Motorcycle Junkie:

Cuba vacation

2012-01-23T23:39:00.003-05:00

Just got home from a week-long vacation in Cuba. Spent most of the time on the beach at the resort, but also ventured off the resort grounds for 2 days and explored some local villages, and the nearby city of Holguin. Lots of old American cars, and plenty of bikes you don't see in Canada or the US.

What a terrific week. The resort was awesome in every way, the weather was great, and the people of Cuba are absolutely the nicest folks you'll ever meet. I plan on going back, but for 2 weeks next time!

'58 Opel Rekord

Lada 6-door stretch limousine hack job

off-roading with a rented Jilan 50cc scooter

The scooter rental cost $30 for the day

early 50's Dodge

a proud Cuban washing his pristine Suzuki GN125

I chatted with these guys as they fixed a leaky master brake cylinder

on this '52 Chev

Lots of Russian Lada vehicles, including the 4x4 Niva

an old BMW air head hack

Our taxi for the day was this '59 Plymouth. The original V8

engine died many years ago, and was retrofit with a 2.0 Litre diesel

engine and gearbox from a Mistubishi pick-up truck.

Lifan LF125F - I believe these are a Chinese brand

Lots of horse-powered vehicles

My 9-year-old daughter was at the controls on some rural roads near the resort.

Of course, when in Cuba, just wear a poorly fitting helmet, shorts, and sneakers.

I also brought home some Cohiba Robusto cigars

... and some Montecristo IV

Winter upgrades for the WR

2012-01-06T22:57:00.001-05:00

Well, it's winter: time for upgrades. When I bought the WR, it came with two sets of rims & tires. The aftermarket dirt wheels were mounted on the bike, and I put the OEM street wheels in the basement. When the previous owner bought the dirt wheels, he transferred the OEM brake rotors onto the new rims, and he bought and aftermarket 13/49 Renthal sprocket set and a 520 RK chain. Well, I don't plan on swapping the rotors back and forth between wheel sets, so I ordered a new set of OEM rotors to bolt onto the OEM rims. I also decided to ditch the 13/42 OEM sprockets for the OEM rims, so I ordered a set of 14/48 Supersprox sprockets.

I also got 7 oil filters, and a Kenda 2.5mm Heavy Duty butyl rubber 100/100-18 tube as a spare for the rear aftermarket dirt rim. I always like to have a spare tube on hand. I've got a selection of 17" and 21" .... I just didn't have a spare 18" on hand.

Finally, I picked up a brand new pair of side panels, still sealed in the factory packaging. Yes, genuine Yamaha OEM pieces, in the factory WRX black. I didn't need these, but I couldn't pass them up: $36 shipped for the pair!!! That was a steal. For that price, I just wanted to have them set aside as spares.

These are the OEM wheels. There were no brake rotors

mounted on them, and I don't plan on using the OEM sprockets.

The stock gearing is 13/42 but my new Superspox gearing is 14/48.

The sprockets, oil filters, and tube came from RockyMountainATV.com for $101.

The brake rotors are from RonAyers.com and cost $203.

Interestingly, the OEM rotors are both stamped "Licensed by Galfer"

My next order for the WR will include a Safari fuel tank, and Wolfman side racks, and a muffler re-packing kit. The DR will also need a few things (ex: new battery for sure).

Ditch work to ride, again!

2011-11-11T21:41:00.003-05:00

I took Monday off to ride with some fellow ADV'ers, and the awesome weather continued. So after not being able to concentrate at work on Tuesday because I was distracted by the nice weather, I just had to go riding on Wednesday. Not quite as sunny, but still very mild for November. It reached 15 Celsius.

John borrowed my motorcycle trailer for a few hours on Tuesday to haul his KTM 690 to his winter storage place. Then when he was dropping off the trailer, I convinced him to ditch work the next day and come riding with me.

John: But I just put my bike away for the winter!

Me: So what! Take my DR. I want to ride the WR, and my DR has just been parked for over a week now.

With that, a plan was hatched. He showed up at my place the next morning. We suited up and rode to Starbucks for a proper start to the day. We went to our usual riding location for some fast gravel roads: Tatlock Rd, California Rd, Darling Rd, Old Almonte Rd, Old Perth Rd, and a few others. Lunch in our favourite place: the home style restaurant in White River.

As we arrived for coffee, a fellow ADV'er spotted us and stopped

to say hello. We chatted for a bit and then he was heading off to work.

John getting rid of his coffee.

What a gorgeous day.

Tatlock quarry road was blocked off just a 1/4 mile down the road

so we turned back and went exploring off a nearby trail

Found and abandoned house and a foundation of a small outbuilding

spotted what looked to be a bicycle buried in the tall grass

appeared to have been left in the grass for at least 5 years

The last 2 minutes is close to the Tatlock mine quarry gate

6th Concession Rd (a trail, really, not a road) that leads to an abandoned house in the woods.

Ditch work to ride

2011-11-11T21:24:00.001-05:00

Couldn't help but take advantage of this terrific fall weather, so I took a day off work to go riding with some fellow inmates from ADVRider. Denis organized the ride and proposed a route which involved some gravel roads in the Gatineau Park area. The day was sunny and 14 Celcius. Not really shorts and t-shirt weather, but for this time of the year it was a real treat from Mother Nature.

This was my first real ride on the new WR. Until this ride, I only rode it to work a couple of times. She's light and nimble, and the fuel injection works flawlessly. With 13/49 gearing, though, she's a little high strung on the highway -- not that we rode much on the highway, but let's just say the engine sings a little when you're doing 100 Km/h. But she's very willing to take it.

252 Kms. About 1/2 paved roads, 1/2 gravel roads

J-C's KLX250

Stopped to air down the tires a bit

Denis's KLX250S

Stopped for lunch at Subway, near Gracefield, QC

This was the first real run I did with the WR since I bought it last week.

Stopped to see some horses shortly after lunch.

Juame's recent purchase - an '03 KTM 640 Adventure

(a.k.a. The Paint Shaker). It's like the Buick Enclave of dirt bikes: powerful, comfortable, beautiful suspension, a great all-rounder. But this model's reputation for having lots of engine vibrations is quite true and accurate. Awesome machine, vibrations and all. He bought it earlier this summer but I hadn't seen him since then.

Stopping to empty our bladders on the ride home.

And some video footage from the day's ride

Importing a motorcycle from the USA to Canada

2011-11-04T18:08:00.004-04:00

2009 Yamaha WR250X

If you're a Canadian considering the purchase of a motorcycle from the US market, you should spend an hour or so reading the Registrar of Imported Vehicles (RIV) website. Bringing it back home to Canada and making it road legal isn't as difficult as you might think, but it does require a little research and some patience.

The RIV website can make the process feel daunting...lots of complicated rules and regulations, and lots of exceptions. Fortunately, once you get started, you'll quickly realize that the process isn't that scary. Here's a quick summary of how it worked for me:

** keep in mind that I bought my bike used, from a private seller in New York State, although I suspect the process would be pretty much the same for a new or used bike being sold at a dealer.

Step 1: Once you've found your dream bike and negotiated a price will the seller, pay for the motorcycle in full. A deposit to hold the bike isn't going to fly for most people because the US Customs folks will want the paperwork for 3 days before you arrive (more on this in Step 2). Therefore, you will probably have no choice but to pay the entire purchase price in full right away because the seller isn't going to feel comfortable proceeding to the next step until he has received all of his cash.

Step 2: The seller needs to send the original copy of his title document and registration paper (plus 3 photocopies) to the US Customs office at the border crossing where you plan to cross back into Canada. Because the seller is giving up his title documents, he/she probably won't be willing to do that unless they've been paid in full. For the state of NY (and other states may be different) the title and licence plate regitration is the same document. It needs to arrive at the US Customs desk at least 72 hours before you plan to show up with the motorcycle. The clock starts.ticking the moment they receive the paperwork. But remember: while the border guards are there 24/7, the customs person who processes vehicle export/import only works 8am-4pm, Mon-Fri. My paperwork arrived on a Thurday afternoon (I called them to confirm) and they said they'd be ready for me to show up with the bike on Monday at 8am.

Step 3: Go get the bike and bring it to the US Customs desk at the border crossing. They will check the bike to ensure the VIN matches the paperwork, then they give you the original copy of the title and you're on to the next step.

Step 4: Cross the border with the bike and stop at the Canadian customs booth to declare your purchase. They'll send you inside and you'll need to provide your bill of sale (anf to make things easier, it's wise to bring a copy of the sales advertisement, and proof of your payment (ex: PayPal receipt). Also, you'll need the original title /registration document, and a letter from the manufacturer which states that there are no outstanding safety recall notices against your new bike (I called Yamaha Canada a few days earlier with the VIN and they emailed me a PDF document that confirmed this.

The Canada Customs person will charge you 5% GST on the purchase amount indicated on your bill of sale (my bill of sale was hand written by the seller and listed the VIN, year, make, model, plus his name & address, and both of us signed and dated the paper). I suspect that if you paid an unusually low price for the bike, they will probably charge the tax based on the redbook/bluebook value (...better to just be honest as trying to cheat Revenue Canada out of a few tax dollars is probably not worth the risk). Then they will ask you to complete the RIV form (just a 1-page form with info about the bike, and you will need it to complete the next step once you're back home).

Step 5: Back home in Canada, the next thing you want to do is hop onto the RIV.ca website and pay your $209 RIV fee (if they didn't charge you at the border). From there, it will take 1 business day for them to process your payment and link your payment to the "case number" that was opened in relation to your file when the Canadian border folks had you fill out the RIV "Form 1" paper. Now is also a good time to call your insurance company and get that taken care of because it may take a day or two for them to setup your policy. My insurance company was able to email me a printable temporary insurance card. You'll need this when you eventually get to the DMV to register the bike for the road.

Step 6: After one business day has passed, you can go back on the RIV website and choose the option to "Track my case" ... just input your "Case number" (the red number on the top right corner of Form 1) and the last 6 digits of the motorcycle's VIN. As long as they've processed everything, you'll see a message that everything is complete and you will see a link to "download and print the Vehicle Inspection Form". This is just a PDF file that contains your bike's info, and you need to print it and take it to any Canadian Tire service centre (along with the RIV Form 1). At the Canadian Tire, they will do a very quick check to ensure the speedometer reads in Km/h (and they'll give you MPH->KMH stickers if it doesn't), and they'll check that your headlight comes on automatically with the ignition. That's it. Takes 2 minutes, and it doesn't cost anything. They will sign and date the Vehicle Inspection Form, then they will fax it to RIV on your behalf.

Step 7: Now you've got a Canadian compliant motorcycle and you can have it mechanically certified (in Ontario, this is the safety certification as required by the provincial Ministry of Transportation). Funnily enough, the same mechanic at Canadian Tire will do this at the same time as the RIV inspection, but they charge $49 for this. While it's a more detailed inspection, it took all of 3 minutes on my bike because the bike was practically new and only had 1,800 miles on the odometer. Essentially, they make sure your tires have reasonable tread remaining, check turn signals, headlight high/low beam, tail/brake lights, and the horn. I paid the fee and left with the completed RIV Inspection Form, and the Ministry of Ontario "Safety Standards Certificate" and the whole process to less than 20 minutes.

Step 8: Proceed to your nearest Ontario Motor Vehicle Registration Office, pay the 8% provincial tax on the value of the bike (remember, at the border, you'll only pay the 5% GST tax). You will also need to bring your bill of sale, and proof of insurance. They'll also charge you for a new license plate and the registration sticker, and then process is complete.

Trailered it across the border on Monday, and by Friday

all the paperwork was done and it was legally plated.

Way to go, GoPro - great service!

2011-11-01T22:24:00.003-04:00

Thought I would write a quick note just to say how great GoPro's support is. A few months ago, I contacted them to say that the audio recording on my GoPro 960 video camera was showing intermittent problems: while recording, it would occasionally and without warning just stop recording the audio...video would keep recording -- it would just stop recording sound... or sometimes the audio would just turn to a scratchy, static sound. They asked me to provide a sample, so I uploaded a video on YouTube:

Listen to the audio scratchy audio before the 1:35 mark, and the normal sounding audio after 1:35

Anyway, GoPro asked me to ship the camera back to them, and they sent me a brand new replacement very quickly. I just forwarded them a copy of my electronic sales receipt (yes, it was still under the one year warranty). Awesome service. The new replacement has worked very well.

