Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ward (see "The Trip to Lighti ng Fantas tic" sidebar). Baja Designs' Alan Roach is a mechanical engi neer wi th a mino r in electrical eng inee ring, but unlike many tech-head s, he also has a firm grasp on the Englis h langu age. By far the most d ifficult step is converting the stato r from AC to DC, so that the chas sis can be used as ground and the bat tery can run the lights w hile the engine is off . Th is p ro cess en tails pulling the flywh eel and cutting and re- . so lde ring a wire on the stator plate, an d, while I' m about the fur thest thing from w ha t you 'd call a "sparky" (few Englis h m a jor s a re ), closely fo llow ing the ins tructions go t me thro ugh the process unscathed (tho ugh I app recia ted having my engi neer-dad lending a ha nd) . If you're still da u nted (and don't have a techy family me mber), Baja Designs will perform the mod for a mere 15 bones. Attention to detail is firs t-rate, thanks to touches such as longer wiring on 'the rig ht rear blinker (which is furt her from the ha rness) , a slippery Teflon coating on the stator lead (so it slid es easily into the stock sheathing) and a high-beam ind ica tor bu ilt in to the' power switch. The kit even provides rare tools such as a flywheel puller and torx wrench, so unplann ed trips to the hard ware store rcan be avoided . Includ ing time to shoot photos, installation took my dad and I (both perfectionists) abou t five hours; those less an a l could probably cu t two hours off that figure. Wi th the kit in place, your b ike is · assured of meeting the lighting requ irements anyw h e re in the U.s. of A . (Rem em b e r th at th e DOT-app ro ved op tion is necessary in some places .) This d oes not mea n that your w ork is over followin g installation of the kit, as most state s have a few additional (non-lighting) regu lations. Said regulation s va ry little from state to state, and Baja Designs has lists of. requ irem ents for most states (provided with the kit). As an example, Cal ifornia Hi ghway Pa trol requires a left -sid e re ar-vi e w mi r ro r (Acerbis makes an inconspicuous unit that folds ou t of the wa y when not in u se ) and DOT-approved tires (several tire manufacturers sell DOT kn obb ies that perform just as well as non -legal rubber), in addition to va rio us regu lat ions regard in g fende rs, handlebars, etc. (all of which the WR meets in stock form ). It is important to note that there are a ver y few sta tes ou t there that will sim·ply not grant street lega lity if the words "Off-Highway Vehicl e" appear on the title - no ma tter how many hoops you jum p thro u gh in an effort to appease the m .. Flo rida , Wisco ns in a nd Rhode Island are known for being pa rticularl y h a r d- n o se d . Even e lsew he r e, t he p ro cess fo r ob tai ni ng a license pla te va ries fro m sta te to st ate . Again, Baja Designs k nows the p roc ess fo r mos t states, an d outlines it with the kit . In Ca lifo rn ia, a dealer must sign a s tateme n t of fac t that th e ligh ting is legal, j a nd the bike owner must sig n a state..men t of fact that his or her motorcycle ' complies with all of the CHP's req u ireme n ts. These forms (provi ded with the kit) are then toted alon g with the pink slip to the DMV , w here Baja Desi gns recommen ds you requ est a dual regis· tration . N o t on ly does this m ak e th e r'pap erwork eas ier for the bu reaucrat s to process, but it allows you to retain you r g r e en s tic ki e (and thu s supp ort o ffroad ing). No t every mod in th is p roj ec t w as aimed at ap peas ing government officials. For examp le, although FMF's MegaM ax I II exhaust sys tem has a Ll.S, Forest Ser-: ice-approved spark arrestor, its inclu v I sia n was motivated more by versatility and power e nh a nc emen t than by red tape . Because of its disc system, the pipe can be tu ned depending u pon whether you r priority for th e da y is power or stealth. FMF also provided its alloy Mota HF (high-flow) header, whic h is ceram iccoated to better disperse heat. A n a lloy FMF 909 Team-bend bar was bolted on to open u p the cockpit. The alloy bar is hea t-treated and has less pullback than stock , wh ile its standard d iameter allows the stock tri;>leclamp to be retained . Also, its (d etacha ble) crossbar 'p rovid es a pe rch for a Cou ntDown rollchart hold er (requ isite for organized d u a l- spo rt r id e s ) a n d a C y coA ct iv e BarPack map hold er. Fina lly, a pa ir of Acerbi s' s treamline d MX ha nd guards were installed . With a re tai l p r ice o f $5899, the WR400 is alread y an expe nsiv e motor cycle, so it ~as not the goa l of this project to .see with how many pricey par ts the bike cou ld be ado rne d . For example, the stock, 3.1-gallon fueltank w as retained, altho u g h C la r ke a n d IM S b ot h se ll sligh tly larger cells tha t still all ow the rid e r to s lide fu r ther forw a rd (bo th afterma rke t tanks require a YZ se a t). Besid e s, the WR a lrea dy comes with su ch dual-sport necessities as an O-ring chai n, s teel rear. sprocket , resettab le o d om e te r , sidestan d , s kidplate and wide-r atio transm iss ion . if yo u've got extra mo ney and wa nt to spend it, a trip through the back pages of this publication will turn up any nu mber of produ ct s aimed a t im p ro v in g the per forma nce of your Yamaha 400. WAY-RADWR? This is the pa rt w here one talks about th e en ha n ce d p rowess of the project bike in qu es tion, bu t it's iro nic that the mos t imp o rta n t compo nen t of th is underta ki ng - th e Baja Desi gns d u al sport kit - had no effect w hatsoever on th e Ya m a ha WR 400' s p er fo rman ce . Even more iron ic is th at th is fac t is a good th in g . Why ? Bec a u se s im p ly retain ing the performance of a pure-d irt m o to rcycl e is so methi ng m o torcycl e manu facturers have been unable to do when bu ilding dual-s p ort b ik es . O h, ther e have been a few that came close (KTM, AT K and Husaberg co me to mind), bu t all we re encumb ered by regulations tha t are stricter for stoc k st reetread y ma chines than they are for bikes Our project bi ke was comp lete j ust in time to participate in an organized dualsporting event at Mammoth Lakes, Califo rn ia. conve rted to legality (is thai Mr. Roach I hear praying than ks?) Technically, it's tru e that the kit adds a bit of weig ht to the bike (about seven pou nd s), bu t the poundage is not noticeable when you' re riding. Neither are the ad de d components a hindrance in terms of ri d er com fort , as you 'll b e able to move around on the bike just as you d o wit ho ut th e kit installed. And fina lly, the parts are durable; despite whacking the WR aga inst trees, bu shes and rocks (an d yes, even crashi ng it), I ha ven' t been able to damage the blinkers or anyth in g else . Everyth in g has fu nc tione d perfectly since it w as inst alled (though the kit incl ud es a comp rehensi ve tro u b le-s hooti n g gu ide ), an d m y d ad' s XR600 kit has bee n running strong for a cou ple of yea rs. Wha t' s more, the clean inst allation mean s you may well forge t the damned thing's even there. Such forgetfulness do es have its d isadvantages: Ittook me qui te a wh ile to OCJ 0\ 0\ ,..... 0\ ,..... ..... rJ) ::l , OJ) ::l ~ 25

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