Product Review: Aftermarket Cases For Dual Sport Bikes

[Kurt138]

My bike (2008 Kawasaki KLX450R) is basically a de-tuned 2008 KX450F with lights, a sidestand and an 18″ rear wheel.

I’ve been having a problem with a small oil weep from my clutch cover. I tried to JB Weld the problem away but it didn’t work. You can see my OEM clutch cover is pretty thrashed.

The problem area is at about 12 o’clock in this photo:

I think the real issue is that the OEM clutch cover is very thin magnesium. I guess that’s OK for a motocross bike where every pound makes a difference (at least in a magazine review), but not so great for a dual sport in Northern Nevada.

I might be able fix the issue by putting JB Weld on the inside of the clutch cover, but that doesn’t seem like enough.

Rides: KLX450R, KX500 (Project)

[Kurt138]

Instead I decided to look for a better solution and threw money at the problem.

I spent $90 on a Boyesen clutch cover. Boyesen is known for making high-quality parts for offroad bikes. They made their name in the 80s with reed valves that were better than OEM for the 2-stroke offroad bikes of the day. They also make replacement engine covers for many popular offroad bikes, and other cool stuff.

Boyesen advertises some of their engine covers as “magnesium”, but that just refers to the look of the powder coating. All of their engine covers are made from Aluminum alloy. Their covers are thicker and stronger than OEM engine covers, especially OEM magnesium engine covers.

Here she is installed on my KLX:

I am confident this cover will last for the life of the bike, so the $90 investment is worth it IMHO.

BTW, my KX500 has an OEM plastic magneto cover. That bike is going to get ridden hard, so I also replaced the plastic cover with a Boyesen alloy cover:

Quite a few DDMC riders have motocross bikes that they’ve converted to dual sport. If so, you might want to inspect your bike for any “weak links” like the OEM clutch cover on my KLX.

Rides: KLX450R, KX500 (Project)

[Dave G]

Kurt, did you gain any oil capacity? Some people use the Recluse covers without the Recluse clutch because it adds a bit of capacity.

[Eric Larsen]

Looks good. Are these stronger than factory covers?

Eric
DR-Z4s, KLX 300, Monkey 125
InReach Add. larseneric27@inreach.garmin.com

[Jose Hanagan]

Looks great Kurt and just in time for the RR200.

KLR 650

[Kurt138]

Dave G wrote:

Kurt, did you gain any oil capacity? Some people use the Recluse covers without the Recluse clutch because it adds a bit of capacity.

I don’t think so. The KLX has 1.3 l of capacity though, so it’s not as minimal as some other bikes. I change it a lot too, every couple of weeks.

Rides: KLX450R, KX500 (Project)

[Kurt138]

Eric Larsen wrote:

Looks good. Are these stronger than factory covers?

For sure stronger. You could punch through the OEM magnesium cover with a screw driver.

I remember a Suzuki MX bike from years past that would crack the right crank case if you kicked it over too hard. I can’t remember which bike that was, but I think the OEMs generally make their cases as thin as possible to save weight and to keep their costs down.

Rides: KLX450R, KX500 (Project)

[Eric Larsen]

Thanks. They don’t make parts for my bike though.

Eric
DR-Z4s, KLX 300, Monkey 125
InReach Add. larseneric27@inreach.garmin.com

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