Richy's Mid Life Crisis, Season 2, Episode 5 "The Moneypittening"

[flyingbrick]

Thats a pretty decent upgrade!

Did you manage to get both static and loaded sag set pretty good? 

[Snoozin]

Yeah everything is well within where it should be, prior to getting KSS to supply the shock and spring I took a bunch of measurements of where it was sitting with me on it, geared up with the original spring - they specced the new rate pretty good based on my info supplied.

[Snoozin]

So, this thing's currently sitting in the shed gathering dust because I'm an idiot/terrible at riding these things, and I fell off it and broke something important.

But first, a wee yarn about the some misadventures.

2007 Yamaha XT660R Phone (145) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

About 3 weeks ago, I went for a skid to see @oftensideways up the line. I mainly wanted to hoon on Turakina Valley Rd as I'd been told the gravel bits were pretty rad. So I did, but to get there I did a pretty convoluted loop, taking in Zig Zag Rd, Ridge Rd, Peep O Day Rd, Sandon Block Rd and then doubling back to Turakina Valley Rd before running that all the way to Tangiwai. I made the journey to get to Sean's place about 280km in total (whoops) and did 450km by the time I'd gotten home. Big day for a rookie, bike ran flawlessly and I didn't fall off.

2007 Yamaha XT660R Phone (148) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

The next day though, didn't end so well (this isn't me breaking the thing, though, really). I tagged along on a loosely organised ride with a Manawatu Adv Facebook group (Blizzo went too, and Simon) which took in some roads/trails over Tararua way. All good on the gravel, zipped through Tararua Rd (I think it was) after a run over the Pahiatua Track on the tarmac (getting more and more comfortable on the road but still not totally confident to push hard), then the group headed further East to Puketoi Rd, which starts as a gravel road then turns into an unmaintained paper road/farm track basically.

Anyway, I struggled keeping up (a lot) on this one, mostly due to being inexperienced on what is a relatively hefty piece of gear (and probably, in retrospect not the best bike for tackling this sort of stuff, but here we are). It can be a bit demoralising when you lose contact with the group, but I soldiered on, concentrating on looking ahead, picking my lines and doing the best I could. Then the front end started shaking a bit at 30km/h and faster... shit, a puncture. Of course, I had a tube and some tools. BUT I was missing the 14mm hex key to remove the front axle. I turned around and went several KM back on a flat front tyre, and left the bike at the last farm house we'd encountered. A couple of the other blokes helped me out, and I got a lift back into town on the back of an Africa Twin (DCT gearbox is nice!) before hauling the trailer out and picking it up. 3.5hr round trip!!!

2007 Yamaha XT660R Phone (146) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

So that was a bit shit really. But I fixed it the next evening, threw a new tube in and all that, and decided I go for a burn later that week after work. I also fitted up some spare plastics I got from Japan, wrapped the minters with the nice stickers up in bubble wrap and stashed them away for selling time. Looks all right all naked and stuff I guess.

2007 Yamaha XT660R Phone (151) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

And so off we went on a Wednesday or a Thursday night or something. Off, back up the Pahiatua Track and this time turning off to the left at the top, and taking in North Range Rd. It starts off nice and smooth, as an access road mainly for the wind turbines, but quickly deteriorates into a 4x4 track, which posed some challenges to the novice rider.

2007 Yamaha XT660R Phone (153) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Nice views before it got a bit bumpier, though!

2007 Yamaha XT660R Phone (155) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

I went for a short walk to check out what I'd gotten myself into, before actually proceeding on the bike down some of these sections. They were relatively slippery clay-ish sort of stuff, but I managed all right, albeit at a leisurely pace. Thankful for a good tyre on the front!

2007 Yamaha XT660R Phone (157) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Plenty of rutted out areas. This one was extreme, and I didn't ride through it, but did some others... water in some cases was thigh-deep (I waded into a couple just to check first).

2007 Yamaha XT660R Phone (159) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

And this is probably indicative of most of the track, some of these holes/puddles were deceptively deep so I didn't risk hitting everything with lots of speed. 

But then I fell off (the first time). One particularly gnarly looking rut looked a bit daunting, so I chose to go around on the outside, following some bike ruts along a narrow ledge to the left of the big 4x4 hole. Was going OK, until I had to give it some throttle to get enough drive through a boggy spot, then the rear tyre jumped out of the rut I was riding in, and spat me and the bike off the 'ledge' to the right hand side, and into the mud hole. The bike went competely upside down dangling over the half meter or so ledge (it has an inertia switch to cut power thankfully) and I ended up in the mud. Lol. I laughed a bit to be fair, and then quickly focused on the "how the fuck am I going to recover the bike" task at hand. Turns out you can shift 170kg of bike pretty easily when you have to, and it wasn't as difficult as I feared to stand it back upright. We got out of that one OK.

Closer to the end of the '4x4' section though, I binned it again, just hit a submerged rock and got all out of rhythm - again, in a muddy/wet hole. I think this is where the damage occured, although it didn't make itself known to me until later.

2007 Yamaha XT660R Phone (161) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

This is just out the other side, at this point I was ignorant to the problem that would befall me only a few minutes down the track...

2007 Yamaha XT660R Phone (162) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Here's the last pic I took, descending back down to Gorge Rd at the other end of the track. You can see the muffler has been tweaked slightly after taking a hit. I have ordered an additional bracket/clamp for it and will improve this. While taking this photo of the lovely golden hour views, the temp warning light came on.... bit odd, I thought, but didn't think anything of it and coasted downhill until it switched off before making my way down under power. Until it came on again.

