|
Commuter, Adventurer... Racer?
Been meaning to start a project/bike thread for a while, as I've done a few things to the T�n�r� lately, and there's a fair bit more on the cards (mainly the credit card :D). More on that later, for now I just want to post a few pictures from yesterday and my first rally (the
Hafren)
All aboard the race transporter: http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...32082489_n.jpg Sign in on Saturday night: http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...71047099_n.jpg Race numbers applied: http://sphotos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...81068112_n.jpg And a reminder of whose fault it is ;) (although dishonourable mentions also have to go to Bernard and to Tamsin Jones): http://sphotos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...84284358_n.jpg Scrutineering. The chap only gave the T�n' the most cursory of inspections, I think he was struggling to hold the weight of it upright so he said "that's ok" and gave it back quick :D: http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...69222755_n.jpg Start here: http://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...12832595_n.jpg Then ride round the edge of the paddock to get to the start of the first special: http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...85261314_n.jpg Waiting my turn: http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...57224870_n.jpg Start of the third special on lap one. Note the little old lady doing the timekeeping. This was the toughest of the three specials for the big bikes, being more of an enduro test, and I was glad we only had to do it twice, unlike the other two which we did three times: http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...60596993_n.jpg However it was the first special of the second lap where I had my only crash of the day. Guy in front of me stalled on the run up to a short steep climb (it turned out he'd not turned his fuel tap on :eusa_wall:) and spoilt my momentum going round him. Got stuck half way up and dropped the bike onto the bar end, which bent the ally spine of the handguard inwards enough to foul the clutch lever. I had to get the tools out to whip the bolt out of the end and fold the handguard out of the way - all with the clock ticking, so I doubt that special will have helped my overall position :013:: http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...22787695_n.jpg Anyway, I finished the rest of the day without much further drama (and didn't stop to take any more photos). Then today, I rode it to work: http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...79377015_n.jpg Race numbers, dirt... and a top box: http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...21139315_n.jpg Could you ask for a better all round bike? Well, funny you should mention that, because I've got a few things coming... |
sounds like great fun, am interested to see what's next!
|
Now thats what a Tenere should look like good on you ..........the same as Jennys ......schweeet ! Uberthumper
|
The guy who caused your spill didn't happen to be a fat bloke on a KTM by any chance?
|
Quote:
Poor Bernard, he realy gets alot of stick..... :warning1: |
Not sure we got any pictures of you. I was at the social too - you should have come over and told us your number. Busy uploading 800 pictures now.
|
Oh - fair play for taking the ten around! I was considering it at one point but the exc was an easy repair in the end.
|
Quote:
|
Looking forward to what is next??????
I think probly the Dakar .... or roof of Africa or the Baja ..... |
Quote:
|
Well done.....sounds like you did well Dave. More rallys next year??? Hopefully I will do my first one then (even if I finish I will be happy....and if I don't complete it, I won't be that bothered as long as I am all in one bit!):102:
|
Good skillZ fella, nice to see pics of Tens being used.
|
Quote:
You'd have had no problem getting a finish on Sunday. It's a long way and bits of it are hard work, but there weren't any bike-swallowing obstacles. Besides, with your monster engine in you'd be really quick down the fire roads, so you could have a breather after the tricky bits :D |
Provisional results for the Hafren:
http://www.mx247.com/home/Hafren_Pro...al_Results.pdf 43/45 in the trail class. Might have been about ten places higher if I hadn't spent so long faffing around with a bent handguard in the middle of the first timed special. I think the message there is "don't crash you muppet". :D |
Excellent stuff - looking forward to following your progress!
btw. if you are looking for a foreign event, the Tuareg Rally in Morocco (end of March each year) is a corking desert event, and would suit the Tenere well I think... It's not stupid expensive either, not when you consider the size of the event and the terrain you get to ride in... Patsy (Desert Rose Racing) is one of the UK teams that offer assistance and transportation if you fancy it... Jx |
The thought had crossed my mind...
Well, less 'crossed' than jumped right in, put the kettle on and started rearranging the furniture to make itself more comfortable :D |
Its a pretty sound observation across the entire motorcycling world that when the bean-counters start getting involved with a bike design, one of the first things to get 'economised' is the suspension. The Tenere is no exception.
