Chain Maintenance
There are a few topics that are guaranteed to turn into religious wars when it comes to motorbikes - which oil to use, what tyres are the best and the latest one I've discovered: How to maintain your chain drive. Some people swear by doing no lubing at all, just keep it clean and tensioned correctly. Others say use nothing but WD40 for both cleaning and lubing and it will last 30,000km. There are videos on how to clean your chain, which products to use, which lube is the best, and everyone has their opinions on the right way to do it.
I haven't had to worry about it for years - my last bike was a belt drive and the one before that was shaft drive so I haven't cleaned and lubed a chain in nearly a decade. But with the purchase of my new bike I'm back to chain so now it's something I've become slightly obsessed with. You see, for the first 2,000km or so I simply gave it a clean every 1,000km and lubed it every tankful of gas, but I found that while the chain was easy enough to clean it was getting a black oily coating on the inside by 1,000km, and when I removed the front sprocket cover there was a sludgy, tacky mess inside. This probably means I was applying too much lube and it was flinging off as it rounded the front sprocket, but even when I only applied a small amount and then wiped it down it was still flinging off.
And so I went down the rabbit hole of chain maintenance, reading up on products to use, watching YouTube comparisons and I've settled on a formula that works for me and is really very cheap: I use kerosene to clean the chain and gear oil to lube it. Strangely enough I don't seem to get the same fling off when using oil as I did when using lube, though this is more likely due to me being more conservative with the oil application rather than simply spraying on lube. There are some definite upsides to using gear oil as a chain lube, including:
- Oil fling off is super easy to wipe off with a cloth - no more tacky mess inside the front sprocket cover.
- It's very cheap - a one litre bottle is cheaper than a can of lube will last a long time (many thousands of km).
- It is a very good lubricant and dirt doesn't seem to stick to it as much.
- It is very unobtrusive when applied - this is a personal thing I admit but I don't like how a lot of lubes go on yellow or cloudy. Gear oil simply leaves a light oily coating all over the chain. It's really clean and makes the chain look brand new
- Cleaning the chain is really quick and easy compared to lube - spray it down with kerosene or chain cleaner and a quick brush and wipe later it looks like new, no more removing the tacky mess.
- It takes a lot longer to lube the chain - you can't simply spin the wheel while spraying, you have to drip some oil onto a paint brush and brush it on in sections (at least that's the easiest way I've found to do it).
- You have to lube it a bit more often as it doesn't cling as well as chain lube (makes it easier to clean but doesn't last as long).
- Not sure if it's needed or not but I tend to re-apply after riding in really rainy weather
KTM 790 Adventure R
So as I mentioned in my last post I've treated myself to a brand new* KTM 790 Adventure R. I haven't really done much with it yet, partly because I haven't had it that long (about 6 months) and partly because it is so well set up out of the box. Modifications I've done so far are limited to luggage (I went with the excellent Bumot luggage and racks) and a GPS mount above the dash. I've still got some things I want to add such as a more robust bash plate, a crap flap (to stop crud being sprayed all over the headers), maybe new levers (though the stock ones aren't bad) and I'd love to buy the rally tower from Rade Garage (because if I'm honest, the KTM isn't the best looking bike in the class).
Otherwise there isn't a lot it's missing out of the box - it doesn't require crash guards due to the design of the fuel pods being down low which protect the engine and body work (and give it amazing agility and a feeling of being 30kg lighter than it is), the motor, though quiet, has a nice growl to it from the stock exhaust and I really like all the small details scattered around the bike (the tool storage in the side plastics, the fact that the New Zealand bikes get a set of reusable foam filters from Unifilter, the amazing LED headlight, the awesome quickshifter...). It handles really well for a bike with a 21" front wheel - like a sports bike at the speeds we're allowed to ride here in New Zealand on tarmac and super stable when barreling down a gravel road. It's even pretty manageable in sand considering it's up over 200kg fuelled.
It's not all roses - the build quality isn't up there with the likes of the Japanese (I don't mean things like welds and cable routing, more things like condensation in the dash, small niggles like the rear brake light switch being dead on arrival for my bike, sometimes stalls after starting from cold) but the good far outweighs the bad and I'm sure with proper maintenance it will give me years of fun - it's an awesome bike and I can't wait to get a few more kilometers under the tyres!
* Yeah, I bought brand new after saying I'd never do that again, or at least not for a while. You see I bought my Moto Guzzi brand new in 2015, then ended up selling it under three years later in 2017 and losing a ton of money in the process (my fault really, you shouldn't sell vehicles that quickly if you can help it). My bikes up until that point had all been second hand and it's hard to argue with the value proposition that brings, and I've had over 4 years of great motoring out of my Buell at a fraction of the cost a new bike would have set me back. But there aren't many 790 Adventures (or Tenere 700s) out there second hand yet and the dealer did me a great deal due to wanting the 790 gone to create space for the 890, so I went with it in the end. Hopefully this is a bike I'll keep for years to come so I can get maximum value and fun from it!
