Putty 18th Feb 2012

[WayneMember]

MickP got a few riders together for a ride around what seems to be a day ride test track for newly purchased or modified adventure bikes. And a good one it is too with erosion humps, rocky sections, tar, slippery wet dirt and mud, creek crossing and a few saplings to pop over. Perfect for MickP, having modified his DR650. So we rode out to Putty and the Commission Track loop. The meet was at Morisset Caltex so a short stint on the freeway for me to save time.

One for the BMW inclined

Arrived with plenty of time

Breakfast of champions

Fueled, had a chat, admired Deano’s bike and took off

Tryhard, Deano and MickP

Tryhard at the gate along Watagan Creek Rd

Deano

MickP

Beautifull sunny day and very little dust

Finchleys lookout

MickP’s DR650 front end

A bit further on the Wallaby Wisperer struck again with a direct hit on my DR. The poor bugger was a goner. With bike and rider ok we moved on.

MickP was riding so slow a spider was able to make a web on his handlebars

Howes Valley Tr creek crossing

We stopped at Dave Thurstons old half way house for a drink

Then carried on through Putty.

Deano and MickP at Three Ways

MickP on the DR/KTM

A break under the shade

The track to the left has a sign Road Closed. Lucky we were going left

Raspberry Junction locked gate

Tryhard at a turn

MickP back on the Commission Track

This is where I swapped bikes with MickP. WooooHooo…a DR650 with suspension and brakes. I got as much air time on Micks DR as I would on my KTM450…so not much…. but it handled everything I threw at it with ease. Nice setup there Mick.

I lost interest in the ride after I had to give Mick’s bike back so no more photos from me. Lunch was at the half way house and Dave cooks up a mean ‘with the lot’ on his giraffe wood burning BBQ. If you don’t know what I’m talking about go and have a look or find his web site. He’s there Friday to Sunday with food and drinks.

It was getting on for time to do the Bulga Tr so we checked out the Old Convict Trail knowing it is locked gate at Paynes Crossing end or was the last time I looked. We went as far as the Link Track turn off and found the locked gate. We backtracked to Laguna for a drink and a bit of fuel. With Saturday night looming and things to do, we split up and headed for home.

The End

[Nick JacksonMember]

Looks like you had a great day Lotsa !!

How are you liking the new DR Mick ? What mods have you done to it so far ?

Nick

[Dwayne OMember]

Nice project DR there Mick

That ride to 3 Ways is becoming more popular each week :laugh:
Will be back out there myself real soon ,,,, (riding with Deano tomorrow actually, but not that far out)

Thanx for the report

[GregMember]

Great report and ride Lotsa thanks Whats with the DR Mick? Whats happend to the 690? I thought it was the go? Looks good with the different forks, did you do that or did you buy it like that?

Thanks again Lotsa

TB

[Dean WeikMember]

Well i had been keen to take the 690 for a good run since i have had the mapping changed to fix the stalling and fitted the rally raid front tanks. Mickp posted a local ride so i decided to tag along.

It all started well with a early morning run down the F3 to meet the boy’s at Morriset. A quick refuel then we headed into the Watagan’s with Mickp leading the way. Not long after that Lotsa and Tryhard took over in the front and i pretty soon realized i was going to be holding these guy’s up for the rest of the day. A couple of stops at the halfway house for a drink and feed and then we made our way back home. We said our goodbye’s with Lotsa and Tryhard at Laguna while Mickp and myself headed back home via the Watagan’s to Cooranbong. I rolled in the driveway at 7:00pm and was in bed at 10 to 8. Never been so tied and sore in my life.

Definately happy with the mapping now with no more stalling and the rally raid tanks worked really good with no issues. The front screen was great at higher speeds on the freeway also. Just got to sort out the suspension now and get a bit of comfort back.

Thanks for a good ride guy’s and here’s a couple of pics i took.

[Dwayne OMember]

Sore & sorry :laugh:
I can say that I did warn ya !!!

Those guys are great to ride with and know some good routes around these parts ,,,
Good report , I enjoy a laugh at someone else`s expense

[GregMember]

EAGLE`02 wrote:

I enjoy a laugh at someone else`s expense

But that’s You in the mirror Eags :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

TB

[Dwayne OMember]

Yes, And I don`t care at all :laugh:

[Mick PilgrimMember]

Yes a nice RR Wayne – he’s let the cat outa the bag now :whistle:

It was a good days ride and I dont know if Dean was the most buggered. I haven’t had a ride since last November so I was paying the penalty as well. At least I made it till 10pm before I fell asleep, I felt like I was about 80yo when I crawled out of the lounge and into bed. :S

Some photos I took

Tryhard crossing the creek near the Putty Rd

Deano

Lotsa

Lotsa – the Wallaby Whisperer

Halfway House for lunch

Dont worry about slowing us down Deano, you were travelling pretty well. I let the others take off these days and dont mind cruisin.

