r/Dualsport

Hello there, fellow Gravel Gobblers and Wheeled Wizards!

I would like to show off some pictures of my ol’ gal. I have been riding and modifying this marvelous machine for the better part of six years now. Throughout those years, I’ve taken her on numerous big and small adventures across central and northern Europe, where she has always been by my side, reliably rumbling over stick and stone - whilst calling her my home for weeks and months, both on and off the road.

As the years went by, she - as one would not expect from a machine solely made of metal, rubber, and (very little) rust - evolved into a neat little machine for weekend exploration or long-distance, butt-scrambling adventures.

A list of things that I changed and/or added:

• (Just recently) Yamaha 426F USD fork conversion (changing the original duplex drum brake to a DR-Z400 disc brake)
• Self-made navigation tower (keeping the original instruments while making navigation much mor plesant.
• Auxiliary lights (now you can see what you’re about to crash into… even at night!)
• Self-made crash bars / front pannier rack
• Self-made rear pannier rack
• Oil cooler (keeping those 2 liters of oil from burning up at temperatures only seen inside Tokamak fusion reactors)
• Handguards (for guarding your hands and levers)
• Some old British military panniers, front and rear (those rear panniers are amazing :0)
• ~20-liter Paris-Dakar tank and seat (The Dakar-tank really needs fresh Paint tho.)
• Some fancy-schmanzy Enduristan fender bags
• Wider footpegs (because: wide = better)
• Tires: Heidenau K60 Scout (I had the Continental TKC80 for a while, but they wore out fast and were as slippery as a freshly buttered penguin on wet asphalt.)

tl;dr: I ride and modify a 1983 Honda because therapy is expensive and I can’t make financially smart decisions. :0

I posted last week about getting my girlfriend her second bike (Yamaha XT225). I also posted a video us riding todether on trail, and her first crash on this bike. Everyone was concerned about her safety and lack of gear. Well here's an update... Now she has better gear than me haha. I also bought her some Dunlop 605s. It's been raining a lot in northern Colorado so we haven't been able to hit the trails this past weekend but we're excited to get back out there. New suit goofin.

Hello all,

As some may remember I am riding around Europe for the last year on a KTM 500 EXC–F and I just wanted to mention that this is my first switch out of a rear tire. I noticed I skidded a little bit in an emergency stop and decided it was time, but there was still tread on this thing.

MotoZ Tractionator Adventure in 140/80B-18 under a KTM 500 EXC-F doing 75% road and 25% Trans Euro Train lasted an insane 15,500 miles or 25,000km. A few reasons I think it did:

* I ran it at 36psi (2.5bar) on road
* a lot of this year was spent in mild and wet climates
* a 500 EXC-F weighs about 120kg, I weigh about 70kg, gear is probably 20kg.

Flawless performance until the last. Worked great in rain, mud, dirt, pavement (though I’m not dragging a knee). The sidewalks were so thick the thing was practically a run-flat.

Still had tread as you can see. No, MotoZ did not give me any money to say this.

Swapped out for a really short lived classic the Continental TKC 80 because I only need it to last 3000 miles or 5000kms before I go home and rest.

Hey everyone,
My Yamaha XT350 has an odd issue at idle and I’m running out of ideas.

Symptoms:
- rhythmic “plop” / pop every few seconds at idle
sometimes the pop is strong enough to stall the engine
- runs better at higher RPM
- fresh 98 fuel
- new spark plug
- new air filter
- carb cleaned
- intake manifolds replaced

I attached a video with the sound.
Any XT350 or dual sport carb experts here? Thanks!

I took my DRZ4S to Windrock Park in Oliver Springs Tn. Second time. Great place. Everyone is very friendly and the trails are pretty damn good.

First of time up to Big Bear with the XR650L. She did great messing around on 2N10 and a few other trails.

I've just finished draining the oil, and I wanted to put the bolts back and when I've used the torque wrench to its specific torque that was in the manual and it cracked before it got there. Can this be fixed? And what did I do wrong?

First, thanks to everyone that replied to my original post. The info, pictures, suggestions helped a lot.

For now I like this idea/placement. Removed OEM blinkers, mounted in OEM location. Wired Amber ring to be used as blinkers. (I may wire them to be used as running lights also.) I ordered a 3 position switch since these lights have spot and flood lights separate. Ideally that should be great for on road (Spot) off road (flood). I have to wait until tonight to fully adjust before I can reassemble everything. Curious to know opinions.

I am on the fence when it comes to the look of a windshield on a dual sport. I ordered this on Amazon for around $80 to test out. (RevZilla one is over $200) Immediately noticed the bike felt quicker. It definitely helps cut the wind. Even at 5'8 and 165lb, I am not a huge wall, but enough to feel the turbulence from passing cars. After installing, bike had no issues getting up past 70mph, I was not a bobblehead as much. Longevity and quality of windshield is left to be tested. For anyone who is thinking about it, for the price I recommend at least trying it. After seeing other redditors post they have been using the same Amazon part, it was good enough quality testing to try it myself. Added a $20 tachometer also. I don't know why Kawasaki didn't make it part of the cluster from the factory.