Adventure bike, detector and ya swag

[Andyndan]

Well best of luck to him and your family . Take care. And may the gold be with you

Well I have been doing some checking out the bikes in OZ and the DR and the Yamaha XT's etc, And theres quite a lot that will fit the Bill, I don't want anything too heavy for in the bush but it has to have the power and speed to maintain normal road speeds fully loaded And there is a lot in the style of the DR or Trans Alp style that are perfect for making the trip,

My other choice was to get a Troopy like the 1996 onwards models and add a few bits to it, and get some small type of camper/Caravan,
Still I got a little while to work out which will work the best,

John

Ok john . On the xt. I have a 2008 xt 660 x. That's the road version and the xt660r is the all round version. I find mine a awesome bike but if you were doing any difficult terrain like slow up and down washed out hills and over larger rocky areas I wouldn't want to do it for to long as they are quite heavy . For that kind of riding I have a ktm530 which is great for really difficult terrain due to being quite light but not the kind of bike that you would take on a long distance road ride .

I have a 2007 landcruiser ute set up with a slide on camper, so for me I would most likely load the ute up and have the bikes on the trailer. Get to a spot and use the truck for a sort of base camp and do day trips out to detecting areas by bike .

With the troopys.. The models to get that have the 4.2lt which started from 1992-1999 are 92,94,98 and 99 some of the others had small problems . There is a model around the year 2000 which is factory turbo that is quite a good one and I would go with that model. Bit more power for those long climbs . I could go on forever haha

 

[Andyndan]

7am here now . I better start doing some work . I'll check back through the day .

 

[Ridge Runner]

7am here now . I better start doing some work . I'll check back through the day .

Thanks for that info, I will check em out further,

It's 20:35 here and Im doing the Night shift so to speak, Take care

John

 

[nuggetino]

Well best of luck to him and your family . Take care. And may the gold be with you

Well I have been doing some checking out the bikes in OZ and the DR and the Yamaha XT's etc, And theres quite a lot that will fit the Bill, I don't want anything too heavy for in the bush but it has to have the power and speed to maintain normal road speeds fully loaded And there is a lot in the style of the DR or Trans Alp style that are perfect for making the trip,

My other choice was to get a Troopy like the 1996 onwards models and add a few bits to it, and get some small type of camper/Caravan,
Still I got a little while to work out which will work the best,

John

If weight is an issue I'd grab a DR. The lightest in it's class of 50/50 dual sports available in OZ. Same quality as the XT but you save a few thousand dollars. A good thing if you want to customize your bike and aftermarket options for the DR are second only to maybe the DRZ. From 35l safari tanks to panniers, suspension kits and crash proof armour. You can even buy an 800cc kit if you want more power from your DR at a later date. The technology is dinosaur age. They're air cooled but do have a special feature relative to other air cooled models and that is a giant oil cooler. It's overbuilt, virtually impossible to overheat, low compression and ultimate simplicity. An analog speedo and odometer is all you get. No temp gauge or tach. A DR650 puts out as much power as a DRZ400! It does have significantly more low end grunt for highway cruising but all in all peaks at around 40hp. That's good news if you want an engine to last a stupidly long time. It's the Toyota Landcruiser of the motorcycle world. Nothing classy about it but everything functional.
No dramas with any 650cc dual sport where power on the road is concerned. All will easily cruise at 110 fully loaded with gear or even 130 if you find yourself up in the territory!

 

[Ridge Runner]

Well best of luck to him and your family . Take care. And may the gold be with you

Well I have been doing some checking out the bikes in OZ and the DR and the Yamaha XT's etc, And theres quite a lot that will fit the Bill, I don't want anything too heavy for in the bush but it has to have the power and speed to maintain normal road speeds fully loaded And there is a lot in the style of the DR or Trans Alp style that are perfect for making the trip,

My other choice was to get a Troopy like the 1996 onwards models and add a few bits to it, and get some small type of camper/Caravan,
Still I got a little while to work out which will work the best,

John

If weight is an issue I'd grab a DR. The lightest in it's class of 50/50 dual sports available in OZ. Same quality as the XT but you save a few thousand dollars. A good thing if you want to customize your bike and aftermarket options for the DR are second only to maybe the DRZ. From 35l safari tanks to panniers, suspension kits and crash proof armour. You can even buy an 800cc kit if you want more power from your DR at a later date. The technology is dinosaur age. They're air cooled but do have a special feature relative to other air cooled models and that is a giant oil cooler. It's overbuilt, virtually impossible to overheat, low compression and ultimate simplicity. An analog speedo and odometer is all you get. No temp gauge or tach. A DR650 puts out as much power as a DRZ400! It does have significantly more low end grunt for highway cruising but all in all peaks at around 40hp. That's good news if you want an engine to last a stupidly long time. It's the Toyota Landcruiser of the motorcycle world. Nothing classy about it but everything functional.
No dramas with any 650cc dual sport where power on the road is concerned. All will easily cruise at 110 fully loaded with gear or even 130 if you find yourself up in the territory!