And just recently, I managed to break the plastic latch that locks the waterproof housing closed. Don't ask me how, but I broke it. It has always seemed to take a little encouragement to get the thing closed tightly. I've learned that you need to press the door tightly against the main part of the housing when you flip the locking latch mechanism, but a certain amount of pressure is still

required. So, I contacted them again and they asked me to supply a photo of the broken latch:

And once again, GoPro's service has come through. They are quick to reply to my inquiry, and have promised to send out a free replacement immediately. It's great service like this that makes me want to buy another GoPro.

New bike: Yamaha WR250X

2011-11-01T10:42:00.001-04:00

Well, it happened sooner than later. I had been casually shopping for a WR250R (dual sport version) or WR250X (super moto version) to have for trail and track duty. Being late in the fall, the Yamaha dealers have deep discounts and incentives on new ones; and reasonably priced used ones are hard to come by. But I managed to overcome temptation and convinced myself to wait until the spring to begin a serious quest for a WR. But then something unexpected happened: a local riding buddy sent me an ad he spotted on ADVRider.com. After that, I lost all sense of reasoning and just had to have this blinged-out '09 WR250X and all of its accessories. The only obstacle to overcome was the fact that it was in New York. Oh well, a bit of reading on the import/export process for motorcycles between Canada and the US, plus an 8-hour drive to suburban NYC to get the bike.

Fortunately, the process of exporting the bike from the US and importing it to Canada wasn't so bad. While not overly complicated, the required steps must be done properly and in the correct order. Once all my ducks were lined up, getting across the border with the bike took all of 20 minutes.

Hittin' the road at 8:30am Sunday

Near Albany Snow? WTF? Apparently the south-eastern areas of NY

(and much of the coastal parts of New England) had an early snow/ice storm. Funny,

because in Canada we've been having an extended summer.

Shortly after picking up the bike near White Plains, NY.

Heading for the border.

Ah, back in Canada with the new WR250X.

These are the OEM supermoto wheels. The dirt wheels/tires currently mounted

on the bike are aftermarket, made by Wheeling Cycle Supply. Swapping between street and

dirt will be easy with this setup.

2011-10-23T22:16:00.003-04:00

Went for yet another terrific fall ride in the woods. The weather is definitely a bit cooler these days but temps have not yet dipped below the freezing point. I invited Dave to come along and meet some of the guys from the Manypause club. In all, we there were 5 of us for today's ride: John with his 690 Enduro R, Jason and his WR250R, Cameron on his G450X, Dave with his KLX400, and me on my trusty DR. Familiar dirt roads and power line trails. Old Almonte Rd, Old Perth Rd, Tatlock Rd, Darling Rd, California Rd, power line trails off Hwy 511, and some nice double track off Little Green Rd. A great day!

Gas stop in Almonte

Lunch in White Lake (this place has good food)

Do dirt biker's shit in the woods? Fortunately, I always carry some ass-wipe

in my pack. John went off to find a quiet spot down another trail --

and promptly got mud splashed on him as he squatted when a

gang of roaring ATV's went ripping down that trail.

Always a show-off. That's me goofing around while the others

were topping up their fuel tanks.

Here are the video highlights. Check out the deep water at 4:55 mark.

It doesn't appear quite as deep on video because the water is being split away

from the bike by my tires, but rest assured -- it was at least 18 or 20 inches deep.

For the first 1/2, Jason was riding my DR, and I was riding his WR.

Shopping for a Yamaha WR250R/X

2011-10-16T21:08:00.000-04:00

In the past week I've spent a good chunk of time on the Interweb researching Yamaha's WR250R and WR250X. And I've decided I need to have one. The 250R is the dual sport version and it comes with offroad sized rims (18" rear, 21" front) and 50/50 tires. The 250X is the motard version: it comes with fat 17" sport bike tires on both front and rear. Essentially, the bikes are identical except for the tire setup. The liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, single-cylinder engine is known to be exceptionally trouble-free and requires very little maintenance. It's not a powerhouse or torque monster like the big DR650, but the little engine is silky smooth and the bike itself is much more nimble, requiring less muscle to move it around.

I went to the dealer to have a close look at a new model. I'm considering that because there are deals at the end of the season. But I'm also open to buying a used one if possible. In searching the used market, I think I may have found a suitable 250X -- but I will have to drive a few hours to see it. Planning on making that road trip with the car & trailer next weekend. If all goes well, I'll bring it home and begin farkling. The one I'm eyeballing at the moment is a 2009 model with 2,450 Kms, and apparently is in showroom condition. We'll see about that. I'm waiting for a few more photos to arrive in my inbox. Then I'll decide if it's worth making the 6-hour trip to pick it up.

Thanksgiving weekend riding

2011-10-10T09:56:00.026-04:00

This is Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. At this time of year, it's quite normal for most parts of Canada to experience frost in the mornings. Daytime temperatures are usually crisp but not freezing. The leaves have begun to turn bright colours. But the last week has been unseasonably warm -- like middle-of-summer-warm, but without the mosquitoes. It sure has made for some awesome dual-sport riding weather.

I ditched work on Friday and I headed out with Johh, Jason, and Ovi. We had a full day of riding trails, fire roads, and some logging tracks in the Calabogie area. These guys are all better riders than yours truly so it keeps me on my toes. I need to keep reminding mylself that I don't have to prove anything and that falling behind a little is okay. It was a really great day even if I was dressed a little warmly -- and carrying too much weight in my back pack: I always pack lots of tools, spare tubes, first aid kit, food & water.

Jason on his WR250R, Ovi on his 530EXC, and John on his 690 Enduro R.

Gas time.

This is the view from Eagles Nest Lookout, a 1.5Km ride from

Hwy 508, then a hike on foot for the last 200 feet. The view is great.

Watch that first step: it's a long way down.

On the way home, John forgot his back-pack at the gas station 10 minutes

back, so I just sat on the side of the dirt road waiting for him. Played around

with the timer function on my phone camera (Samsung Galaxy Fascinate).

This is a bunch of video clips I stitched together from Friday's ride.

At the 6:30 mark I just about went straight through a turn.

I was perhaps going a bit too fast, and I think I glanced down at my GPS.

Only takes a split second to smack a tree.

In any event, I managed to keep the rubber side down.

On Sunday, John and I rode out to Calabogie to meet Jason

(not the same Jason as Friday's ride) who trailered his new

KTM 450EXC. The three of us headed out on the power line

trails and made our way through all kinds of other gravel roads,

fire roads, logging trails, ATV tracks, etc,

We followed an ATV trail that led to a small lake. At the shore,

someone had fashioned a rudimentary shitter by placing an old

toilet seat atop some large rocks.

Power line trails (we call them hydro lines in Canada because most

of the electricity the transport comes from hydro electric generating stations)

View from the hydro lines

Taking a break in the mid-day heat.

Ready to head home after some re-hydration.

And a couple of videos from Sunday's ride:

At the 5:45 mark I decided to take a closer look at the bushes, and I managed to

get it back on track. Then at the 6:00 minute mark, my front tire slips out to

the side in some mud ... taking me completely by surprise.

This video starts with me onboard Jason's KTM 450EXC.

Jason is riding John's KTM 690, and John is on my Suzuki DR650.

The 450 feels as light as a mountain bike compared to my porky DR.

2011 Montreal Supercross Racing

2011-10-02T21:03:00.003-04:00

After getting home from a week of intense training on Friday evening, I packed the wife and kids into the car early Saturday morning and we all headed to Montreal. While the wife wasn't too keen on watching the Supercross races, my 9-year-old daughter was quite eager to go. So while my wife stayed at the pool in the hotel with the other two kids, my daughter and I went to the Olympic Stadium to watch a full evening of Freestyle MX, Side-by-Side (Rhino racing), VTT (French for Quad Racers), and of course, Supercross.

It's a blast to watch this kind of entertainment in person. The sounds, the smells, the people, the machines. Here are a few photos:

We arrived early and got to watch the Freestyle MX'ers

warming up. This shit is fucked up. Who in their right

mind would ever think to attempt such dangerous shit?

Fun as hell to watch, though!

These are the Side-by-Side racers. Basically Rhino's (two seaters).

Not very fast, these things are made for driving around farm land or

fire roads, not motocross tracks.

The quad racers were much faster and more aggressive. In Montreal, they're called VTT Racing (Vehicule Tout Terrain = All Terrain Vehicle)

Finally got to the fun stuff: the bikes. Fast and furious!

Calabogie Boogie

2011-09-12T23:12:00.009-04:00

This past weekend was the 21st Annual Calabogie Boogie. A record-size crowd of 240 riders showed up for the 2-day ride.

Last year I rode the main trail ride with my buddy Dave and his two friends (who traveled from far, far away). While it was fun and I assumed I would do the same again this year, I heard the organizers were looking for volunteers to work as sweepers for the Dual Sport Adventure Route so I threw my name in. As a sweeper, you still ride ---- but you ride at the end of the line, following the others to make sure no one is stranded with a flat tire, broken bones, out of gas, etc. Plus, as a volunteer, you don't have to pay the registration fee.

The Dual Sport Adventure Route is less aggressive than the main trail ride -- which is intended for pure off-road bikes (enduro, motocross, or whatever non-street-legal bike you ride). Parts of the dual sport route share some of the same segments as the main trail ride, but not the really tough sections. And there tends to be some gravel roads connecting one trail to the next. Essentially the DS route is a bit easier in terms of the difficulty level -- which is just fine with me given that my arthritis has been bothering me lately ... and having to muscle a big, heavy DR650 through trails designed for a 250cc enduro bike (weighing 100 lbs less than my bike) is quite a chore.

And after riding the DS route for both days, I have to say the route was amazing. There were definitely some challenging sections but nothing impossible for a porky 650, and some of the gravel roads were a blast to run with a bit of speed (an opportunity the trail riders missed).

After two full days, I was exhausted. Every bone and muscle in my body was sore when I got home on Sunday evening. But I would do it again next weekend.

And a couple of videos from my GoPro camera:

Day 1

Day 2

Ride around Lavant, Poland, Calabogie

2011-08-14T23:14:00.001-04:00

After checking the weather forecast on Thursday, I decided Friday looked better for riding than Saturday -- Saturday was to be stinking hot with lots of humidity, while Friday was sunny but not quite so hot. So I packed up my Pelican 1500 with spare front & rear tubes, my regular tools, 12V air pump, water, Gatorade, energy bars, spare cell phone / camera / GPS batteries, and some fishing stuff.

I brought my GoPro 960 camera along as usual. It was recently replaced under warranty because the old one suddenly developed a bug in which it would randomly stop recording sound. Very annoying how the audio would cut in and out while recording. But I've gotta say that GoPro was awesome to deal with. Once their tech support people agreed that my camera was in fact defective, it was as simple as sending it back to them, and a brand new one shipped out right away. They were great in their communication with me, too, sending me email updates every step of the way (they emailed me as soon as my defective unit arrived at their offices, and another email to confirm that they tested it and confirmed the defect, then another email the next day to let me know that a replacement was shipped out, plus the tracking code for the shipping. All in all, they were great to deal with. They stood behind their product 100% and gave me terrific service.

Got lots of bites at Green Lake but I only managed to lose 4 lures before I moved on.

Testing out my new Garmin GPSMAP 60Cx, alongside my trusty

Garmin Oregon 300. Both are quite similar, but they are also quite different.

Joe's lake. While I didn't lose any lures here, I still didn't catch any fish.

Testing the timer function on my phone's camera.

The two GPS units on RAM mounts, with my new

Tusk Chub Big Bars in the ATV bend. They are nice

and high compared to the lower YZ bend bars I had.

These are much more comfy when standing on the pegs.

A green swampy hole just off New Road (off Hwy 511)

Somewhere along the K & P rail trail.

Some video highlights from the day's ride. All together,

I managed 300 Kms with about 3 hours of fishing.

I used the GoPro chest mount harness for most of the

front-facing video, plus I used a custom RAM mount I made

for the GoPro camera, attached to the rear luggage rack.

Frankenbike - KTM fairing

2011-08-08T23:14:00.000-04:00

Here's a sneak preview of my next project: trying to devise a scheme to graft this KTM headlight, windscreen, dashboard assembly and side fairings onto my DR650. Having already mounted a GSXR exhaust system, RMZ forks, triples and front wheel, and Yamaha R6 throttle tube, it is really turning into a true Frankenbike.

KTM 950 Adventure OEM headlight, windscreen, dash,

aluminium mounting frame and aftermarket side fairings.

