Overland Journey

So after spending a couple of days riding it around, I built confidence in the bikes road worthiness. Reinstalling the factory seat made it a much more comfortable ride. I also replaced the cafe style handlebars with the factory set that was given to me by previous owner.

The street tires will have to do for now. I took the bike down several gravel roads and it did fine. I dont want to get into any serious trails until I build a skid plat anyway, so the street tires will work a bit longer.

To my surprise the front fork seals seam to be holding. The ride was terribly soft at first. I put about 10lbs of air in them and it smoothed right out.

I cleaned the chain and gave it a dose of Lithium Grease. Runs really smooth now.

The rear frame that was hacked off is still an issue. I received the original rear light assembly (minus the tail light which was broken) from the previous owner as well, but with no frame to attach it to it was difficult to mount. Staying with the theme, I just bolted the front mounts of the assembly and used bailing wire on the rear part. Not sure how long that will hold. Hopefully long enough to figure out what I am going to do. The good thing is that it opens up options for some custom rear frame work to accommodate luggage. No passengers with the frame hacked for now!

Overall the bike is great and I am confident its ready for the first big trip. Denver to Salt Lake City, then up to Teton National Park and back to Denver. For luggage I will be going light and using a backpack.

A few more items to mod on the bike and Ill be hitting the road.

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I just wanted to do a quick assessment of the Red Baron. Ive ridden it around for a couple of days and thought Id report.

It runs great, shifts smoothly. Top highway speed is about 75MPH, hard to tell as the speedo needle bounces a bit. Brakes good, but front rotor might need replaced. Its got good low end torque. For a 500CC it moves me around fairly decent. So it was obvious that there are some changes needed.  Anyway, so I made a quick list of items. Remember that no mod can cost more than $100-kinda running with the purchase price theme.

Mods/Repairs needed:

• Replace Seat
• Tighten Chain
• Replace Handlebars
• Get taillights working
• Skid Plate–has nothing and will need for sure!;-)
• Upgrade to a dual sport tire
• New Gauge light bulb
• Clutch Lever (cracked)
• Luggage
• Install the new Progressive Springs and Fork Seals

Remember we are keeping it super simple (KISS). I dont want fancy luggage or high end GPS systems. This is a serious “raw and rugged” Adventure bike.

Only 2 rules to the build:

• KISS
• No mod can cost more than $100

Tally so far:

• Red Baron: $100
• Battery $45
• New Oil, 3 quarts. I also had laying around $9
• Fixed Rear Brake with $1 worth a brake fluid I already had
• Bought Rear Brake Light Assembly as it was missing, $20

Grand total thus far: $175

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The Overland Journey $100 Adventure Bike all started one afternoon while having lunch with a couple of buddies. High up in the Rocky Mountains sitting at an outdoor diner we were discussing motorcycles. We could see our bikes there in the parking lot, a BMW GS Adventure 1200, a KTM 990 Adventure, and my BMW 650 Dakar. We were discussing the positives and negatives of the bikes when a buddy out of the blue made a comment that would change my thinking on how I look at my overland transportation. He said it doesn’t matter what you ride, the wind feels the same.

This really hit home to me. I thought about that comment for a couple of weeks and eventually decided to sell the Dakar. I have a twisted passion to do more with less. I guess its part of the “self reliance” thing that I’m into. I started with the obvious spot, Craigslist. I was surprised that I couldn’t find the deal I was looking for. After a couple of days of searching I went over to Adventure Rider and started looking around. First day on their and I found what I was looking for. There was a post in the Colorado forums that said something like ” buddy has a old Honda FT500 he needs to sell. $100 and its yours. PM for contact info”.

What the heck is a FT500?

My first thought was what the heck is a FT 500? FT stands for flat track. And you can find more info on this unique bike here. As I researched more on the bike I realized that this could in fact be a great foundation for a cheap adventure bike. It has the XR500 air cooled 4 stroke single cylinder thumper motor, but one cool feature is that it comes with electric start. Has a 5 speed transmission, sprocket and chain setup, disks front and rear, and mag wheels.

The Purchase!

So my research found that the bike would most certainly work. The guy on the phone said the bike hadn’t ran in a couple of years and had been sitting outside. Then came the bad news!!! He said it made a “bobber” out of it and hacked off the back part of the frame. He didn’t have the pieces but said he still had the original seat. He was about a 45 min drive, so I decided to “take my wife to lunch” and swing by their afterward. When I got there I must say I was really surprised at the bikes condition. The paint was faded, but it was in decent shape. The seat was good to go, tires had good tread, and chain/sprocket looked decent. Someone already converted the ugly square headlight to round. The owner said that the bike hadn’t ran in years and needed a bit of work. I paid him $100 and loaded it up. He then came out with the title, 4 extra oil filters, a new set of progressive springs, for seals, and some other items. SWEET!

Getting it Started.

I couldnt wait. I pulled in and unloaded the bike. Took it around to the back shop and started looking it over. It sure looked complete and very clean. The gas smelt old and the oil looked pretty old as well. I poured about a gallon of fresh gas in and put the charger on the battery. I cranked on it for about 45 seconds and it fired up! Water came flying out of the tailpipe and it sputtered a bit, then ran just fine. The idle was smooth, throttle response was good. I turned it off and tore into it. I drained the oil gave it a good look over. The back brakes didnt work and I noticed the resevoir was empty. I filled it up with Dot 3 and bled the brakes. No leaks and was good to go. I kept thinking about all the things I wanted to do to it. I had to keep reminding myself, budget build! KISS! With everything working I took it out for a ride around the block. Everything worked, except the blinkers-no back blinkers on the bobbed seat setup. That thin bobbed seat cushion had to go, looked cool, but hard to out miles on it.

More to come on Overland Journey’s $100 Adventure Bike!

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Source: http://www.motociclismo.it/ecco-la-nuova-aprilia-tuareg

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These BMW 1200GS’s are beasts! If you want to take off cross the US backroads, this thing will get you there in comfort and style. Not really designed for really technical stuff, they are a dream for long range adventure travel.

“BMW have released details on new versions of their iconic dual sport siblings, the R1200GS and R1200GS Adventure, as well as their best-selling tourer, the R1200RT.

All three machines feature a redesigned version of the company’s 1,170cc, 4-valve, DOHC boxer engine, claiming a maximum power ouput of 81kW (110hp) at 7,750rpm (up 5% for GS and Adventure) and an increase in torque from 115Nm to 120Nm (88 lb-ft) at 6,000rpm. Maximum engine speed has been increased by 500rpm to 8,500rpm claims BMW. The new motor offers significantly improved torque, traction and acceleration, as well as a more spontaneous and direct throttle response, they say.”

MORE INFO HERE!

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