Can't Wait for a Factory Built Adventure Tourer?

2wheels

2wheels

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ROYAL ENFIELD CLASSIC
There's some interesting stories lately about Adventure Tourers.
Here's a sample of 5 'home-made' adventure tourers.

xr650rtw2_opt-561x561.jpg

5 Custom Adventure Bikes Built By "Real People"

(I still believe Honda Thailand could do something like this with their 500X … well, they have ….. and make it available here.)
 
I'm sticking with the KTM
 
The Bigfella said:
I'm sticking with the KTM
Click to expand...

Up to 30 years ago we had to make our own adventurers, no question of buying off the shelf trail bikes capable of doing it right out of the factory...until BMW brought out the first Paris-Dakar version of it's then famous GS who late Gaston Rahier (a true Paris Dakar legend) rode to victory despite the bike being taller then him.

The funny thing is, the then great GS 80 and 100 have absolutely nothing left in common with the GS adventure of today...less power a bit maybe, but tons of electronics and over double the weight make the new adventure just another camper on 2 wheels, just my opinion of course and no offense intended.

I am touching on the subject of preparing your own bike for off-road long distance riding in the thread with some tips and tricks my friends and I have been applying for decades.
 
bikesncats said:
Up to 30 years ago we had to make our own adventurers, no question of buying off the shelf trail bikes capable of doing it right out of the factory...until BMW brought out the first Paris-Dakar version of it's then famous GS who late Gaston Rahier (a true Paris Dakar legend) rode to victory despite the bike being taller then him.
Click to expand...

Me and mates did some dirt schooling with him mid 70's.

He was only a little guy and told us he did ballet as a kid and put his good balance down to that 555

This was pre Paris-Dakar days. He raced against the best riders in Oz on factory Suzukis 125 and 250.
he blew the 250 up so raced the 125 in the Open race and still won!!
Great talent.
 
Loop said:
Me and mates did some dirt schooling with him mid 70's.

He was only a little guy and told us he did ballet as a kid and put his good balance down to that 555

This was pre Paris-Dakar days. He raced against the best riders in Oz on factory Suzukis 125 and 250.
he blew the 250 up so raced the 125 in the Open race and still won!!
Great talent.
Click to expand...

He was a genius on any off-road bike and certainly was the man that made BMW GSes off-road capable. When I got my first GS100 I learned from him what it takes to make a true offroader and trust, there was a lot of work to do to the original version, but well worth it. I very rarely had any chain driven bikes after that...the Cagiva Elefant and R1...and most recently the MV but other then that...can't remember another one (I converted the 600 Ténéré...and later the 750 Super Ténéré I had to shaft using an XS1100 drive shaft system :excuseme:)
 
2wheels said:
There's some interesting stories lately about Adventure Tourers.
Here's a sample of 5 'home-made' ....
Click to expand...

We have been talking so much about what adventure bikes are and long distance riding is...I've been writing (or at east I started) about some of the things experience taught us/me over the years and I have been pushing the concept of adapting your own bike to your needs without the need to spend exorbitant amounts on "adventure bikes" that one cannot control outside a dirt road...

I believe what we should do is build one here and show every step of the way how it's done. So if you will give me a little time to get my ducks in row I think I will do just that...my BKK str8 to Beirut trip is out cause force majeure and so I will have time this summer/fall to make my Gunbarrel bike (no way that one falls through)...and now I believe I will make the bike here with all you watching...what you say?


Good enough? Just give me a bit of time to get myself organized please...next week I will start posting what I believe should be done, then we compare notes. :DD
 
I will look forward to your posts Alex, can you give us a peek preview and let us know what is the basic bike you will be converting??
 
I look forward to your adv bike makeup also Alex, as we all have had some experience with them. I personally researched what many others had done and bought a V Strom and kitted it out and has worked great for me.

Gary
 
Alex, Honda have done it and I reckon you certainly could.
i.e. convert their 500x.

Oh, I have the Gunbarrel info for you.
 
2wheels said:
I have the Gunbarrel info for you.
Click to expand...

still on my "rides to do list", the Gunbarrel Highway and Canning Stock Route with either a heavily modded XR or DRZ ~ sometime in the years to come.... the Motobikin' Oz videos and footage from mates that did the GBH and CSR just looks brilliant to miss...
 
Yep.
Not forgetting the Tanami Track out from Alice or the Old Telegraph Line track up from Port Augusta
or the Gibb River Road in WA.
So many excellent bush rides in Oz.
Done them on XL500 and Tenere.
Must revisit them sooner that too later.
 
2wheels said:
Oh, I have the Gunbarrel info for you.
Click to expand...