Oh, and a side note: the RMZ250 fender that was included with the RMZ forks was bent out of shape and covered in scuff marks and scratches. This $19 replacement made by Polisport is a very good replica of the original, and top quality. Holes were pre-drilled and it fits perfectly. Identical shape as the original -- obviously they used an OEM fender for the mould. Bought from RockyMountainATV.com (Part # 1146680031). Of course, it goes very well with the Polisport RMZ lower fork guards I threw on there a couple of months ago (also purchased from RockyMountainATV).

The ratty old RMZ fender was looking pretty tired.

The $19 Polisport replica fender is awesome.

Squeaky stater motor - an easy fix.

2011-08-04T14:32:00.003-04:00

Late last fall when the mornings turned quite chilly (frost on the ground) the starter on the DR began to make some funny sounds, similar to that of a wheezing duck -- a kind of sqeaky, squealing noise. It sounded exactly like this video I found on YouTube:

After reading of similar complaints from other DR owners on ADVRider, the diagnosis sounded plausible: dry armature inside the starter motor. Requires a bit of lubrication. The end of the armature opposite the drive gear rests in a bushing (not a bearing). Apparently these bushings are made of a sintered material that contains some type of lubricant, whic is released slowly as the sintered material wears away, thus providing a permanent lubrication system. However, if the sintered material gets heated up or burned, it glazes over which prevents the sintered material from lubricating the shaft properly. In warmer weather, it doesn't matter much but when the cold weather hits, the dry rubbing makes a squeaky sound. I guess the best solution would be to replace the bushing in the end cap of the starter motor. But an easy fix that will last a couple of years is to simply put a dab of grease in the bushing. This quick and easy fix takes about an hour and costs nothing. It's also a good way of checking the internals of the starter motor, especially the parts that normally wear out (like the brushes).

First step: because you will need to remove the Cam Chain Tensioner (CCT) it's important to make sure the engine is at top dead centre (TDC) on the compression stroke. To do this, remove the plug on the flywheel cover so you can line up the timing mark. Then rotate the engine by hand (using a ratchet on the flywheel, or by turing the rear tire slowly with the bike in 3rd, 4th, or 5th gear). Remove a spark plug and keep your finger over the hole so that you can tell when the air in the cylinder is being compressed.

The timing mark on the flywheel as seen through the inspection hole.

I also use a plastic drinking straw in the spark plug hole

to make sure that the piston is at the top (but you need to be

sure it's at the top ON THE COMPRESSION STROKE.

That's why you keep your finger over the hole).

As a safety precaution, it's a good idea to disconnect

the + positive terminal from the battery.

Remove the exhaust header pipe

Remove the upper and lower bolts for the oil line

and move it out of harm's way.

Moving the oil cooler line out of the way gives

unobstructed access to the starter motor.

I like to put the bolts and crush washers back in

place to avoid losing them, and also to avoid getting

dirt inside the engine.

Remove the cam chain tensioner (CCT)

Then, remove the starter.

The starter motor removed.

End cap removed reveals the brushes as they are pressing

against the commutator with the wound springs.

A small dab of grease squeezed into the hole at the end of the armature.

A small dab of grease in the end-cap bushing.

I cleaned the guts of the starter using air compressor to blow the dust out.

Cleaned the rubber O-ring and cleaned up the casing a bit.

Wiped down all the grease and crap from the engine.

Getting ready to wind up the spring in the cam chain tensioner (CCT)

**note the long shaft sticking out: it needs to be wound back in before re-installing the CCT.

Remove the bolt that plugs the hole at the end of the CCT (right side in the photo above, bolt is removed)

This exposes a small flat screw inside. Use a small screwdriver to wind up the spring as you push in with your thumb. Keep turning the screwdriver slowly until you hear/feel a click. Then the pin is locked in and you can take your thumb off the end.

CCT pin is locked once the spring has been wound up with a flat scredriver.

Reassembly:

1. install the starter and clutch cable bracket

2. install the CCT and then use the flat screwdriver to unlock the spring

(which will apply tension on the cam chain)

3. re-connect the oil cooler line.

4. re-install exhaust header pipe

5. re-connect positive battery terminal

All buttoned up.

1993 Suzuki JR50 restoration

2011-07-16T22:32:00.003-04:00

About a year and a half ago, I bought a 1993 Suzuki JR50 for the kids. It was well worn, and had been suffering from obvious neglect for some time. However, the bike was complete and the engine would start, but it ran like shit. I brought it home for $250 and figured I could make it look nice and get it running properly for maybe another $250 in parts and repairs.

I bought new tires & tubes, replaced some broken and missing spokes in the rear wheel, removed and capped off the oil injector (never trust those things -- better to mix the gas for 2-stroke engines), repaired the kill switch, new chain, replaced a bunch of missing and/or stripped bolts, and some other small stuff. Then I painted all of the plastics, and the engine. I cleaned out the carb and made a few little adjustments, but I couldn't manage to get the thing to run properly. It always seemed like it was starving for gas. I looked into buying a few bits for the carb... then I found brand new carbs available on eBay for $50. That was a no-brainer. I had it shipped to Ogdensburg and drove there today to pick up the new carb (along with some other stuff I ordered online). All, told I spent less than $200 to restore this little bike, including the brand new carb.

I took the carb out of the box: 100% identical to the OEM carb that was on the bike. I simply removed the old carb (about 2 minutes of work) and bolted the new one on (about 3 minutes of work by the time I hooked up the throttle cable). I turned on the fuel petcock and kicked it over 3 times before it fired up. The bike runs like a dream, and I didn't even have to adjust so much as the idle screw.

Gonna take my 8-year-old daughter to a gravel pit tomorrow for her first riding lesson. Two weeks ago I bought her a helment, and elbow and knee pads.

The day I brought it home

Stripping it down

The finished product.

525>520 chain conversion, sprockets, bearings and Shinko 705 tires

2011-07-14T14:41:00.000-04:00

I bought a few things recently and just got around to installing it all. My old 525 chain and sprockets had about 25,000 Kms and were beginning to show signs of wear. Knowing it would soon be time to replace the it, I've been neglecting the chain drive gear.

I decided to go with a 520 conversion mostly because 520 chains are much easier to come by, and the sprocket selection (for different gearing) offers far more choices. The only difference between the 525 and 520 chains is that the 520 is slighly narrower. The links are the same length, just thinner rollers. I went with a medium quality DID 520V O-ring chain. These sell for about $75 in the US ($99 here in Canada). And 520 sprockets are cheap, only $20 for a front, and $33 for a rear.

Two new sets of CR10E spark plugs

rear brake rotor from eBay - $49

Suzuki OEM clutch cable

DID 520V chain (to replace the existing 525 chain)

JT 14 & 15-tooth 520 front sprockets

JT 43-tooth 520 rear sprocket

Polisport RMZ250 fork guards

new cush drive bearings

new bearing seal

new rear sprocket bolts

I cleaned up the cush drive with a wire wheel on my Makita driver/drill

New rear sprocket installed with shiny new bolts

Used my Dewalt 5" angle grinder to remove the old 525 chain's master link

I also installed new wheel bearings and cleaned up the cush drive rubbers

New rotor installed using shiny new bolts

Use the Dewalt angle grinder again on the new chain to remove 10 links.

10 links equals 10 pins. Gotta be much more careful on the new chain.

The master link for the new 520 chain is the c-clip variety. Some

say the rivet type master links are safer, but it's extremely rare for

the c-clips to fall off. Use the packet of grease provided in the

box with the chain.

c-clip installed.

When using a c-clip master link, I like to finish it with

a blob of brightly coloured silicone. This helps to make

sure the c-clip doesn't fall off, plus the visual of seeing

the bright red link is quick to spot. If you don't see it,

then there could be trouble.

Shinko 705 front, size 90/90-21"

These $69 tires will serve as my asphalt rubber.

Much better than wearing down my Michelin T63 knobbies

riding back and forth to work in the city. With two sets of wheels,

swapping between street tires and knobbies will take 30 minutes.

Shinko 705 rear, size 130/80-17"

This is a really meaty tire, yet very quiet on the road

compared to the Michelin knobbies.

Riding with intravenous pumps

2011-07-05T23:07:00.000-04:00

A couple of photos from a recent ride with the ManyPause gang... I wore my twin intravenous pumps and bags of antibiotics. The good news is that I am no longer receiving antibiotics intravenously... pill form oral antibiotics now. The PICC line remains in my arm as a precaution just in case the infection returns. If everything is all clear when I finish the pills in 2 weeks, then they'll remove the PICC from my arm.

Showing the boys how the PICC line in my arm connects to the

pair of vinyl tubes that are taped to my body, under my gear/clothes

and down into a pair of fanny packs around my waist, where they

are connected to a pair of battery operated pumps.

The PICC runs inside the vein in my bicep, then up my shoulder and into a giant artery inside my chest, next to my heart. This way, the toxic antibiotics are less likely to cause damage to the veins (because the size of the vein in your chest is much larger and flows much more blood than the smaller veins in your arm).

Here you can see the two blue fanny packs that hold the

bags of intravenous antibiotics and the electronic pumps.

What the fuck? Are you really gonna ride with that shit plugged into

your arm? Seriously?

Here's what the setup looks like when not tucked neatly into

the fanny packs. I tape the clear vinyl tubing to my body, under my shirt --

much like an FBI informant who wears a wire.

Shinko 705 tires

2011-07-04T17:23:00.001-04:00

Well, I finally managed to ditch the double-pumper intravenous system that had been connected to my arm for the last 2 1/2 weeks. The doctor has got me on oral antibiotics for 14 days, and he expects the infection should be completely gone by then. Let's hope so.

So, while I'm enjoying some sick leave from the office, I've been trying to get a few little jobs done around the house ... and not wanting to neglect the bike, I finally installed the Shinko 705 tires I purchased a couple of months ago. I have a spare set of wheels for the bike, so my intention has always been to have one set of wheels with dirt tires, and another set of wheels with street tires.

So, with the Michelin T63 knobbies already mounted on the other set, I pulled off the worn out T63 from my spare rear wheel, and a cracked Michelin Star Cross MS3 motocross tire from my spare front wheel. Then I installed two new MSR heavy duty tubes and the new Shinko tires. I also had a new rotor for the rear wheel as the spare I had purchased from eBay had none. I bought an eBay special for $49 and that included shipping. Looks to be decent quality but time will tell. I also picked up OEM bolts from the dealer to install the rotor.

Shinko 705 rear, with a new $49 brake rotor from eBay

Shinko 705 front mounted on the RMZ wheel.

CORRECTION: I ALMOST survived the 2011 Roaming Rally !!!

2011-06-16T10:08:00.001-04:00

My last post, called I survived the 2011 Roaming Rally !!! requires a little point of clarification. You see, I nearly didn't survive but I didn't know it at the time. The rally finished on Sunday, May 29th but within 2 days of arriving home I became very sick and found myself lying in a hospital bed for 13 nights.

At the time of the rally, I had been suffering from a nasty cough and difficulty breathing. It had been going on for weeks and I suspected a case of bronchitis and I also suffer from asthma (though it doesn't usually cause me much trouble). I didn't care, though, as nothing short of death was was going stop me from attending the rally. Something else that contributed to my getting sick was the fact that I take a heavy duty medication for my Rheumatoid Arthritis. This chemotherapy drug, called Methotrexate, is particularly hard on a person's immune system and I've been taking it for about 5 years now. While my RA symptoms have improved with it, the drug is definitely not without its' side effects: I get little cold and flu bugs all the time since I've been on it, and it's not good for your liver and bone marrow. RA is different from all the other types of arthritis in that it is an auto-immune disease which attacks your joints, whereas the other types are just your joints falling apart... the sypmtoms are much the same, but the cause is very different.

Anyway, back to the rally. With the wet weather we encountered all weekend, and wearing all of my offroad protective gear, and rainsuit over top of it all, it was a rather hot and sweaty weekend. My bronchitis didn't help matters. On the Sunday morning, as I was packing up my campsite and getting ready to leave for the ride home, I innocently picked a small scab from my elbow. All weekend long, my elbow pads had been irritating the scab that had been nearly healed from a scrape 2 weeks earlier. That turned out to be a huge mistake.

The next day at the office, I noticed that my elbow was quite sore and red. By the following morning, Tuesday, the pain level was off the chart, my elbow was hot to touch, very red, swollen, and a large abscess had formed. I went to a walk-in medical clinic that morning, and the doctor directed me straight to the emergency room at the hospital.

