Fitting Tusk 2 Pivoting bar risers to a 2025 KLR 650 Adventure

The fitting Aftermath..

One of the things you find when buying any new motorcycle is getting it tweaked for your particular dimensions, depending on your particular sizing detail features you want to specifically cater to for a better fit.

Japanese motorcycles are primarily designed for Japanese men who are rather smaller than your average American or Euro dude.

I used to be 6 foot 4 inches tall, with a particularly long upper torso. After an aircraft accident in 2002, I am now 6 foot 3, having lost an inch from my left tibia thanks to Comrade Ilizarov.

Comrade Ilizarov on leg

I generally have to wear 2XT shirts, the XT standing for extra tall to accommodate for the long body thing.

One adjustment I personally find helpful for addressing the Japanese dimension issue with Japanese motorcycles is the use of handlebar risers.

Apparently, the shorter stature riders amongst us like risers for when they stand on the foot pegs while riding on more challenging terrain.

To each their own, I suppose, but these handlebar risers can be very helpful in reducing arm stress and fatigue when riding a motorcycle, whether you're seated or standing, depending on your type of motorcycle.

I hesitated quite a bit about purchasing them, primarily due to the PayPal fraud scam incident I experienced last Christmas Eve, which went wrong when I attempted to buy some on a site called Offerjewel.com.

Once that fraud scam was sorted out, I picked up on my quest again and it was the Rox risers vs the Tusk Pro Pivoting risers for the choices and I went with the less expensive option.

I blame my Hebrew DNA there...

The first thing to do for this riser fitment job is to get the tools you will be needing as well as sizing up where your cables are currently routed.

For me, the tools I needed were 5 mm and 6 mm Allen keys, 8/10/12mm sockets, 10 mm spanner and a flat screwdriver with a long nose pliers and a mid sized adjustable spanner for the hand protector stuff.

It is quite a good idea to unbolt your current handlebar from their existing clamps and to put these new risers in the handlebar clamps where the handlebars went for a looksee and general adjustment idea.

Clamp them slightly forward for now while you see what is going to be involved.

Your handlebars will now be clipping into the Tusk Pro 2 pivoting risers and the risers are clamped into where the handlebars used to go.

When I first did this exercise I stopped everything and went back to the standard setup with the Kawasaki clamps it came with.

This was because I needed to research more and ask my Facebook clan for more opinions as the electrical and throttle cables seemed to face significant challenges..

That is to say that my cerebral cortex based on visual inputs came to such conclusion.

On Weds Jan 14th, I had some time to just do it (I was dithering) and I resolved to move the throttle cables under the yoke and not in front of the yoke where they were routed by the Kawasaki factory.

Get some cable lube while you pull the throttle cables off by the way as while you have the throttle and cable assembly apart it is a good time to lube them.

The various Power Sports stores do not seem to do this when assembling motorcycles these days.

Lube the clutch cable as well when you do the other side while you are at it.

You have to remove the Kawasaki hand guards on both sides by the way and this is actually the most painful part of this whole riser install process and is what takes the most time when fitting pivoting handlebar risers.

My hand protectors were not installed correctly by the Contra Costa Powersports folks, which is not unusual by the way.

My Kawasaki KLX 300 I bought last March for example was so badly setup by the Sacramento Power Sports store that assembled it, that throttle and clutch operation at full left or full right lock made it difficult on obstacle courses or tasks like the DMV lollipop test.

I had several cables custom made for mine to fix these issues on the KLX.

Getting it right on the KLR 650 is a serious pain in the ass as there are spacers and bolts and plastic bits that have to go in the right places but at least you do not need to have custom cables made.

These things have spacers and double nuts that sandwich the hand protector plastic so that the covers protect the clutch and brake levers while you ride.

I took 4 hours to reroute the throttle cables - assemble the hand protectors properly - I had to undo and start over 3 times on each side when I realized the right config for the hand protectors after visual inspection phases caught issues when I thought I was done.

