Minimalist Touring Thread (250cc and under)

Byron - that's a nice area out there on Lake Superior. Beautiful scenery. At some point I'll take a photo of the bike out in front of the Hoito for you!

Mike

Not sure if 'minimalist' refers to the bike or gear, but here's my wr250r packed up for her first road trip. 10 days & 1,800m of riding in/to death valley. Now I just need to figure out a way to bring less stuff, cause riding with less is definitely more fun

Mine just came today. I thought it looked a little large, but then discovered that my DS helmet won't fit in there. The supplied bolts were too long, and hit on my fender, so rather than cut them, I got shorter ones. I needed to take the rack right off also, but it didn't take long. Looks like it will come in handy, though I may not have it mounted all the time. The price was right!

What's involved in lowering a motorcycle? I have an old dr250 that I started turning into a dual sport and gave up and bought a tu250. I thought about selling the dr but if I can lower it a couple inches my gf could maybe ride it to learn how to ride. My mind changes every 10 seconds on what I want to do. Thought about using it as a down payment on a dr650 of that terra 650 thanks to all who mentioned it. But I don't really know if I need that big of a bike. But sometimes it would be nice.

The price was so good, I bought another spare trunk, myself. The trunk arrived this morning, but I haven't had a chance to unpack it. My travel trunk spends most of its time unmounted to my motorcycles. However, I still use the trunk a lot for buying groceries and running errands around town.

Spud

Didn't need it but for $40 delivered, I couldn't resist so now I have a spare.

Problem with this strategy is that I may need another bike to use with the spare trunk.

KK

Yes, it would be better if the mounting plate were flat with nothing sticking up, but I can live with it. I carry one each of these in my tank bag for securing things to the bike. The shear length of the AS one makes it extremely useful. you just need to tie the excess to something, or you'll have a long tail flipping behind you. Use two for heavier stuff. I've gotten one of those 16 packs of paper towels home with one. Not sure why people were looking and pointing for other people to look The 2nd one will secure a 12 pack of frosty ones nicely.

http://www.aerostich.com/bags/more-...d-accessories/quick-release-cargo-straps.html

http://www.amazon.com/Chase-Harper-...852&sr=8-1&keywords=Chase+Harper+bungee+buddy

Could those JC Witney trunks be mounted as side packs? If so, you could carry a bunch of stuff for $120.

Make mounts. If they are designed to go onto a mount, the mount gets mounted wherever YOU want it.

Of course, then you have to figure out the mounts...but that's easier than designing and building your own bags.

If you're in or near VT, I can fab up whatever you need. Many places can.

Thanks I ordered mine . Im building my own rear rack , I cut them metal 2 months ago or more but just havnt gotten around to pulling out the welder and welding it together . Ill wait for the box now so I can make sure it it will fit before welding it up because I was planing on putting a rear loop/handle on it .
its been sitting on my basement floor just like this for a long while. I may be a procrastinator .


From the bottom when I was mocking it up , in the top pic you can see to holes for the wires and signal light bolts .


Cant wait to put it on so I will have a rack and get rid of the lolipop turn signals .

Search ADVRider and you will discover some riders who mounted three of these travel trunks. They mounted one trunk on the luggage rack, and two trunks as saddlebags. I have also read reports these trunks will fit Givi mounting plates.

Spud

I've never done it, so don't know the immediate consequences, but plenty have, so it will work.

Generally, you purchase lowering links for the rear shock assembly and then slide the front forks up within their mounts. Both are really easy to install/do.

To install the links, put the bike on a stand with the rear wheel off the ground. Remove the bolts holding the stock links, and install the new ones.