Upon arrival at the hospital, the doctors were immediately concerned that it might be flesh-eating disease. They even mentioned the possibility of having to amputate my arm. They didn't even want to know about my bronchitis as that wasn't nearly as serious compared to the possibility of chopping off my arm. I spent the next few hours doing all sorts of blood tests, ultrasounds, MRI scans, x-rays, urine tests, and they pumped me full of antibiotics. By evening, they still had not ruled out flesh-eating disease but they weren't taking any chances. They were prepping me for surgery but were awaiting some test results before proceeding. Fortunately the test results were in my favour. As it happened, they identified the bacteria as Group A Streptococcus which is, in fact, the same bacteria that can cause flesh-eating disease but luckily did not in my case.

But all the while, the infection had been spreading through my bloodstream and I was becoming quite sick. By Wednesday morning, I could barely lift my head from the pillow. Because they had rules out flesh eating disease, they cancelled the planned elbow surgery and opted to just slice open the abscess to drain the poison, and flush it out. They did this with a local anesthetic, and I somehow found enough energy to record the procedure with the video camera in my phone:

Once the abscessed elbow was dealt with, I thought I would be getting better soon. That was a wrong assumption because by that time, the bacteria had gone to work on my kidneys, bladder, and liver, causing a great deal of damage. My urine looked like cranberry juice because of the heavy concentration of bacteria, and my liver wasn't working at all. I spent the next seven nights in hospital recovering from acute renal failure and elevated liver funtion tests. I was hooked up to three types of I.V. antibiotics for the next week, plus oxygen and cardiac monitoring equipment.

They sent me home after a total of eight nights in hospital, giving me a bottle of antibiotic pills to take. I had to go back within 24 hours, and they put me back on two I.V. antibiotics, releasing me for the second time the next day -- this time with a portable I.V. pump and Clyndomycin (one of the antibiotics I had been receiving). This lasted a day and a half before I had to go back. They put me back on the same two I.V. antibiotics and kept me in for another 4 days. This time, they released me again with two portable I.V. pumps and both of the antibiotics pumping into my arm (Clyndomycin and Vancomycin). I am to wear these two pumps and I.V. bags in a backpack for the next two weeks and follow up with a doctor at the infectious disease clinic.

To make the intravenous medicines work more efficiently, they installed a PICC line I.V. in my arm. Basically, a normal I.V. needle is only good for about 3-4 days before they need to find a new vein in your arm. With a PICC line, a small tube/hose is inserted inside a vein in your arm, and fed through the vein, up your arm, past your shoulder, and into your chest, where it dumps the medicine into a very large, high volume flowing artery near your heart. So here's what the PICC line looks like:

The blue hose is about 14" long and feeds into a large artery next to my heart.

It has a splitter on it so they can connect two I.V. lines, or use one for I.V. meds

and the other to draw blood samples. It can stay in place for up to 6 months.

Here is the PICC line with tape/dressing on it so it doesn't get pulled out.

You can see the I.V. line connected which is pumping antibiotics. I didn't have

my camera phone to record the procedure to install the PICC but it was pretty cool.

So, as it turned out, given the extremely weakened state of my immune system at the time of the Roaming Rally, picking a little scab from my elbow was all it took to cause a very serious case of cellulitis with bacteria infected bursitis, sepsis (blood overwhelmed with bacteria infection), which led to kidney failure and my liver that wasn't working at all. I just hope this round of antibiotics will put an end to the infection and let me get back to a normal life.

Two portable I.V. pumps and two bags of antibiotics connected to the

PICC line in my arm. Gotta wear this 24/7 for at least the next

two weeks. Inconvenient, yes, but better than lying in a hospital bed.

I survived the 2011 Roaming Rally !!!

2011-05-31T00:34:00.000-04:00

Lots of details about this project here:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=594395

and here:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=636024

But essentially, about 60 riders showed up on a very wet Friday morning for a 3-day ride from Richmond to Bancroft. In a car, this would normally be a 3.5 hour drive on the highway, but following trails through the woods, sand and gravel fire roads, and tracks along major power lines, it's more like two full days. The 3rd day was to get home.

Here the riders met in the pouring rain, at the hockey arena in Richmond, Ontario

Stopped for gas and lunch at the popular Munford's Restaurant,

at the corner of Hwy 508 and Hwy 511 in Calabogie.

My luggage setup: a Pelican 1500 bolted to a Pat Walsh luggage

rack with a dry bag bungee tied to the top, tent across the seat.

The Wolfman racks weren't actually being used.

Big Phil rode his F800GS all the way from Boston to join the party.

A really nice guy and funny as hell.

Other riders stopped for lunch. Quite a variety of bikes.

tents set up at Black Donald campground, 1/2 hour beyond Calabogie

Stephen slept in his comfy Henessey Hammock.

Gotta say I was quite impressed with this thing.

The shitty shitter

Dave unpacking his stuff.

The rain actually stopped for a short time but it wasn't sunny.

Stephen is checking out the trees, or maybe he's taking a piss.

Three KLR's and a DR/RMZ franken-bike.

I have no clue why people nailed shoes to a tree.

Nonetheless, we saw several trees just like this.

some very fun dirt roads

Camping at Silent Lake Park, 30 minutes beyond Bancroft

Silent Lake Yurt: three double sized bunk beds, a wood stove, plus a propane BBQ.

$90 per night is a little steep though.

This guy rode all the way from Cambridge, Massacheussetts on a 25 year

old XL350. He rode the whole weekend, then his engine blew up just minutes

after his departure for home on Sunday morning. Fortunately he landed a ride

in a truck/trailer so he wasn't stuck for long.

Stephen and I stopped for coffee at the Neat Cafe in Burnstown on the way home.

Roaming Rally TCAT trail ride

2011-05-15T22:03:00.003-04:00

Boy, am I looking forward to the last weekend of May. Big ride planned. Essentially, some local guys are heading up a giant project to map out a dual-sport riding trail that will cross Canada from coast-to-coast without using any paved roads. The project is called the Trans-Canada Adventure Trail, or TCAT. On the weekend of May 27-29, a large group (60 dual sport bikes) will ride the section from Richmond to Bancroft. This would normally be a 3 1/2 hour drive by car on the highway, but taking trails through the woods, gravel and logging roads, we will ride the entire weekend. We'll be camping Friday and Saturday nights, and people will head home on Sunday.

For this awesome 3-day weekend of riding, there's is much prep work to be done.

A bunch of stuff is on order for the bike: Wolfman side racks -- onto which I will mount my indesctructible and waterproof Pelican 1430 top-loading cases. I've recently installed a Pat Walsh rear luggage rack for mounting either my Givi E37 top case, or possibly the Pelican 1450 case (not sure yet).

Pelican 1430 cases.

I also bought a new tent: an Alps Mountaineering Neptune 2 from REI.com. It was being sold in their Outlet Store, marked down 60% because it's been discontinued. Sleeps 2, floor space is 90" x 60" (37 sq. ft.), 46" high, weighs 6 lbs. It was normally priced at $199 but I got it for just $89. I also bought the matching footprint ground sheet at 50% off, for just $12. The fly is not shown in this photo, but it covers the entire tent. It seems to have very positive reviews for a $200 tent.

Alps Mountaineering Neptune 2

And today was the annual Mountain Equipment Co-op Gear Swap. There are always plenty of deals to be had for those who go early... so I did... and I scored a major bargain on a sleeping bag. Well, actually, it's considered an overbag. It is meant to provide extra warmth for sleeping bags that are not rated for really cold temps. It was brand new. They guy selling it had purchased it for use on a particular camping trip but it apparently never got cold enough, so he never used it. And I got it for just $40. He told me he paid well over $100, and I just saw on the MEC website that the long version (this guy was 6' 6" tall) retails for $148. It's super compact, and weighs only a little under 900 grams (2 lbs).

MEC Emperor Penguin Windstopper Overbag

"Cut wide to fit over modern mummies, and adds 5 to 10°C to the bag's rating. It provides an extra layer of insulation against the cold, and more importantly, the WINDSTOPPER® shell protects the bag from external moisture. The overbag also reduces built-up condensation from frost and the sleeper's own perspiration. The result is your sleeping bag's insulation stays drier and more effective."

I've got a brand new Michelin T63 rear tire with a new heavy duty tube mounted on my spare rear rim. And my new front tire should be here in a few days.

Also picked up 2 spare lithium-ion batteries for my GoPro 960 camera. $25 each from Best Buy. So now I have a total of 3 batteries. I've got two 8GB and a 16GB memory cards, but I'm planning to get a 32GB card later this week.

And while in New Zealand last month, I picked up this awesome backpacker's stove from Kathmandu. It's ultra compact and lightweight. Made of titanium, it burns standard propane/butane blend canisters. It, too was 50% off, costing me just under $50 CDN.

While at MEC today, I grabbed some storm-proof matches and a waterproof match case, plus a glow-in-the-dark Nalgene water bottle (1 Litre), Musquol insect repellent, and a few other little doo-dads.

This rally ride / camping trip is still 2 weeks away but I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully the weather will be dry.

New EBC front brake pads

2011-05-09T22:28:00.001-04:00

Feeling somewhat disappointed with the brakes on the new RMZ front end, I've been considering an oversized brake rotor kit. The RMZ wheel has a slightly smaller rotor than the original DR rotor, which translates to less stopping power. But before spending $250 for a 320mm big brake kit, I thought a new set of brake pads would be worth a try. The pads that were on there seem to have lots of material left on them but the material looks like shit... cracked bits, dirt and grime, rough at the edges. I took them off and cleaned them thoroughly, and sanded them down a bit with some 220 grit sandpaper. I even sanded the rotor. Didn't help much.

So, a quick call to a couple of local shops. Other than OEM, they only seem to sell EBC brand pads, by far the most popular. But the local shops want $50 plus taxes. Suzuki dealer wanted $75 for OEM pads. Screw that. Ten minutes of seaching on eBay found lots of vendors selling the same EBC pads for $30-$40. So, I bought some from peakmoto-powersports and they arrived just 6 days later. Not bad at all, as none of the local shops had them in stock anyway.

$37 shipped to my door.

Gotta love eBay for its great selection,

competitive pricing, and convenience.

So today I pulled the caliper off, removed the old pads. I gave the caliper a very thorough scrubbing with brake cleaner and a very hard bristled brush. Re-greased the pins, installed the new pads and went for a 20-minute test ride around the city. By the time I made made it through 3 or 4 intersections, I could feel how much better these new pads were. And by the time I finished my ride -- with lots of stop-and-go riding in traffic -- it felt much like the old DR front brake setup used to. Now I'm happy. Even happier that I didn't spend a lot.

The old pads. Still plenty of material,

but they're in pretty rough shape.

These were cleaned and sanded a few days ago.

Incidentally, EBC lists the same part number for use on both the '96 and new DR650 and the '07-'08 RMZ 250. Good to know that DR brake pads will fit an RMZ and vice versa (I already knew the caliper was the same, so I figured the pads would also be identical. However, Suzuki's parts fiche lists different part numbers for the two bikes, but I expect it's because they are different compound materials because the RMZ is made for hig performance offroad use only, while the DR brakes are probably made to last longer and see use in all types of riding conditions (more of a general purpose pad).

LED turn signals relocated

2011-05-06T14:49:00.006-04:00

I relocated my Watsen Design's LED turn signals. I bought these a couple of years ago for my SV650. They are actually made to fit the turn signal slots of the front fairing on a V-Strom, but they have a pretty generic mounting system, they can be adapted to fit almost anything. They were quite expensive but I do like the fact they are made with top quality craftsmanship, and they're small and extremely bright.

I decided to relocate them because I recently swapped my OEM luggage rack for a Pat Walsh Design rack. Rather than drill holes in the new rack I tried to come up with a more creative mounting solution that would be practical. This is what I ended up with:

Drill a couple of small pilot holes.

Enlarge the pilot holes and drill 2 more small ones for the lock pins.

Use a glue gun to seal the wiring.

Cover it all up with heat shrink tubing for added protection.

Right side installed.

Both installed. Clean and out of the way.

While these suckers may be small, they are extremely

bright... insanely bright. They are easily visible

on a sunny afternoon.

Here's the link to a previous blog entry which shows how they were mounted with the OEM luggage rack

http://www.fy-yff.com/2010/03/led-lighting.html

First ride, and leaky upside-down fork seals.

2011-04-26T18:19:00.001-04:00

Got out for a real ride yesterday, even if it was just an "all-asphalt" ride. Dave still has his DRZ400E for dirt riding, but he recently picked up a mint-condition 2007 Kawasaki Versys for when he doesn't want to get muddy. He invited me to join him, along with a couple of his street buddies for a ~200 Km ride that took us to Almonte, then over to Merrickville, and back home again. We stopped for lunch at a pub on the water in Almonte.

