Practical adventure bikes

[laRIKin]

clint640 I have also drilled my slide and cut 2 coils out of the slide spring.
This helps the slide lift faster by taking out some of the pre-load.
Yes (before someone jumps in) is does make the spring stiffer, but only a
small amount because of the number of coils.
Heres a link to a site of a guys, that has done a lot of testing.

Carb mods

That link does not always work so try this one.

Better link

Click on english and then link and lastly Flanny's BST40 Jetting Guide (760kb)

Not sure what year your 640 is, so this may be no good to you.
That is if you do not have a BST carb.
What you could also try to get more power is.
Remove the front sprocket cover and you will see 3 sender switchers.
Now the middle one (will have to recheck on this) is the neutral switch and
the other 2 are for 2nd & 3rd gear.
Now these activate the solenoid switched vacuum bleed and some think
that it changers the timing to get the bike though the noise level tests.
By not letting the bike rev out in these two gears.

Just disconnect at try as it will cost nothing and let me know if it helps.
And tape up the ends to stop shorting.

[oldrider]

With respect to all the riders choice of bikes, we have selected a Honda TransAlp 650 as our current stead. Both my wife and I really enjoy it. (She has been riding bikes for 25 yrs and I have been riding for 50 yrs) We have done 25k on this bike over mixed terain (about 70/30 on off road) We are not so strong these days and this bike is a little bit lighter when you get into trouble, as you do. Our budget is a bit lighter nowdays so only have one bike fits all, this one fits the bill perfectly. Has a range of about 360 ks/ per tank, sits nicely at 90/110 kph, maxis out at about 170 kph and when the fun police are distracted cruises easily at 140kph. Well mannered easy to ride a little high geared for serious off road but is easy to rig with givi bags for long range touring. We got a new seat from "Rider" in Tauranga, Fantastic!! Other extras are, high screen and center stand. We think it outperforms the BMW 650 by quite a bit with its twin cylinder engine and Honda reliability but then it's just a personal preference thing really. I would really recomend you take a look at one of these bikes if you are into venture biking. Don't be fooled by the apparent docility before testing it against another comparitive machine. We did 5000km around the north island last summer and both of us just loved it. The traffic was well behaved, scenery and weather perfect. Going back next summer. Moms a bit of a sissy about weather these days. Cheers John.

[clint640]

Yep. it's strange that there aren't more Transalps around, F650's are quite common now & the TA is aiming at the same market & as you say, has a few advantages over the F650.
Marketing probably has a bit to do with it - you never see a new TA sitting on the floor of the local Honda shop, but the Beemer dealer will have a shiny new F650 & probably a Dakar too.

Cheers
Clint

[Motu]

I'm ready to heap scorn on any bike,as far as I'm concerned they are all crap,there is always someway I can make an owner embarassed for riding such a stupid bike,and I had picked the Transalp to pieces before I even got on it,this was the early model.By the time I got back I was sold,that motor is such a honey,suspension and handling to take whatever NZ roads throw at it...but I wouldn't take it too far off road.A very overlooked bike - people just need to go for a spin on one and change their mind.

[Oscar]

Yep. it's strange that there aren't more Transalps around, F650's are quite common now & the TA is aiming at the same market & as you say, has a few advantages over the F650.
Marketing probably has a bit to do with it - you never see a new TA sitting on the floor of the local Honda shop, but the Beemer dealer will have a shiny new F650 & probably a Dakar too.

Cheers
Clint

Having owned a F650GS and ridden a Transalp, I have to say that the Honda is far superior. Briefly, the BMW's engine is totally unsuited for off-road use and it's brakes are crap.

[rogson]

Here is the picture of Freewilly with the 21" front wheel I promised about 6 months ago. As I said the fender is a $15 jobbie from a wrecker - so no colour choice at that price. I've mounted it using spacers I had machined. There is plenty of clearence between it and the tyre so mud/stones/etc don't get jammed between. Its ugly but it works!

[clint640]

A can of silver (or orange) spraypaint would have that looking better, Hows the handling now?

Cheers
Clint

[carver]

the best adventure bike is........
MY yamaha dt 175
i have done 2 up gravel riding on it, its great at it, i have stiffened up the front and rear shocks, and de restriced it, its light, flickable, does 110 full throttle , has a low seat height (really)

it is my personal fav
better than anything else i have ridden built for the dirt simply because is so general purpose

[rogson]

.......Hows the handling now?

Handlings fine.
Steering feels slightly slower immediately after changeover from the 19" wheel but soon don't notice it. The 21" wheel is alloy, whereas the 19" is steel. The lighter unsprung weight seems to help with suspension compliance in the rough. That, combined with the narrower & larger diameter tyre makes a huge difference to confidence in the front end on gravel and off-road.

The 21" wheel came with a trailwing mounted and on the road it didn't feel any different (traction, turn-in, noise, vibration, etc) than the 19" wheel with the factory mounted all-purpose tyre (MT80). Different story with the MT21 though - I wouldn't want to be using it for regular/extended road use.