Hi folks. Sorry mods if i'am posting this in the wrong sub forum.

I thought to write few things about this great machine, backed up with lots of pics. Everybody likes pics...
The story began this May. After my new S10 sustained some serious injuries (wheels, skid plate, headers...)in off road,i decided not to demolish it that way any more. I knew what i wanted,so i did a quick research and found an '06 XTR with 28000km at my local Yamaha dealer, just hours before flying to South America where i work.

The bike was not in mint conditions, but that was fine with me,coz the price was right and my plans with it did not include any hugging and kissing also.
As i left country for work, i had 6 weeks of planning what to do with it. First thing i did is to join this community. Btw, tnx for being an amazing source of infos. After days of reading various topics,i made up a list of necessary farkles to make it "serious" off road machine. Radical changes, as topic title suggest, won't be an issue, as i intend to use the XTR exclusively off road, while still being able (and legal)to ride on black top between various off road destinations.

Let me start with first impressions. Last time i rode a single, was in year 2000 when i bought the new Aprilia Pegaso 650ie. Hated it since day two. Well, this one left quite an impression on me. I took it for a test ride in the city traffic. I was concentrated on the handling, in order to figure out wheter the bike sustained any major damage to the forks or frame. Surpisingly i found it quite stable and composed. Breaks where fine too. Riding position was also one of mine concernes. With a low supermotard style handlebar, it could not be perfect, but for the rest it felt good enough for my 193cm figure. I remember pegs made me laugh like a baby. What where they thinking. I found headlight to be melted from inside. Akward. Of course, i wasn't impressed with the power plant, coming from a S10, but far away from being disapointed. Jerky at low rpm's, with an anoing noise coming from a loose chain and squeeky one from the rear fork axle. Oh, bike was completly repainted in a metallic blue color. Very bad job, i have to say.Any normal buyer would turn around from it ASAP, but i'am not normal... So, here's the bike...

First mod... i did throw those oem pegs into the garbage






Exhaust cans were also repainted or something... bye,bye...






I bought used custom cans from a dude i met on croatian moto forum. Headers and can whwere in mint condition...for a day.






Passanger pegs are something i do not need on my radical bike+they are like one kilo each... bye bye...




something is missing here.. of course not...




So far,so good...



I'll keep this one for next day... spectators brought too many beers...







G'night...



tbc...

Day 2... "Transformation day"













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Day 2... "Transformation day"
Day two was a pretty long one. Early in the morning i rode some 30k's away to "Yamaha Trogir" with that huge Renthal bar slipping away from my belt the whole time. There i had the rest of the bits and pieces, ordered by my dear friend, the owner of the shop and a experienced off road rider. Big tnx to Antonio!
The moment i stepped in, two guys were already strapping the bike to the bikelift,crane, and tearing apart started.

In less than an hour,it looked like this.



The bike had two owners b4 me, so we didn't want to take any chances. Last thing i wanted is to get stuck somewhere in the woods because of some stupid mechanical failure. Engine oil was replaced, spark plug and the oil from the braks as well. New coolant was filled in also. General inspection of all moving parts showed that the bike was not in such a bad shape,as it was aesthetically.

As u can see on the picture above, the forks where taken off for a complete service, including spacers, identical as Kev's. Here they are...





We had a Pipercross filter element at hand, so we used that one to replace the oem filter. Cush drives where in good shape, so we reused them.





As i already mentioned, road permormance is of minor importance,so we installed a 14T sprocket on the front.





Installed also a pair of Dog bones to raise the rear, and gain some ground clereance





Here's the handlebar i brought with me by sticking it into the belt of my pants. The old one, which btw was not oem part, i threw...u know where...





This mod was necessary to install the new handlebar.





Much better... This tall Puig screen i gave to a friend of mine, and i took his short oem part. Good deal...





There were no hand guards on it, so i took the first one from the shelf. Polisport! Very protective and strong. Crash tested couple of times.





Mitas CO2 aka Stone King on the back and C17 on the front, were the rubbers of choice. Later on i will say few things about them.







This is the final result in the late afternoon.






I was not dressed up for the task, but i still took the longer way home. I'am never going to use my s10 for off road again!





I didn't loose any time... next day i went straight to the port and took a ferry to island of Brach.

Tbc...


Day 3... "Evacuation day"














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Day 3. aka "evacuation day"

It was a hell alike hot day, one of those you don't do anything stupid. I boarded the ferry at 13:00 towards the island of Brach, where my roots are, and my family. It is an off road paradise, with plenty different kinds of surfaces, wich is really rare in rocky croatian coast.


I was the first in, to be the first out.