I wasn't far out of Woodville when I thought I'd take a look and whoooops.... the somewhat vulnerable hose from water pump to the radiator had holed, I think mainly because the hose was old and brittle. I patched it with tape as best I could, and filled up a small amount of water from what was left in my bottle and continued home. The light came on again, the tape didn't do a perfect job.... so I pressed on. 

Hopefully no damage was incurred to the engine. It ran fine all the way home, and I figured as long as the temp light was on, there was still water in it... presently waiting for a hose from Yamaha and I'll have it all patched up and ready to go again. 

If you've stayed with me, thanks for reading. It's probably not that interesting to the experienced riders here, but very much a learning curve. I'm wondering if I've over-invested in a not very suitable bike, it would actually be nice to have a bit less weight to deal with and I think would help my confidence a bit. So the XT's future is in the balance. It's a wonderful gravel bike, but leaves something to be desired on the tight stuff, despite the list of upgrades it has. First though, fix it and hope it's all OK after running hot for a little while.

Thing is, what to replace with if anything? Limited budget here... maybe 8 or 9k tops if it sells for relatively OK money.

[Willdat?]

42 minutes ago, Snoozin said:

So, this thing's currently sitting in the shed gathering dust because I'm an idiot/terrible at riding these things, and I fell off it and broke something important.

But first, a wee yarn about the some misadventures.

2007 Yamaha XT660R Phone (145) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

About 3 weeks ago, I went for a skid to see @oftensideways up the line. I mainly wanted to hoon on Turakina Valley Rd as I'd been told the gravel bits were pretty rad. So I did, but to get there I did a pretty convoluted loop, taking in Zig Zag Rd, Ridge Rd, Peep O Day Rd, Sandon Block Rd and then doubling back to Turakina Valley Rd before running that all the way to Tangiwai. I made the journey to get to Sean's place about 280km in total (whoops) and did 450km by the time I'd gotten home. Big day for a rookie, bike ran flawlessly and I didn't fall off.

2007 Yamaha XT660R Phone (148) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

The next day though, didn't end so well (this isn't me breaking the thing, though, really). I tagged along on a loosely organised ride with a Manawatu Adv Facebook group (Blizzo went too, and Simon) which took in some roads/trails over Tararua way. All good on the gravel, zipped through Tararua Rd (I think it was) after a run over the Pahiatua Track on the tarmac (getting more and more comfortable on the road but still not totally confident to push hard), then the group headed further East to Puketoi Rd, which starts as a gravel road then turns into an unmaintained paper road/farm track basically.

Anyway, I struggled keeping up (a lot) on this one, mostly due to being inexperienced on what is a relatively hefty piece of gear (and probably, in retrospect not the best bike for tackling this sort of stuff, but here we are). It can be a bit demoralising when you lose contact with the group, but I soldiered on, concentrating on looking ahead, picking my lines and doing the best I could. Then the front end started shaking a bit at 30km/h and faster... shit, a puncture. Of course, I had a tube and some tools. BUT I was missing the 14mm hex key to remove the front axle. I turned around and went several KM back on a flat front tyre, and left the bike at the last farm house we'd encountered. A couple of the other blokes helped me out, and I got a lift back into town on the back of an Africa Twin (DCT gearbox is nice!) before hauling the trailer out and picking it up. 3.5hr round trip!!!

2007 Yamaha XT660R Phone (146) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

So that was a bit shit really. But I fixed it the next evening, threw a new tube in and all that, and decided I go for a burn later that week after work. I also fitted up some spare plastics I got from Japan, wrapped the minters with the nice stickers up in bubble wrap and stashed them away for selling time. Looks all right all naked and stuff I guess.

2007 Yamaha XT660R Phone (151) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

And so off we went on a Wednesday or a Thursday night or something. Off, back up the Pahiatua Track and this time turning off to the left at the top, and taking in North Range Rd. It starts off nice and smooth, as an access road mainly for the wind turbines, but quickly deteriorates into a 4x4 track, which posed some challenges to the novice rider.

2007 Yamaha XT660R Phone (153) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Nice views before it got a bit bumpier, though!

2007 Yamaha XT660R Phone (155) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

I went for a short walk to check out what I'd gotten myself into, before actually proceeding on the bike down some of these sections. They were relatively slippery clay-ish sort of stuff, but I managed all right, albeit at a leisurely pace. Thankful for a good tyre on the front!

2007 Yamaha XT660R Phone (157) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Plenty of rutted out areas. This one was extreme, and I didn't ride through it, but did some others... water in some cases was thigh-deep (I waded into a couple just to check first).

2007 Yamaha XT660R Phone (159) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

And this is probably indicative of most of the track, some of these holes/puddles were deceptively deep so I didn't risk hitting everything with lots of speed. 

But then I fell off (the first time). One particularly gnarly looking rut looked a bit daunting, so I chose to go around on the outside, following some bike ruts along a narrow ledge to the left of the big 4x4 hole. Was going OK, until I had to give it some throttle to get enough drive through a boggy spot, then the rear tyre jumped out of the rut I was riding in, and spat me and the bike off the 'ledge' to the right hand side, and into the mud hole. The bike went competely upside down dangling over the half meter or so ledge (it has an inertia switch to cut power thankfully) and I ended up in the mud. Lol. I laughed a bit to be fair, and then quickly focused on the "how the fuck am I going to recover the bike" task at hand. Turns out you can shift 170kg of bike pretty easily when you have to, and it wasn't as difficult as I feared to stand it back upright. We got out of that one OK.

Closer to the end of the '4x4' section though, I binned it again, just hit a submerged rock and got all out of rhythm - again, in a muddy/wet hole. I think this is where the damage occured, although it didn't make itself known to me until later.