Great...thank you. I'll be emailing you as soon as I'm back. Right now it's costing me a fortune to link up via AIS to my home based TOT connection for internet....(supposed to be cheap, yeah right).

Great picks BTW...getting itchy hands already.

Preview? Hmmm...as I had mentioned earlier I haven't made up my mind yet...initially I was thinking a) Super Ténéré or b) HP2 Enduro...I also considered KTM 690 and XT660. Considering the vast distances to be covered a bigger engine would be adequate...I definitely need an engine that can easily cruise around 140-150Km/h and have enough left to get the weight off the front wheel if required, that pretty much eliminates anything below 450-500cc. I also need it to be nimble and agile enough to handle well without too much of a workout on the extreme offroad stretches of abandoned tracks.

The bigger bores would certainly fit the bill this far but then I need it to be light enough for some parts of the Gibbs River Road...and some pure desert passing along the GBH-CSR as well as allow me to "sail" over the bull dust holes rather then get swallowed up by them so, choice a and b look a little too heavy for now.

On the other hand KTM and XT have something missing, true long distance capability and a drive shaft.


This leaves 2 choices, either go with a BB (big&beautiful) baby and put her on a serious diet then accessorize her...or take a small Kiku and upgrade her to handle big and long trails. I think 2 issues will dictate which route...budget for one since a BB would require serious cash for new frame etc etc while the Kiku would have to have a bulletproof heart.


Right now, considering my present finances I tend towards the second choice, especially since I still have my original Paris-Dakar set-up from my now departed Cagiva Elefant....36 Liters in front is a little much but still acceptable - just limit the tank-bag size and add some in the rear (a Kiku can handle it if you stiffen up the back a little). The two rubber bag side-tanks are also still in my dad's garage somewhere and I believe so is the drive shaft conversion I had made for the "old" XT750ST, all considered it would be making the Kiku option the first choice if I need to do it on a restricted budget. My neighbour is a great welder and has all the equipment, I can easily set-up an Argon tent to weld the chrome-moly tubing I would use to strengthen the frame. Yup, I think my new adventure lady will be a Kiku.

I definitely want something simple, carbureted...single or twin but definitely bulletproof and plenty of spare parts available anywhere so, what is out there? BMW650 maybe, XT600, XR650R, KLR600 sound good...WR450 or CRF450 seem also a good choice worse case scenario...but it certainly eliminates anything like Beta, KTM, Husky etc...

Let me start looking around...and if any of you have something you run across let me know.
 
Yep.

Reliabilty.
Large front wheel to soak up the corrugations.
Fuel range is critical.
Light enough to be able to pick up when/if dropped.

Even with that larger tank on the XL500 I carried fuel in a 10 litre metal 'jerry can' and water in another.
That's what was in those army 'saddlebags'. (Carefully labelled so that the contents of the fuel can are not
poured into the 'billy can' at night after a fatiguing day in the saddle!!)
 
2wheels said:
Yep.

Reliabilty.
Large front wheel to soak up the corrugations.
Fuel range is critical.
Light enough to be able to pick up when/if dropped.

Even with that larger tank on the XL500 I carried fuel in a 10 litre metal 'jerry can' and water in another.
That's what was in those army 'saddlebags'. (Carefully labelled so that the contents of the fuel can are not
poured into the 'billy can' at night after a fatiguing day in the saddle!!)
Click to expand...

Youp...that's the name of the game, way to go. Now think "bags" instead of cans...no more fluids wobbling around all the time. How does
Honda NTV sound to you? Drive shaft, bullet proof engine...all it needs is a reasonable frame, could be made to accommodate all of the requirements...around 120-125Kg weight? hmmmm...sleeping with my left side of the brain working LMAO
 
Agreed the NTV was a great bike, very popular with dispatch riders in London with an excellent motor and 120kg would be great, can i have mine with the lower seat option please :jump
 
But I think a legit NTV would be a difficult find in Thailand?
 
Alex, are you thinking of acquiring a basic bike here in Thailand, modifying it to your needs then shipping it to Oz for your adventure?
Or, as I think I read somewhere you will have 3 months for the Oz ride, why not get to, say, Adelaide, and buy a suitable bike there?
Plenty of good options there; more-so than here!

And do you want this discussion to continue here or do you prefer to use 'pm' and/or email?
 
2wheels said:
Alex, are you thinking of acquiring a basic bike here in Thailand, modifying it to your needs then shipping it to Oz for your adventure?
Or, as I think I read somewhere you will have 3 months for the Oz ride, why not get to, say, Adelaide, and buy a suitable bike there?
Plenty of good options there; more-so than here!

And do you want this discussion to continue here or do you prefer to use 'pm' and/or email?
Click to expand...