Anyway, it was the first real ride for me on my newly upgraded DR since it came out of winter storage a few days ago. The bike ran great and the new RMZ forks and the rebuilt and upgraded rear shock were awesome... except that I noticed both fork legs were leaking oil even before I arrived at Dave's house. Oh well, I went along for the ride anyway -- hoping that oil wouldn't find its way onto my front brake rotor.

When I got home I was curious and just had to take a better look. When I took the RMZ forks apart over the winter and put new seals in them, I had my doubts that I was installing the new seals properly. What? Was I installing the seals upside-down in my new upside-down forks?

The aftermarket All-Balls seals looked almost the same from both sides, so it was hard to determine which side was up. And, as it happened, when I ordered the All-Balls seals from my local dealer over the phone, I mistakenly ordered both the aftermarket and OEM seals at the same time. I inquired about returning one set and they told me about their silly re-stocking charge policy so I decided to keep them. Anyway, once home from my ride yesterday, I pulled them apart and installed the new OEM seals (far more obvious which way goes up). Went for a good ride when I finished at bed time, and so far, no leaks.

The All-Balls seals. Which way is up? I dunno.

Throw those away and stick with OEM seals.

Back home, just in time for riding season

2011-04-23T16:33:00.001-04:00

Got home from my month-long business trip around the world. Whew. Was a great trip, but I sure worked many long days. I even had a bit of free time in Auckland, New Zealand and decided to rent a bike.

The rental was from this place: http://www.motorcycle-hire.co.nz/. Aiden was great to deal with and he set me up with a nice Suzuki DL650 V-Strom. I rode about 400 Kms from Auckland down around the Coromandel Penisula. Spectacular vistas, stunning scenery, and terrificly twisty tarmac.

Aiden, of Te Waipounamu Motorcycle Tours

Somewhere along the Coromandel Forest Park

View of the Auckland city scape from the bridge,

shot from the back seat of a taxi after returning the rental bike.

The sunset was great - a perfect end to a perfect day.

Winter upgrades almost done

2011-03-18T23:25:00.003-04:00

The RMZ front end is now bolted on, as are the bar riser clamps, top clamp, handle bars and hand guards from Highway Dirt Bikes, and the Vapor computer is bolted into the HDB billet Vapor protector dash, Corbin seat, DRZ tail light (and a yellow rear fender I found on ADV Rider). My new Alps Mountaineering Neptune 2 tent arrived today. Just waiting for my Pat Walsh luggage rack to arrive. Then I just need to figure out how I will mount my Pelican 1430 top-loading cases for use as panniers. Looking forward to some dirt bike camping this summer.

Good news, bad news...

Good news: the snow is melting fast and riding season is about to start (it was nice enough that I'd have ridden to work today if the bike was ready). Bad news: tomorrow I leave on another trip for work. This time I'll be gone for just over a month, so it seems I will miss the first few weeks of riding season. That's a hard pill to swallow after not being able to ride for 3 months now because of winter. I'm dying to ride, the weather is finally cooperating, but I'll be away for a month. On the other hand, I am looking forward to this trip. It's a true round-the-world trip: Ottawa > London > Mumbai > Singapore > Bandar Seri Begawan > Perth > Melbourne > Auckland > Vancouver > Ottawa. Unfortunately, it's not a tourist trip... it will mostly be long work days, with very little time for seeing the sights.

2 weeks in Africa

2011-03-11T20:43:00.000-05:00

Went to Africa for work recently. One week in Bamako, Mali, followed by another week in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Both are former French colonies, and located in the North Western part of the continent. Hot and dry climate. Had a great time, even if I did spend long hours at work every day.

Took photos of some of the motorcycles I saw. Interesting to see all the different bikes people ride in other parts of the world.

Hotel in Bamako

Bananas just outside my hotel room.

Typical Bamako side-street

Typical woman on the main drag in Bamako, selling carrots.

Beer time.

Soccer is very popular

Yamaha DT175

Honda CG125

Yamaha 100cc 2-stroke (these are very common)

Baotian - never heard of these things.

Not the same KTM as most westerners would think.

Check out the KTM !

View from my hotel room in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Some type of air-cooled Honda v-twin in Ouagadougou --

the largest dispacement bike I saw.

Honda TransAlp -- in Frankfurt

(where I spent a night on my return trip)

Rear shock upgrade - completed

2011-03-08T14:19:00.006-05:00

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about my plan to have Cogent Dynamics rebuild and upgrade the rear shock. Well, I just got back from a 2-week long business trip and the newly upgraded shock was waiting for me when I got home.

The "before" photo: the OEM shock with a 7.5 Kg/mm spring from ProCycle

The "after" photo: the same OEM shock with the full Cogent treatment.

So the shock was rebuilt and upgraded by Cogent Dynamics in North Carolina. Here's a rundown of the work they did:

new longer and thicker shaft (Yikes! Sounds like a penis enlargment scam!)
new lower mounting clevis
added a compression adjustment clicker knob, the red thingy (previously, there was compression damping adjustment)
new 8.1 Kg/mm Eibach spring
anodized the shock body exterior
ceramic-coated the body interior for better heat dissipation
new seal head assembly with with bushing seals and O-rings
new piston with a custom-made shim stack for me (a 200 lb. rider)
new needle and needle jet
new spring clip

By the time it was done, and round-trip shipping paid from Canada to North Carolina, the whole thing worked out to $601 on my Visa card. A lot of money, yes, but others who have done it all agree it's worth every penny. They were also kind enough to return the aftermarket spring I had installed last summer (a 7.5 Kg/mm spring from ProCycle). I've already sold the ProCycle spring for $100. The original spring from the factory was a soft and squishy 6.5 Kg/mm. Can't wait to install this thing and go for a ride. Just gotta wait for the snow to melt.

Also waiting for me was a spare front wheel I bought on eBay. With the new RMZ front end, I have a wheel already but I found a deal on a front RMZ wheel in very good condition. So, now I have 2 full sets of wheels. I intend to have a set of knobbies mounted on one set, and a pair of more street worthy rubber mounted on the other set.

'07 RMZ250 front wheel found on eBay for $100.

Very nice condition, will make a nice spare.

Headlight brackets for 50mm fork tubes

2011-02-19T17:08:00.001-05:00

Since the RMZ250 does not have a headlight, it meant that I would need to figure out some way to mount a headlight once the RMZ forks are on the bike. Fortunately, the DRZ400SM (only the SM model, not the 400E or the 400S) has the same size fork tubes (50mm) as the RMZ, and since the DRZ400SM is a street bike, it has a headlight. I've been keeping my eye on eBay, watching for headlight brackets. New ones from the dealer cost ~ $140 by the time you get the 4 rubber inserts (upper and lower for each side) plus all the taxes. I found a seller on eBay who was stipping down a brand new DRZ400SM for a conversion to a track bike, and he was selling the headlight brackets for $29, plus $10 shipping. Score!

Now I can mount my original DR headlight plus the headlight cowl. However, I plan to ditch the actual headlight glass assembly and just use the mounts with the cowl, and make my own bracket to bolt a VisionX Solstice 10-Watt LED as the low beam, and a 24-Watt LED from ADVMonster for the high beam. Hopefully, I can design some type of lexan protector shield to place in front of them and make it all look good and work properly.

The DR650 headlight glass

Right: DRZ400SM headlight brackets (fit 50mm forks)

Left: DR650 headlight brackets (fit 43mm forks)

Keyed iginition switch, Raptor fuel petcock, Pelican Panniers

2011-02-16T00:09:00.003-05:00

One item to be sorted with the RMZ fork swap is: what to do with the DR650 ignition switch? Well, the key mechanism has never worked well on my DR. Ever since I got the bike, I have often fought with the key. It goes into the key hole easily, but getting it to turn is another story. You've gotta jiggle it the right way, work it back and forth, piece of shit.

The previous owner of the bike gave me one worn out OEM key, and one brand new OEM key. I immediately had duplicates made of the new key, but I think the lock itself was already worn out. In any event, I'm tired of screwing around with a key that requires so much persuation to work, so I decided I would ditch the key entirely. Besides, the steering lock isn't going to work with the new RMZ top triple clamp. So a push-button on/off switch will do the trick. Just needed to figure out the wiring. A little sniffing around on ADVRider and ThumperTalk taught me that the guts of the keyed iginition contains a 100 Ohm 1/4 watt resistor. Let's get to work:

The OEM keyed iginition switch - stupid key never worked properly anyway.

Snip.... I need that green connector.

My local electronics supply store doesn't sell individual resistors,

so I had to shell out 99 cents for this 10-pack of 100 Ohm resistors.

The orange with yellow tracer wire

soldered in place

* brown and grey go together

* black with white tracer, and orange with yellow tracer go together

(with the resistor soldered in there, under the long piece of black heat-shrink)

* the on/off ignition switch will be installed between the red and orange

Next up: the IMS gas tank is great in that it expands the fuel capacity from the stock 13 Litres to about 20 Litres. However, IMS supplies a really, cheap, crappy fuel valve that will eventually fail. This valve has the same build quality of something you'd expect to buy from the dollar store. Every time you turn the valve to ON, OFF, or RESERVE, it feels like the damn thing is going to break. Rather than wait for that inevitability, I decided to be proactive and do what many others have done: replace it with the much sturdier petcock from the Yamaha Raptor. Except for a 5-minute hack job required to enlarge the hole slightly, it's pretty much a direct bolt-on swap. The Raptor valve is about $25.

Left: OEM Yamaha Raptor petcock

Right: junk petcock supplied with IMS gas tank

use Dremel and hobbyist scalpel knife to carefully

enlarge the hole on the IMS tank

Here the hole has been enlarged slightly to allow the Raptor fuel valve to fit

Raptor petcock installed, as well as a one-way venting valve

for the gas cap (eliminates the need for a long, floppy vent hose on the gas cap)

Finally, a sneek peek of my next project: Pelican panniers. Somehow, I'm going to mount these onto the bike to be used as my indestructible and waterproof luggage system. These are the Pelican 1430 top-loading cases. They're not huge, just ~ 15-17 Litres in capacity. I'm not looking for huge, rather, I'm looking for tough and durable.... and dry.

Stay tuned to find out what craazy idea I dream up to mount these things.

More farkles - HDB hand guards, Corbin seat, LED lighting, fuel petcock, and more

2011-02-09T22:42:00.000-05:00

Highway Dirt Bikes top clamp, 2 1/8" bar clamps, hand guards,

2 sets of plastics, 4 waterproof on/off switches,

Vapor dash protector. Expensive, but the most rugged

setup you will ever find.

And a recent drive to Ogensburg to pick up a few other items:

a great bargain on a Corbin seat (like new condition, it was just

$200 including shipping), a 24-watt LED auxiliary light (this thing

is as bright as the sun, from ADVMonster.com), a Yamaha Raptor

fuel petcock, a DRZ250 tail/brake light, an ultra-bright LED strobing

auxiliary brake light from Strobes N' More (called the E3 Super LED),

Twin Air foam filter, OEM Suzuki air filter basket and mounting clip, and

finally, a gasket for the mid-pipe to muffler joint in the exhaust system.

Ottawa International Motorcycle Show

2011-02-02T12:34:00.001-05:00

So, I attended the Ottawa International Motorcycle Show last weekend. Many show-goers thought it was pretty lame, mostly because of the size and scale of the show. Yes, it was pretty small compared to the big Toronto show from a few weeks ago (the two shows are not related, not the same event or promoter). The complainers whined that not all of the dealers showed up, and that the aftermarket dealers didn't bother to come. Some people went with the intention of seeing only one type of bike (like just sport bikes, or just cruisers, etc,). However, the show is meant to offer a wide selection, something for everyone -- not just one segment of the motorcycle industry. Given that it was only the 2nd time this show was held, I think it was actually pretty good overall. Certainly a good effort, and the vendors who did participate demonstrated a very good cross-section of what's out there in the world of motorcycles.

No matter how big the show is, you could never please everyone because everyone has their own tastes and interests. And everyone goes to the show to see different things, with different expectations. Maybe it's because motorcycles have become so specific, so purpose-built in the last 2 decades. In the 1970's there were motorcycles, period. Some time around the end of the 70's, they started to split off into street motorcycles and off-road motorcycles. Now there are about 20 sub-categories of street motorcycles (cruisers, bagges, sport bikes, super-sport bikes, sport tourers, etc,) and at least 7 or 8 classes of off-road bikes (trials, motocross, supercross, enduro, dual-sport, etc,).