I had some 45 minutes to figure out wich route to choose. I didn't have much time, cause i was carrying a lot of small jars with babyfood , yogurts and other staff in the backpack for my kid. I used everytrail application to find out some new routes. Soon i found only some tracks recorded by mountain bikers. No biggy, i'am with the XTRadical with a pair of mean rubbers.

As i got out of the ferry, i could finaly start enjoying the bike. The roads on the island i know like the palm of my hand, but still i decided to take it easy. Brand new tires, barely street legal and with the pressure of 1,5 bar...nice. Didn't really ant to crash in the first corner.
Woow, what a noise from the Mitas team... The combination of pressure and extreme knobbies is not an ideal for pushing trough twisties, but after all the complaints, i was surprised that it actually wasn't so bad. After few corners i was already on decent pace. The rear slides troughout the corner but in a controllable manner. The front follows my input way better than the rear, while still wobbling around. On breaking i pretty much the same, but amplified.
The excessive sliding of the rear disappeard within 200-300 kms.

Finally i reached the starting point.





God this is something... myS10 feels like freight train compared to this one. In no time i adopted completely different type of riding. Late braking, steering with the rear brake into tight corners,sliding all over the trail...amazing... at least for 10 minutes it was.



As i will found out later,most of the land on the island is privately owned, and some people have sheep's wondering around. To prevent them getting lost, they builded up a wire fance around the property,and also on some points where the fire road passes. You could imagine my surprise when i saw it from only 10-20 meters away doing 60+. There was no way avoiding it, so i went trough it sideways in a S Moto style. That lever was the only "damage"...luckily. Nothing that 105 kilos wisely applied couldn't fix. I'am in the game again...

Here are some pics...






I was already two hours riding, trying to find that mtb trail that i found on the ferry. When i finally did, my fast fire road ride suddenly become enduro, and hard enduro ride. I don't have much pics from this part, because my phone was low on battery, and i needed it for something more serious than recording the track or taking photos.

It was mostly downhill...yeap, downhill on a rocky goat trail. I would say that guys with mtb's did that part with the bikes on the shoulder. Definitely.Too bad i wasn't that smart in the ferry. After 15 minutes i was in the first trouble... that fence i rode trough doesn't even count as trouble.
Last summer almost 1/5 of the island was completely burned in a massive fire. They removed a lot of burned trees, but some just collapsed later on. I had two of them just in front of me. Normally it would not be an issue,but those two where laying just the xtr-s wheelbase apart. I tried everything, except going back, cause i knew there was no way to climb back up.
First signs of dehydration...dry mouth... o.k. time to drink something...did i mentioned that i didn't fill my camel bag?
With the heat and everything i decided to start with jogurt's. After another pack of yogurt, i somehow managed to climb above the trees,standing by the bike,and carefully controlling the power output.
Thanx God for the new Mitas tires.
After a fair share of downhill trough the area called "Pustinja Blaca"(Blaca desert) using all known enduro methods, including throwing bike on purpose one,and some less serious climbing, i managed to reach the sea.




I was a mess... powerless. Yogurts where all finished. I moved on Hipp liquid food... the fruity stuff is a revelation...
I was sitting there on the beach in my enduro jacket, army pants, boots, enjoying my doughters food, while searching for the route on my phone. I don't know if somebody already noticed it on the pic above, but i didn't, and i was sitting there with the help of motion x gps application. The friggin route was there!! There,right across some 10 meters of sea water. I was depressed... water was not so deep, but there were some pretty large rocks on the way to that trail. I decided to try an alternative route i left behind me, some 5kms away. Light XTR suddenly was not so light any more. I barely managed to move it trough those loose rocks.
After some 2-3 kms, and after consulting the map again, i decided to go back and give it a try trough the water. It had to be done cause i was looow on fuel, and that was the shortest way. Before entering the water, i called a friend of mine with the last two percent of battery life. I explained the situation in few words, and gave him an approx positon. I was some 12 nautical miles from home. Oh, yeah...he's a firefighter.

