Wringer,
The belt light does not come on until 100 hours. BUT...you do need to get the 10 hour maintenance done or do it yourself like I did. The engine wears alot while it breaks in so the fluids get murky real quick...and you don't want to keep riding around with nasty fluids in your baby. Keep in mind that the manual says 10 hours OR 60 miles, which ever comes first. I have 7 hours and 88 miles on mine so I split the difference of the miles and hours. List of things to do...

1) Check gap/condition of sparkplugs.
2) Change engine oil and filter.
3) Change front and rear differential fluids.

I'm 6'2" and the seat height works for me. But I am interested in seeing your seat mod!

Brian

 

Brute Force with lower seat photos.

Wow, that looks totally cool.

Thanks for sending the photos.

This makes me mnore liekly to get a brute. I wish I could ride it.

 

This makes me mnore liekly to get a brute. I wish I could ride it.[/quote]


You getting a little excited there NYROC

 

I am excited. However, I sometimes just type too fast and mistype all kinds of words like I did in my last post.

 

Thanks Scoobybri,
thought dealer told me "check belt" light @ 10 hours but sure enough, manual says 100

Also, if any one is interested in status of winch mount (PN KVF750-011) for B-force, I called the dude @ Kawasaki customer service (949-460-5688) on the 27th and he told me not to expect them to be available untill the 1st or 2nd week in September. Bummer.

 

Does the seat feel like it doesn't have enough padding?

How thin would you estimate the padding is at the thinnest point?

 

Looks like a nice modification. Hope you like.

nyroc, looks like you dont have any excusses now to buy the BF.

wringer, you should change your name to BF_Lowrider or something. That would be nice.

 

Just came back from another ride. I purposely road on some more "open" trails that get pretty badly rutted from springtime mud bogging and then dry out nice and hard. On top of this there are lots of roots in areas so overall makes a pretty rough ride, not technical mind you, just rough. My experiment was to ride the "lowrider" over this while sitting down as much as practical and see if it was still comfortable for me.

Basically, yes. The only real sort of discomfort I think I might find, on a long ride sitting down alot, would be the inside of my thighs due to the wide seat and, after modification, only about 1/2" of foam at that pressure point. Again, I am 5'7" so may not be an issue for a taller rider. If I were to do it again, I would see if I could get a strip of denser foam just along the thigh area, but think I would keep the "streamlining" as my upholsterer put it, just as it is.

Now, I will also say, the bike simply rides "heavy" with the Mud-lites vs. the stock wheel/tire set up (stock front 20 lbs. 14 oz., rear 23lbs. 7 oz.). I have not yet played with the spring rates, which I will, but almost seems like a damping issue. Don't know.

Before I swapped wheels but with the new seat, and minus the issues about the stock tires cornering and mud performance, the bike road sweet. Very comfortable. With the ITP type 5's and 26" Mud-lites, with their wider track and stiffer side walls, in combination with the seat, this thing can do side hills and off cambers with out feeling the slightest bit sketchy to me, so I am very happy with this improvement. Just need to sort the shocks a bit more.

Overall, I thick it rides good and expect it will be better after fooling with springs, tire pressures ect. Am relying on the IRS to make up for lack of foam.

For NYROC, the foam thickness in the center is about 1 3/4" tapering to about 1/2" at the nose and again to the sides.