In all fairness, it's a cheap bike, and the stock kit is perfectly adequate for road and trail use - when it's new at least. The shock is the first thing to give up the ghost, and I have already replaced mine with a rather tasty Nitron Racing item. The downside to this is that it makes the front end look bad, especially when you start trying to go a bit faster than trail-riding pace. So with the Rally season over until about April, it's time to do something to bring it up to scratch. Conveniently, a couple of residents (you might even say Heroes or Legends ;))of this parish have already been down this path, so a mere amateur like me can know what needs to be done without too much hard thinking or experimentation :D. And so it was that, last week, I had a rather expensive parcel arrive from Germany... http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6033/...4b0211e5_z.jpg My budget didn't stretch to buying a brand-new set of WP48s from Off The Road, or a new front wheel from Talon, so I'll be putting the rest of the front end together from second-hand KTM parts. I already have a set of forks from a 2007 450SX, which I picked up on the way to the Hafren Rally. They'll need respringing and possibly revalving for the heavier bike, but at about 1/6 the price of new ones I can live with that. Still to be sourced - front wheel, axle, spacers, brake disc, and master cylinder. I'm counting down the days to the next pay cheque :D |
Mega Stuff Uber, you know it makes sense x
Regarding the front end components, you shouldn't have much trouble sourcing a front wheel from a KTM, but I do recommend you go for a larger front disc (particularly since you're running a single on a big heavy bike)... I fitted the Breaking Wave 270mm 'oversize' disc, which if you order for a KTM, comes with the correct adaptor to fit one of your existing Brembo caliper bodies to the forks - result! I coupled that to a Brembo master cylinder (same as fitted to a KTM 690R as I recall), however, either that master cylinder is a bit small, and/or else I'd go with the even larger 300mm (I think it might be 298mm) single disc, basically the same spec as you'd find on a 690 Rallye... there are aftermarket discs available. Don;t get me wrong, there is plenty of power in the set-up I have, and it is very progressive so great for feathering in off-road conditions... only you might prefer to have a little more initial bite? In fact, you might want to see what the single caliper is like using the stock Tenere master cylinder? - could save a few pennies! Watching with interest! Jenny xx |
I've run twin-disc master cylinders on single disk bikes before, and the result is a bit, erm, wooden :D. I'll be looking for something a bit more appropriate.
|
all thumbs
|
Quote:
just for you i also checked the gasser it's also an 11mm, even better, made by nissin so a more consistent action, the brembo cylinder can for some reason can be all over the place not very reassuring in a special test very nice clamps, all the best with the conversion bernard |
I have a spare exc front wheel once you have some pennies to spend.
|
good to see the ten in action, good luck with the transformation
|
For those with nothing better to do, I've finally got round to writing up my experiences at the Hafren properly:
http://wildchild.org.uk/blog/pivot/entry.php?id=66 Oh, and here's my account of the BBRC rally training weekend the month before: http://wildchild.org.uk/blog/pivot/entry.php?id=61 Waiting on some parts at the moment, but I'm hoping to have the front end swapped over by Christmas. |
So I rode home last night (Thursday) to find a brake hose sat on the doormat, which was just about the last thing I was waiting on*. Obviously, I want to get the fork swap done as soon as possible, but I need to use the hydraulic press at work to swap the steering stem over from the OE bottom yoke to the OTR one. So if I wanted it to happen this weekend it was time for some hasty dismantling.
