The Bikeshite Thread

[straightSix]

Been offered a 2009 Kawasaki KLX250. Anyone know what these are like? Tempted to get into a bit of green laning

[Stinkwheel]

13 minutes ago, straightSix said:

Been offered a 2009 Kawasaki KLX250. Anyone know what these are like? Tempted to get into a bit of green laning

Good Bikes, I used to have a 91 XR250R honda and my mates 96 KLX250 was its better in everyway. 

You could do a lot worse a place than a KLX to start green laning 

[Stinkwheel]

Anyone got any F650 Experience off road?

Im talking early F650 'funduro' model.

I rode a lot of these between 94 and 01 when i was in a BMW dealers but exclusively on the road

Im thinking about one again now to turn into a dual purpose machine similar to @Rustybullethole enfield.

I know its too heavy, i know the 19" front wheel is too small etc but id still be interested to hear from anyone thats off road'ed one

[UltraWomble]

13 minutes ago, Stinkwheel said:

Anyone got any F650 Experience off road?

 

I took the Aprillia version I had for a while off road, very capable and not too heavy.
Make sure you have knobly tyres though.

I did intend to do the Gatescarth pass on it but never got that far, I did do some local green lanes and fields and it was brilliant on them.

[Stinkwheel]

1 minute ago, UltraWomble said:

I took the Aprillia version I had for a while off road, very capable and not too heavy.
Make sure you have knobly tyres though.

I did intend to do the Gatescarth pass on it but never got that far, I did do some local green lanes and fields and it was brilliant on them.

Thanks for that info, its good to know im not totally barking up the wrong tree with this idea

[UltraWomble]

Just now, Stinkwheel said:

Thanks for that info, its good to know im not totally barking up the wrong tree with this idea

Good god no - there was a facebook page for them some years ago and plenty of people posting photos of them off road and mud plugging. Surprisingly capable in the soft stuff and for a 650 not as heavy as you might think - that shocked me when I took delivery of the Tiger - I thought it would be similar to the Pegasso - and its a metric fuckton heavier to move about.

[Stinkwheel]

1 hour ago, UltraWomble said:

Good god no - there was a facebook page for them some years ago and plenty of people posting photos of them off road and mud plugging. Surprisingly capable in the soft stuff and for a 650 not as heavy as you might think - that shocked me when I took delivery of the Tiger - I thought it would be similar to the Pegasso - and its a metric fuckton heavier to move about.

Totally agree, I remember the F650 as being pretty light weight for what it was, especially compared to a Triumph Tiger, a mate of mine has had about 3 different models and they;ve all been heavier than ideal for something with offroad ideas

[Jerzy Woking]

Took the NC750 on a trip around Andalucia last wwek for a couple of days.

Rode the motorway north of the Sierra Nevada because there have been heavy snowfalls there. Then dropped down to Ronda. I rode through the town, which was jam packed, so didn't bother to stop, as was looking forward to riding the road down to Marbella, which I was told was "awesome". It wasn't. Too many cars going slowly and being badly driven, mostly I would suspect because they were looking at the views.

Rode on the coastal road (mostly motorway) from Marbella to Motril. The Costa Del Sol is very built up, and with so many ugly buildings everywhere.

Nice hotel in Motril though, and day two set off  cross country eastwards. Fantastic road (A348) from there to Tabernas, twisty and quite deserted apart from a few lorries.

Then up to the Alto de Velefique, nicknamed "The Spanish Stelvio". Ridden it a few times now, but first time so late in the year. Bloody freezing riding up, and minus 2°c, with thick frost, at the summit (1820 metres).

Rode on northwards to Tijola, and this road (A3120) truely is worthy of its nickname. In over 50kms, I counted four cars coming the other way. The views are stunning  and plenty of places to stop and take them in.

I then rode east from Tijola, planning to dropped south and head for Turre. There are so many roads on this side, but I chose to go via Tahal this time as not done it before. Superb roads and views.

I'll mention now that the whole 1,300 kms trip was on fantastically surfaced roads, and can't remember a single pothole until I got to the start of the 8km track to my house.

 

I'll not bother with Ronda again, I'd rather spend all my time in this part of Andalucis, basically north of Almeria.

[Rustybullethole]

3 hours ago, Stinkwheel said:

Anyone got any F650 Experience off road?

Im talking early F650 'funduro' model.

I rode a lot of these between 94 and 01 when i was in a BMW dealers but exclusively on the road

Im thinking about one again now to turn into a dual purpose machine similar to @Rustybullethole enfield.

I know its too heavy, i know the 19" front wheel is too small etc but id still be interested to hear from anyone thats off road'ed one

Had a mates 650 on loan for a bit will see if i can find a pic. 

Was the Dakar off road spec one with a 21 on the front. Bloody good bike I thought with more grunt than my old dominators. 

After time spent on the gs1100 in the dirt Im of the thought that a 21 is a must. 
That said I had plenty of fun laning my melody on 10 inch wheels.

 

[Rustybullethole]

Here you go. Not in the dirt though just as good at fighting the traffic in the East end.

Was a tiered example with a poggo rear shock, leaky forks seals and scrappy as fuck bodywork but the engine was a peach. He's only recently sold it. Id recommend one. Just not that one, unless it comes up cheap.