Winter is coming - Time to dust off the RMZ!

[Darvo]

Thought I'd share my RMZ project with all of you.  It's going to be a little different than most!

 

After a few years riding a Honda, it was time to come back to a trusty RMZ.  I found this 2011 back in February.  I'm the second owner, first owner was a 60+ year old that bought this as a first bike.  Rode it a few times, got hurt, went back to street bikes.  The price was right so I picked it up.

 

When I bought it:

 

 

 

Since February, I've been riding an old YZ125 that I picked up for $200.  RMZ mostly just sat for the last 8 months.  I did put on some backgrounds and an hour meter.

 

[Darvo]

Added a FMF exhaust with a 02 sensor welded in, and a Rekluse Core EXP.

 

 

Always good to have a helper!

 

[LSeca]

Very nice bike, looks like its new. Looking forward to seeing what your going to do with it.

[Darvo]

Thanks Lseca.  My bike will never be even close to as nice as yours though!

 

Picture of the hour meter, temp sensor and Dobeck Gen4 wiring harness mounting location.

 

[slowgs2001]

That's I good looking weld on the bung for that wide band... I'm gonna have mine welded tomorrow.. hope it looks like yours

[Bruce372]

since i had the Ti header, the Ti bung was $50!!!  then Yosh charged me $75 to weld it but at least it was done right.

 

[Bruce372]

darvo, how does the temp sensor work?

 

cute kid......just wait until you change a wheel and cant find the axle nut.....i had to buy a new one and it showed up 3 months later in his pockets!!! ?

[slowgs2001]

since i had the Ti header, the Ti bung was $50!!! then Yosh charged me $75 to weld it but at least it was done right.

that weld looks sick.. Turned a sweet lookin Blue

[Darvo]

darvo, how does the temp sensor work?

 

cute kid......just wait until you change a wheel and cant find the axle nut.....i had to buy a new one and it showed up 3 months later in his pockets!!! ?

 

Temp sensor just reads the water temp, and sends it to a trail tech computer.  I like this location because it's clean, and easy to remove.  But, I'd rather have it in-line right out of the cylinder for a more accurate reading.

 

Your pipe looks great.  Curious as to the placement - I've heard multiple things on where is best to put the wide band sensor.  Dobeck says 4-8" from the cylinder, that's why I put mine so close, it's about 7.5".  Yours must be around 12" - is that PC's recommended spot?

[Darvo]

Mounted up the Trail Tech Vapor, and the AFR+ gauge using the provided hardware.

 

 

I wasn't thrilled with the location of either.  I don't like not having a bar pad, and was worried that they might get damaged from roost, tree branches, or from the occasional cart-wheel episode.

 

So, I grabbed a cold one out of the fridge and brainstormed some ideas.  Came up with this:

 

 

Also added spacers to move the Cycra guards out to allow more room for the clutch cable and brake line.  Moving the guards out required the front # plate to be moved out a little also.  

 

Here's a closer view:

 

 

 

Thoughts?  It's nice to have a bar pad, but things seem a little cluttered for my liking.

[Darvo]

View from the front showing the Cycra's:

 

 

And a touch of bling - why not?

 

[Darvo]

Since I'll be riding in the winter, temperature is always an issue and bike struggle to maintain a good operating temp.  So I bought a thermostat - I don't think the bypass is necessary, so I plugged it.

 

 

I installed the thermostat where the factory "T" is in the cooling system.  It fits, but it's tight!

 

 

 

Seeing how the thermostat is a "Y" that replaces a "T", the hose routing is slightly different.  I'm pretty happy about getting this to fit with no other modifications to the stock hose routing.  That way I can take it out for summer use and not have to buy new hoses.

 

 

 

 

Just found out that some of my parts won't be in until mid November, kind of bummed about that!

[Darvo]

This bike is ending up with a ton of "bolt-on's" which is driving the weight up.  I'm not too concerned about that, but I am focusing on reducing the "riding weight".  Since this is mainly a winter bike, snow and ice build-up can become a problem.

 

I found these pre-filters for the radiators.  I'm hoping that they will keep snow from hitting the radiators, melting and then freezing at the bottom of the radiator creating a huge ice ball.

 

 

I can't stand the off-white fork boots that came in these in 2011, so I replaced them with yellow ones.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Going to be building a winter-specific skid plate this weekend.  Hope it turns out okay!

[fdme]

Mounted up the Trail Tech Vapor, and the AFR+ gauge using the provided hardware.

I wasn't thrilled with the location of either. I don't like not having a bar pad, and was worried that they might get damaged from roost, tree branches, or from the occasional cart-wheel episode.

So, I grabbed a cold one out of the fridge and brainstormed some ideas. Came up with this:

Also added spacers to move the Cycra guards out to allow more room for the clutch cable and brake line. Moving the guards out required the front # plate to be moved out a little also.

Here's a closer view:

Thoughts? It's nice to have a bar pad, but things seem a little cluttered for my liking.

I really dig the way you have your cockpit set up man, it doesn't seem cluttered at all to me! Looks nice and clean.

[Darvo]

I really dig the way you have your cockpit set up man, it doesn't seem cluttered at all to me! Looks nice and clean.

 

Thanks.  It's growing on me!  I wish I had a little more talent (and tools) for working with metal.  That bracket was made with nothing but a grinder and a drill bit! 

[fdme]

Thanks. It's growing on me! I wish I had a little more talent (and tools) for working with metal. That bracket was made with nothing but a grinder and a drill bit!

I'm an aircraft sheet metal mechanic and believe me when I say those are the two most important tools to be had!?

Definitely update when you get a chance to ride. I've always been fascinated by rmz's but never rode one.

[BDubb106]

Look forward to seeing more. Def a little different than most builds on here. ?

[Darvo]

Worked on the slideplate / engine cover this weekend...

 

Given the odd look, I'll explain the reasoning behind it.  When riding in deep snow and cold weather we've found that it's almost impossible to keep the temperature of the bike where it needs to be.  Water temps regularly drop to below 100 degrees, when this happens the EFI is dumping LOTS of fuel into the motor, so much that it gets past the rings and into the motor oil.  All bad things!!!

 

So to fight this in the past we've blocked radiators, used thermostats, stop and let the bike idle for long periods of time, etc.

 

This year my focus is to have the bike run as it should in the worst of conditions.  So that means keeping snow away from the motor.  We spent the weekend working with Seehorn's Extreme slideplates (SXS -  https://www.facebook.com/pages/SXS-Seehorns-Xtreme-Slideplate/595663850463171) to come up with this.

 

Not a look that most are going to like, but I'm willing to live with that for the function.  Hopefully I'll be able to ride through handlebar deep powder all day and maintain 170 degree+ water temps!

 

[BlowinSmoke]

I like this build, it's different. What kind of temperatures are you riding in? Must be pretty cold if the bike can't even maintain operating temperature.

Edited November 4, 2013 by BlowinSmoke

[Darvo]

I like this build, it's different. What kind of temperatures are you riding in? Must be pretty cold if the bike can't even maintain operating temperature.

Usually it's 15-30 degrees, any thing colder than that and I tend to stay home.  I don't think the cold is as much of a factor as the snow is.  Last year there were times where the bike was running with snow sitting on the head pipe-not being melted.    It warms up fast when idling, but crazy to think how cold they can get.