http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...53878649_n.jpg Once I had the forks out, and before I committed myself too far, I made a bit of a rudimentary measurement of the spring rates in the two forks, with the aid of some bathroom scales, a ruler, and my beautiful assistant. :firework: The forks that are going in are from a 2007 KTM 450SX, which is the MX variant of the bike. Obviously the donor bike is considerably lighter than the Tenere, probably by 70 or 80kg, but it's also sprung to allow landing from several metres in the air - which I don't plan on doing! So I'd hoped the spring rate would at least be in the right ball park. Actually, it turned out that the spring rates are an uncannily close match. This means: 1) The bike will be rideable just by swapping them over, without respringing the forks. 2) Assuming that the forks I have still have the standard 0.46N/mm springs that the KTM would have originally been fitted with, there's at least a couple of steps stiffer springs easily available. 3) The stiffness of the stock forks is only really a problem because they bottom out on big hits. In normal riding soft is pretty good if it means you are actually using the full stroke of the suspension. Now the new forks have a good 3" more travel, so it may be that I actually want to keep them fairly soft, and just make use of the extra travel and some judicious adjustment of the air gap to make sure they don't hit the stops. Anyway, point 1 is enough for now. So today I ducked out of work for half an hour to pop to the workshop and abuse company facilities for my own benefit ;). Result, one Yamaha steering stem fitted to an OTR yoke: http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...18915485_n.jpg Weekend of assembly ahead. *Actually, I still need some caliper bolts, but I'm hoping I can pick those up from Leisure Trail in Notts in the morning. |
Good stuff fella :thumbsup:
|
http://sphotos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...63429248_n.jpg
Might need a longer sidestand: http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...31421728_n.jpg Apologies for the rubbish pictures. Seems I can't actually get outside in daylight much at the moment :D |
looking good uber! i'm sure you can't wait to try the new setup out!
big disc and all, a 3oo? or 330? |
That's actually a 270mm disc, so while it's oversize for an EXC it's still smaller than one of the original twin discs. Still got enough power to lock up the Swedish Army front, especially in the cold and wet - and the feel is really good, better than the stock setup.
(Of course it helps that it's a brand new disc, pads, and braided hose, rather than the OE ones with 29,000 miles of dirt ingrained into them) Would be pretty easy to go to 300 or 320mm at a later date if I feel like I need it. |
It's nearly there, just waiting on a fuel hose (Tip: Don't drop your fuel tank while it's still attached to the bike by the hose :(). Should be back together within the next week and then I'll get some photos of the whole bike ready to race!
|
For those with short attention spans, we'll do the eye-candy shot first...
http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...10891176_n.jpg (not the best shot I'm afraid, not the most forgiving light to try taking a photo of something black and white without losing the detail in one or the other) Right then, where was I... Got the forks swapped over and the bike back in (just about) roadworthy condition back in December, then realised I still had plenty of work to do. First up was making the sidestand a bit longer to get rid of the comedy lean: http://wildchild.org.uk/blog/images/...2_750x1000.jpg Don't worry, I did weld it up properly after taking this shot ;). I still need to do something about the centrestand - it still holds the bike upright, but both wheels are on the floor. Needs blocks underneath it to actually change the wheels. And yes, I know the bike is really ****ing grotty. As soon as I got the forks bolted to the bike, it became obvious that they needed rebuilding - enough play in the bushes that I could feel them 'rock' over the clearance when I put the brakes on. However I managed to put enough miles on the bike to convince myself that the stock 450SX setup was a good baseline and didn't need any urgent changes to springs or damping. It also became apparent that the ergonomics weren't right any more. The OTR top yoke seems to sit a bit further down the steering stem, which in turn meant the bars were a bit lower than before. Probably still slightly higher than stock, but I'm about 6'3" , and I need all the height I can get for a comfortable standing position. It was made even worse by the fact that, being lower, they also had to be rolled back a bit in the clamps to clear the screen 'ears' on full lock. One lump of alloy bar stock and a trip to my parents to fire up my dad's ancient lathe later, and I had a nice pair of 35mm spacers to fit under the original bar risers: http://wildchild.org.uk/blog/images/...9_1000x750.jpg This lifted the bars back up to a sensible height for me, and also lifted them above the wide bit of the screen, allowing me to roll them forward a bit. The result - a much 'bigger' riding position when stood