Either way, I spent twleve bucks to look at a bunch of motorcycles on a cold, snow Saturday night in January. I had a couple of hours worth for my money and I'll do it again next year.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a nice variety of bikes, from cruisers and Harleys, to Japanese, European, , dirt and dual-sport, utilitarian, girly, and retro-bikes. It was nice to see the new Honda CBR250R. I still don't know why they haven't been producing this bike for the last 2 decades (the Ninja 250 is an extremely popular bike, probably because there has been no competition until now). I thought I took a couple of photos of the new CBR250R but I can't find them on my camera's memory card. Oh well, here's a photo I stole from the Interweb:

As you can see, it bears a striking resemblance to the VFR1200.

The base model is $4,500. For an extra $500, you can get it with ABS.

I spent a good hour chatting it up with owner of Woody's Cycles in Perth (an hour's drive from Ottawa). For me, he had the best display by far, and the largest display in terms of the floor space. He sells the full KTM line, but he did not bring them to the show because Wheelsport (from Orleans) was pushing the KTM (you can't have 2 dealers selling the same brand at the same show, which is fair) so Woody showed up with his other 2 brands: Husqvarna and Husaberg. Both of these brands are relatively unknown around the area, easily out-numbered 20-to-1 by the Japanese and Euro brands But, wow, are they sweet machines. Top quality components all around for both the Husky and the Husaberg bikes. My favourite was the 2011 Husqvarna TE449, although the Husaberg FE450 was also very nice.

Woody's a great guy, and well know by anyone who rides off-road around the Ottawa area. He's been racing motorcycles since the 70's and he's now got teenage boys who are following in his footsteps. He's raced on pavement, dirt and ice. I've seen him ride at a couple of Bytown Motorcycle Association events, and he's an awesome rider. Anyway, here are some photos from the show:

The new Honda CB1000R

Husaberg FS570

Husaberg FE450

Husqvarna TC250

Husqvarna SMR630

Husaberg FE570

And the nicest bike of the show, the Husqvarna TE449

Husqvarna TE449 rear view

Husqvarna TE449 front view

Husqvarna TE449

I love that front fender!

Too bad you can't get it registered for the street :(

ZERO S - Electric

...yes, electric motorcycles are here. Range is 100 Kms per charge,

and performance specs on par with the best of them.

Moto-Guzzy Stelvio 1200

Travelling on this bike would be the equivalent of a road trip in a

Mercedes E-Class sedan, only on 2 wheels instead of 4. This is one

sleek, sexy, luxurious bike.

KTM RC8 track missle

KTM 990SMT (Touring). If I were in the market for a bike

to take 10-day road trips with, I would consider this.

KTM off-roaders

KTM with snow track conversion kit

German-built Sachs, using a 125 cc engine from the venerable

Honda cub moped/scooter.

Very utilitarian and practical, yes

but very cool and I hope they sell a bunch of these.

These will be for sale in Canada in a few weeks.

Royal Enfield still builds motorcycles that look like

the old ones from the 1950's, but they were only

available in Asia until recently. Now they've brought

them to Canada. This is a 2011 model, not a restored

1950's model.

Royal Enfield

The all new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R

The new Z1000R. A sexy muscle bike.

RMZ forks - another update

2011-02-02T11:07:00.001-05:00

Forks and triple clamps installed.

RMZ wheel, brake rotor, caliper & fender installed.

Almost ready to ride. Just waiting on a few more parts.... Oh, and waiting for spring, too.

steering stem bearings

2011-01-27T18:48:00.001-05:00

I bought a set of All Balls Racing steering stem bearings and with seals from a local dealer for $35. As I expected, they are the same part number for both the RMZ250 and the DR650 (plus a whole bunch of other Suzuki bikes). The lower bearing needs to be pressed on, while the top one just slides on and off with by hand.

To get the old lower bearing removed, I used a pry bar, then a hammer with a piece of steel used as a punch. To press the new one into place I used length of threaded rod, and a selection of large, flat washers (including one with a 1 1/4" centre hole to press up against the bearing itself over, slid down over the steering stem), plus a piece of 1 1/2" square tubing (left over from the trailer I built).

The new bearing slides on until it gets almost to the end...

then you need to press it on carefully the rest of the way.

You either need a shop press to do it, or you can MacGyver a special tool like I did.

Slide a big, fat washer down over the steering stem and let it rest on the top of the bearing (and I also used the old bearing race to protect the roller bearing), then a piece of 1 1/2" square tubing works well as a spacer to get you to the end of the steering stem.

It's that last 3/4" or so that the bearing needs to be pressed.

Then just crank the nuts onto the threaded rod and voilà, the bearing is forced into position smoothly.

Bearing and dust seal now in place.

These bearing fit quite a number of different bikes.

The home made bearing press may look pretty ghetto, but it gets the job done without putting undue stress on the new bearings.

I use Permatec synthetic grease on all the bearings.

Last week, I installed new wheel bearings and seals in both the front and rear wheels.

I've been trying to streamline the toolkit that I carry on the bike. Picked up these two hex socket adapters shown... a 1/4" drive adapter and a 3/8" adapter, and a 6" long #2 Philips screwdriver that fits nicely in the hex ratchet (this ratchet is really slick and I use it all the time). Along with a 10mm & 12mm wrenches, plus tire removal tools, most of the basics are covered.

Fork seals

2011-01-16T23:35:00.001-05:00

While it's the middle of winter here in Canada, I figured it couldn't hurt to tear these fancy Showa dual-chamber upside-down cartridge forks apart and have a look inside -- just so I know for sure what I bought. They came off a 2007 RMZ250, and from what I know, the bike belonged to a motocross racer and had been re-sprung and/or re-valved for his weight. He was apparently ~ 175 lbs, which is 20 lbs less than me. Judging by the Race Tech stickers, I assume any upgrades were done using their parts.

Well, after taking them all apart and fitting new seals and dust covers, I am pretty sure the springs were replaced. The OEM springs are supposed to have a marking at one end, and the springs I found inside do not. I have no idea what the spring rate is, but I only assume they are probably stiffer than stock springs. As for valving work, I can't say because I can't tell what was supposed to be in there from the factory. If I had to guess, then I'd say only the springs had been swapped out.

The Suzuki service manual calls for 370 ml of 5W oil in the outer chamber, and 193 ml of 5W oil in the inner chamber. But I found something very different the old oil: in the first fork leg, the outer chamber had about 600 ml in the outer chamber, and 200 in the inner chamber. Yikes! Then when I disassembled the other fork leg, the outer chamber had almost nothing (like, maybe 50 or 100 ml) and the inner chamber had about 200 ml. What the hell happened there? Was the person who previously serviced/upgraded these forks drunk? Sniffing glue?

Anyway, here are a few photos:

Because I am too cheap to actually buy a seal driver, I improvised. After an unsuccessful search of the basement for a piece of ABS or PVC pipe that would fit, an idea popped into my head when I was looking at my caulking gun. So I cut a short piece of the heavy cardboard from a tube of caulking.

A set of All Balls fork seals and dust caps cost about $35 at a local dealer.

2 litres of Motul 5W Factory Line synthetic fork oil cost $30 at a local dealer.

Trail Tech Vapor speedo / computer

2011-01-13T22:34:00.000-05:00

Because I'm planning to use the RMZ wheel with my new RMZ front end, I will lose the OEM speedometer's functionality. This is because the RMZ is not a road-legal bike, and therefore, the front axle/hub has no speedometer drive gear, as is typically found on road-going bikes. So this meant going to an electronic / magnet type speedo solution. A big advantage to this is that most computerized options these days are far more accurate for measuring speed than the old mechanical speedo, plus these high-tech models include lots of extra features: tachometer, clock, engine temperature, shift indicator, and some other stuff. I don't believe it has a voltage gauge.

A friend of mine, who rides a Honda XR650L, bought a Vapor computer last summer and never got around to installing it. He also bought some accessories to go with it: two aluminium mounting dashboards, brackets, and stuff. He gave me a fantastic price of $75, plus the shipping to my door.

rear shock upgrade

2011-01-12T20:07:00.004-05:00

Upgrading the front suspension hardly seems worth the effort if you ignore the rear pogo stick.

So, after many hours reading and researching all the options, I've finally decided to go with a complete rebuild of my OEM shock. Cogent Dynamics is well known for building quality shocks and many DR owners have praised Cogent's work when it comes to making a tired old shock perform a million times better.

Here's exactly what the upgrade will include:

". . . a new seal head assembly with bushings, seals and o-rings, a new shock shaft with provision for the rebound transfer rod, a new mounting clevis with a CNC’d aluminum adjuster knob for rebound damping control, a new piston with shims, a needle jet and needle for the same and a new spring clip to mount either the stock shock spring.

In addition to the high quality parts and expert installation, each shock is custom setup to your needs and thoroughly tested on our Roehrig Damper Dynamometer to ensure you of the optimum performance."

I will also spend the extra cash for the optional Mil Spec hard coating (AOL3 Ceramic), which

". . . provides lower internal operating friction, lower temperatures, longer time between servicing as well as extending the longevity of the shock."

The deal is that I remove the shock, box it up and ship it to North Carolina. Once they've completed all the work, they ship it back to me. From what I've heard, it will barely be recognizable as my original part. All of this will cost me well over $500 with shipping but their customers all swear it's worth every penny.

I pulled the shock this evening, packed it neatly in a box, and dropped it off at the post office. I expect to have it back in 3-4 weeks, which is good because we'll still have snow on the ground.

the "before" picture

Update on the RMZ front end swap: I ordered some new All Balls Racing fork seals and have not found the time to install them yet. I hope to do it this weekend. I also bought a new set of All Balls Racing steering stem bearings, and some Permatec Ultra Slick Extreme Sport synthetic grease. I'm also hoping to polish the triple clamps and get it all bolted on the frame in the next 2 weeks.

2011 North American International Motorcycle SUPERSHOW

2011-01-09T21:24:00.002-05:00

Took the train to Toronto for the weekend to attend the big winter motorcycle show with Sean. The train was a nice, refreshing way to travel: didn't have to worry about traffic, bad weather, or parking. And with gas costing $1.15 a Litre, a round-trip train ticket wasn't much more than I'd have spent on gas for the minivan.

Had a great time hanging out with Sean, and we spent pretty much the entire day at the show on Saturday. Overall, the show was as I expected, that is to say that it wasn't particularly awesome, not particularly horrible. The scale of the show made up for its short-comings: this is the biggest show around these parts so at least there was lots to see. The two things that disappointed me most:

1) the new Triumph Tiger XC 800 was nowhere to be found (although I hear it was present at the manufacturers' trade show that was held there a 6 weeks ago);

2) despite having seached every square inch of every hall, I was not able to find Paddy Tyson -- an Irish guy who wanders the globe on two wheels. I wanted to buy a copy of his book and spend a few minutes chatting with him. Oh well, I guess I'll buy the book online. http://paddytyson.com/

The photos:

Electric trials bike

These guys had a good display, nice selection of stuff.

1937 Rudge Sports Special

Father and daughter team travelled across Canada on these old-school Honda Cubs

I've seen this bike before, and it's still a beauty.

1982 Honda GB500 Tourist Trophy

1982 Yamaha RD350LC

1986 Bimota DB1 (750cc Ducati engine).

I can't believe it's been 25 years since I first saw

these things on the covers of motorcycle magazines

Italian beauty: Guzzi V7 Café

Guzzi Griso

MV Augusta F4

Sean trying out a used FJR

Speed Triple

Boss Hoss with a 376 cubic inch Corvette engine ... redonkulous !

Outlandish, over-exaggerated, and just plain stupid.

Indian Chief Dark Horse.

$28,000

Confderate P120 Fighter Combat

Confederate P120 Black Flag

Confederate Hellcat

Confderate P120 Fighter Combat

Harley Davidson with hearse side-car

1989 Honda RC30/VFR750R (V4)

1967 Triumph 650 Hardtail

I just barfed in my mouth

Interesting

iPod / iPhone dock

Wups.

Who dropped that?

Better yet: who's gonna pick it up?

Victory Vision lying on its side like a beached whale

RMZ front end swap

2011-01-01T16:44:00.007-05:00

Happy New Year !

Back home after a few days visiting family & friends in Toronto. Before leaving, I parked the bike in the expensive storage unit I rented. On this unseasonably mild and rainy New Year's Day, I figured it might be a good time to get started on the fork swap.

The plan is to swap the whole front end including forks, triple clamps, and the entire front wheel assembly. Today, my only goal was the get the old front end off.

the storage unit is 10' x 13', I'm using 1/2 of it for storage, and the other 1/2 for working on the DR. This makes the work area about 5' x 13' which is plenty of space to get the job done.