2007 Yamaha XT660R Phone (161) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

This is just out the other side, at this point I was ignorant to the problem that would befall me only a few minutes down the track...

2007 Yamaha XT660R Phone (162) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Here's the last pic I took, descending back down to Gorge Rd at the other end of the track. You can see the muffler has been tweaked slightly after taking a hit. I have ordered an additional bracket/clamp for it and will improve this. While taking this photo of the lovely golden hour views, the temp warning light came on.... bit odd, I thought, but didn't think anything of it and coasted downhill until it switched off before making my way down under power. Until it came on again.

I wasn't far out of Woodville when I thought I'd take a look and whoooops.... the somewhat vulnerable hose from water pump to the radiator had holed, I think mainly because the hose was old and brittle. I patched it with tape as best I could, and filled up a small amount of water from what was left in my bottle and continued home. The light came on again, the tape didn't do a perfect job.... so I pressed on. 

Hopefully no damage was incurred to the engine. It ran fine all the way home, and I figured as long as the temp light was on, there was still water in it... presently waiting for a hose from Yamaha and I'll have it all patched up and ready to go again. 

If you've stayed with me, thanks for reading. It's probably not that interesting to the experienced riders here, but very much a learning curve. I'm wondering if I've over-invested in a not very suitable bike, it would actually be nice to have a bit less weight to deal with and I think would help my confidence a bit. So the XT's future is in the balance. It's a wonderful gravel bike, but leaves something to be desired on the tight stuff, despite the list of upgrades it has. First though, fix it and hope it's all OK after running hot for a little while.

Far from being uninteresting, you take great photos and tell a story of adventure with humility.

I never rode a motorbike until I was ~25 (I'd been pillion with Dad but my unclle had died after a crash, so I wasn't allowed my own until I left home). I've been a mountain biker for a long time, but the weight, especially downhill on gravel I still find unnerving at times.

I've usually been on the smallest bike in the group. It's great when things get a bit wild to have something more manageable.

Last year I sold my WR250R to fund my NBC110 tweaks and that has worked pretty well. I still get to get places that are out of the way, but there's no pressure at all.

[Snoozin]

Time to change the title to something involving a plural, I'm due back in the North Island shortly with a new toy after a bit of a drive...

TBC...

 

[sheepers]

is that a Gozzoomy?

[Snoozin]

7 minutes ago, sheepers said:

is that a Gozzoomy?

Go to bed/what now?

[peteretep]

DRZ400E? with a big tank/maybe some mods?

[Snoozin]

On 10/01/2024 at 15:39, peteretep said:

DRZ400E? with a big tank/maybe some mods?

Yep. 2015 400E, Safari 17l tank, assorted B&B shiny things, FMF pipe, Renthal bars, risers, Barkbusters, MSR shifter, tail tidy etc etc.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z400E-28 by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2015 Suzuki DR-Z400E-34 by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2015 Suzuki DR-Z400E-44 by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2015 Suzuki DR-Z400E-53 by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2015 Suzuki DR-Z400E-2 by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Grabbed it off marketplace, was for sale in Cromwell and a mate of mine based in Wanaka made the pick up for me.

A few days down South visiting people and doing a quickfire road trip saw it back home in the shed. It was pretty bloody dusty, so I spent last night cleaning it all up.

Not too many plans - maybe full black plastics, a screen, comfort seat, suspension re-spring and a base to suit my Kreiga bags and we should be humming along. Probably wants a new front tyre soon too.

It's so light and easy to manouvre compared with the tank that is the XT, although that is ultimately quicker and feels more stable on the road.

[Snoozin]

Old tutu fingers can't help but fuck around with perfectly fine vehicles.

Black plastics added. Aftermarket sides and rear guard, aftermarket RMZ front guard and a genuine DR-Z400SM headlight shroud.

Hooned it over Ridge Road on the weekend and had a total blast, it's so nimble and responsive compared to the XT albeit less grunty. Still gets off its arse pretty well and it's a lot more confidence inspiring to push a little bit harder on loose surfaces, but nowhere near as composed on the road.

Plans include a fan kit, comfort seat and a new front tyre at this stage.

[Snoozin]

Story time. The TL;DR version - really enjoying this thing, and once again I made a regular adventure ride turn into more of an adventure that it should have been, thanks to my idiocy.

But yeah, this thread is likely to be more of a "sharns about stuff Richy attempts on bikes" as opposed to a proper project, as these things are pretty well just ride, maintain and occasionally modify.

Apologies if it's a bit wordy.

So I took the bike on it's second ride a week ago, a bit of a trip around the coast from Martinborough, via White Rock, then through a private station, to Cape Palliser and Ngawi thanks to @BLIZZO and a bunch of his mates on flash as KTMs mapping out a future rallye route. 

We kicked off on gravel roads, the road out to White Rock isn't bad at all, and I'm gathering a bunch of confidence in using my brakes and weighting the bike to get it to turn a bit better on gravel. Net result, getting a bit quicker which probably means it's just going to hurt more in the future.

Ripper time. A couple of the challenges made me think twice, I dropped the bike once on an awkward, slower turn in some sand but got through and was chuffed I managed it without having to palm the bike off to someone more skilled than me to get the job done. However, first to admit I'm not the fittest, or the most elegant at getting through some of the stuff so I was a bit pooped early on, however once the trail flattened out a bit it allowed a bit of recovery. I also didn't take any pics because admin, and there wasn't a huge amount of faffing around with a bit of a schedule to keep to. Would trade again!