up. Still comfortable sat down, but I think it's approaching the limit. Sadly this took me way over the reach of the standard throttle cables, which were already a bit tight on my previous setup (although bizarrely there's still plenty of length in the clutch cable). The cables went in the post to Venhill, who used them to make me a new set, 120mm longer to give plenty of slack around the headstock. As the lack of cables was preventing me riding the bike anyway, I took the opportunity to have the forks rebuilt. I toyed with doing them myself, but then Leisure Trail in Nottingham gave me a cheap enough quote that it wasn't worth my while, and they turned them around the same afternoon I dropped them off. I also did most of the 30,000 mile service, and threw in a bonus valve clearance check since I already had the tank off. Oh yeah, taking the tank off. I've already mentioned this elsewhere, but when I was taking the throttle cables off I decided, rather than taking the tank right off, to just prop it up. I then managed, while turning the steering through its full travel to measure the required cable length, to knock the tank off the bike. Fortunately I had disconnected the electrical connections, but it was still attached by the fuel hose. Result - one snapped fuel hose and one bent injector rail. It also turned out that the fall had knocked the fuel pump partly out of its mounting in the tank, which lead to my starting issues yesterday ( thread here). Few other fiddly bits completed: - A bit of fettling of the KTM master cylinder to get it to play nicely with the Yamaha switchgear. - Banjo bolt brake light switch fitted, as the master cylinder I bought didn't have a mechanical switch. - Master cylinder also meant I lost the right hand mirror mount. I used this as an excuse (I wanted some anyway) to buy some Doubletake mirrors. Finally, I used the wait for the new fuel hose to give the crash panels a repaint after just over a year of crashing and stone-chips had made the original yellow and black scheme look a bit tatty. Went for a bit of a different colour scheme this time round, and vinyl wrapped a new Metal Mule tall screen to match: http://wildchild.org.uk/blog/images/...2_750x1003.jpg Didn't make a particularly good job of either the paint or the vinyl (spray painting stuff when it's snowing outside isn't ideal :D), but I'm pleased with how it looks from a few yards away at least, and it's only going to get trashed over the course of the year anyway. Quick spin out yesterday, and it all seems fairly good. Still need to do an oil and filter change, and replace one of the bearings in the rear linkage before it's due for MOT on the 1st March. Other than that, it should just need some fresh tyres in time for the BBRC pre-season training weekend in late March. But for now, I'm just really glad to be back on two wheels after four weeks of having to sit in traffic going into Nottingham every day in the pickup (at 25mpg :() |
Mega!
I particularly like the sticker on your airbox! Jx |
Tidy stuff mate. Nice screen stickers too ;)
|
Quote:
It's getting a bit faded now though from my leg rubbing against it. Need to get your entry in for 2013 so I can get a new one! @Tom: But of course. The Rollerburn one is annoying me a bit though, started to think it ought to be lined up with the side of the headlight rather than being upright. I have got another sticker, but I'll see if I get used to it first. |
Uber its going to look good and mean when u finished ..bud ..look forward to checking it out in time .
Martin |
great stuff.
always interesting to follow your build progress. I am working on a colour scheme at the minute with my Black 10 I really like the paint job on the pikes peak multi strada but may just settle for the addition of some red panels and some red vinyl. You are far more comitted than me I am waiting for the warmer weather to do my spraying may use an old tent as a spray booth to cut down on dust. |
Three years old today!
In recognition of this occasion, I took it out this afternoon for its first MOT, which it passed with only a couple of advisories (a few cuts/tears in the rear tyre, inevitable with a well used knobbly, and the wobbly gear lever). In a tidy coincidence, it also ticked over thirty thousand miles a week ago... http://wildchild.org.uk/blog/images/...3_1000x549.jpg Don't they grow up quickly? One year old: http://wildchild.org.uk/blog/images/...9_1000x665.jpg Two years old: http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto..._3106098_n.jpg Three years old: http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...10891176_n.jpg |
Bike is looking great UberT! Some real nice pics and that rally looked like so much fun!
How do you go about joining in things like that? |
Quote:
http://www.bigbikerallychallenge.co.uk http://www.rallymoto.co.uk for details. The BBRC also run training weekends throughout the year (I went on one last September, and am going on another in a few weeks time to get me back in the swing of it before the first event of the year on April 1st (April Fools day, how appropriate ;) |
Good stuff mate
|
| All times are GMT +1. The time now is 06:44. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2019, vBulletin Solutions Inc.