Sorry I'm slow emailing you...we can of course keep the build right on the open...

Initially I was planning of letting my cousin buy the bike and have it converted as I need it then spend a 5 to 10 days testing and optimizing it when I got there. But now with all this talking here and having found out that my aunt passed and my uncle is being sliding since and might have to go a nursing house, I know how involving and hard it si for my cousin so I am certainly not going to add any burden on her.

Making it here and shipping it could be an option provided the paperwork with Australia can be sorted (not easy to get a CPD in Thailand anymore since, as it seems, there is no authority responsible for it anymore. I guess we will have to forge one LMAO

I here of a couple of Honda Revere having been sold in BKK last year (the NTV was sold as Revere here I have been told) and perhaps I could get lucky. On the other hand I'm not sure I want to go that route now that I realized that I am already sketching one sided forks with wishbone suspension and a single shock serving both front and rear...my mind is far ahead of my budget LOL
For 120-125Kg with a twin to be feasible I need to inventive don't I?...
What complicates things is my lazy nature requiring a shaft drive :excuseme:
Let's see what's available...but I am certainly keeping on mind that building directly in Oz would be better if I could be present somehow and converting my HP2 is now out of the question since she left my stable yesterday (I crossed back on foot). The second time I sell one and am already sorry :banghead: Cheers
 
OK Alex, sorry to hear about your Aunty.

I've done much thought on this topic as it seems that I'll be there in January (too hot for Central Oz then) for a few months.
Obviously, given the isolation and the road conditions, anyone has to try and choose the best months for all of this.
Therefore I'll definitely do some riding, most likely on the roads you and I have been talking about.

So I'll outline what I'd do and where I'd go and some of this may be of interest to you.
I'll do a summary here now and add details later.

I'd go to Adelaide and set up base there.
My weapon of choice would most definitely be the Kawasaki KLR650.
I've already found a range to choose from.

Why?
Reliable.
Cheap and good used ones available.
Large fuel tank.
Large front wheel.
Tough.
Parts readily available (even easy to source from remote areas).

It wouldn't take much effort or money to adapt a basic KLR to my specific needs.

The ride.
Again, the basics here and many details could follow.

First leg.

Adelaide to Port Augusta.
Pt Augusta through the Flinders Ranges to Copley. (there's a lot to enjoy along the way as there is through this entire route).
Copley and up the Oodnadatta Track via Coward Springs and William Creek.
Oodnadatta then two choices.

1 to Marla, NT Border, Kulgeras and into Alice Springs.

or

2 from Oodnadatta up along the old Telegrah Line via Finke and into Alice Springs (lots to see there too).


A few days in Alice Springs.


2nd leg

Presuming you can get the necessary Entry Permits from the various Aboriginal Land Councils (I have names and details for you);

Alice back down to Erldunda, Mt Ebeneezer, Curtin Springs (supplies) back to the turn to Mulga Park.
Mulga Park to Amata, Apapratjara, Kalka, WA Border (you're on the Gunbarrell around here).
Up to Giles Weather Station (the grader that Beadell used to cut the original Gunbarrell Hwy is there).
To Kaltukatjara (Docker River), Kata Tjuta (Olgas), Uluru, Curtin Springs and back to Alice Springs.

(Again, there is much more detail to add for leg 2 which I can give you).



3rd leg

Alice Springs up to the junction of Tanami Track.
To Yuendumu Aboriginal Community, The Granites, Rabbit Flat, Tanami, WA border, into Balgo Hills.
To Halls Creek and up to Kununurra.
(Again, lots of details to be added here)


4th leg

Kununurra to the Gibb River Road.
Magnificent scenery but a 'no-no' if very wet (creek crossings).
Lots of small details to come for this leg.
Eventually out to Derby, to Broome and into Perth.

Then I'd cruise along the Nullarbor back to Port Augusta and Adelaide.

If you choose Perth as your starting and finishing point then these legs would obviously still apply.

Ok, having said that and before I get timed out, I'll dig up the info I researched re choice of bike.
 
A bit older and cheaper.

u002263_(1)__main.jpg

There's plenty of them in Perth and Adelaide.
Seems that riders are selling and upgrading to the 2014 updated model.
 
Pounce and his pal's have just done a great ride up to Cape York i think most on KLR's hopefully he will post some picture's
 
I really like your trip layout as well Ron, some areas I was thinking of doing as well (Port Augusta, Oodnadatta to Alice Springs) but cut them out of the plan because I would like the time to test the bike properly before heading out.

