So, on the dirt bike competition front, I give you extreme enduro. This is from X-Ross in Serbia this summer–it’s long, but it doesn’t take long to see how insane it is. Experience and strategy play huge roles–Graham Jarvis is 47 years old and won multiple events last year. Manny Lettenbichler is on another level. I aspired to these kind of races 20 years ago. Not now.
Depends on the Era. Mine were AMF years. Cheesier that Wisconsin. And I’ve sold enough Chinese Chrome Plated Plastic to bolt on Hogs that it would make Harley and Davidson spin in their graves.
The new Superquadro Mono single cylinder engine from Ducati looks interesting, and they’re putting it in a new Hypermotard. Looks like my Hyper might be getting a little sister in a couple of years. Gotta pay off the 939 first, plus hopefully there will be an SP version later, although the base model has fully adjustable suspension already. Not a huge fan of the RVE version, although I like this one better than the 950 RVE. Too much $ for decals and a quickshifter (that can be added to the base model).
I saw the write-up on BikeEXIF - nice. I was thinking “I might get one of these” and then I got a nice slap in the face: I said the same thing about the FZ-09 when it debuted, and see they’ve just announced their 10th anniversary edition. 
Drool!
My “supermoto” for the last decade has been a Suzuki DR650 with street tires and taller gearing. It’s spent more time in dual-sport mode and I’ve always wanted a dedicated supermoto. There is is still room in the garage…
I’m super curious to test one out, having owned two supermotos already, a KTM 690 SMC and a later 690 SMC R.
On the plus side the Ducati sounds like it will be a riot to ride with that super high (for a single) redline and it will likely be fitted out to a better standard than the KTM which has great mechanicals, but cheap bodywork and a display with all the information presentation power of a 1980 pocket calculator.
The downside is that it’s even heavier than the KTM, already heavy for the supermoto-class. And while the Ducati has more peak power, that’s way up at the top of the rpm range. It makes less torque than the KTM lower in the band. And I tend to use the KTM in the tight, twisty canyons of Socal, where immediate torque when blasting out of a hairpin is what’s needed. At no point in my KTM experience did I ever think I needed more revs but less torque. On a track, however…
I love that the Duc can make all the way up to 88 horsepower with the sport exhaust. Can’t say that I love that it will cost a couple extra grand to get there. I think at that point you’re looking at $17k for a single. Makes the eyes water a bit.
If I were doing it again, I’d probably get the KTM 500 EXC and supermoto it. That bike has a much more reasonable weight compared to the rest of the racing supermoto class.
Way back when the Hypermotard first came out I got to go on some Ducati test rides with it. They setup in a parking lot at Keystone ski resort, and then we rode up Loveland Pass, and back down. The leader was going about twice the speed limit for much of it.
I recall it as being lots of fun, but never a real purchase option. I have a 27" inseam, and the seat height was 36" or so. In the parking lot before we left I did lots of practicing hopping off one side or the other so I could get my foot down, and still have my other leg hooked over the seat.
I have 36" inseams so I can flatfoot a lot of these tall motos. I can flatfoot my Buell Uly.
My wife has short legs and I had to put a lowering link in her dinky Honda dualsport. Big difference.
Got the dented tank from the R1 from the neighbour today. Letting it dry out before taking it to the body shop. Also got the original tank for emblem placement.
The old tank is like a sieve. Is there any way to coat the inside so it’s usable?
The neighbour who’s working on the R1 went to school with the guy who stole the Seca II. The guy posted a video in 2020 saying he’s looking for an R1 and would pay $1,000 cash. (Current price for a 2002 YZF-R1 is $4,000 to $5,000.)
Read up on this and it might be applicable if your tank isn’t too bad.
I’ve sold hundreds of those ‘Kreeme’ kits. Never heard of one that ever turned out worth a shit. Including the 3 times I tried myself.
I have a 31-ish inch inseam and seem to always buy bikes that I can only get one foot down. My last five bikes, in sequence…
- KTM 690 SMC
- Triumph Tiger 800XC
- Ducati Hyperstrada
- Ducati Multistrada
- KTM 690 SMC-R
I just default now to never taking my right foot off the peg at a stop, even if I am riding another bike with a less stratospheric seat height.
That is also what I do, even though on my current Triumph Street Twin I can get both feet down (but not both flat). Just recently I’ve been trying to practice putting my right foot down and keeping my left on the peg.
There is one particular place on my commute where I frequently have to stop on a road that is banked so the right side is higher. It makes much more sense to put my right foot down, but it still feels very awkward to me, so that’s why I’m practicing doing it.