OK, let's get this started.

wheel and forks removed

forks, wheel, handle bars, headlight plastic

Handle bars and controls removed

Next: triple clamps, steering stem and headlight

My helper, Angus -- our 6 month old flat coat retriever.

There... entire front end removed in about an hour.

Anyone wanna buy a stock DR650 front end?

The RMZ triples bolt on like butter.

It doesn't get much easier than this.

Winter

2010-12-14T13:02:00.001-05:00

Ok, winter has officially arrived. It's been cold lately but that hasn't stopped me from riding to work ... Shit, last week I rode in -15 Celcius; you just have to dress for it. However, with small amounts of snow falling for the last 4 days in a row, we've now got about 15 cm on the ground. Combined with the salt on the roads, my riding is basically done for a while.

Now I just need to get the bike to the heated self-storage unit I've rented. I'll have to wait for a clear day. I hope to get to work on the RMZ fork swap, and I'll need to order a few things like a Vapor speedo unit, headlight mounting brackets, etc,. Planning a few other upgrades, too: Pingle petcock, luggage side-racks, RaceTech valving for the rear shock, etc,.

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RMZ250 front end swap

2010-11-25T22:11:00.005-05:00

It's no secret the stock DR650 suspension --both front and rear-- is comprised of pretty low budget components. Last winter I bought some stiffer fork springs: Eibach .50 Kg/mm straight rate (stock springs are progressive .43 Kg/mm). That $100 upgrade helped to tighten things up a little, along with fresh 10W fork oil. However, there was still no compression or rebound damping adjustment, because the DR's forks are old-school, old-tech, el-cheapo damper rod forks. Suzuki was so cheap they didn't even provide preload adjusters on the fork caps, so even setting sag height required removing the caps and using a shorter or longer spacer... how convenient!

Anyway, after trail riding all year I've been toying with the idea of installing Race Tech's cartridge emulator valves, but they're a lot of work to install, and making adjustments to them once they're in place is way too much effort. Plus there's the $200 cost.

I also considered Ricor-Racing Intiminators. They're a little "gimickey" if you ask me. And I did purchase them for my last bike, the '07 SV650S... at first I thought they were great but after a few weeks of riding on them the novelty wore off and I wished I had just done the popular GSXR from end swap that all the cool SV riders do. They're pretty simple to install, but again, there's no adjustment. That's another $200 I didn't want to spend.

So I've been keeping my eyes peeled for a deal on a set of RMZ forks. After having read the details of a few folks at ADVRider who have done the swap, it's pretty much a bolt-on solution because it doesn't require any custom machining. Lots of other forks can be adapted but it usually involves pressing out the steering stem, machining the triple clamps, or other fabrication work. The RMZ is comparatively easy, much like a paint-by-numbers project. And RMZ forks are plentiful on eBay but prices are high for the ones worth buying. Cheaper ones are usually worn out, or being sold separately from the triple clamps, etc. Then I happened to run across an ad at ThumperTalk for a complete 2007 RMZ250 that was being parted out because the engine had grenaded and was going to be too costly to repair. The ad was nearly 3 weeks old and I figured the forks would be long gone. To my suprise, the seller replied indicating the entire front end was still available, even the entire front wheel assembly. And it's all in top shapre mechanically and cosmetically... The price was $500 for all of it, and he lives barely 1.5 hours away. Holy shit, this is exactly what I've been looking for.

So today I drove down there and grabbed it all. I could have re-used my DR wheel and larger brake rotor, but that would involve changing out the wheel bearings. This wheel is in perfect condition so I couldn't pass it up. I've got the complete front end, in its entirety.

I will also need to do something with the rear suspension. I've already done the rear spring (a heavier Eibach 7.8 Kg/mm). That helped a bit, but I wish there were some way to adjust rebound damping (there is a compression damping adjuster). I may send it away to Cogent Dynamics to have it re-valved and a rebound damper adjustment added. I may also just buy a Race Tech kit and install that myself. Decisions, decisions.

2007 Suzuki RMZ250 front end

Review: GoPro HD Hero 960 video camera

2010-11-09T19:56:00.004-05:00

I've read all kinds of great things about GoPro's Hero cameras and I finally decided to get my own. In the short time I've had my Hero, I gotta say I'm a little disappointed. First, I'll explain a bit about the camera, then I'll get to my opinion.

I purchased my GoPro HD Hero 960 video camera from PointOfViewCameras online store. The 960 is a new model, essentially the same as the latest, greatest HD Hero 1080 model, but with a few features missing. This makes it about a hundred bucks cheaper. The video recording resolution is the main difference between them:

The expensive HD Hero 1080 can record in these modes:

    1080p: 1920x1080 pixels, 30 fps, 12 Mbit/s data rate
   960p: 1280x960 pixels, 30 fps, 10 Mbit/s data rate
   720p: 1280x720 pixels, 30 fps, 7.5 Mbit/s data rate
   720p: 1280x720 pixels, 60 fps, 15 Mbit/s data rate

while the cheaper HD Hero 960 records in these modes:

      960p: 1280x960 pixels, 30 fps, 10 Mbit/s data rate
    720p: 1280x720 pixels, 30 fps, 7.5 Mbit/s data rate
    WVGA: 848x480   pixels, 60 fps, 8   Mbit/s data rate

When comparing the 1080 model alongside the 960, they share the same wide angle lens (170 degree viewing angle), the same rechargeable lithium-ion battery, the same 5 MegaPixel still photos, yada, yada, yada. The 1080 model also has support for some yet-to-be-released accessories from GoPro that will clamp onto the back of the camera via the battery access door, including an LCD panel to show you what your recording and to review photos and videos, and an auxiliary battery pack. Basically, the 960 won't support these non-existent accessories.

I paid $179 plus the standard 13% taxes for the camera, and that included free ground shipping, which took about a week from Vancouver to Ottawa. Also included was a bonus 4GB SD memory card. It came with the standard selection of mounts. See photo:

I'm rather disappointed with the mounts... that's one of the things people always rave about when it comes to GoPro cameras: the mounting options are supposed to be endless. Well, there maybe countless ways to mount the camera using the plastic parts supplied, but the mounts basically suck ass, in a really big way. They feel cheap and flimsy, you can't screw the little plastic knobs tight enough with your fingers to actually hold the camera securely (when mounted on the bike, my thumper's vibrations shake the damn camera all over the place, and if I loft the front tire in the air, the camera shakes violently upon landing).

With the sticky 3M two-way tape on the two supplied "adhesive mounts" you get only one chance. Stick them and leave them... they can't be moved again. I stuck the curved mount on the side of my gas tank but it vibrates all to Hell in that location. I would have stuck it on my helmet but I couldn't get it to fit the contour of my Shoei Hornet DS properly but I found the shape of my IMS gas tank to be quite close to the contour of the curved mount. So after having wasted the curved mount, I decided to think harder before wasting the flat adhesive mount and came up with this:

RAM mount for camcorder or camera.

I stuck the flat adhesive mount to a round camera RAM mount, and for added security, I ran a bead of silicone around the outside edge. I thought this mount would be the most secure... I clamped it onto the RAM ball mount I have on my handle bars (which I normally use for my Garmin Oregon GPS) but still, the damn camera vibrates all over the place. I'm not afraid of it falling off, it just annoys me to no end when I see the video shaking during play back.

I even spent another $20 on my order to get a GoPro's own handle bar / seat post clamp mount... This cheap piece of crap is probably only worth $2 but some how they sell it for $20. Again, it's cheap, flimsy plastic and it doesn't hold tight enough to handle the rough treatment it receives on the handlebars of a big thumper. A mountain bike maybe, but it can't take the vibes from my bike.

I have yet to try the head strap mount but I see no point. It's not meant to be worn over a motorcycle helmet so I really have no use for it.

I have looked at the chest mount strap but at $50 I'm not about to get suckered into that. I've thrown good money after bad on other things before and I've learned my lesson. Remember that saying: "quit while you're ahead."

On the positive side, the quality of the video is respectable. Not awesome, but not bad.

Here's a sample. The higher the engine revs, the worse the camera shows the vibrations. This is using the $20 GoPro handlebar mount.

And here's a sample of the camera secured to the
handlebars with my RAM mount

Conclusion: While the camera itself seems to be a reasonable piece of gear for under $200, it's not worth shit if I can't figure out a way to mount it securely to my motorcycle. I've basically come up with 3 possible solutions:

1) dream up a mount that uses a rubber vibration damper (some type of rubber mount where it bolts/clamps onto the bike);

2) mount the camera on myself somehow because my body doesn't vibrate as much as the bike (I'm trying to buy another curved adhesive mount to try again on my other helmet but I'm not going to by a big bag of mounts). However, I'm really not interested in wearing the camera on my body or on my helmet -- I bought it to mount on my motorcycle;

3) sell the damn thing on eBay and find another camera solution.

Oh, before anyone asks if I used that silicone swimmer's nose-plug thing-a-ma-jig in the mount base, yes, I did. That thing isn't designed to absorb all the vibrations, rather, it's meant to stop the camera from wobbling around loosely in its mount. The problem I've seen is an issue that stems from the massive engine vibrations that big, single-cylinder thumpers are known for. If my bike had a sewing-machine-smooth inline-4 engine, then my impression of this camera would probably be very different.

Dirt bikin' with Dave

2010-11-05T20:27:00.000-04:00

Dave had a few days off in the middle of the week, and I figured I was due for a sick day. So we loaded the bikes onto my newly-made trailer and we headed towards Pakenham. It was a slow start in the morning and we didn't hit the trails until noon, but it was a nice sunny day. Couldn't have asked for nicer weather for this time of year. Still some snow in the woods from the 3-4 inches that fell last weekend, and some of the puddles were covered with ice, but it was perfect riding weather.

Here, we stopped for coffee at Starbuck's

Unloading the bikes between Almonte & Pakenham

The trailer I made

Testing out my new GoPro 960 camera

Michelin T63 tires - tread wear update

2010-11-03T19:49:00.002-04:00

OK, here's an update on my favourite tires. With just under 5,000 Kms on them, these are the best value I've ever had for $55 a piece.

I removed the screw from the rear tire and replaced the tube. Yes, it's worn now, but there are still one or two-thousand Kms left, and the front tire is barely 1/2 worn.

Brand new Michelin T63

Tread depth 10mm.

after 1,750 Kms

after 2,500 Kms

after 4,800 Kms.

Tread depth is about 5-6mm.

When I re-installed the tire following Monday's flat, I flipped the tire so that the slanted wear of the knobs are now facing the other way. This will help to even out the knobs during the last miles left in this great tire. I hoping the real winter snow and cold will hold off to allow me a few more weeks of commuting. If I can make it 'till Christmas then I'll toss this tire and mount a new one. I expect to have about 6,000 Kms on it by then.

Very pleased with this tire given the price tag. I've abused it to no end on the street, accelerating hard all the time, wheelies every chance I get on city streets. Not a nice way to treat a knobby.

I've got a new set of T63's in the basement!

Flat tire

2010-11-01T23:03:00.000-04:00

Well, I got to try out my trailer today after all...

Rode to work. At lunch, I was going to zip home and discovered my rear tire was flat. So, I stayed around the office for lunch and asked a few people until I found a mini bicycle pump to borrow from a co-worker (thanks, Grant). At quitting time, I managed to pump it up to ~25 psi after about 8 million pumps. My arm was ready to fall off. I headed for home immediately, and planned to stop at a service station with a real air compressor pump just in case. By the time I got there (about 2 Kms) the tire was nearly flat. I pumped it up to about 30 psi and rode about another 1.5 Kms before it was completely flat. At that point I was running out of time because I was on my way to meet my kids' school bus. I parked it on a quiet side street and quickly flagged down a taxi. Made it to the school bus stop just in time.

A short while later, I packed the kids into the van and hooked up the trailer. Brought the bike home and pulled the rear tire off. I've got a new Michelin T63 in the basement, plus a new heavy duty tube. I'll tackle that tomorrow evening because now I'm having a beer.

Loaded on the trailer. A little tricky when you're doing it alone.

A rusty drywall screw.

snow for Hallowe'en

2010-10-31T23:51:00.000-04:00

Was supposed to go riding with Dave today. Yesterday was pretty soggy so we decided to plan for a Sunday ride instead because the forecast looked a little better. However, last evening the rain changed to snow and we got a couple of inches. By morning, it was beginning to melt, but it was barely a degree above freezing. With all of yesterday's rain, and the wet snow on the ground this morning, we abandoned our plan.