Back to the beach...without too much thinking i entered the water fighting slowly trough the rocks. They were covered with sea grass and thus very slippery.
I managed to get out with the front wheel, but i couldn't get the rear one out. Rocks were just too damn slippery. I stood there holding the bike for some time grasping for air... fugly situation... if i let it go, xtr is in the water... damn...
Suddenly, from the two boats anchored in the bay i saw two guys coming with small tender towards me. Three of us managed somehow too take it out and put it on the trail . I could not take my fingers away from the throttle grip..had to use my left hand to open the fist.
The Dehydration was advancing on me... I asked this two hungarian tourist for some water, and they brought me a big bottle and some chocolate.
After a while i decided to continue and this two guys were looking at me like i was insane.. not far from true thou'.
The trail was a mess... hiking stuff... fallen trees every 20 meters. Those two helped me for the next 100 meters clearing the trail in front of me, until i thanked them and told them not to follow me any more. They didn't pay the charter to push me around.
It was becoming dark underneath the trees, and that made my slow advancing even slower. There was no room for error,as the very narrow trail was on very steep slope. At some points, i had to improvise, coz there was no trail at all. Fu...ing trees were the biggest problem. To get of the bike, dead tired, i had to slowly lay it down on the left side, because there was no space to open the side stand, and on the right side, i couldn't even put my foot down cause of the slope.
The trees laying on the ground were quite small, easy to move, at least most of them. Some i had to cross over with the bike. Did i mentioned the amazing grip of Mitas tires?
I felt alive again...the trail was getting better, larger with less rock's to climb over, less logs... i could actually drive with my boots on the pegs... until suddenly i lost the rear. It was only half meter down the slope, but it was lost. Surface was too loose and it was too steep. Not to mention i was half dead.
I just took the key out, and left the bike upside down some three meters down the slope. I was some 30 meters from the sea level, and it even wasn't easy to walk on that slope. I set on the rocks next to the sea, and waited patiently for the fire brigade to evacuate my crazy arse. After another hour or so, they found me by carefully sailing close to the shore. It was one retired firefighter who lived close to that bay where i was soaking my feet in the water.
He took me to his place while i was waiting the fire brigade to come with the car to pick me up. It took some time cause is all white road.
Beer never felt better in my life. The worst thing of all, the one thing that made me really angry is that old man's house was just 3-400 meters away from where i left my bike. I almost did it by myself...and the two tourist's.

The next morning i came back there to pick it up and take it home. 4 of use and some rope, managed to put it back on trail after half an hour of fight. Yes, it was that steep. I took one photo where i could actually put my feet on the ground.





I wanted to share this early stage experience with you, becuse is something that doesn't happen every day, not with bike like XTR. I rode some hard enduro bikes, and yes they are lighter, but i would probably be in the same situation as i was with our Yammie. That said, with some effort and mods, i see no reasonable obstacle for this bike. I bought it as a something to ride before i decide wich "real" bike to buy. For time being i stick to my XTRadical, and i will continue with the mods... some are already waiting at home.

After more than 20 years riding,i'am still quite fresh in this sort of stuff, therefore comments, suggestions or critics are very welcome.

Btw, cheap jap bike started up in the morning on first tooth. I love it!











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Wow, what an adventure, as we say in the UK "something to dine out on" for some time. You are lucky to get out unharmed though, that adventure could have so easily turned into a disaster. The bike looks great and some good modifications too. The sea water will take a while to get washed out.

You're right Austin, but the truth is that we, enduro freaks, somehow always find the wrong way. I thought i'll meet some "normal" people along the way, but they all proved me wrong. I guess that's the reason i enjoy off road more than anything till now.

Tnx for reading.






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Some more pics from island of Brach, my off road paradise. As you can see, i have a little bit of Australia, little bit of South Africa, and various other famous places, all on this small island.

Less talk, more pics.

local authorities are investing a lot of money in infrastructure... Next summer this will be black top.









By 2014 this will also be covered with asphalt.


That's the bay where the old man,that pick me up lives. I was aprox. 400m to the right.


By 2014 also...


When Mitas gave that "Stone King" nick to their tires, they were not aware of this rock. White limestone from Brach is a "stone king"killer.




Tbc...




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Good post mate i would get a camel pack for the heat.Nice scenery on that island,i don't like rocky roads through.

Shortly after the limestone higway, i ended up here...

Quite a change, don't you think. During autumn&winter, this is quite slippery surface. I'am anxious to see how the stone kings will perform.





Yet another change of surface... This is my favorite. High speed, rear end sliding- front holding kind of stuff.
Ozzies would feel at home.






Rocks again.


It was a perfect afternoon. Little bit hot at 34-35 deg. but in the right gear, and fast trails, not a problem.

Just before passing Bol (my town)sign, i found this trail going up hill. There i go again...


Somehow i realized (strange) that i was once again going into trouble, and i decided to stop right there and turn back home.


Easier to say than to do. Had to turn by 180 and return up there... This time i managed by myself, after 15-20 minutes. My brain was boiling...


Just a pic showing lower part of the gear i use. Comfy military issue pants, Thor knee protectors(cheapest ones- great!), Thor summer enduro socks(great!), Forma Adventure boots (awsome!).


Tbc...



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Thanks, i appreciate it.
Can't avoid rocks here. I have a camel bag(pack) incorporated with my Dakine HeliPro backpack.






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