KLR 650 Thermo-Bob

Unlike most (all?) of my other videos, this one is '87 - '07 specific; the '08 dimensions are different and require different places to cut the hoses, see the Installation Manual that came with your Thermo-Bob.

Thermo-Bob bought from WattMan: http://www.xanga.com/watt_man and manufactured by Eagle Mike: http://www.eagle-m-e.com/

Body Work Removal and Installation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPu7erb1hrQ

Coolant Draining and Filling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anuQhg0Z2ws

Tools you'll need:
Philips screwdriver
Flat head screwdriver?
Cutting device (a knife)

Remove the body work and drain the coolant (see videos above).
Put the coolant drain plug back in place, torque it to 88 INCH pounds.

Optional: Make an "X" on the coolant hose going from the water pump to the cylinder. This will remind you NOT to cut this hose and limits confusion later on if you're trying to do this quickly.

Make a mark on the top hose (that goes from the top of the cylinder on the right side to the top of the radiator) that is level with the valve cover gasket (I made mine a little high, oops. I removed some hose from the cylinder side to make the T-Bob sit in the right place. More on this later).

Cut the hose on that line.

Remove the three 8 mm bolts holding the stock thermostat housing on. Inside is the stock thermostat, remove that and replace it with the small fat o-ring. Lube the o-ring in coolant first.

Reinstall the thermostat housing, tightening the bolts finger tight at first, then go back and tighten them 1/2 (or 1/4...) turn until they get to 88 INCH pounds (NOT FOOT POUNDS!).

Test fit the Thermo-Bob in the top radiator hose. It should "point" to the radiator; you should see the bolt heads on the Thermo-Bob.

Make sure the T-Bob isn't touching anything that could damage it, the hoses, or that it could damage (engine parts, frame, exhaust, hold the reservoir bottle up to check that). You may need to remove some hose (not just make a cut and install). You may need to remove up to 1 1/2 inches total (1/2 - 3/4 " on each side). Make these corrections as little cuts! [IIRC, I ended up removing about 1/2 " from the cylinder side and it fit. YMMV]

Remove the bottom coolant hose that goes from the water pump (NOT the one marked "CYL" with an arrow) to the bottom of the radiator. On the radiator end (the end without the kink in it), make two marks - one at 2 1/4 " and the other at 3 " from the end of the hose. Cut at those two marks.

Fit the "T" into the bottom hose so that the 45 deg barb points to the radiator end of the hose. Dip both ends of the bypass hose (that came as part of the T-Bob kit) in coolant to lubricate it and wipe off the outside. Stick the hose on the barb so that the hose curves away from the main hose. When looking at the hose from the water pump end, the barb and bypass hose should be slightly askew to the right. Put one of the supplied small hose clamps on the bypass hose and tighten it to the barb. Slide the other on.

Reinstall the lower hose (don't forget to slide two of the large hose clamps on for the "T" fitting piece, don't tighten then yet) and tighten the main hose clamps (on the water pump and the radiator).

You will probably need to trim the bypass hose so it doesn't kink. It came longer than needed. Once you trim it, connect it to the T-Bob and hold up the reservoir to make sure nothing will get rubbed through. If it all looks good, slide the hose clamps into place and tighten them. Make sure all the other hose clamps are tight as well.

The cable tie is included in the kit so you can "pull" what you need to where you need it to avoid bad rubs on any parts.

Reinstall the coolant reservoir and fill the radiator and coolant bottle if it needs it. Replace the cap and run the engine for 30 seconds. Remove the radiator cap slowly and carefully. If the level went down, refill it to the top and replace the cap.

Run the engine until the fan comes on once. Check for leaks while it's running. If something looks like it's smoking, it's probably just steam if you spilled some coolant. If the temp rises and the fan doesn't kick in, and keeps rising (past 3/4-ish), SHUT THE ENGINE OFF (the fan should kick in at a little over halfway on the gauge. You probably either installed the T-Bob backwards or put the bypass in the wrong hose.

Replace the Body Work (see video).



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Category:

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• Kawasaki
• KLR
• 650
• KLR650
• Motorcycle
• Dirtbike
• Dirt
• Bike
• Thermo-Bob
• Thermo
• Bob
• ThermoBob

[guyNbluejeans]

Since I've done this, my bike's fan doesn't kick on anymore when it gets too hot. I wish it would but don't know what mistake I might have made when I did the job. Any advice would be much appreciated!:-)

[ghotioutofh2o]

That's a bit precarious. You shouldn't have done anything with wiring. I'm guessing it's a separate, coincidental issue. Check your fan fuse. If memory serves me right, the fan fuse is under the right side of the gas tank behind the radiator fluid bottle.

[ghotioutofh2o]

That's a bit precarious. You shouldn't have done anything with wiring. I'm guessing it's a separate, coincidental issue. Check your fan fuse. If memory serves me right, the fan fuse is under the right side of the gas tank behind the radiator fluid bottle.

[guyNbluejeans]

I finally did the thermo-bob the other day. it now stays pretty much just to the left of the middle line on the temp gauge. I would like to insert the temperature marker but wonder if it's a tricky deal to start breaking into the instrument housing to do it.

Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks!

[ghotioutofh2o]

I personally don't think the temp gauge is necessary. Knowing the actual temperature might be nice for testing purposes, but as far as I'm concerned, as long as the needle doesn't get into the red area, I'm good to go.

[guyNbluejeans]

Thanks for your input; I'll not mess with it.

I ride it all year round save for when there's ice or snow on the road. I'm wondering how it'll run when the temp gets around minus 12 degrees. When I rode it during past winters the needle wouldn't get up there, understandably. Now I hope this device will cure the problem in even such extreme cold. I guess I'll be finding out ... :-)

[ghotioutofh2o]

It works beautifully down around those temps! It'll run maybe a needle width cooler than in the summer, but it still holds its temp very well.

[bearhamo]

@bearhamo Watt Man. Great modification works like a dream.

[Rockynight]

Thank you sir!!

[bearhamo]

Great info. I had no idea about this. I have already done the doohickey, zerk fitting swingarm mod, decalifornication, removed all of the safety switches, and added the foam to the side of the radiator to block off wasted air flow. Is there a special place to purchase this you recommend?

Thank you for your videos.

[guyNbluejeans]

@ghotioutofh2o What's going on with YT? I submitted a reply and it didn't go up but I see that it (strangely) doubled my post from yesterday as well as your post (to it), ghotioutofh20.

Don't know what'll happen with THIS post, but, again, I do thank you sir for your advice and, when time permits, will look into it for sure. Thanks Much!!

[guyNbluejeans]

@ghotioutofh2o Thanks Much! I'm not sure when I'll have the time to get to it, but for sure I will look into it.