New Bike (and other updates)
Holy moly it's been a while between updates - over a year in fact! During the hiatus there have been a few changes in my life, the most important of which was the birth of my son. Having a baby around has made life a lot of fun but it has certainly cut down on the amount of time I have to ride, and the few times I've managed to book a sanity weekend away on the bike in for myself the event ended up being cancelled due to the ongoing lockdowns in the country.
There have been a few changes though to my two wheeled situation over the last wee while - the DR-Z and Buell have now gone and in their place is a brand new KTM 790 Adventure R! I wasn't planning on getting a new bike (and I certainly wasn't going to buy brand new as that's a great way to lose a lot of value very quickly) but after a rather trying year between a new child and the ongoing mental strain of being stuck at home during lockdown I decided to (at my wife's insistence) treat myself as it might be a few years before I'll get the chance again - going forward I'm sure more of my time and money will be spent on my son! The KTM was a good deal as they marked the 790 down to clear them out for the current model 890 and with the money saved I've bought some nice pannier racks and luggage to go on the bike.
The original plan was to keep the Buell along side the KTM but the reality is my wife won't be coming on any multi-day rides with me for a while and paying for registration and insurance on two large bikes seemed a bit pointless, so after keeping them both for about half a year I realised it just wasn't getting any use, so it's now gone. For shorter day trips the KTM will be fine two up, even if it is a lot less comfortable than the Buell was. I'm still a bit conflicted about that - I really did like the bike and I think it's a future classic that is only going to get harder to find, but the KTM suits my current riding a lot more and it's hard to argue with all the modern safety items like lean angle sensitive ABS and traction control. It is certainly a lot more nimble down gravel roads and I find that I have a lot more confidence riding it fast on loose surfaces - where the Buell was a lot more work and felt skittish in its 17" rims the KTM is just so easy and I find myself being a lot more relaxed on it while at the same time going a lot quicker. It is certainly a lot less effort to keep up with my buddies on an Africa Twin and Triumph Tiger, even if the Buell did give a bit more excitement in the form of feeling closer to wiping out!
Anyway, here's hoping that as the lockdown eases I'll be able to sneak away for the occasional day trip on the new bike and who knows, maybe I'll be taking my boy to a motocross track in a few years on a PW50 or similar - get 'em started early I say!
Finally on the Road Again
Thanks to the current Covid 19 situation sweeping the globe since March I haven't been riding at all for nearly three months. During this time New Zealand has been in various levels of lockdown and so I've been working from home during this time. As no commuting has been necessary the bike has been sitting in the garage for the last ~12 weeks or so with the battery out and on charge. Well - no longer!
With New Zealand now out of the more restrictive lockdowns us Kiwis can now get out and ride again, and I did just that last weekend for the first time in what felt like forever. I gassed up the bike, set the tyre pressures, pulled the battery off the charger and went for my first ride since lockdowns were in place. It was raining all day, but I didn't care, doing a big loop out through West Auckland for half the day, arriving home wet (on the outside at least - I have pretty good rain gear) but happy! Can't wait for many more fun rides now we can get out and about.
Fork Oil Change!
Well I finally got around to changing the fork oil on the Buell. This is meant to be done every ~16,000km but in the close to ~30,000 km I've had the bike I've never done it, I kept putting it off due to thinking it would be very difficult. But after seeing Dave Moss at the recent Shiny Side Up talk series in Auckland talking about oil changes I watched his Dump & Run fork oil change method and realised that the hardest part of this whole procedure would be removing the forks from the bike - there is no need to actually dive into the internals of the fork at all!
So armed with my floor jack and a couple if spanners I decided to give this method a crack. It ended up taking me just over three hours, though I realised later I took more of the front apart than I needed to, and also faffed around putting it back together, so I'm sure when I next have to do this I'll probably be at least 30 minutes quicker. To start, loosen off all preload, rebound and compression adjusters (making a note if you have to of how many turns were needed). Once that's done, loosen off the top fork clamps and crack open the fork tops with a deep socket or ring spanner. Don't take the caps all the way off, just a few turns should be enough. Once that's done, loosen the front axle pinch bolts and undo the front axle a few turns, then crack the lower fork clamps. Finally, remove the front fender by undoing the T27 Torx bolts holding that in place. Once everything is loosened jack the front of the bike up using the exhaust, remove the front axle and wheel (I had to also faff with the brake caliper to get the wheel out easily) and loosen off the fork clamps the rest of the way. At this point you should be able to slide the fork down through the fork clamps until you can see the snap ring near the top of the forks - remove this to clear the lower fork legs and pull out the forks.
