by Elden Carl The weekend of 10/3 and 10/4 of 2009 started out normally enough with and early morning 30 mile ride from my home in La Mesa, CA east to Restaurant La Fogata in Tecate, Mexico for breakfast. After a great meal, I re-crossed the border and headed west for my return trip down […]
Air Race Champion, Mexican Rally Car Champion and long time expert multisurface motorcyclist Bruce Redding simply called Elden Carl the best rider and builder of dual purpose motorcycles. Former Pro-Motocrosser Garry Wright called Elden the best motorcycle set-up man he ever knew.
There seems to be some confusion about “who is Top Gun?” “Who is MMP?” and “Who do I contact for questions or products?” I’ll try to confuse you some more; actually it’s simple. In late 2002 Elden Carl met a KLR650 rider Mark B. who became interested in all the KLR knowledge that Elden possessed. […]
As we’ve said many times, don’t expect improved performance, good gas mileage and long engine life if you have increased aerodynamic drag and overall weight followed by over-gearing your big single; especially if that big single has one spark plug like the KLR650 A surprising number of KLR650 riders are still changing from 15/43 (stock) […]
by Elden Carl Nestled in the eastern San Diego County mountains on 40 acres of high desert is a two building facility dedicated to multisurface motorcycles. Despite the seriousness of what goes on there, Mark Behling dubbed the place Area 51 1/2 and the name stuck. The humor expressed in the moniker infected all of […]
OK, OK, I know I’m bombarding you with comments from customers that install one of our rear shock springs but it’s such an important up-grade on the KLR650 that I can’t stop. I’ll get to two after some other comments. I’m fairly certain that any person that wants to buy or has purchased a KLR650 […]
When Todd Vosper and I did our comparison test of the 2005 and 2008 KLR650s we weresurprised that the 2005 pulled the 2008 on an uphill roll-on test. We knew better than to
By Elden Carl In November 2001 on the same day, Ron Jensen and I each purchased new 2002 Suzuki DR650SE
If you don’t think keeping the balancer chain in a KLR650 engine free of slack is important, just ask Kurt Grife, Jim Bellach, Corby Hall and numerous others what happens when the chain comes off its sprockets. You will at least lose your engine or at worst go down when the rear wheel locks up […]
In previous articles, we have discussed the few problems concerning Suzuki’s great DR650SE. In each case we’ve suggested a fix. The Top Gun
Mel Clark is originally from England and has been touring the North and South America Continents for about 5 years on a KLR650. His original 2004 KLR finally had to be replaced at 90,000 plus miles. While in San Diego he was able to purchase a new 2007 KLR650 and after a Top Gun prep, […]
Bruce Redding Mexican Rally Car champion, Air Race Champion and long time master
Oh how I long for the good old days in Baja when Alan Dietor (the best dirt rider I’ve ever ridden with) and I used to wander all over Baja without ever encountering (other than flat tires) or even hearing of a major problem, human or mechanical. To be sure, riding in the early 1970s […]
