The new steel horse... KTM 1.0

[jesusgatos]

Oh yeah, that was a GREAT weekend. Lots of trail riders are rockin' trials tires and everybody seems to love 'em. I ended up selling that bike as a basketcase. The guy who bought it was stoked and I had already moved on. I was tired of the race-bike maintenance, but wanted a bike with a modern, motocross chassis and suspension. So I bought a late-model XR250 and a 2005 CRF450R with a blown-up engine. I'm going to stuff the XR250 engine into the CRF chassis. Should make a pretty rad trailbike. I'll have a full stable of XR's in my moto-trailer (XR50, XR100/CR80 bigwheel hybrid, XR250/CRF450 hybrid, and an XR650R).

What kind of bike are you riding? If it's a Honda, I've got a set of Showa parts-forks and could send you one outer tube.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

I have a 2006 WR250.

I think you had a WR as well? I'm surprised you had lots of "race bike maintenance" as mine as been reasonable. The Yamaha engine is much better than the Honda or Kawasaki in that regard. But I can see your point, I miss the days of my XT125 (Honda XL125S type bike). Drove it for 15 years without even knowing if it had an fork oil. I've had to do a bit of maintenance on the WR, chain, suspension bearings, fork seals, oil changes... but the most costly stuff is caused by the rocks.

A lot of guys miss the old XR250 and 400. And I almost bought a TT-R250 instead of this one. Would have if they'd been available new in 2006. My XT125 was a good bike, but the muffler rusted out and can't get replacement parts.

 

[sinuhexavier]

This week I had some downtime so I boogied out to Sedona to do some riding. I stopped in Prescott and picked up the bike. I had Scott drop it off at Star Island Motorsports the local KTM dealer. Their service department is hammered. I wanted them to fix the fork seals change out all the fluids and install a aux. fan. These guys choked, I got the bike back with an empty tank, they didn't bother telling me about a couple leaks or missing bolts on the radiator. So lame...

I spent the afternoon installing the Spoxworks 43 tooth rear sprocket, the 42's were all sold out. The KTM skid plate had also arrived so I bolted that on.

With the work done on the bike it was time to get over to Sedona. This was the farthest I'd ever ridden on pavement and was my first taste of "twisties"... The allure of a larger adventure tourer is clear...

The clouds were moving in but it seemed just a good a time as any to be among the people in one of our nations great National Monuments, Tuzigoot.

I met Steph in Sedona at the Amara Resort. We checked into our room and quickly found out Michael Jackson died... No mention of Farrah... She's getting a raw deal.

First thing in the morning I ran over to my good friend Dave Cichan's Fat Tire Bike Shop. He owns a bike shop, but secretly he is also a great moto mechanic, so he gave it a once over and made some tweaks.

Levi Leipheimer's old time trials bike, don't you love bike shop bathrooms?​

 

[sinuhexavier]

I met Steph for lunch before she went for a hike up the West Fork of Oak Creek.

After the lemonade it was time for some throttle twisting... I am super familiar with Sedona from mountain biking, though I had never been on any of the "4WD" trails. I was riding solo, so no action shots...

My G10 was the camera that I used and it was the first time I used it on a "trip" as my only camera. It's my point and shoot and I have never really checked it out. During one of my rests I really strated to look at it and realized I had never used the video camera function, so I got all Les Stroud and started filming...

So lame you can't imbed videos here... So here's a link...

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Did you get the fork seals done? If not, you can do it yourself, it's not too hard really. The only thing is you need a fork seal installation tool. It's basically just a collar. You can buy them, but I just made one on the lathe with some delrin. After that, the job is pretty straight forward, but cleanliness and attention to detail is key.

That looks like a good skidplate.

Did you use a small tripod with the camera?

 

[Scott Brady]

Good work with the G10. How did the gearing change work out on the road and trail?

 

[sinuhexavier]

The gearing is going to be a tricky situation to solve. Going from a 15/50 to a 15/43 made it a champ on the highway, but I lost my second gear on the trail.

I definitely need a new seat Renzaco is in my future.

 

[Cruiser]

I have an 03 625,, and I run on the same singletrack I run my gasgas 250cc 2strokers.. I run with a and b level enduro guys and stay up front on my 250,, on the 625 I'm farther back but I'm not last.. the 625 is 40# lighter than an adventure if not more,, they hover around the 305# mark,, with extra guards/braces skidplates,, I'm sure around 315 or 320.. and most good single track 450s geared up are around 280 if you put them on a real scale.. 2 strokers,, closer to 250# but the 625 if you uncork it has some real HP and if you build it up to a 672-680 they have been dynoed at the mid 60's and better HP wise,, so its a lot of bike..
Have fun!!

 

[sinuhexavier]

Photo:Ho Chung

The KTM served me well on this last trip to Utah, only rode it for 60 miles but what a great 60 it was...

 

[Cruiser]

If you can find one cheap,, look for a 12L tank and seat from a 2001ish dukeII they fit nice without being bulky like the 18 or 28L and give you some extra range. And We need some more pics..

 

[sinuhexavier]

A complete gallery can be seen here.

 

[sinuhexavier]

My Coyote bag from Giant Loop just arrived. The build quality is much nicer than I expected. I knew it would be good, but they really left no detail overlooked. It fits the "War Pony" nicely and holds all of the gear I would need for my light and fast style of travel.

Now I just need to get out there and get some pics up...

 

[T.Low]

Nice bike. Looks like a it could be a perfect size for you and your needs.

I rode today with a LC4 (among others. That thing has sucha sweet exhaust note.

What type of bike tray do you have mounted to the LR? Are you happy with it?

I'm borrowing a tray now and its super flexy.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28362&page=3

 

[jesusgatos]

My Coyote bag from Giant Loop just arrived. The build quality is much nicer than I expected. I knew it would be good, but they really left no detail overlooked. It fits the "War Pony" nicely and holds all of the gear I would need for my light and fast style of travel.

Now I just need to get out there and get some pics up...

Hell yeah! That's my buddy's business and he's done a great job with those bags. I've got a GReat Basin bag on my XR650R that I use to run errands around town, picking up groceries and parts for my motorhome...

 

[sinuhexavier]

What type of bike tray do you have mounted to the LR? Are you happy with it?

I'm borrowing a tray now and its super flexy.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28362&page=3

It's a cheap piece of shizt. It was a total impulse buy, $199 I think, but it works great. There are absolutely no complaints on the highway or paved roads for that matter. My departure angle is only a little better than D2 with it on and with a few extra straps connected to the Rovertym rear bumper it handled some pretty rough terrain.