Project DR650
One of the many
things I miss about my XR650L is how easy everything is to access. A
lot of
thought went into the placement and accessability of things like the
battery and airfilter, and nuts, bolts and screws were kept to a
minimum, in fact, some quick release fasteners were even used to access
the air filter.
I never realized how well planned the XRL was until I bought the DR.
For example: Screws hold the DR's side panels on, which conceals the
bolts for the seat, which must be removed to access the battery (which
is also held in by 2 more bolts). Also behind the left panel is
the airbox lid with 4 screws, giving access to the airfilter, held in
place by... yes, another screw...
So, finally I got
tired of twisting bolts and came up with a quick way to get to the
carb, battery, air filter, electrical, etc...
My solution? Hitch pins. I went to the hardware store and got replacement bolts in slightly longer lengths, cut the heads off, drilled holes through them and cut slots in the ends for insertion via screwdriver. For locations where the treaded mounts can be easily accessed from behind (like the side-panel mounts), nuts can be added behind the mount, then tightened once the proper length is adjusted.
The
tank bolts are covered by the seat with little tolerance and the pins
sit across a slope, so there's no
concern for them backing out.
At the time of writing, I
haven't done this for the air box, but intend to replace the 4 lid
screws as well as the filter screw.