Our plan was to test out my new trailer and haul the bikes to Calabogie. Although it rained all day yesterday, I did bolt down the two tire tracks to the frame of the trailer. These are actually galvanized steel commercial cable tray (the kind of rack used to support data, voice, and electrical wiring in commercial buildings -- it's suspended from the ceiling and cabling lies in the rack). I bought it from a local recycler for about $12-$20 each. I bought one narrow section (4.5" wide) and a wide one (7.5"). Quite sturdy.

This is what the weather was like at 9pm Saturday evening.

By noon on Sunday, the snow had melted off the road and the asphalt was beginning to dry up.

Hopefully Dave and I will have another opportunity to ride a few trails before winter really hits. Fingers crossed.

Rox Risers and Tusk fat bars

2010-10-25T23:17:00.001-04:00

In search of better ergonomics, I scoured the Interweb to explore my options. I got rid of the OEM handlebars long ago, and I've been using Renthal CR high bend bars, made a little higher with a 6 fat washers loaded under the bar clamps (and longer bolts). It was an improvement, but I couldn't help but feel the handlebars needed to be moved forward (not just higher). I was also interested in getting rid of the cross-bar. Riding on the road, comfort was fine. Rather, the improvement I was hoping to achieve was for those times I am standing on the pegs wrestling the bike over rocky trails. I especially noticed this on steep uphill climbs.

So, after much research I placed an order from RockyMountainATV for a pair of 2" Rox Risers and a set of YZ bend Tusk Chub Big Bars 1 1/8" fat bars. It was about $125 for both items. I ordered the Rox Risers that clamp into my existing 7/8" bar clamps, but they have 1 1/8" mounts for fat bars. Going to fat bars would achieve my goal of eliminating the cross bar that is standard on 7/8" aluminum bars.

The Rox Risers allow for plenty of adjustability. You can pivot these suckers at any angle you like in the stock bar clamps. Before mounting them, I removed my ghetto risers (the fat washers), and re-installed the original bolts.

I installed the Rox Risers in quite a forward position, then I mounted the new Tusk fat bars. Feels nice. And standing on the pegs, I don't feel like I'm fighting against my own bodyweight when climbing treacherous rocky hills.

In order to fit the Moose Racing Contour aluminum handguards I've been using with the old 7/8" Renthal bars, I had to order Moose clamps to fit fat bars. Reluctantly, I did so from my local dealer. At $50...just for the inner clamps! I think I paid $60 for the handguard set which included the guards, plastic deflectors, and the 7/8" clamps. Oh well. It's done and my handguards are now mounted.

These fat bars are nice and wide at 31.6". The stock bars are about 29.5" and the Renthals I've been using are about 30.5". The new fat bars feel nice riding around town, and riding off-road the steering feels light. Better control for sure. The YZ bend is pretty flat and low compared to the CR or KX bends. I was afraid of going too high since the Rox Risers add 2", plus the YZ bars don't have too much pull-back,

RockyMountainATV had a good reference guide on their site. Here's the low down:

Easton EXP
Bend	Width	Height	Pull Back
CR High Bend	31.50"	3.70"	2.40"
CR Mid Bend	31.50"	3.20"	2.20"
Carmichael Bend	31.50"	3.00"	2.20"
Henry/Reed Bend	31.50"	3.60"	2.20"
RM Mid Bend	31.50"	3.90"	2.10"

Fly Racing Aluma-Steel
Bend	Width	Height	Pull Back
ATV F Bend	29.76"	5.51"	4.05"
CR High Bend	31.34"	3.50"	2.12"
Kawasaki/Suzuki Bend	31.49"	2.79"	2.16"
Mini Bend	29.13"	3.77"	1.65"
Vintage Bend	33.07"	6.77"	3.54"
Yamaha Bend	31.61"	3.62"	2.24"

MSR Carbon Steel
Bend	Width	Height	Pull Back
ATV High Bend	31.50"	6.00"	3.94"
ATV Low Bend	31.00"	4.00"	3.62"
CR High Bend	31.63"	4.50"	3.80"
CR Low Bend	32.13"	3.63"	3.50"
CR Mid Bend	32.25"	4.25"	3.38"
KX High Bend	31.50"	4.25"	3.07"
KX Low Bend	31.88"	3.25"	3.38"
Mini High Bend	28.50"	4.60"	2.36"
Mini Low Bend	28.13"	3.71"	2.36"
RM High Bend	31.88"	3.75"	4.13"
YZ High Bend	32.25"	3.88"	3.75"
YZ Low Bend	31.50"	2.64"	2.76"

Pro-Taper Contour
Bend	Width	Height	Pull Back
ATV High Bend	31.50"	4.75"	2.17"
ATV Low Bend	31.50"	3.74"	2.37"
ATV Mid Bend	31.50"	4.25"	2.21"
CR High Bend	31.50"	3.74"	2.37"
CR Mid Bend	31.50"	3.23"	2.24"
Carmichael Bend	31.50"	3.00"	2.17"
Factory Suzuki/KTM Bend	31.50"	3.63"	1.85"
Henry/Reed Bend	31.50"	3.62"	2.24"
KX High Bend	31.50"	4.25"	2.21"
Mini High Bend	30.50"	3.74"	2.00"
Mini Low Bend	30.50"	2.80"	1.85"
Pastrana FMX Bend	30.50"	4.75"	2.17"
Pastrana MX/RM Low Bend	31.50"	2.91"	2.17"
Raptor Bend	30.30"	5.64"	3.41"
Universal Low Bend	31.50"	2.80"	2.17"
Windham MX/RM Mid Bend	31.50"	3.90"	2.13"
Woods High Bend	30.50"	3.74"	2.45"
Woods Low Bend	30.50"	2.80"	2.37"
YZ High Bend	31.50"	3.31"	2.05"

Pro-Taper EVO
Bend	Width	Height	Pull Back
Carmichael Bend	31.50"	3.0"	2.17"
CR High Bend	31.50"	3.74"	2.45"
Henry/Reed Bend	31.50"	3.62"	2.24"
RM Low Bend	31.50"	2.91"	2.17"
Windham/RM Mid Bend	31.50"	3.90"	2.13"
Woods High Bend	31.50"	3.74"	2.56"
YZ High Bend	31.50"	3.31"	2.05"

Pro-Taper SE
Bend	Width	Height	Pull Back
ATV Low Bend	32.00"	5.50"	3.30"
ATV Mid Bend	32.00"	5.90"	3.00"
ATV High Bend	32.00"	6.30"	3.94"
Carmichael Bend	31.50"	3.00"	2.17"
CR Low Bend	31.50"	2.80"	2.68"
CR Mid Bend	31.50"	3.23"	2.36"
CR High Bend	31.50"	3.74"	2.45"
Factory Suzuki Bend	32.00"	3.63"	1.85"
Henry/Reed Bend	31.50"	3.70"	2.17"
Honda Mini Bend	28.75"	4.60"	1.97"
KTM 50 Bend	25.50"	3.15"	1.75"
KX Low Bend	31.50"	2.80"	2.36"
KX High Bend	32.00"	4.25"	3.07"
Kawasaki Mini Bend	28.75"	3.71"	1.97"
Raptor Bend	30.30"	5.63"	3.41"
RM Low Bend	32.00"	2.91"	2.17"
RM High Bend	31.50"	3.23"	2.87"
School Boy High Bend	28.10"	3.46"	1.77"
School Boy Low Bend	28.10"	3.07"	1.85"
Suzuki Mini Bend	28.75"	4.00"	1.97"
Windham/RM Mid Bend	32.00"	3.90"	2.13"
XR50 Bend	28.50"	6.75"	1.75"
YZ Low Bend	31.50"	2.64"	2.76"
YZ High Bend	31.50"	3.31"	2.05"
Yamaha Mini Bend	28.75"	3.90"	2.28"

Renthal Bar
Bend	Width	Height	Pull Back
ATV Honda/Suzuki/Kawaszki Bend	31.10"	5.59"	3.54"
ATV Race Bend	30.51"	4.72"	2.68"
Banshee Bend	30.51"	5.90"	3.93"
89-91 CR Bend	31.29"	3.74"	2.44"
CR Bend	31.30"	3.74"	2.44"
CR Mini Bend	29.13"	3.78"	2.68"
CRF 150R Bend	30.7"	5.43"	1.65"
Fourtrax Bend	30.31"	6.30"	3.86"
KTM Mini Racer Bend	25.28"	3.31"	1.73"
KX Bend	31.69"	3.66"	2.17"
KX Mini Bend	26.57"	3.54"	2.68"
KX/RM Mini Bend	28.82"	3.94"	2.48"
LT-R 450 Bend	31.65"	3.50"	3.23"
Mini Carmichael/Allessi Bend	29.13"	4.65"	1.65"
Mini Racer Bend	30.20"	6.06"	2.76"
Raptor 700 Bend	31.10"	5.55"	3.54"
Raptor Bend	30.90"	5.51"	3.94"
RM Bend	32.05"	3.11"	2.32"
RMZ Bend	31.42"	2.91"	2.28"
Suzuki Quadracer Bend	30.31"	4.72"	3.62"
XR250/600 Bend	31.30"	3.27"	2.95"
04-05 YFZ 450 Bend	30.43"	4.33"	3.82"
06 YFZ 450 Bend	30.70"	4.17"	3.46"
YZ Mini Bend	28.74"	4.06"	2.32"
YZ/WR Bend	31.61"	3.62"	2.24"

Renthal Fat Bars
Bend	Width	Height	Pull Back
ATV Bend	31.29"	3.74"	2.44"
CR High	31.29"	3.74"	2.44"
Carmichael High	31.57"	4.49"	2.13"
R. Carmichael	31.57"	3.89"	2.12"
J. McGrath	31.61"	3.62"	2.24"
KFX 450R Bend	30.26"	3.78"	2.83"
Mini Bend	29.13"	4.65"	1.65"
Universal Low	31.41"	3.15"	2.24"

Renthal Rider Bar
Bend	Width	Height	Pull Back
Carmichael/Windham	31.57"	3.90"	2.13"
J. Button-High Bend	31.77"	4.33"	2.63"
McGrath/Lusk/Stewart	31.61"	3.62"	2.24"

Renthal Twinwall
Bend	Width	Height	Pull Back
CR High Bend	31.29"	3.74"	2.44"
Jeff Emig Bend	31.69"	3.66"	2.16"
Jeremy McGrath Bend	31.69"	3.26"	2.16"
Kevin Windham Bend	31.61"	3.62"	2.24"
Ricky Carmichael Bend	31.57"	3.89"	2.12"
YZ Bend	31.92"	3.34"	1.41"

Tag T2
Bend	Width	Height	Pull Back
Cary Hart	31.50"	3.31"	2.05"
Factory	31.50"	3.62"	1.85"
Ricky Carmichael	31.50"	3.03"	2.05"
Stewart	31.50"	3.31"	2.05"

Trail Tech ATV X-Bar
Bend	Width	Height	Pull Back
Low Bend	31.10"	3.27"	2.44"
Mid Bend	31.10"	3.74"	2.44"
High Bend	31.10"	4.21"	2.44"

Tusk Chub Big Bar
Bend	Width	Height	Pull Back
ATV High Bend	31.5"	4.75"	2.41"
CR High Bend	31.5"	3.75"	2.45"
MX Race Bend	31.6"	2.8"	2.25"
YZ Bend	31.6"	3.5"	2.38"

Tusk T-10
Bend	Width	Height	Pull Back
ATV Sport Model Bend	31.75"	6.25"	3.50"
CR High Bend	32.00"	3.75"	3.00"
CR Mid Bend	32.00"	3.50"	2.50"
KX High Bend	32.25"	4.00"	3.00"
Mini High Bend	29.13"	4.50"	2.75"
Raptor Bend	31.50"	6.25"	4.00"
YZ High Bend	32.00"	3.50"	3.00"

Another sunny Saturday ride, late fall

2010-10-16T22:27:00.003-04:00

With the number of nice, sunny Saturdays dwindling, Dave and I decided to go for a ride today. The peak of the fall colours is now over, but it's still quite pretty. We started with day at Starbucks, then we headed to our usual riding area, in the direction of Lanark County and Calabogie. Great day of easy double-track, trails, some rocky power lines. With all the rain from the last 2 days, conditions were pretty wet and we saw some mud. That just made the ride more fun.

Not sure what this is about. This is where the trail begins, on Concession Rd #9 just past Almonte.

Pine forest

Found a nice wide double-track off California Rd, but it led to a dead end after a couple of miles (a chain gate across the path -- private property).