I'm mildly excited...

[marks]

Took gonzo for a play up the Maitai & onto th slippery slopes of the Motutapu. Now I see why they say to get better tyres - needless to say my experience shutting my eyes & relaxing when downhilling my moutainbike came into play
Had a great deal of fun, especially dropping into a ford that I should have scouted out first. Is it common practise to bottom out the front suspension, cover the headlight with water then launch uncontrollably out of the stream bouncing off both sides of the track having the whole bike steaming?

if you are going to do this sort of stuff you need to take someone along with you to take photos. I would also like to see photos of you riding your mtb downhill with your eyes closed.

[pete376403]

Is it common practise to bottom out the front suspension, cover the headlight with water then launch uncontrollably out of the stream bouncing off both sides of the track having the whole bike steaming?

You stayed on board - what could be better than that? And isn't all that low-down torque great for recovering from ballsed-up stream crossings?

But yeah the standard Dunlop K750s are a bit marginal on wet clay /mud.

[CrazyFrog]

Were the Mangatapu wheel tracks rutted out today after all the rain the last 2 weeks? Or just the usual greasy-as-hell muddy fun? I guess there was some extra water in the fords, mmmmmm, river crossings! When you replace your standard Dunlops, I can recommend the Pirelli MT21's. Would loved to have join ya, but I was bloody working AGAIN.
All work and no play makes me a dull boy......

[Padmei]

No wories crazytoad. Pi has a scheme afoot for a midweek sojourn - wil keep you up to date.

[CrazyFrog]

I got days off Thurs , Fri this week, I'm gettin out of the house for sure. Might do the Porika, Braeburn and Maruia day trip. Can you down tools mid week?

[marks]

I got days off Thurs , Fri this week, I'm gettin out of the house for sure. Might do the Porika, Braeburn and Maruia day trip. Can you down tools mid week?

Hi

Was it you Nordie and I rode over to Pelorus Bridge with (I was on a heavily loaded Yammy DT230) end of May on a Saturday? We stopped at the summit and I drooled all over your 640....?????

[NordieBoy]

Hi

Was it you Nordie and I rode over to Pelorus Bridge with (I was on a heavily loaded Yammy DT230) end of May on a Saturday? We stopped at the summit and I drooled all over your 640....?????

That's him...

[NordieBoy]

Is it common practise to bottom out the front suspension, cover the headlight with water then launch uncontrollably out of the stream bouncing off both sides of the track having the whole bike steaming?

If there's a photographer on the other side then - yes, yes it is.

[NordieBoy]

if you are going to do this sort of stuff you need to take someone along with you to take photos. I would also like to see photos of you riding your mtb downhill with your eyes closed.

Any volunteers?

[CrazyFrog]

Hi

Was it you Nordie and I rode over to Pelorus Bridge with (I was on a heavily loaded Yammy DT230) end of May on a Saturday? We stopped at the summit and I drooled all over your 640....?????

Yep that's me. Nice to put a face to the name, right? Hope the rest of your ride North was as fun as the Mangatapu!

[warewolf]

poor oil ring tension on the new models causes bore glazing if thrashed for any extended period....

Umm, a common cause of bore glazing is insufficient combustion chamber pressure, aka riding it like a nanna. (insert smilie to represent look of incredulity that KLR riders might fit that profile... no really... ) Light throttle, high-rpm steady-state cruise for long periods might do it too, ie American motorways.

The cure is to load it up enough to push the rings hard against the cylinder walls. Pillioning your biggest, heaviest friend repeatedly up a long steep hill in 3rd gear at heavy throttle should do it. That, or a good few pulls through the rev range on the dyno.

Getting up it occasionally should stop the problem. I can almost guarantee you won't be glazing the bores by thrashing it... quite the opposite. Which is one reason that demo bikes thrashed mercilessly by the press from new often pull better hp and burn less oil than other bikes.

[CrazyFrog]

I can almost guarantee you won't be glazing the bores by thrashing it... quite the opposite. Which is one reason that demo bikes thrashed mercilessly by the press from new often pull better hp and burn less oil than other bikes.

I'll be looking forward to test riding the new KTM Duke 3 when it arrives then, purely to benefit engine longivity for the new owner.

[NordieBoy]

Just saw an RC-8 today.
Sounded quite nice.

[Padmei]

Just saw an RC-8 today.
Sounded quite nice.

what kind of knobblies would you run on that?

[NordieBoy]

what kind of knobblies would you run on that?

Whatever sort you want.

10s later they'd be slicks anyway.


Actually at this time of year with the gravel in the condition it's in you could get away with almost any bike with good general purpose tyres on.
Maybe not an RC-8 but even a GN250 could get through the Porika at the moment plus it'd be even more fun in the snow.