Part 1 of WP48 conversion finished today. I just had a short visit at the shop. These are low quality shots with mobile.

http://picasaweb.google.com/flatboarder/Tenere

New Excel Talon wheels (red/black) will be made in Feb. Upper fork crown is tailormade from CNC'd Aluminium and will be anodized red. It locates WP48 fork (89cm of length) 3cm downward compared to stock fork (90cm of lengt) but allows relocating it upward in case. 25cm of travel compared to 21cm stock. Serious damping. Hope we can keep that 25cm when testing full travel without hitting radiator by removing fork springs. Lower crown is from stock KTM 690er Enduro. Works unchanged, but will slightly modify limiter bolts.

There is no big change at riding geometry. We are trying to keep everything near to stock level. Will at max gain 2cm of height as soon as 18" rear wheel is used, but no more than that. Hopefully less.

Suspension feels completely different compared to stock.

Thanks to JMo for her inspiring articles and work. This will not at all be a copy. We will do it quite differently instead, but she proved feasibility of such a conversion and as soon as I saw hers, I decided to start my own project (which has been in my mind since I bought the Tenere).

Top work fella!

The more of these bikes we see converted, hopefully the more we will see racing too!

Can't wait to see it finished!

Jen xx

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brilliant.. really looking forward to the finished product..awesome..
now im seriously considering the conversion..

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Thanks JMo and thanks zewl!

Some more details:
The upper for crown has been designed specifically for my motorcycle and the 690er WP48 fork. This means, it has been quite expensive (not at all cheaper than OTR complete set which is also very nice and black already).
It fits the steering lock (front wheel heading straight when locked). The manufacturer (a major Austrian WP distributor) might be happy to produce some more of it a bit cheaper, since they now have got the CNC machine data feed. Do not know.
Also the new crown utilizes KTM handlbar mounts bolted into the fork crown, no longer needing a big bolt with some big hexnut below fork cron where it is a pain. So, easy handle bar clamp change and usage of stock KTM handlebar parts, even they provided two mounting positions as can be seen in pictures.
Lower fork crown needs a new shaft fitting the Tenere steering head. They also manufactured it and pressed it into lower crown.
Fork mount, axle, wheel parts are fully KTM compliant. Hopefully (yet to be tested) we can even use KTM 690 stock fork setup without change of travel. This would be perfect. In fact, stock suspension setup appears to work quite will, but I have not yet ridden it. These things will happen in February earliest.
I was extremely lucky buying the KTM fork in perfect condition with axle, crowns and everything for a ridiculous price. Otherwise it would have been too expensive.

Actually, I have previously been riding KTM for several years and I used to like it, apart from some engine damage. I am very impressed about the new 690s that I have not yet ridden but would like to. Nevertheless, I also like the Tenere and my WR, so to me its just a matter of coexistence

Kind regards, Phil

Nice to see another conversion. Forks are on my list, but I've been looking at WR items. A while off yet though...
Looks very nicely done flatboarder.

Cooool

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Nice conversion, but I think you need to revalve/respring the fork. The 690 is a lot lighter espeacially the front.

Would like to see the bike once complete. Sounds awesome
Am doing my own conversion at the moment using a wr front end with upgraded springs.
Have only had to put a spacer in the top clamp + engineer a bracket for the stops. Oversize disk & caliper bracket. I am going to do the Rydale and Hafren rallys on it, did the Hafren last year and would reccommend it to anyone with a big bike and some off road skill.
Cheers

No problem about. We will test as is, then adjust suspension. This is one major reason for getting it done with support from local shops around my home. Most of the work was done by my local WP suspension shop who are quite well known with customizing things, and they will be happy to adjust suspension in whatever way possible. Also they will supply external spring tension adjusters as a last step.
The 690's WP48 fork in fact feels somewhat softer than stock tenere fork, but it is known to be quite strong and there is 4cm of additional travel, after all. My fork crown was designed to locate fork 3cm downward to compensate for longer travel together with shortened total fork length (I did not want to cut fork travel by inserting some sort of stopper). When I did a short test ride (some yards only) the front did not feel any lower at all, but we will take care of this as soon as the bike will be rideable again. These will be the finalizing steps and it will take several more weeks until then.

Nice pictures of yours. I really like the 690 KTMs which in my opinion belong to the best motorbikes, KTM ever built (as well as other manufacturers...)
I own a WR250R together with my Tenere, both replacing just one 690 Enduro.
However, the Tenere is very good for relaxed single cylinder touring (with baggage and stuff). The WR is good for offroad, and I definitely do not need that much power when riding offroad.

My status: today I handed over my fork assembly to some metal works company to finalize my inacceptably ugly self made fender mounting bracket. The Meca System bracket would not fit my fender (African Queens GFK hand made), so we need to do our own.
Pictures as always in my picasa online album.

No further steps until now. Talon hubs take their time. Upper fork crown is currently being anodized.
Regards, Phil

Hi everyone,
I'm just wondering what's the advantage or disadvantage thereof, for replacing the rear wheel to an 18inch. I use my bike (XT660R) 50/50 and here in northern Mexico, the terrain is very rough and dry. Lots of sand, gravel and very, very sharp rocks...

Thank's in advance for any comment.

Salud amigos !