The weekend just been, I decided I'd join up with a group doing a ride around the Wairarapa/Tararua region on primary gravel roads, culminating in Puketoi Rd, which if you've been following along, is where I punctured on the XT and had to turn back.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z400E Phone (4) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

This is the group at the end of Bartons Line, the first stretch of gravel we encountered after leaving Masterton. Yes, I rode the bloody thing to Masterton... bit buzzy at cruise RPM but bearable. A range of bikes, erring on what I'd call the larger side with myself and a guy on a DR-Z400SM the smallest of the lot. The fella on the T7 with all the stickers on it, could PEDAL though and was fun to watch as he overtook me, and proceeded to powerslide like a boss through multiple corners. The road was relatively narrow and tight to begin, but opened out into some pretty cool sweeping corners, and fast switchbacks. I couldn't keep pace with the 3 fast guys but managed to acquit myself all right I thought.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z400E Phone (5) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Still looking fresh as after the first road!

So after this, we trekked to Pori Rd, which would then lead on to Puketoi Rd - the rougher of the surfaces chosen for the ride. Again I lost sight of the quick fellas, but stopped to take a quick shot. 

2015 Suzuki DR-Z400E Phone (6) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Pretty good nick roads, minimal corrugation. I rejoined and again found myself effectively riding alone, and when I arrived at the Pori Rd/Puketoi intersection continued straight as I figured the lead groupd would have. However, I didn't see any tracks (and T7s seem to leave hectic skiddies!) and got to the first gate, which was closed... and this struck me as a bit odd. Nevermind, on we go, and I'd go on to ride the entire length of Puketoi Road, not get a puncture, and end up waiting for over 30 minutes at the end for the group to arrive. Turned out they took the wrong turn at the intersection...

2015 Suzuki DR-Z400E Phone (8) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2015 Suzuki DR-Z400E Phone (9) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

I figured instead of taking Route 52 back to Alfredton, and then onto Eketahuna, the most direct route for me to go home was back via Puketoi Rd, in reverse. No problem then, off we go, having a blast and being a hooligan. I took in Tararua Road on the way, another flowy gravel road effectively between Pahiatua and Ballance.

Arrived home happy as you like, until I looked down and noticed my tank bag was unzipped and... and... hell I was sure I popped my phone in there. Whaaaamp whaaaa. The Puketoi Road curse strikes again. 

Thankfully, technology is wonderful and Samsung helped me find it. The problem was, it was here.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z400E Phone (10) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

OK cool. At least it's alive. But 1.5 hrs ride away. Logic said 1.5 hrs of riding was cheaper than a new phone, so off we went. Back to Puketoi we went, only this time it was raining and the terrain had changed somewhat!

2015 Suzuki DR-Z400E Phone (11) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

OK past the first gate.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z400E Phone (14) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

And then we arrived at approximately where the phone was. I'd grabbed the location and added a pin to Google maps, and used my work phone to GPS me to the rough spot. The phone was about 5m away from where I'd stopped, face down in the mud. I reckon it fell out when I'd given the front a good old heave to wheelie over a hole, while I'd been having a grand old time roughly 3 hours earlier...

2015 Suzuki DR-Z400E Phone (12) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

No harm done, and time to head back...

2015 Suzuki DR-Z400E Phone (1) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

And as you can see, it's not like conditions got any better. That's about where our adventure ends, with retrieval of a slightly mucky but perfectly functioning Galaxy A54 5G, clearly the IP rating on these is worth it's salt.

But the real victory is more KMs under the bum, more grins and on the DR-Z I'm feeling better and better about riding off road (on the road is still scary tbh).

Thanks for reading! No doubt more stupid yarns to follow, about riding a bike badly and falling over, getting up, having a giggle and continuing to the next low-speed mishap.

 

 

[Snoozin]

Well that's the end of this era, departed as it arrived into my life. Back down to just the one bike, well, sort of anyway. Something else is sitting in the wings that's been waiting for me to pick up for a number of years.

[sheepers]

Is it a gofasteradi?

[Snoozin]

Anywhoo, how about these DRZ4hundeez eh? In between where we left off, (losing and retrieving a phone and generally getting all wet) and now, I've been doing a bit to this and also using it quite a bit when I can.

So after our intrepid journey to Puketoi Rd (and back again) I'd committed to upgrading the suspension on this thing. Stock spring rates weren't up to my fat middle-aged heft, and I was finding the bump stops frequently. So apart it came.

First the back bit came out. Relatively straightforward, just a bit of jiggery pokery required to get to the top shock bolt.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (23) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Then the front. Piece of piss, this bit. Hover bike chic.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (25) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

And we end up with all the gear out, and as is customary to my habits, it all got a thorough clean before dispatching to Scotty at MotoSR for a revalve and respring.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (26) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (27) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

In the interim, I thought I could better clean stuff up. So I got busy with the brakeclean, APC, prepsol and detailing brushes and really gave it a once over.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (31) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (32) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (33) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

At this point I figured, since the thing was partially stripped I'd do the carb breather mod to help with the wading depth. Basically, it's just re-routing 3 of the 5 breather tubes up high on the bike, instead of all exiting low and well below the waterline. In theory, less likely to drown it on a deep crossing. This is the before pic, you can see all 5 breather tubes xiting low (for some reason someones cut some of them short)

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (35) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Here it is with new nitrile hose fitted. You can see the difference in routing. There's like 800mm of hose from those top ports.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (55)-2 by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (57) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

When installed on the bike, the 3 long hoses now exit near the steering head, if shit gets this deep I have bigger problems I expect. Bonus was a thorough carb clean and cable adjustments whilst I did this.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (37) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

