I love the NS, its 100% fun. I can't see myself parting with it, ever (well my son will probably inherit it when I can no longer dodge the coffin). I'm only 5'7" so it's small dimensions suit me well. 50 miles in a stretch is about all I feel comfortable doing these days, with its clip on bars and the head down arse up riding position, but that's fine by me.
Washed the DRZ400 (the second time since I've owned it - it's a 2016), then ordered a set of Leatt knee braces and a tool roll. Getting ready to do some more dual-sport riding starting in Big Bend National Park in February, then at some point riding the New Mexico BDR again. A few years ago I was in the middle of that BDR and crashed out, breaking some ribs, injuring my thumb, and damaging the bike (smectite mud is evil). Rode 60 miles back to civilization in that condition over some rough gravel and dirt tracks. Hopefully no repeat of that. I've since ridden most of the rest of it, but want to complete it again start to finish. DRZ by Marco Wikstrom, on Flickr
That sounds a great interesting ride with plenty of challenges along the way, and yes you had an unfortunate off, but once its in your blood, offroad riding gets you doesn't it? I've been off lots of times over the years, concussion, broken ribs, broken index finger, snapped ACL, AC separation etc..... but still love it although I do realise I don't bounce as well in my more mature " sensible" years as I used to. I quite fancy getting a CRF450 for doing similar things although in the UK we haven't got the access and opportunities you have. Enjoy!
Living on the doorstep of the Peak District I have access to numerous "off road" tracks and green lanes but nothing of the length and duration available to riders across the pond, plus there's the NIMBYS to contend with every time you venture out these days! The FE570 is an absolute blast off the tarmac but if I had the opportunity of some really long haul dual sport riding I'd probably get something a bit more comfortable.
I'm in the same boat in terms of not being able to bounce back as fast after an injury. Hopefully we become wiser as we age.
Ordered a set of Warp 9 17-inch super moto wheels for the DRZ400s. Should be fun on the tight mountain roads around here, as well as the race track. Our track is short and has a lot of really tight curves.
After 6 weeks with ice and snow on the streets in my area I did a "cool" ride to my office today. +1 degree celsius with dry conditions in the morning and about 8-9 in the late afternoon are forecasted. The morning ride was great.
Moved the old 900ss to my other house to make it easier to sell. Selling to finance a set of supermoto wheels for the DRZ and a trip to Papua New Guinea next year. Ducati by Marco Wikstrom, on Flickr
A Boxing day outing on some (not so) green lanes and yes, you guessed it, the popular routes infested with walkers but what a pleasant surprise!! Plenty of smiles, friendly waves and and generally good vibes An extra big thank you to the young blonde lady runner with the magnificent, sprayed-on-lycra covered thighs and booty who held the gate open for me on Houndkirk road. I love you! Some completely deserted routes still available though. Dirtlow Rake devoid of humanity... On the down side, quite a few sizeable trees brought down by the high winds in exposed areas, plus the water damage caused by the perpetual feckin' rain is off the scale. Bretton lane, recently regraded and flattened with hardcore now completely washed out and sporting. 12" deep rut which at least makes the route more interesting! Vehicle damage is nothing compared to this.
Next project purchased for youngest yesterday, Yamaha TZR 50. He's 16 in January so we've got this as a rebuild exercise and first road bike. He's ridden my street twin and is quite accomplished at riding especially seeing as he's been on motorbikes since the age of 4. The crank rod bearing has gone so the engine needs to come out and be rebuilt but with it being a Minarrelli AM6 engine, parts including tuning items are plentiful. Apparently some people have got these 50cc engines into the 20+ bhp figures
So a bit of father and son bonding time yesterday working on the TZR after him being rescued by dad because he'd locked his keys under his scooter seat We took the engine out of the TZR bike and totally stripped it the other week, then parked it awaiting time and parts etc. Yesterday the focus was on preparing the crankcases ready for the rebuild, especially now as the new crank, seals and bearings have arrived. The first issue was someone had previously thrown the chain, no doubt, and knocked a chunk out of the stator housing. I've seen a few of these cases (AM6) with this type of damage and some are much worse, obviously a poor design. The missing piece of casing allows the chain to throw mud, oil etc. straight into the stator plate area with little chance of escape. Youngest cut and formed a new piece whilst dad cleaned up the weld area. Once formed, and using a soldering crocodile grip stand to align the piece, it was tacked in place. The flywheel runs quite close to the casing so very little weld could be placed on the inside face. To give the casing a better chance in future, we decided to create a fillet to hopefully clear the front sprocket whilst strengthening this obviously weak and vulnerable area.
Finished cleaning up the new Bullet, fitted a Hitchcocks lift handle, final wipe over with a rag and out for a spin.
Here is a better view, it is a 2015 Bullet 500 UCE, bought it two weeks ago with 3000 on the clock, runs like a swiss watch.
It is, the idea was that the Bonneville is for sunday best and the Bullet was for all year round run about, I have had four Royal Enfields in the past and am familiar with their shortcomings but like them anyway. I had intended to look for a low price old banger, but this low cost low mileage one came along, bit of battle damage on one side but I have sorted that and cleaned it up, it had been sat for a while and the auto de-compressor had jammed in open, but fresh oil and a good run has cured that, it runs perfectly. I gave it a good clean, touched in the scratched side panel applied ACF50 and a polish, it is like a new bike.
I've had a pair of Oxford heated grips sat on a shelf in the garage for a while now, waiting to be fitted to my Guzzi Breva. As the currant bun decided to come out today and the temperature here is a heady 13 degrees I thought it was time to sort them out. The Guzzi does have the wiring already in situ under the tank for heated grips, there is a control switch on the LH handlebar and an icon on the dash, so all I needed to do was get the tank off, find the aforementioned wires and crack on. Sure enough the connectors for the heated grips were easy enough to find once I'd removed the tank, but I suppose it was asking too much for the OE wiring connectors to be plug and play with the Oxfords, so after a bit of wire splicing the job is done. The set up works great and has the advantage the system switches off when you take the key out, but remembers your settings for the heat when you switch the bike back on again.
Today I did a 200 km ride in the pre-Alps. The weather was nearly the whole distance sunny. Only at the highest point at about 1.200 m I had some fog due to low hanging clouds. Temperature range was from 1 to 14 degrees. Depending on the altitude. It was a great ride.
