Is motorcycling allowed?

[Hairy]

28 minutes ago, mazambaan said:

It's a great vibe and interesting bikes so I have often been to the start point, never ridden, big crowds on bikes scare me, even though most runs have been incident free. Very easy to have someone cause a big accident.

I have seen them come past before, and always got a little chill of excitement from it ..... so will definitely aim for 2022

[Andymann]

15 hours ago, Hairy said:

Itchy is back

 

"itchy is back"

Said no guy ever. Apart from on BikeHub where it is warmly welcomed

[IceCreamMan]

Toy runs this weekend. Will be going out to the one in reading. Lots of regional ones here. Will post pics of interesting bikes. 
 

first one I am going to funny enough and it’s my 5th Christmas here. Looking forward to it. Bound to be a great day out 

[Thug]

Started stripping the bike last night. Getting the Triumph sticker off the bike proved interesting. Hairdryer, dental floss and lacquer thinners.

Just waiting for a plastic 10lt petrol container I ordered from Takealot to be delivered before draining the fuel tank.

Wondering to myself whether I should take out the fuel pump. I probably should.

Edited December 2, 2021 by Thug

[Andrew_Smith]

On 11/30/2021 at 9:59 AM, Steven Knoetze (sk27) said:

No pressure now.......

Excited to test it out on my short commute back home today.

[Hairy]

 

[Hairy]

 

[The Ouzo]

7 minutes ago, Hairy said:

 

Mike Patey on Youtube builds aeroplanes. His latest build "scrappy" is a bush plane for search and rescue. He incorporated mounting points on each wing for electric motorbikes, including plug points for charging them.

[IceCreamMan]

Toy run Reading. Chilly 

[patches]

On 12/2/2021 at 4:11 AM, Hairy said:

Itchy is back

 

I've always liked the look of the Honda 250 (and now 300) rally. However the part that has always put me off is that the "go" doesn't match the "show". (both on paper and from reviews I've watched or read, they're a little pap).

eg. (not apples and apples comparison, but it's my point of reference)

• Honda CRF300 Rally: 130kW/tonne
• My 2015 Husky FE350 with Long Range Tank & Rally Kit: 264kW/tonne
• My 2016 Husky FE450 with same setup as above: 300kW/tonne

So even a rally kitted Husky FE250 would have around a 70% increase in power-to-weight over the Honda CRF300 Rally.

I know for Itchy, touring and longevity are the aim but Adam Reiman and Aaron Steinmann have both proven that a KTM 500 EXC-F is a pretty reliable machine (Steinmann doing over 140,000km on his in just 3 years), and would weight less and has more than double the power of the CRF Rally.

So maybe it's a question of budget... but then in the grand scheme of things, a few thousand extra on a better bike for an intercontinental motorcycle adventure is easily justifiable and almost negligible. Or it's a question of maintenance intervals, in which case it's proven that the intervals can be stretched, and changing oil is a 15min job.

Anyway, easy for me to comment when its not me planning such an adventure 😅

If only Honda merged the 300 Rally and 450L to make a down-tuned, publicly available, and more affordable version of their Dakar bike. When they (or Yamaha) make THAT bike, I may be swayed away from the Austrians.

 

Edited December 6, 2021 by patches

[mazambaan]

3 hours ago, patches said:

I've always liked the look of the Honda 250 (and now 300) rally. However the part that has always put me off is that the "go" doesn't match the "show". (both on paper and from reviews I've watched or read, they're a little pap).

eg. (not apples and apples comparison, but it's my point of reference)

• Honda CRF300 Rally: 130kW/tonne
• My 2015 Husky FE350 with Long Range Tank & Rally Kit: 264kW/tonne
• My 2016 Husky FE450 with same setup as above: 300kW/tonne

So even a rally kitted Husky FE250 would have around a 70% increase in power-to-weight over the Honda CRF300 Rally.

I know for Itchy, touring and longevity are the aim but Adam Reiman and Aaron Steinmann have both proven that a KTM 500 EXC-F is a pretty reliable machine (Steinmann doing over 140,000km on his in just 3 years), and would weight less and has more than double the power of the CRF Rally.

So maybe it's a question of budget... but then in the grand scheme of things, a few thousand extra on a better bike for an intercontinental motorcycle adventure is easily justifiable and almost negligible. Or it's a question of maintenance intervals, in which case it's proven that the intervals can be stretched, and changing oil is a 15min job.