It also occured to me I should check and grease the suspension bearings and pivots, as these things have a reputation for having the bare minimum of grease applied off the factory floor. Cue more pulling apart.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (39) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Now, even though they have grease nipples, legend has it that it's still a wise move to remove and manually grease everything to the max with waterproof/marine grease not only for lubrication but as a safeguard against moisture from both river crossings and pressure washing. The main swingarm pivot was pretty dry, although not too tricky to remove in the end with a big punch and a hammer. The remainder of bearings and bushes weren't too bad, but I cleaned them anyway and repacked with plenty of grease. Naturally, I cleaned the shit out of it all.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (38) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Another "ok while I'm at it" task was a seat re-trim. The original seat cover was torn near the rear and had a super nice and totally conversant with my OCD electrical tape repair. I got this off the shelf cover from Strike Seats and slapped it over the original foam. It wouldn't last long, not for quality reasons... but, you'll see.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (40) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Next thing you know, the NZCouriers bloke is rapping on the front door and lo and behold, a suspension shaped box is sitting there. The heavier rear spring is visible, and some nice stickers let everyone know I paid a wad of cash for nicer suspension.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (42) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Naturally, I had to install it all straight away that night. I only made one cock up, and installed the thrust washer things on the wrong side of one of the linkage arms (it was late, OK) but spotted it before I'd had the opportunity to ride it.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (43) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Anyway, it's all put back together and I even took the opportunity to slap a new FMF sticker on the pipe (which I polished BTW) as the old one was all mussed up.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (44) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

So, you need to go and test the suspension, right? Max and I headed up Odlins Rd with the intention of getting past the hut at the top, however our day was cut short by a 4x4 that was dangling perilously over the edge of the track, lashed to some trees on the opposite side to stop it from toppling right off. I did get a few pics of this but for some reason haven't uploaded, so you'll have to deal with pics of 2 bikes instead. We actually over took the rescue party heading in to get this truck out - the owner (a South African bloke out hunting) was super lucky a couple of very eager young lads in a Hilux and 70 series Cruiser were headed in for a bit of a drive too, and they had some decent recovery gear and loads of enthusiasm to help. We hung around for the recovery effort, and were thankful to see a VERY relieved Saffa bloke get his Daihatsu Rocky back on the track and I assume out of the bush - the light was failing so we belted out of there quickly.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (45) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

This is where we stopped just before the stranded 4x4 - we'll be back to tackle this again soon.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (46) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

The good news though? Suspension was MEAN. I found I could tackle the bigger obstacles with significantly more confidence and pace, it was easier to pop the front up when needed and also, on the looser gravel it steered so much better, especially on the front brake. The next weekend I took it for a 300km odd ride to see Sean in Ohakune, taking in the excellent flowing form that is Turakina Valley Rd. Way faster on the DRZ than I ever was on the XT.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (49) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

More riding happened. Some Santoft hoons, again with Max, figuring it out in soft, deep sand and getting a puncture on the road while en route (and close) to home. A quick sprint up to the Mangahao dams with Bliz and a group who'd come from Wanganui, on a variety of pretty ripper machines.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (51) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (52) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

I'd signed up to a 3 day, 1180km ride from Napier to Masterton and back via seal, gravel, farm tracks, forestry and beaches. Originally I was set to run this one with Bliz, but unfortunately he had a bit of a major whoopsie while helping map a section of this actual ride - more on that later - so I had to hit it solo, albeit with MUCH apprehension. Was I going to be able to keep up? Were my abilities up to it? Nevertheless, a few small bits of prep were required, namely a new rear tyre, a screen and fitting up the Kriega bags I'd kept from the XT.

Parabellum rally screen and ABA headlight guard fitted here.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (3) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Big chonk Dunlop D606 out the back for traction on slippery surfaces. The old MotoZ Tractionator was pretty cooked. You can also see that I'd changed the seat out, for a Seat Concepts comfort seat. This wasn't cheap. But as I was about to find out, it's worth EVERY cent.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (53) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

And finally, Kriega OS base fitted up with the 12l bags fitted. These, along with the small tank bag and a 9l pack with a hydration bladder would suffice for 3 days easily.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (80) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

That'll do for now - next instalment I'll have a yarn about the impending adventures! Albeit with not enough photos.

 

 

[Snoozin]

So, as I left off on the last post - I'd signed up for my first crack at a multi-day adv ride. Basically it was a run from Napier to Masterton via tar seal, gravel roads, farm tracks, paper roads and the like. I didn't have much of a tool kit (and a less than enviable record of getting punctures) so I figured it might be a plan to piece something comprehensive together. Maybe overkill, but this is what I ended up with and it's not too crazy heavy. The pump I handily already had, it's a double-action jobby so makes relatively light work of smashing air back into a tube.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (55) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (56) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

And so off we trekked, I elected to trailer the bike over to Hawkes Bay as the expected return time on the Sunday was going to be around 3-4pm to Napier and I reckoned I'd be pretty much a solid CBF riding home after the mandatory beer and a snack - not to mention the 1100km plus of riding we were scheduled to do over the three days!

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (90) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

I was pretty apprehensive. Essentially, Blake and I were meant to be doing this but his unfortunate mishap (while mapping part of this ride) and subsequent injury meant he wasn't able to make it, so here I was flying blind into a group of folks I'd never met, with a repertoire of riding skills that - well - are VERY loosely worth describing as "skills" should we say. Not to mention a little bike compared to the parallel twin behemoths and fast-as-fuck KTMs etc. Was I gonna be left behind? Would I be a burden to everyone else? Overthinking was real, and I nearly didn't go.

I also had no GPS, so it was going to be essential that I had a riding buddy, lest I get lost. Turning up for registration the night before, a chat with the organisers sort of put me a bit more at ease - I could ride with the sweep guys at the back if I really needed to.