That's the hard part over - now it's just a matter of cleaning up the fork lowers as these will most likely be dusty and covered in crap - I found WD-40 sprayed on a rag got this dust and dirt off without too much hassle. Once that's cleaned up grab a measuring jug that can hold over 500ml/32oz and place this on your work bench ready for pouring, and you can now remove the top cap and slide the outer down slightly, exposing the gap to pour the oil out of. Pour the used oil into the measuring jug, then re-attach the top cap, pump the fork a few times (you'll have to push your weight into it) against some old carpet or thick cardboard lying on the ground, and repeat the pouring process. You'll have to do this a few times - basically keep pumping and dumping until nothing more dribbles out. I ended up getting about 550ml per leg out of my forks in the end - it's impossible to get it all out without stripping the forks down and cleaning everything, but using this method you should be able to get 90~95% of the oil out, and if that's good enough for Dave Moss then that's good enough for me! After that it's just a case of measuring out the same amount of fresh oil as you poured out of the fork and carefully pouring it into the fork - once that's done it's time to put the front end back together in the reverse of how you took it apart. Make sure you follow the manual for correct torque of all bolts and the top cap - and make sure you torque the fork caps before torquing the upper fork clamps. Don't forget to set your damping, rebound and compression back to what they should be (if you can't remember, consult the owners handbook, it has all the settings for different weights).
So after all that I can't say I notice any difference in the front end, but I'd like to think I would on a fast road ride, or a really bumpy stretch of gravel road. Judging purely by the state of the oil that came out I'm sure this hadn't been done in some time (it really looked like old coffee), so I'm glad I finally got around to this, and now I know how easy the whole process is I'll not wait so long next time before doing it again.
Old on the left compared to fresh oil on the right. It really wasn't that hard to do, and doing it yourself you can save a few hundred dollars in labour, so now while we're all stuck at home due to Covid-19 order yourself some fork oil online and have a go! If words aren't your thing then watch the Dave Moss video linked above - it is really a simple procedure and you'll gain some knowledge and satisfaction out of doing it yourself!
How I Ended Up on a Buell Ulysses
In my late 30's I decided that two week long trips around the South Island of New Zealand were starting to get a bit much on my ZXR750R as I was getting a sore back and wrists over time, so I changed it up and moved on to a cafe racer style with a Moto Guzzi V7 II. This was a great little bike, comfortable over distance and able to carry panniers for luggage, though it did get a bit breathless when revved out. I really liked the style of this bike - it looked like a bike should, a visible engine with cooling fins, simple single light with a clean and clear instrument cluster. Eventually my wife wanted to come out on day trips with me, which turned into overnight trips, and the little V7 didn't cut it any more as two up it just felt a bit much like hard work. So I traded the Italian Stallion in for an ADV bike - I was originally looking at an airhead R1200 GS (as I love air cooled engines for no reason I can discern) but they are pretty expensive here in NZ, even for an old one, so after looking around at what was out there I settled on something a bit different in the end - a Buell Ulysses!
This bike ticked a lot of boxes for me - it still had a rumbling air-cooled V-twin motor like my old Guzzi but this one had over 100hp and gobs of torque so could happily cruise with me, my wife and all our luggage loaded up with enough poke to easily overtake if required. It is also genuinely a lot of fun to hustle one up - it is relatively light for a large ADV bike at 192kg (dry)* and is quite capable on the many gravel roads we have here in New Zealand. I certainly wouldn't take it single tracking or anything like that but for long distance mixed tarmac and easy dirt roads it is a comfortable, fast cruiser, and fitted with some Continental TKC80 tyres is surprisingly sure footed on the loose stuff.
So what's next? I've had the Buell for a little over two years and I'm still really enjoying it. I would like to get into some more serious off road riding though, and have secured a DRZ 250 on long term loan off a friend (needs a bit of work before it runs) to see how much I'd actually use something like that. Who knows, I might end up downsizing in the future to something smaller and lighter...
* I've since discovered that H-D must have removed the battery, all oil (including fork oil!), and probably even the tyres to get to that dry weight as the actually measured weight is 223kg ready to ride, or closer to 228kg in my case with the luggage racks and driving lights added. Still lighter than an Africa Twin though!
Welcome!
Welcome to honu.nz, my space on the internet to write about all things motorcycles and related topics. I'm a 40 something year old Kiwi bloke who loves to ride. I commute year round by motorbike and try and get away on 2~3 good long rides per year. I've gone through many motorcycle generes over the years, cutting my teeth on two stroke Japanese sports bikes (TV200, NSR250 MC18) before moving on to larger 4 strokes (FZR400, ZX6R, ZXR750R) and then as I got older going to more upright (read comfortable!) bikes (Moto Guzzi V7II, Buell Ulysses). I'm currently really into ADV riding - long trips away with luggage, gravel roads and remote camping spots, so I'm sure I'll end up getting a smaller more dirt capable bike sometime in the future.
Anyway - that's a bit about me, I'll try and add to this blog over time with some of my thoughts on things like tyres, bike sizes etc. Lets see if I actually manage to update it as frequently as I'd like ;-)
About
This is a space for me to write about motorcycles and related topics. The name "Honu" comes from the Maori word
"Tortoise" so I thought it was a fitting name for a blog about riding, sometimes long distances! I'm a 40 something
year old Kiwi who loves to ride, especially multi day trips off the beaten path.