I finally got it dirty!

Pics

It was my first off-road ride. Round trip from meeting place and back was about 90 miles. 75 miles or so of that was dirt & gravel.

Gravel roads still make me feel uneasy, but as the day wore on, I got more and more comfortable.

I came close to eating shit about 3-4 times on the ride. There were some monster ruts out there!

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_QWsg00m5hZg/TC...0/P7030007.JPG

This pic was the gnarliest section we rode. It was a "road", but I use that term loosely. We rode down into a valley and back up the other side. The pic is taken after I rode the section, and the guy on the hill was riding a V-Strom. He went down and tweaked one of his bag mounts.

Props for even trying that section on that bike. He decided he didn't want any more of that and bailed out, though.

I quickly found the value of all the cash I blew on real MX gear, especially leg protection. I was in mid "oh shit" moment in a rut, and stuck my leg out to save myself. Had I not been wearing MX boots and Asterisk knee braces, the least that would have happened was a pretty badly twisted ankle. I might have even tweaked my knee. I didn't go down, and didn't get a scratch. Had I been wearing even street boots, I'd be limping around today; I'm sure of it.

That V-Strom would have been fine if he had proper tires. they are quite capable with some TKC80's on both ends.


congrats though... shit is fun isn't it! mostly down here all I have is dirt and gravel roads... there are a few trails, a single track (not to my liking... too tight for a dual sport IMO needs light weight dirt bikes) and some cool areas on the back side of the Army base an hour north of here. but I've noticed I only enjoy doing that shit with friends... not as entertaining when there's no one there to shoot the shit with after you eat it or blast through a hard section...

I agree. I think it was a new rider on a new bike, to top it off.

That's pretty much what we have here. The single track in the pics is for hiking only. I don't even think mountain bikes are allowed. Those Loess Hills are protected land, I believe.

Not to mention the fact that I'd like to have at least one other person around if I get in trouble. I don't have a trail worthy GPS yet as well. I'd be totally lost where we went without a guide.

for me...I'd just turn around on the trail and go back... I always fill up my tank before riding (4 gal gives me about 220 mile range) course that could be the reason I hate the single track with all that damn weight! :lol:

but yeah just get a ram mount and a little hand held gps... I used a garmin eTrex Legend for a long time... worked great and it's waterproof. but for long trips the screen is just too small to see when you're on a thumper (vibrations) and you're on hr 14 looking for a place to stop for the night.

Bike looks sweet did you swap in a new headlight (need to scroll back up) that looks like the Acerbis cyclops if I remember right

That's not mine. That's another guy's TE610 - the previous gen of their big DS. Mine is the one with the twin cans.

For GPS, I have my eye on the Garmin 60Cx.

AHHH ok... I was like WTF? :lol: good shit

yeah the 60Cx is a good one. check on ADV... you can sometimes get them in the classifieds there.

I just got done removing the clutch cover to clean an internal oil screen (which was spotless, BTW). I also replaced all of the oil pump cover seals and used some gasket sealer on both sides of the gasket to try and stop this oil leak of mine. I ran the bike until the cooling fan kicked on and there is no leak. But, I won't really know for sure until I take it out and ride it, pushing more pressure through that oil pump.

928 miles on the odometer and it's already had 4 oil changes. I haven't even washed it that many times, unless you count riding in thunderstorms.

The lever on the bars is a compression release. When my battery is acting up I yank the lever, hit the starter, then release it to have the motor "catch".

Congrats on the bike, might be too late but be sure to baby it for the first several hundred miles--it will make a huge difference in how long the motor lasts.

Check your jetting if it won't idle right.

Sounds like the hotstart... But can't be if you're starting the bike cold, and cause it's fuel injected...

The lever, according to the shop manual, is an "enrichener". Maybe it just feeds more fuel to the system. When I had the tank off, I didn't think to trace the cable and see where it went.