When assembling everything, ensure the hand guards are neither twisted nor stressed, and the cables must remain neutral, not affecting the clutch or throttle operation at full lock in either direction.

If I had done it right the first time it would have been a 45 minute saga.

I am doing this for one of the other guys stricken with this problem and I bet I do it in an hour or less based on my experience gained last week.

Electrics over the yoke, Clutch cable under!

I re-routed the clutch cable as well and pulled the electrical cables from the handlebar plastic retainer in the handlebars.

I reworked that side once I noticed that the clutch cable and the bundle of electric cables were crossing each other, and I concluded that this would create a stress point that I wouldn't be satisfied with.

This meant the pesky plastic hand protectors had to come off several times when I realized I got it wrong.

I had to go loosen the riser clamp bolts again after I had fitted and tightened everything as I realized while typing this that the tightening of the various riser and handlebar clamps may not be level.

I do this sort of antic with aircraft engine mounting bits all the time - install then loosen - shake and make sure everything is fitting right then tighten - check and then do the final torque wrench settings.

If you set everything up correctly, you'll have a much greater appreciation for the Kawasaki hand guards. However, I have doubts about the crash resistance of that plastic, but that's a separate issue for another time.

They do the job for now and I will keep em till they crack or break.

I also adjusted the clutch plane setting so it is straight(er) from my sitting position when I drive as I do not love left wrist fatigue on the longer adventure tours I partake in.

Sadly this will cock up the rear view mirror positioning so I may be buying those CNC rear view mirror extenders after all...

Small spring in the Brake lever assembly to worry about..

I also checked the throttle twist for smooth snag free operation and a nice snappy snag free response when letting go of the throttle. Nothing can stick with any cable operation - clutch or throttle cable wise.

Also lock the steering from left to right to check that the brake and other cables are not stretched through the range of yoke movement from the handlebars through the range of motion with the engine running and in gear while you do it.

My left side electrical cables were too tight so I unclipped them from their handlebar hole and will figure out a better clamping MO as I go.

I ordered cable clips from Wunderlich and will finish that bit when they get here.

After I loosen and tighten everything again, I will go ride it on an obstacle course to see how good it is or isn't.

Already I am thinking I need the JNS footpeg clamps but this will require a new lower brake lever....mmmmm, that’s expensive….that new brake lever is $105 clams!

My Hebrew genes are rebelling at the notion!

The clutch side hand protector is a bitch to setup right with that cable adjuster clamp

The bike needed a lot of adjustments on the obstacle course setup area.

I was not happy with the clutch cable setup either and fiddled with that quite a bit.

The KLR Clutch setup and grab is actually quite interesting and there is a lot you can do for early or late clutch grab settings with this machine, which I like.

I took Dark Duck for a service last Friday and was astounded at they wanted to rip me for one.

I paid $321 for the 600 mile service and was told it also needed a valve check which they wanted an additional $900 for!

Fucking ridiculous charge is what that is! (for both items).

The valves are bucket and shims and only need sorting every 15,000 miles.

I think I will be acquiring the manual and doing that myself.

The next service is at 4600 miles which will definitely be the last one I pay for. After that I will do it all myself.

I also bought a chain and sprocket set and will get a new dealer to do that with the 4600 mile service.

I phoned around to every other Kawasaki dealer and they all quoted me $240 for the valves, so my relationship with Contra Costa Power Sports is terminated!

When I do the valves I will set them at the upper end of the tolerance scale so that they will not require adjusting for quite some time.

This is what I liked about that Buell Ulysses engine, zero valve adjustments - it was all automatic and it had a beautiful belt drive system.

Actually that V-Twin engine in the KLR frame would make quite a bike!

The bike now has 655 miles on it and it has settled in real swell post first service.

I won my PayPal war and bought and fitted all the goodies. I also bought the Eagle Mike Doohickey kit with the tool and will also get the new Kawasaki dealer I am gonna switch to; to do that and I have selected the next set of tires for it as well.

Dunlop TrailMax Mission tires look like the real deal for longevity and requisite grip per feedback so that's whut I am gunna shod it with next!