Here’s my Kreeme story. Never ended up using it. My first bike, a Kawasaki Vulkan 750 had lots of problems, which turned out to all be due to crud from the tank getting into the carbs. The shop put inline fuel filters on, but that just made the bike run even worse, and caused no end of “out of fuel” behavior at anything below half a tank.
I was all set to clean and Kreeme the tank so I could remove the filters. I drained and removed the tank, and couldn’t see a spot of rust or corrosion in it anywhere. What I did find was the in-tank filter screen for the reserve intake had fallen off.
Pre-inline filters, anytime I switched the petcock to reserve I’d suck up whatever dirt had managed to get into the tank. I replaced the reserve filter screen, removed the inline fuel filters, and then the bike ran great. Unfortunately by then I’d gone through over a year of it running terrible, so I was highly motivated to just get it out of my site.
So that’s my story of getting about 20 minutes away from Kreeming my tank, but not doing it.
The replacement tank for the R1 is at the body shop. I’ll have it back a week from Friday. Just under $600.
The owner said he loved working on bikes. I might have him paint the Seca II’s frame when the time comes. I have rattle cans that aren’t supposed to be used in Washington. He uses water-based PPG paint.
I was expecting to het the repaired tank from the body shop yesterday, but it won’t be ready until Monday.
In the meantime, I followed Stranger_On_A_Train’s advice in FQ and used some 3-In-1 oil to make the seat lock work and took the seat off. In the last hour I removed the side and tail fairings. They’re held on by screws and nuts, and the side fairings have pins that go into rubber grommets. The thieves removed all of the screws and nuts holding the side fairings to the frame, so they’re long gone. Pulling the pins out of the grommets, I removed both sides and the tail fairing as a unit. Next was the gas tank. It’s intact, but dented around the cap; hence, the NOS Reddish Yellow Cocktail tank I have ready. I removed the petcock assembly, but haven’t cleaned it or put it on the new tank. I still need to take the front fairing and front fender off, and then wait for warmer weather next Spring so I can paint them. I can probably sand them in the meantime (and try to resist priming them while temps are still in the 30s). And of course, I can put the petcock and gas cap on the new tank.
When the thieves stole the ignition block, they cut the wires and put in a toggle switch. I’ll have to find a connector block that fits the one on the ‘new’ ignition block. The other PITA (aside from having the frame stripped so that it can be painted) will be tracking down all of the miscellaneous nuts, bolts, and screws that bonebags took off and discarded.
Going by fading memory, most of the hardware will be varying lengths of M6 1.25. Some of the stuff that holds on the plastic may have funky collars and spacers to prevent crushing the plastic. You can probably find good descriptions on one of the big parts places online. I’ve got a couple ignition switches and wiring harnesses from 80’s Yamaha (somewhere in the Black Hole of my garage). Let me know if I can help.
I’ll post a funny story about “factory Yamaha hardware” later, maybe.
Fairing screws. Looks like they’re all available. This page has the bolts for the grab handles. The little luggage rack was stolen. I have a replacement, but I haven’t seen how it attaches yet. Interestingly I see that that page has the ‘rear emblem’. I think that’s the only one I don’t have. I’ll have to see if they have it in silver. ETA: I looked in their 1994 parts, and they do have an emblem for YRC bikes. I do need silver. I’ve emailed them.
What’s the best way to get the grime off of the fuel petcock? Car wash and a toothbrush?
WD40 cleans greasy engine grime. Wipe off with shop towels.
I found this story interesting. A very nice 2007 Harley with saddle bags was stolen. It was recovered a couple years later (by Vin) and completely unrecognizable.
They had hotwired around the computer security key lockout.
The first ten mins of the video will tell the story. The bike had 35k originally and 70k when recovered. Somebody had run it hard. They were stopped by highway patrol doing 105 mph.
It’s been ridden hard, laid down, and abused. It’s trashed. I wouldn’t spend the money for a restoration.
Anyway, it’s interesting to see what happens to stolen bikes. Apparently a stolen bike isn’t worth very much and riders don’t mind riding them into the ground.
When the restitution order was issued, the amount was twice the market value of the bike. I’ve spent hundreds more since then. But this was the last big birthday present my late father bought me. It has a lot of sentimental value from that, plus 80,000 miles of memories. In addition to that, its theft was a personal affront. Steal my ride? I’ll restore it better than it was, and ride it while you grow old in prison.