2022 Templar X 6sp Review

[Thumper]

Orange is a great color for this bike. Those bark busters really look great on it. What a F-ing awesome bike we have. Incredible deal.

and we have ended up with a range of gearing:

If tknj99 has OEM 13T front, he is 13/42 now on the 6 speed
I have 14/49 on my 5 speed now (swapped wheels from the 6speed)
My 6 speed has the OEM front sprocket but the 39T rear 13/39
dslfrk comes in with a 14/40 on his 6 speed

ratios, sorted from tall gearing to low geared
6 speed
14/40 = 0.3500 (dslfrk)
13/39 = 0.3333 (thumper)
13/42 = 0.3095 (tknj99)
5 speed
14/49 = 0.2857 (thumper)

13/49 = 0.2653 (OEM)

I can see why 6th gear seems like an overdrive with 14/40 (dslfrk). You could go back to 13T front if it seems too tall. 13/40 = 0.325 which is about the same as my 13/39. (0.333).

I am going to put the rack on the 6 speed when PSM gets them in. It can be removed pretty quick for trail duty. Once I have it, I will decide on bags/luggage, or fabricate something. I can use it as adventure tour and carryall for shopping/errands. My orange 5 speed will remain the dedicated dirt bike. I already put a narrow TUSK DSport on the back wheel. It bites and holds like a shark. That will be the one that gets modified.
I just love the simplicity of that 5 speed engine.
I was looking closely at the Templar M. It seems very similar to my 5 speed Temp X, but with the newer version of the luggage rack. If I was starting all over, I would buy that bike ($1600 is more than $200 less than I paid for my 5 speeed TempX). The M is my top choice for off road now. Hands down... No need for 6 speed off road.

[tknj99]

A pic from my ride.. also.. my son's horn failed recently and we found a replacement louder horn on Amazon. It came in a 2-pack so i figured what the hay.. went from a meep meep to a honk honk now


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NYCPX7B...roduct_details

[Thumper]

Originally Posted by tknj99

Update: just passed the 500mi mark and done with break-in.. can now wind- her out fully (yay). also changed the oil..
with regard to the wheels feeling out-of-balance between 40-60mph, i've found that keeping the tire pressure above 30psi helps alot on the pavement, perhaps thats a sign that a balancing is needed - luckily a friend has a motorcycle wheel balancer with weights for next time i head that way

You will have to add a LOT of weight to balance the rimlocks! You can remove the rimlocks if you want the wheels more balanced. They are heavy. Just no real practical way to balance a wheel with a rimlock on it. They are made to spin below 40mph in general.

[tknj99]

Hmm.. never heard that before.. definitely worth the try, thanks for that info

[Thumper]

Originally Posted by tknj99

Hmm.. never heard that before.. definitely worth the try, thanks for that info

Rim locks are for running at low air pressure while racing. They prevent the tires from spinning on the rim, which would shred the tube. Templar X is equipped as a raceable enduro. Those sprockets it comes with are made for running with close ratio choices below 40mph. It's really geared down 13/49 which makes sense for this setup.

It's also uncomfortably tall for most people. Same reason... Motocross/Enduro. Longer suspension travel and higher ground clearance. Even the tapered handlebars are flatter and wider than a dual sport. Templar is just a street legal Enduro.

[Texas Pete]

I did not originally catch the OEM rims having rim locks pre-installed. I plan on mostly using the Templar X on the street. Not having used rim locks before, if I remove them do I need to find a plug for the hole in the rim to protect the tube or just remove the rim lock and leave the hole.


I was eventually planning on doing a tubeless conversion after the OEM knobbies wear out with marine 5200 sealant and sealant tape and switch to something like Shinko 705 for better matching my intended 90% street use. I wonder how the rim lock holes will affect those plans now =P


For those that have already assembled are the bearings pre-greased with a moly or a lithium complex? I take it the wheel axle bolts are bone dry. I need to sort out some grease purchases before the box arrives and assembly starts. If there is already grease on bearings I was thinking to up the grease quality to red n tacky for bearings and either green or marine for non bearing application.

[Thumper]

You won't be able to do a tubeless conversion unless you find cast wheels (no spokes). But eliminating the rimlocks is no problem. You can put a thin head 3/8" bolt through from the inside to cover the rim lock hole to protect the tube from blowout. Tape it over as well (plastic electrical tape) with a few layers to blunt any sharp edges. You might be able to find a bolt with no hex head (round heads do exist). Hold it in with a nut for tire mounting, but you can remove the nut after filling the tube. It can be balanced with the nut there, or not.

Originally Posted by Texas Pete

I did not originally catch the OEM rims having rim locks pre-installed. I plan on mostly using the Templar X on the street. Not having used rim locks before, if I remove them do I need to find a plug for the hole in the rim to protect the tube or just remove the rim lock and leave the hole.


I was eventually planning on doing a tubeless conversion after the OEM knobbies wear out with marine 5200 sealant and sealant tape and switch to something like Shinko 705 for better matching my intended 90% street use. I wonder how the rim lock holes will affect those plans now =P


For those that have already assembled are the bearings pre-greased with a moly or a lithium complex? I take it the wheel axle bolts are bone dry. I need to sort out some grease purchases before the box arrives and assembly starts. If there is already grease on bearings I was thinking to up the grease quality to red n tacky for bearings and either green or marine for non bearing application.

[Texas Pete]

Do the OEM rims have a raised lip in the bead area of the rim or are they completely smooth?

[tknj99]

So today we miscalculated our fuel reserves and both the Brozz and Templar started stalling during our rides, and we both flipped to reserve. The Templar only went about 5 miles before bogging out and forcing us off the highway. I was able to have my son wait with my bike while i rode his another mile to the closest gas station and filled up. Luckily i found a discarded soda bottle in the recycle bin, shaked out all remaining soda and then filled with about .41 worth of gas.. enough for me to get the Templar started and to the gas station. So from completely out of gas to full she took 2.1 gallonns.
Keep this in mind if you ever start running out of gas that the reserve is very little on these bikes and the position for reserve by the way is arrow pointed DOWN.

[tknj99]

Also.. upon cold start i decided to look closely at the intake manifold and found a sprinkle of gas puffing out ever time she would sputter and try to die.. i tightened up the bolts a bit more and will see if that helps the next cold start.. if not, it'll probably need to be removed and add some gasket maker to seal it better

[Texas Pete]

Good to know on the reserve (or lack there of). It looks like carrying a small canister of fuel will be the real reserve for these bikes.

[tknj99]

True.. i was expecting much more than 5-6 miles out of the reserve.. but luckily i ride with my son 90+% of the time so this is our plan B if it ever happens again.. also the Brozz has a fuel guage so that helps as well. these bikes get almost the exact same range out of a tank as well

[tknj99]

Today i removed the intake manifold and found that there is NO gasket. I applied gray RTV to both surfaces and am letting it cure. Hopefully its resolves the start-up issues. It may be a PSA to other as well

[tknj99]

Yeap, thats why it was sipping in some air at startup, odd that it actually ran fine when warmed up

[tknj99]

Performed a cold start earlier after the 24hr cure period passed and sadly the issue is still there, she'll gasp for air a few times and every time the rpms drop and she'll want to stall. Oh well, manifold is now ruled out.. in any case it was good to get it sealed up