Well that's a Great Comfort to know, and I like the Cruising speed where it can keep up with the traffic Flow, I must admit that's always been in the back of my mind.

john

 

[Guest]

The DRZ 400' I loved that bike and still open the shed wishing it was there! My favorite trail bike to this day it had stacks of power, fast of the mark, not too heavy for me @ 6'2", excellent suspension which saved my skinny @$$ a few times' but, sold it for one reason only that I couldn't sit on it' dam that was shite on the road sore @$$ and wrists. I looked into a aftermarket seat and anti vibration bars but as I'd already spent a fortune on B&B gear and tyres etc the cost vs trying the DR I decided to sell and yet to buy a DR or second best the good old XR400.
I mentioned to wifey last night about another bike' and didn't talk me out of it so its aproved but I'm going to hold off at least untill I picked up a bargin....

 

[Ridge Runner]

.
I mentioned to wifey last night about another bike' and didn't talk me out of it so its aproved but I'm going to hold off at least untill I picked up a bargin....

Well don't worry unless she slams your dinner on the Table or goes to bed early without saying good night,

john

 

[Andyndan]

Agree nuggitino and zuke

 

[Guest]

No dramas with any 650cc dual sport where power on the road is concerned. All will easily cruise at 110 fully loaded with gear or even 130 if you find yourself up in the territory!

ya right plenty of power, 110k's easy, but man ya hurting it if ya try an do 130 for an extended period, big singles use oil at high revs for long periods !!

 

[nuggetino]

No you're right I wouldn't recommend going 130kph for hours on end on the DR either. You get blown all over the road for starters and it burns through a heap more fuel etc. More a statement of the bikes capability in terms of power when you need it.

 

[gedanate]

I bet he had a sore bum long before he finished!

I found a postie bike tiring enough after a 100 km or so ride, and that was on a sealed road. It is much more tiring on sand and gravel... or in the mud. That's the worst, except falling off doesn't hurt. ;-)

DavidH

 

[Dirtdemon]

Yep a Dr 650 would be my first choice for sure , they aren't nicknamed since the 80's "camels of the desert " for nothing , bout as tough and reliable as you can get.

My second choice would be a 2000's KLR 650 as they have panniers and top box as part of the rig on second hand models ive seen .

An off road sidecar for lugging gear and spare fuel etc has always been a dream of mine to build up if I was gonna get a long distance offroader .

At the moment only got a kwaka roady , but very tempted to lash out on a new DR 650 considering what a bargain price you can get them for new.

Almost bit the bullet and got one few months ago , when I saw 4 of them for sale second hand for only $6500 each ( used as marshall's bikes for Phillip Island GP , 2015's with only 150 odd km's on the clock ) .

I like opting for the smaller rear sprocket and one tooth larger front sprocket to help drop the revs and pick up a bit more top speed , ive got no need for launching off the mark if im running a bike all loaded up for a touring type scenario , with the right amount of teeth off the back sprocket , should be able to get a DR doing the same amount of revs at 130km's then it is in stock configuration at 110km's

Kwaka I have at the moment I dropped 4 off the back and gained one on the front and dropped the revs around 1500 rpm at the same speed with the stock sprocket setup , and I still have 2 smaller rear sprocket options if I wanted to try them.

 

[02dave2210]

.
Hi all went on week end prosecting trip month or so ago great time was had.

 

[towelly]

Yep a Dr 650 would be my first choice for sure , they aren't nicknamed since the 80's "camels of the desert " for nothing , bout as tough and reliable as you can get.

My second choice would be a 2000's KLR 650 as they have panniers and top box as part of the rig on second hand models ive seen .

An off road sidecar for lugging gear and spare fuel etc has always been a dream of mine to build up if I was gonna get a long distance offroader .

At the moment only got a kwaka roady , but very tempted to lash out on a new DR 650 considering what a bargain price you can get them for new.

Almost bit the bullet and got one few months ago , when I saw 4 of them for sale second hand for only $6500 each ( used as marshall's bikes for Phillip Island GP , 2015's with only 150 odd km's on the clock ) .

I like opting for the smaller rear sprocket and one tooth larger front sprocket to help drop the revs and pick up a bit more top speed , ive got no need for launching off the mark if im running a bike all loaded up for a touring type scenario , with the right amount of teeth off the back sprocket , should be able to get a DR doing the same amount of revs at 130km's then it is in stock configuration at 110km's

Kwaka I have at the moment I dropped 4 off the back and gained one on the front and dropped the revs around 1500 rpm at the same speed with the stock sprocket setup , and I still have 2 smaller rear sprocket options if I wanted to try them.

Hi Guys.

On the KLR 650 the speedo is on the front hub so changing sprocket ratios doesn't affect the speedo reading.... Is it the same setup on the DR650?

Cheers

 

[Troopy]

Great post I'm not an adventure rider used to ride dirt when I was young, I have had Super Motard for the last few years and have been thinking about doing some adventure stuff and posts like this get me enthused.

 

[mxt sniper]

I bring this CT110 Along on my desert nugget hunting trips, leave the 4x4 parked in camp and use the bike to get around to detecting sites, it works out great, this is the American version CT110 with the hi/lo transmission, in low range it will climb about anything if you can hang on. Looking forward to using the Honda in August at Rye Patch in Nevada.