But here's how it sort of went.

At 7am on the Friday morning, we set off from the Westshore Beach Inn in Napier in groups, and wound our way South via Hawkes Bay farmland and ended up on Kairakau Beach. I rode with Scotty (from MotoSR who did my suspension for me) and maintained a reasonable pace through a bit of slippery-ish farmland, so it was a bit of a confidence booster for sure!

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (91) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (93) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (95) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

From here it was back inland, then doubling back onto the coast for a bit and a hoon down the beach, which was a good time, on hard-packed East Coast sand, and hitting the bit undulations tapped out in 5th was exciting to say the least. Hang on and keep up it was the order of the day, despite it feeling less than comfortable for me.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (97) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (99) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

We'd end up at Porangahau for a ripper coffee, and a quick fuel top up for anyone who needed it - I elected to take on some fuel at this point, and we'd all filter off in groups, back into the Hawkes Bay high country for some killer vistas from some of the coastal stations we'd been able to access thanks to the organisers.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (100) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (107) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

This would see us descend into Pongaroa for lunch at the pub - pizzas and cold beers were the order of the day.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (109) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

The rest of Day One entailed mainly gravel roads - albeit enjoyable, especially Spur Rd near Pongaroa which I'll absolutely have to remember for posterity, and have a go at again. But I failed at pics for this bit, mainly because I was having a ripper time I guess. We got into Dannevirke about 5:30pm that evening, dusty, a bit tired but pretty chuffed and had a wee feed at the Black Stump Cafe, which wasn't too bad! 397km all said and done for that day.

Day Two was a trek from Dannevirke to Masterton, and it was a chilly 1-degree when we set off from the Main Street of Dannevirke, en route to Makairo Track via ALL of the gravel roads.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (113) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

At our arrival to the entrance of the Makairo Track, at the Western end, my fingers were cold enough they were painful - however, the track is a relatively technical, slower going situation so after a few minutes of wrestling the bike through quad bike/4wd ruts I was warm enough! Followed a fairly accomplished bloke through on a CRF300L, which helped a bit in terms of watching how I needed to weight the pegs and generally manouevre the bike through some of the tighter stuff and ruts etc.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (114) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

It used to be an actual maintained road I believe - the collapsed (collapsing?) bridge put paid to that however and rendered it as a "hiking" track that's sometimes accessed by hunters and lunatics on bikes.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (115) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

From there it was more farmland. Some steep, slippery climbs made it fun, although the steep, slippery descents felt dicey on occasion when following a liiiitttle bit too close to the dude in front, we'd end up descending into a limestone quarry on one section.

Back to Pongaroa for a quick coffee and fuel stop, before setting off again to go to Puketoi Rd - you've all seen me write about that before. I must've been keeping up a decent pace, as this time I was encouraged to ride with the front guys. This turned out to be a decent choice, as it pushed me a long a bit. It wasn't especially muddy or slippery either, so I managed to keep up a pretty good pace and maintain sight with the front guys, Glen on his T7, Mark on his Husky 701 and Aaron on his WR450F. Fast bikes and experienced riders (all motorcrossers/enduro dudes). Tick for the confidence, then.

This is us at the end of Puketoi Rd, so proof I managed to hang with them!

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (118) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (119) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

It was on to Castlepoint from here - via Pori Rd and a plethora of gravel. The poor little 400 struggled to keep the big bikes in sight, I would've been sitting on 110km/h on the fast stretches and they were just disappearing in a cloud of dust. Nevertheless, we ended up at Castlepoint, for - you guessed it - a pub feed and a couple of cold ones, cider in this instance.

Aaron and I took and obligatory shot of the lighthouse in the background, and we also met a pair of blokes on nearly new KLR650s which were far too clean.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (120) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (125) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

These were the last shots I managed before we took off for the afternoon's run to Masterton. But what a ride. From Castlepoint, we rode directly into Castlepoint Station, which presented A - epic vistas across the coast and B - the most wildly well maintained gravel farm tracks in the world, surely. These things were immaculate, fast, and although we were told not to be too hooligan-ish while we were on the station, you could just maintain such a great pace. It made me feel like a rockstar, that's for sure.

From there it was gravel and a few forestry tracks and we'd end up in Masterton, where I checked into the motel and walked down to the Copthorne for that evenings dinner, briefing and bullshitting about the day we'd just had. Total km, 387 on day two.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (127) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (128) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (129) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Another cold morning beckoned, with a frost to boot! From Masterton we set off North, taking in some of the gravel routes around Eketahuna and Pahiatua before popping out on North Range Road at the top of the Tararua Ranges. This is where I flipped the XT in the mud some time ago. It starts as a nicely maintained gravel access for for the windfarms, but deteriorates into a 4WD track that's been pretty badly cut up by meatheads. No shots, but everything went pretty well, until I saw a camera filming from the top an imminent climb, so go on the gas through a grassy section to um, make it look more impressive or something. Instead of sailing up the hill, no worries at all, what happened instead was the discovery of a mystery rut, hidden in the grass. The front tucked under and I went flailing, much to everyone's mirth. The guy filming didn't even get it!

Still, I got off a little more lightly than the chap on the CRF300 Rally a few bikes ahead of me. Tackling some of the gnarlier, muddier ruts he ended up whiskey-throttling off the edge of the road, and while it wasn't a sheer drop, it was steep enough that we needed to mount a bit of a multi-person recovery effort!

