tired of doing it, I look down at the oil seal to make sure that no oil leaked out. If satisfied, I press the dust seal in and call it a day.

Have fun!

Disclaimer. These are only my observations. Use your own judgement and your head. My writeup does not replace the use of factory service manual and all workplace safety measures. You cannot hold me responsible for doing something stupid. 

WR250R subframe

The subframe finally arrived from the powdercoater.

I've been anxiously awaiting this day to come, and now that it is here, I spent an hour an a half putting the subframe back in place. You may think that it is too much time. Well, between re-cutting the threads and trying to get the subframe in place, that's how long it took me.

For now, it is still only hand-tightened. I still have a few things left over to out in their proper spot, some wires to straighten out, and a couple of dust shields to put in place - if I ever figure out where they belong.

The bike is so well designed that it is almost impossible for my hands to find an opening large enough  to move things around.

For now, however, I'm happy with the color and finish. The powdercoater did a great job, and the finish is nice and smooth. The color of choice - Mirror Blue from Eastwood.

I also had a small tab welded onto the frame right where the teeny factory toolbox belonged. It will serve to attach a tool tube.

WR pre-season maintenance

Time to do some pre-season maintenance on the trusted WR250R.

On my last ride, I had noticed some fork oil leaking from under the seals. This was caused by the frigid temperature and the fact that any water that splashed onto the forks froze almost immediately. But, the seals were damaged, so it's time for new ones.

While I'm at it, I'll be tackling the rear shock (oil and nitrogen charge), reinstalling my powdercoated subframe (still waiting for it), changing brake fluid, greasing the swingarm and all pivot points, greasing head bearings, and a bunch of other things.

I'll be posting as the work progresses. For now, I'll leave you with a sad, sad picture of my WRR.