Anyway, easy for me to comment when its not me planning such an adventure 😅

If only Honda merged the 300 Rally and 450L to make a down-tuned, publicly available, and more affordable version of their Dakar bike. When they (or Yamaha) make THAT bike, I may be swayed away from the Austrians.

 

Agree and I think a big factor may well have been the seat height (and she mentioned service intervals). If you are under 1.8m standard 500/501, even the 701 is a bit of a challenge, particularly with luggages.  I am considering getting my 501 lowered and I am 1.78m. No so much to get on and off but to paddle in the technical (to me) bits.

The Honda Dakar bike is unobtanium as I understand it, much more so than even the KTM etc Rally Replicas and I heard a podcast with Chris Evans (long history with the Dakar) where he said he thought they were slightly better than even the factory KTMs. The real rally bikes are quite heavy and built for rally; very stable and reliable at speed over rough terrain, elsewhere maybe a handful; not that I have ridden one.

[Hairy]

3 minutes ago, mazambaan said:

Agree and I think a big factor may well have been the seat height (and she mentioned service intervals). If you are under 1.8m standard 500/501, even the 701 is a bit of a challenge, particularly with luggages.  I am considering getting my 501 lowered and I am 1.78m. No so much to get on and off but to paddle in the technical (to me) bits.

The Honda Dakar bike is unobtanium as I understand it, much more so than even the KTM etc Rally Replicas and I heard a podcast with Chris Evans (long history with the Dakar) where he said he thought they were slightly better than even the factory KTMs. The real rally bikes are quite heavy and built for rally; very stable and reliable at speed over rough terrain, elsewhere maybe a handful; not that I have ridden one.

Do you not have an option of a lowered seat before you lower the suspension?

[patches]

9 minutes ago, mazambaan said:

The Honda Dakar bike is unobtanium as I understand it, much more so than even the KTM etc Rally Replicas and I heard a podcast with Chris Evans (long history with the Dakar) where he said he thought they were slightly better than even the factory KTMs. The real rally bikes are quite heavy and built for rally; very stable and reliable at speed over rough terrain, elsewhere maybe a handful; not that I have ridden one.

Yeah, non-KTM & Husky factory teams like to produce bikes solely for their sponsored riders. KTM and Husky seem to be about the only ones where anyone (with enough money) can jump onto the list and if they're lucky enough, can snap up one of the 70-odd bikes released each yeah.

Heck if Honda, Yamaha and heck, even Hero sold rally replicas, I'd be keen. 

Here's the factory Hero rally bike...

and this is the closest to it one can get from their production line... pretty far stretch! At least the Honda CRF450 and Yamaha WR450F form the rough basis of their rally bikes.

As for the weight, that's an interesting one, because they're not as heavy as one would think. A KTM450 Rally Replica is just under 140kg dry (so lighter than a Honda CRF 300 Rally. The Honda 450 Rally is around 180kg wet (so 150-ish dry), and the Yamaha tips the scales at 142kg dry... all of which are not too bad in my books. It's the 30+ litres of fuel that are killer.

9 minutes ago, mazambaan said:

Agree and I think a big factor may well have been the seat height (and she mentioned service intervals). If you are under 1.8m standard 500/501, even the 701 is a bit of a challenge, particularly with luggages.  I am considering getting my 501 lowered and I am 1.78m. No so much to get on and off but to paddle in the technical (to me) bits.

4 minutes ago, Hairy said:

Do you not have an option of a lowered seat before you lower the suspension?

Yeah good point, I didn't take into account the seat height, and some people's struggle with the tall enduro bikes.

As for seat options, there is the Seat Concepts Low Comfort option for Huskies. That's drop the height by about 15mm. I run the regular Seat Concepts comfort on my 450 and love it! So much more comfortable than the OEM. I bought the kit and used the OEM pan and just re-foamed and upholstered myself. Took about 45min.

 

[Andrew_Smith]

Beautiful Paarl Nature Reserve. Sadly the roads got some heavy damage due to the rain, resulting in some very technical terrain. It was quite a daunting experience for me. Nonetheless a good day on the bike with some bruised egos.

 

 

Edited December 6, 2021 by Andrew_Smith

[Hairy]

Those spoked BMW rims are really sexy
 

 

[IceCreamMan]

19 minutes ago, Hairy said:

Those spoked BMW rims are really sexy
 

 

I prefer spoke wheels on an adventure kinda bike. Just looks hornier. 
 

my Vstrom from 2002 had mag wheels, rode all over Southern Africa on it, never had an issue with smileys or anything so they were robust enough but spokes would have looked so much cooler. 

Edited December 7, 2021 by IceCreamMan