stock seat vs. custom, longish

[Rodney]

Just bought a '99 KLR650 (A13?) and since this is my first KLR, I'm looking for some help from your collective wisdom- Who makes a decent shop manual? What is a good source for a stainless steel front brake line? Installation pretty straightforward? A replacement for the plastic bash plate? Any non-obvious things to look out for, upgrade, etc.? Thanks! Rod

[Russell A Locke]

Rick Mayer, son of late seat guru Bill Mayer JR, has rebuilt my stocker for total of $274 including shipping. Should have it in hand in the next few days, will report to the list. Bill Jr. built the seat that is on my R1100RT and it is sweet. Rick learned (I hope!) from him. At least he says he did. You send pictures of your butt on the bike along with what you like (?) about the seat, your height, weight, etc. and he builds it to fit and guarantees you'll like it or he'll fix it free. His brother, Rocky (Bill III) also builds seats. From what I can tell, there is little difference between the two, both learned from their dad (the Russell Day Long was his design which he sold to Russell.) Russ Locke A12 in AZ