Thanks for the ride guys.

News on the DR650 soon

Mickp

[Dwayne OMember]

C`Mon Mick,
As you said, Cats already out of the bag :laugh:
More news on the Hybrid Katzuke 😆

I wanna see the 690 donk strapped in there somehow :whistle:

[Mick PilgrimMember]

Trailboss wrote:

Great report and ride Lotsa thanks Whats with the DR Mick? Whats happend to the 690? I thought it was the go? Looks good with the different forks, did you do that or did you buy it like that?

TB

The DR project started last year after reading many ADV threads and particularly Bergdonks story of his DR projects. The garage was looking a bit empty after selling the 800GS so I needed something to give me some shed time as the 690 was pretty well set up.

I bought a pair of 04 KTM 640 motard forks complete with triple grips, bars, 4 piston caliper, master cylinder, braided line and front guard. These have about 15mm more travel than the DR forks so should not affect the bikes geometry too much. :silly:

Next was finding a bike to put them on. So at the end of Nov. I bought a 2000 model DR650 which was used as a road bike basically. I took my time and fiddled and wanted to keep the DR so I could remove the KTM gear and go back to full DR with no mods if I didn’t like the setup and that’s what I ended up achieving.

I sleeved the KTM triples to use the DR steering head bearings and slipped the forks in. I could not use the big 4 piston caliper from the motard as it hit the spokes, so I opted for a Brembo caliper from the EXC/SX bikes.

I fitted a 320mm oversize disc to an 08 SX wheel and made an adaptor bracket to fit the caliper to the forks /disc with the braided KTM brake line and the standard DR master cylinder to make it all work. I’d say the set up is on par with the 690 brakes, so they are very good.

No mods have been done to the motard forks, just put them straight in. I took the bike for a short 180km run thru the Wattos a couple of weeks back and was trying to work out if I could put the forks on my 690. They felt that good. Buttt the rear was lacking badly. I had spoke to the guys at Teknik a couple of months ago and they reckoned they would get the rear working using the DR shock. So out came the shock and off to Tekniks to do their magic.
Fitted the shock back up on Friday and set the static sag per Nicks instruction and bingo, its all great.

Saturdays ride was the test ride as Wayne said and I’m happy with the way the bike handles, as Wayne said he did not want to give it back and I couldn’t catch him on the blue beast. I nearly shit myself at the first erosion hump I hit, he didn’t need the Bluetooth to hear me yell in fear as I had no brakes and it pig rooted about three times on landing before it settled down (I think he may do some suspension mods now – another story). Well it has got some brakes but you just about have to bend the lever to get them to work and drag your toes for back brakes. I told Joe I now know why Wayne doesn’t slow down for obstacles. :laugh: :laugh:
I rang Nick at Tekniks today and thanked him for the great job they had done. :cheer:

All during the day I kept backing off the compression clickers front and back trying to get the suspension to bottom out but I wasn’t game to hit anything that hard. The only thing to bottom out was my legs and arse collapsing on the seat on a couple of big landings and they bike behaved beautifully ( to me anyway). :woohoo:

Seeing the bike has turned out so well I’ll keep doing a few mods to personalize it for the shorter rides and keep the km’s down on the Kato. My son Nick said he would buy the DR off me when I’ve got it all set up- he’s been told it will be a long way down the track unless I read a few more stories on ADV rider and get inspired again 😆

Mickp

PS Eagle

Its a Kazuki :laugh: :laugh:

[Dwayne OMember]

KAZUKI :laugh: Nice work there Mick

You kept it a good secret for a while ,,,
Projects like that are great, keep us up to speed with it now please

Cheers

[Nick JacksonMember]

Looks like you’ve got the bike well and truly sorted Mick and done a great job of it too but do you think Lotsa will do any work on his suspension ??? His DR has been sagging on every ride I’ve been on and he still flys along

Nick

[GregMember]

mickp wrote:

Looks the goods Mick well done. Hey only thing can the brake hose be routed inside the fork leg like most bikes have. I would be afraid it will get snagged on the outside where it is routed.

Well done on the whole thing

TB

[WayneMember]

Nickj wrote:

do you think Lotsa will do any work on his suspension ??? His DR has been sagging on every ride I’ve been on and he still flys along

Nick

Nick, I’ve got some replacement forks sitting in the shed and the shock will got to Teknic. Something will happen….one day.

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