The great FE501 conversion

I’ve bought and fitted a pair of Wolfman tank panniers as suggested by Mark and also fitted a pair of bar muffs ready for when it gets properly cold next month so that’s it finished really.

I’ve modified the straps holding the panniers so they now have Duraflex quick release buckles to make it easier to remove them when I’ve got freezing cold fingers and it’s dark and miserable though that has made them pretty much bike specific because I trimmed the excess webbing rather than tuck it behind the panniers.

They fitted really well around the bulge on top of the tank and there’s plenty of room for all sorts of crap in them with one advantage being the right hand one is close enough to the USB charging points on the tower so I can charge toys overnight and recharge the power pack while I’m riding the next day. Job done :thumb2
 
It’s now got a pair of Kriega OS-18 panniers on the Combo base which fit much better than the Wolfman soft panniers I already own. The whole set up can be lifted off after undoing 4 hooks so they’re really easy to remove or each pannier can be removed from the base with 4 hooks holding each pannier to the base. I suspect I’ll go for removing the whole lot so they can be out over a shoulder and carried in one hit.

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The photo shows them absolutely rammed with pairs of overalls so I’ll easily be able to get a summer sleeping bag, Thermarest plus clothes in them, tent in a small tailpack then food, drink, gas stove and a pan will go in the tank panniers. That’ll keep the weight evenly distributed and fairly low so now I need to plan a solo trip to part of the TET and misbehave
 
Looking good:thumb do you know what fronts mudguard was used, assume a KTM one but off which model?
Just got a 701 enduro andhoping to do similar transformation.
 
I honestly don’t know what it’s off. Almost certainly a KTM because it fits WP forks but which model I don’t know.

Nomad will be able to supply one but it’ll be somewhere in the region of €250
 
How’s the training going,Andy ? :)

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Work seems to be interfering with my bike riding a lot more than I’d like it to but while it’s cold and muddy I’ll just take the money and wait for my opportunity to arrive :D
 
I felt the need to fit headlight protectors so ordered a couple of plain Perspex discs, drilled them and on they went.

The photos only show one cover fitted but they’re both on now.

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Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Love the bike you have Andy, one question though, isnt the servicing intervals for the 501 going to be a nuisance for your intended European adventures?
 
The factory service intervals are pretty much irrelevant for the type of riding I’ll be doing plus I’ve increased the oil capacity so I’ll probably look at changing oil every 2k miles and filters every second oil change unless they look a bit suspicious.
 
OK..... pardon my ignorance as I don't know much about off road bikes.... so basically if you don't rev the tits of them then you can extend the servicing, would this be the same for valve clearances?.... I really fancy a bike for doing some low key off road stuff but servicing has put me off so far...
 
Others will be more experienced than me when it comes to how far you can push routine maintenance but I’ve no intention of looking at the valve clearances during a 4k mile trip. I still think it’s worth paying out for a bigger clutch cover to put more oil in and because I’ve got only a limited amount of trust in things I’d look at fitting an oil cooler if I was doing an extended trip to somewhere like Morocco but I doubt if anyone else would bother.

I’ll be taking a pre-oiled air filter in a plastic bag when I go on longer trips but that’s because I’m too lazy to simply clean it, they take up very little room in the bottom of a pannier and it’s a quick job to change it :D
 
I actually managed to give the bike an extended run off road today doing about 50 miles in total with more than 50% being off road so a good time was had. Overall it behaved very well, the tyres and suspension were fine, the seat was good on sections where I stayed sitting down and the engine was great.

Even better from a long term point of view was that I filled it just before home and according to the fuel app I use on my phone it’s returned close to 70mpg over the last 100 miles which was mixed riding between off road and single track back roads. That’ll do for me when I use it on holiday at some point because the plan is to to be doing exactly that type of riding and I could be getting around 200 miles on a tank :okay
 
How much bigger is that tank compared to standard?
 
It’s a 15l tank whereas the standard is 9l. The bigger capacity should give me about 90 miles more which could make a big difference when I’m away in 3rd World countries such as are frequently found once you get East of Germany :D
 
mikeyboy said:
Does it wheelie:D
Click to expand...

It might.

Actually, if I’m entirely honest, changing the gearing to something more road friendly has emasculated it to a degree and if you need to pop the front wheel up you have to make the bike do it rather than just give it a squirt. It’s still fun though :D
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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