From here though, it was on to Dannevirke for lunch, and then onwards via yet more Central Hawkes Bay gravel until we got to one of the most fun bits yet. A solid 20km of riverbed with an alleged 33 river crossings (I didn't count but I reckon it was in the high 20s) which presented a new challenge. The riverbed was less of the large sort of rocks, and more of that deep shale sort of stuff. This meant pace was key, sort of like riding in sand, with weight back and maintaining the gas. I must've ridden through like 15 of the (admittedly relatively small) river crossings and I was feeling pretty good about it. The rocks in the river were slippery but not too sketchy, and I managed thus far to rip through them all standing on the pegs.

Alas! You got cocky, Richy! For some reason, I decided I wouldn't get on the pegs through a particular crossing, and in the middle of said body of water was an abnormally large rock. Yeah, I looked at the rock. Then I hit the rock. Then I gave it a big wristful of throttle and ended up lying in the water. And I'd kept my boots pretty dry this whole time, too.... whamp whaa.

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (130) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Nevertheless, we'd soon ride up the riverbanks and onto some farmland, the section where Blake had unfortunately had his accident getting a bit sendy over an (unknown to him) dried up creek bed. This is "Blizzos Drop" and while it might not look super huge that drop is over 3m tall. 

2015 Suzuki DR-Z 400E Phone (131) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Another 45 minutes or so of riding through this farm saw us back on the seal and return to Napier. Yawn. Cold beer awaited again, as did a plethora of bar snacks and an even more elevated level of bullshit talking to finish off a successful weekend. Glad I did it in the end, I very nearly didn't, and I think I came out of it a better rider. Day three saw us complete 376km, for a total of 1160km.

My takeaways from the ride

- You feel a bit povo showing up on a DRZ400, however it's definitely capable of getting places just maybe not as quickly as a late model KTM or Husky etc
- the Kriega OS luggage system is boss
- the Kriega OS system has also RINSED my nice shiny sidecovers cosmetically. So naturally I have spares for vanity reasons
- I think I enjoy the tighter more technical stuff a bit more than just straight out gravel riding
- I get over 300km on a tank
- STAND ON THE BLOODY PEGS (I still don't abide by this though)
- Spending money on suspension is never, ever a waste
- Spending money on a Seat Concepts comfort seat is EVEN LESS of a waste, absolute Godsend of a thing
- I shouldn't listen to my brain and just have a crack at things (confidently) more often
- Get a GPS

More to come.

[440bbm]

Enjoy reading your posts here, and the pics are awesome as your usual!

[Snoozin]

2 hours ago, 440bbm said:

Enjoy reading your posts here, and the pics are awesome as your usual!

Cheers! I'm not much of a motorcyclist TBF, seriously lacking in skills with a bike that is probably still too much for me but I do my best to sound like I know what I'm doing!

[440bbm]

Man, who cares! You're out there doing it amongst the rest of them and picking things up as you go and having what looks to be a blast! 

[xsspeed]

doing more than most of us, good shit man, your yarns are great for vicarious living

[Snoozin]

So yeah - since that last ride update, there's been plenty of others, mainly just local stuff, here there and everywhere - I have pics from all of them but really, seen one seen em all? But what DID happen, about 10-11 weeks ago, is I was arsing around pretending I was a flat track guy or something, on the beach following a group ride through the coastal forests around Himitangi/Foxton area. Arsing around you say? Doesn't that potentially lead to mishaps?

Well, yeah. It did.

I was in third, with the bike cranked over sideways when I think I just leaned a bit too far, the front bit in and the bike stopped but I didn't. I went sailing through the screen (which disintegrated) and landed on my left hand with arm outstretched. Got up, thought "nah this isn't good" as my shoulder was instantly locked solid, and a bit painful. Said a hurried goodbye to everyone thought gritted teeth, then rode back down the beach for a while, then 30km or so to my folks who took me into ED at Palmy Hospital.

Sat around for a few hours, got an X-ray and yep, dislocated. By that stage it had really started to hurt a bit but hey, a bloke came in who'd just mashed his arm in a woodsplitter so my mishap was relatively minor in the scheme... got hauled into whatever they call the place they take you into for a quick fix or assessment or whatever, and the doctor proceeded to tell me I'd done a great job on my dislocated shoulder, there didn't seem to be any bone damage and they "should" be able to pop it back in. 

I couldn't actually get my jacket off without a bit too much pain, so the doc thankfully produced a little trolley with a cylinder of N2O and of course I huffed enough of it 'til I was 'comfortable' removing my jacket - the alternative was chopping it off, and I wasn't having ANY of that...

The doc then instructed me to huff as much as that shit as I needed to either not care enough, or not hurt enough and tell them that, so they could have a hoon on popping my shoulder back in, and once I'd asked them "let's just send it now" the process involved the doc and a nurse and a good amount of what seemed like brutality to make the shoulder go back to where it ought to be. Instant relief. A sensation that is up there with some of the best I've ever experienced.

Anyway - about 6 or 7 weeks later I sat and attained my restriced license (on the DRZ, with a repaired screen), and haven't really ridden since - until yesterday.

So, if you've binned a 400cc Suzuki with a moderate level of power and hurt yourself, what's the best plan of action? Buy a more modern, more powerful, way faster motorbike over 500km from home and ride it back.

Introducing the latest folly, a 2020 KTM 690 Enduro R. 

About a month ago I sealed the deal on this, it's a Japanese import and I'm the first owner. 6500km on the odo, a few little extras like the bash plate, a weird little auxiliary display that shows gear selection, crash bars, RPM, water and ambient temps, and that's it really. Jamie kindly picked it up from the dealer and stashed it for 4 weeks or so, while I waited for an opportunity to get to Christchurch and pick it up, between work weekends and that.

