marty

it's already got a TM33, although the PO was trying to use the oem linkage and cable for it. I bought the keintech throttle and cable, now the throttle actually opens all the way. one thing i have noticed, the bike will only start if i either give it some throttle or adjust the idle screw to open the throttle a bit, which then needs to be adjusted back down once the bike has warmed up. the choke is working fine. i have the mixture screw at 2 turns out. i do not know the needle setting or what size main jet is in there.

about a year ago i persuaded the boss to let me buy a shiny new MTS1200. the only catch was that i had to clear out my stable, which meant selling my wr250x/r. fast forward a few months to march, and i was itching pretty bad to get a dual sport back in the garage. i managed to find a cheapish, not really running dr350 and made enough of a fuss about it to be "allowed" a birthday present. the POS soon after I bought it: after a few months of tracking down oil leaks, electrical gremlins, carb linkage issues, and replacing the rusty tank i was finally able to get some real riding in this past weekend. my wife has some thesis work out by the salton sea, so we loaded the bike up and headed east. while she was hiking around and playing with rocks, i got to ride around. i was expecting to not really like this thing, but in all honesty i think its more fun than the WR was. it has some slight jetting issues that i am procrastinating with (PO included a new TM33 in the deal), and the wheel bearings probably need to be replaced. but for a total investment of well under 2 grand, i think i've got something that should last for a few years and is putting a smile on my face.

it's an exerpt from this "riding movie" by icon. i thought it was entertaining!

i suppose so. i've only been riding for ~8 years but have had, it's sad that i have to think about this, 10 bikes counting the multistrada. the wife has been riding for about 6 years and has only had 2. my suspicion is that once my wr250 is gone, she is going to start wanting to swap her SV for something with some wind protection. i've been trying to push her in the GT1000 with a windshield direction, but she is leaning more bonnie or a bmw of some sort. we're basically clearing out the stable, including selling off her car so that in the end we'll only have 2 bikes and my big van.

...and that lasted for about 6 weeks. I kept drooling over multistradas, and the wife finally gave the go-ahead to get one. She is making me get rid of all my bikes in order to have the multi, but holy ---- is the bike worth it!

i've got a wr250x and love it to death. it's only left me stranded twice - once when i was using heated gear in the dead of an IL winter for a short commute. After 2 days it killed the battery due to not getting charged enough while riding. the second time was when i slammed in to a rock and broke the water pump cover. you'll notice both instances were my own fault. i've put 18/21" wheels on it for offroad work. with the street wheels it is a fantastic city bike and incredible in tight twisties. afaik, the suspension is the same on the wr-r, just with different anodizing on the forks and different base damper settings. the fork is compression/rebound adjustable, not sure what adjustments the shock has as i've never messed with it. for me the deciding factor over the drz was having fuel injection.

My normal street bike is a Monster 1100, but with all the interstates around here and the liklihood of me soon having a 30-45 minute commute, I've decided that it's just not going to suit my needs. Plus carrying anything on it is a pain in the arse. So, over the weekend I test rode a KTM 990 SM-T. While I really liked it, there were some niggles that kind of bothered me... it felt a lot slower than my monster, I don't know if the motor was just tight or what. The motor was also similarly useless below about 3000rpm, which has been a major bother for me with the monster. It's nothing you can't ride around, but not being able to use the bottom third of an engines rev range just kind of irks me. The handling was great and the suspension was fantastic, plus with the included side bags and the ability to carry a top box I was sold. On a whim I decided to go check out some other bikes tonight. I test rode a hyperstrada, and it just wasn't really what I was wanting. The motor was too soft and it still has that feeling of sitting on top of the front wheel like the old hypermotard. The multistrada is just too much money and too much bike. The dealer had taken in a 2011 tiger 800xc on trade and they suggested I give it a ride. Within about a quarter of a mile my mind was made up, so I plunked down a deposit and should be picking it up later this week. I would have it now but they don't even have the title yet, so once that gets straightened out I should have it in my garage. This is the only picture I have of it. It already has a pipe (which sounds like pure sex) and crash bars, I will probably add heated grips and a top box for carrying groceries or whatever.

battle mountain, a few hours east of fallon. can't wait to get some dirt riding in, although the asphalt around here is great too!

Northern Nevada. Desolate but beautiful.

Another new guy, found this place while searching around for off-roadey type places to ride down here. Currently ride a WR250X with 18/21s (should have just bought a wrr) and a monster 1100. Currently drooling over a multistrada 1200 or 990adv. pictures: where i was before coming here. lots of dirt riding and old mines to experience. the monster at deals gap, from when i lived in the midwest.