The KLR is certainly a great choice, it has all the necessary requirements to be one of the best options...if I weren't so anally retentive on having a shaft drive :banghead:
I know today's chains are a far cry from the flimsy crap we used to have to deal with 30 years ago...but I still remember how it felt when my XT mule kicked me in the back and broke me a rib...no big deal as I had spare chain and links...but riding on was something else, that broken chain made itself felt all the way home and then some time after LOL

That NTV looks like something I could live with...with a bigger tank, 21" front wheel and longer suspensions, definitely...those things are as bulletproof as the KLRs are.

So you're planning to start in January? Wouldn't that be a "little" too early for Gibbs River Road? I herd the crossings can become impossible due to water levels as well as an abundant presence of Crocs big enough to swallow us with the bikes in one bite...saltys up to 7 meters long making their way up from the ocean (maybe the guy was exaggerating a bit but he seemed to know his Outback, showed pictures of him shooting kangaroos from a heli, capturing snakes, nasty copperheads too, a pic of a 20 foot croc he killed, wouldn't want to face one of those while crossing LOL, had enough of one nasty experience in Zaire and that one scared the shit out of me to last a lifetime).

I'm getting my finances back on track slowly so timing wise it may work out if I find something down there and get it set-up. I wonder if Australian Customs are lax on importing my own parts like tank and seat?

The Cagiva Elefant tank could easily be fitted onto a KLR...not an NTV though...Ha! Let's see what's feasible and still consider a tight budget...maybe I give up the shaft idea, but would be a first in many years:RE
 
bsacbob said:
Pounce and his pal's have just done a great ride up to Cape York i think most on KLR's hopefully he will post some picture's
Click to expand...

That must be awesome too...another area where you can't find anyone renting you bike to ride there so it must be absolutely fabulous. Let's hope you right and we get to see some of it.
 
So you're planning to start in January?
Click to expand...

No Alex, not quite.
Whilst I plan to go back to Oz in January I won't be riding into the Centre or Kimberley area then.
I'll wait until March.

I was concerned that the direction this thread is taking may interest only you and I, hence my thought of
communicating by email. However it seems that a few guys may be interested in it so let's keep it here eh?

As I said, I have much more detail for you on each of those legs and also some options to what I've listed.

Main thing, for me at least, is the choice of bike is settled; 21" front wheel and 22 litre standard tank stand out.

Oh, I've never ridden the Canning Stock Route road and probably wouldn't because I'm a mountain man
and much prefer the tracks skirting the Flinders, Gammon, McDonnell, Musgrave, Mann, Petermann, Kimberley Ranges
that are in those routes I have outlined.

Pics of bikes on Canning.

A_tough_little_modern_sto-Canning_Stock_Route-20000000002816958-500x375.jpg

30.jpg

P1000756_zpsb0b7f53e.jpg

25.jpg

P7160089-L.jpg

Crocodile infested waterholes?
No worries mate.

CCI00017.jpg
 
Well done again Ron, some awesome pics. That BMW pic must quite old as he has the same 69Liter Touratech tank I had on my XT500 at one point, Touratech made it for adventure trips and adapted the same Bubble to several bikes.

Goes to show what weight can do...doesn't it?

Mate that last one...hmmm...no worries? Why is that tent still standing empty after all this time???
 
The only pic there which is mine Alex is the tent beside the waterfall, when doing a long loop on the faithful old XL500.
I'd only use the tent whenever I was in mosquito territory, preferring to unroll the swag and sleep under the stars.
Sweet memories.
Sorta missing the red soil.

Anyway, here's something useful I found and will read in more detail.
This guy (Mike) has detailed the mods he did to his 2009 KLR (not many).
What the hell is a 'doohickey' ??!! :hmm My understanding is that it's a generic term for something we don't know the name of! I'll check.

His 8,200 km, 28 day route took him to a couple of the places that interest you and I, including the Gunbarrell and the Gibb River Road.

mlcoab.jpg

P1000625.JPG

Mid Life Crisis On A Budget: Mike's KLR650E Setup

Hope it's useful.

Still much more detailed info to come at a later stage.
 
2wheels said:
So many excellent bush rides in Oz.
Click to expand...

You got that right and a great DVD selection available here = http://www.motorbikin.com.au for the ones never making it to the Red Aussie Outback or need some visual info before heading into the bush....

Well ~ personally prefer dry climates like deserts, steppe and the Aussie Outback for adventure riding over the rain forests and jungles....
 
And from the 'New American Oxford Dictionary' …

"doohickey |ˈdo͞oˌhikē|noun ( pl. doohickeys ) informala small object or gadget, esp. one whose name the speaker does not know or cannot recall: a garage filled with electronic parts and other valuable doohickeys.ORIGIN early 20th cent. (originally servicemen's slang): blend of doodad and hickey."
 
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