What a bike though! Gobs and gobs and gobs of torque, involuntary wheelies, a QUICKSHIFTER (oh my lord, what a giggle), brakes better than anything I've ridden to date, selectable maps (mild and certifiable)... just lots of goodness.

Although I didn't take any photos (too busy enjoying myself) the ride home was immense. The sun cranked up as I hit the coast road around Kaikoura, I had some belter tunes playing through the Cardo and it was one of those moments when everything is just perfectly aligned, almost euphoric. The 690 hums along at 120km/h with no drama, more than I can say for the DRZ (and the XT even) and that twin-counterbalanced single is surprisingly smooth. Throttle response is manic when it's in MAP2...

But I got home after riding it 559km, and duly gave it a clean the next morning, partly because I'm obsessive with cleaning vehicles, and partly because I'd had a month to collect a few bits for it and couldn't wait to bolt them to it...

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (1) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

But first, a few average beauty shots before I fall off it and scratch it.

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R-20 by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R-1 by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R-8 by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R-25 by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R-23 by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Then straight onto the wee scissor lifty thing in the shed... space is getting tight in here and I need to move cars out to actually work on bikes.

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (3) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (4) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

First port of call was to install the AdventureSpec nav tower/screen. With no real wind protection to speak of, my torso took a good hiding all the way home. There are a lot of VERY expensive rally tower options available for the 690, usually featuring LED lighting and price tags of $3500 upwards, but these were absolutely not in the budget. AdventureSpec offered this simple alternative, with a robust nav mount (and room for a switch or 2) which features an adjustable screen. Looks a bit weird I'll admit, but is budget friendly and superbly functional. Bolts on easily via the top triple clamp bolts.

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (5) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (6) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (7) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

I'll wire the power feed in for the Garmin at a later date, as I also want to add grip warmers like I have done on the DRZ too (better actually make that update). The next port of call was to replace the OEM fuel cap/filler. It's a keyed type fuel cap, in a recess that is notorious for filling up with dirt/mud etc which has the super excellent result of then dropping aforementioned muck into your tank when the filler cap is removed. For those playing at home, the tank is under the seat - and also does double duty as the subframe on a later model 690.

There is an expensive USA brand of this unit, I chose to buy the not very expensive Aliexpress knock off. After all, it's just a bit of alloy with an O-ring groove in it...

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (8) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (9) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

A good view of the tank setup here. She's a complex bit of moulding.

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (10) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (11) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Next up? Muffler. Primarily, for noise (because who DOESN'T love a loud pipe) but also, the stock muffler contains the catalytic converter, is very heavy, and gets very hot. Hot enough, that when carrying rackless type luggage (like the Kriega OS system I use), it has been known to get hot enough to melt the tank/side panel. And that ruins your day. So I elected to replace this behemoth...

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (12) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

...with this svelte Wings titanium slip-on unit, with an extra silent baffle just in case I get tired of a slightly noisier bike.

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (13) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Installation wise, a fairly straightforward prospect. There is a small link pipe that connects to the OEM header with the OEM donut gasket in place, align the hanger and she's good to go!

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (14) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (15) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Bit of a skeleton looking thingo. The packaging and ease of accessibility to everything on the bike is spectacularly good.

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (16) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

A pretty simple but crucial upgrade. These things use a pleated paper filter like a car from stock, which are notorious for being overcome by dust, not filtering properly and causing catastrophic engine damage. Cue, a UniFilter 2-stage foam unit in it's place.

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (17) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Another item commonly knocked off and available on Aliexpress is the PerunMoto rack. I chose the genuine article this time, as it was only $40 more than the Ali version. A bit nerve wracking to fit, as you need to drill the holes in the plastics that would usually suit the optional OEM grab handles. The problem is, the telltales/template markings on the bottom of the side panels are known for not being in the right place, so you need to drill a tiny pilot hole to first see how far out of alignment you are, then make an informed guesstimate to drill an 18mm hole in either side to accomodate a bush/spacer, and align the bolts with the OEM thread inserts in the tank/subframe. I got it kind of right the first time, with a slight Dremel tickling on the right hand side to allow adequate clearance. A great looking rack, though, that doubles up as a grab point in case of being stuck etc.

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (19) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (20) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (21) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Another couple of PerunMoto parts made the grade, namely the heel plates to use as attachment points for luggage, and the rear brake master cylinder protector, as it hangs out in a pretty exposed spot. No pics though... because.

After about 170km on the journey home though, my arse was screaming "enough is enough" from the absolute punishing it was taking from the factory seat. Which is less of a seat, and more of timber by-product. Thankfully, I'd scooped up a deal on Trademe (before I actually paid for the bike...) and nabbed a Seat Concepts seat, the same brand as I have on the DRZ. Absolutely brilliant product, would recommend. No real install required. Toolless.

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (27) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

So this is where we are at! I've since learned this bike has a bloody short spring kit in it, which KTM offers as an option. Makes sense being a Japanese market bike maybe? Anyway, this will be on the agenda to sort, so I'll make some phone calls and see what the best action plan is. Perhaps a valving change is in order, the short, sharp hits are very harsh on this bike, but will discuss with people who know a bit more than me about this WP suspension. The DRZ isn't going anywhere, I still intend to use it on tighter stuff, although the 690 feels like it should be pretty capable. I just think at this point, I am more comfortable with the somewhat more mild power delivery of the old Roota...

2020 KTM 690 Enduro R Phone (26) by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Thanks for reading. That's a bit of a chore no doubt, but I'm really excited to put more KM on this thing (and the DRZ). A 3 day ride coming up in November which I'll take the Suzuki on, so expect an update then.