Last weekend I finished preparing my XT660R for it's next major Australian Outback trip ... she is affectionality know as "The B*tch Maker" but it's a private joke so no ... don't ask
Along with BrockSamoyed (a fellow inmate here) who is on his XT660Z we will be riding from Darwin across the Gibb River Road to Derby then down across the Tanami to Alice Springs and finally home to Melbourne via Uluru. So we talking about some 6,000 riding kms spread over 23 days with good allowances for rest and recreation.
BrockSamoyed is riding up via Kakadu but I've shipped my bike to Darwin with Just Bikes and am flying into Darwin on a Virgin Red-eye flight to save 5 days of riding boredom
In preparing for the trip I had planned to have the 30,000 kms service completed, repair a bit of damage from a previous off during the last major trip and review a number of options with a view to improve the long term adventure capabilities of the beast.
So out with the credit card to complete the following:
Front fork rebuild and revalve (ProMechA Melbourne)
Ohlins Rear Spring Unit
Off-The-Road 525 DID Drive Kit (15 ~ 48 sprockets)
Rear Hub Dual Bearing Upgrade (Teknik Motorsport Sydney)
Poly Cush Drive Upgrade (Hunday supplied ex South Africa)
Renthal Fat Bars with Off-The-Road Handlebar Clamps
Bark Busters - Storm Protectors
Replacement Control Levers (Hong Kong Cheapies)
Pivot Pegz (Mk3)
Seat recover with Gel Pad insert (B*tchin Stitch Melbourne)
So with plenty of money having been spread around the various suppliers the bike was booked in for it's service together with fitting new Dunlop D606 footwear. This service was to include replacement of all fluids together with inspection and repacking all the suspension, steering and wheel bearings. This was all expected just to be appropiate trip preparation and nothing unusual was thought likely to be found.
So the phone call came somewhat out of the blue ... all the bearings, bushes and collars associated with the rear suspension and relay arm were rusted and nothing was considered suitable to refit !!! B*ugger ...
There were 27 separate items required and the parts quote was around A$800 with most parts sitting on back order. And of course the bike had to be be ready to ship in just 5 weeks ...
So a night of internet research required ... although the XT660R isn't sold in the United States I did manage to find most of the parts available ex the US (thank god for parts bin engineering) and the three remaining items could be got ex the UK. While there are plenty of US sources I use Yamaha Sports Plaza because although their prices are very marginally higher their international shipping rates are significantly cheaper. I also use AJ Sutton for UK items. Both suppliers had some items on back order and while this was of concern they kept me informed and both managed to ship faster than their estimates.
Interestingly the landed price for the full service kit was approximately half the $AUS price ... Now while it has been said many many times before Yamaha Australia just isn't competitive with either price or availability ...
Like many others I would prefer to support my local guys ... I'm even happy to pay a slight premium to do so ... but come on ... 100% is just way way over the top. Read my lips ... We live in an international economy these days !!!
So the bike was fully serviced on time and I managed a few days riding before loading it on the truck for the trip North. Initial thoughts ... smoother, tighter feel, less front-end dive, less wallow in the rear and the seat feels much kinder on the bum ...
More to follow ...
PS ... gotta love the inbuilt language monitor in place here