To slide the forks up, loosen the front fork bolts that "pinch" everything in place, and move them up the same distance that the rear links lower the bike.

hi guys, need a little bit help here :
i'm Indonesian, and im currently using a Bajaj Pulsar 220. with 21 HP and 19 NM this thing run quite fast while easy on my wallet
18l tank with 30-40 km/l make it easy for go 500-700km in one fillup, and cruising at 90-100 km/h is easy for this bike ( it could go easily until 120km/h, but from there until top speed at 144 is long way up)
its cheap ( with tax only US$1950 in here, new)
and my favourite, for a small displacement thumper, the vibration is really small ( the indian somehow use a balancer shaft on this thing, really supress the vibration)

this is my bike :




but im seeking for something new. as you can see, this thing is actually a full-street bike ( its even came with a sport clip-on handlebar - i change it to trail handlebar from yamaha YZ85 )

it could handle some gravel, some heavy clay mud ( ok not some.. ) but still, its a street bike. Its heavy for its size ( curb weight about 170 Kg if i didnt mistaken). and one biggest weakness, its subframe is not that strong ( a combination of loaded givi e45 with wingrack 2 and e-21 in several of my friends has left theirs with cracked subframe)

Im looking for these :
- low vibration ( to compare, maybe around ninja 250-650 vibration maybe )
- just enough power to do cruising speed at 120 km/h and could easily get to 140 km/h for overtaking ( i didnt asked much didnt i?)
- have around 500 km range in one fillup ( so either it sips fuel or it gulp fuel but got big tanks. aftermarket tanks is fine as long as got reasonable price. One example for unreasonable price is the front auxiliarry tanks for F800gs ( hell no im spending US$ 2000 on a fuel tank)
- my trip just around 2000-3000 km in single trip, so didnt that long. i guess every bike will have that durability
- prefer lighter bike. Reason : Plotholes. Lots of it. either 17-17 or 19-17 rim, but i will take dual sport tyres ( no knobbies-mainly gravel and asphalt, with just a little mud play. i could even consider battlax )
- have at least power output for a pair of 55 watt HID ( that means about 130-150 watt) and some accecories. 200 watt is a lot for me, but i need at least 150 watt.
- i'm considering new or not to old one ( 2009+ maybe? )
- water cooled thumper or twin.
- a little bit easy on maintenance ( so dont give me those RFS from KTM )

oh and i live in Indonesia, the tax here is quite crazy, so i'll prefer some cheaper bikes. maybe under US$ 10000 new? ( XT660z tenere is a NO GO - too expensive )

the bike on my list right now :
-Versys 650 ( this one only need dakar fairing)
-Ninja 250 Fi ( yes, it will got lots of modification. at least reinforced subframe, new front-end, and new dakar fairing)



whatever i got, i'll do same mod to them : dakar fairing ( i just love it)

thanks for the suggestion

edit:
for comparison in prices, xt660z tenere tagged at US$ 22.000 in here. Versys at US$10.000, ninja 250 FI at US$ 5500.

My Tusk lift came today, and it didn't take long to assemble. At the lift's lowest setting, it won't fit under my bike, so I just roll the front tire up on a piece of wood, or whatever, then slide it under.

http://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/p.../Tusk-Adjustable-Lift-Stand?0&_=1365185158706

I don't know if Suzuki imports the tu250 there there are a couple other names used in other countries such as grasshopper 250 or something like that I can't remember off hand. Anyways I cruse around on mine 75 mph all the time so 100 km/h (65)mph would be no problem the tank is not quite as big 3.2 gal (3.73l per gal) if you get 30km/l roughly 69 mpg I can get that if I drove 60 65 mph. I have had it on dirt/ gravel roads with the stock street tires and it does fine I wouldn't recommend overly bumpy roads or jumping it from experience the shocks bottom out really easy. Only 3. Something inches of travel.

Looks like a bicycle water bottle mount on your left bar, nice! I have a CRF250L that puts out 337 watts, but only has a 7.76 liter tank, though an aftermarket soon to be on the market will be 11.5 liter. Not sure of pricing over there on this type bike. 29.7 kilometers/liter gas consumption. Good luck!

Kouba makes links to lower your rear suspension. For the front, just slide the fork legs up in the clamps. Swapping the links is pretty easy. On the front, you may need to do something with a spacer to limit travel. Look at the instructions for your bike.
http://www.koubalink.com/

Because the longer links give the rear swing arm more leverage on the spring, you will have to increase preload, or possibly install a stiffer spring (Kouba can sell you one) depending on your weight. A shorter side stand is also in order. There are at least 3 different lengths of side stand available from Suzuki. The stock DR650 stand is about right for a lowered DR350, and is probably the one you want for your 250.

Thanks for the lowering input! I have seen the front done before but not the rear sounds easy enough. I put a lift on my jeep but obviously bikes are easier I just didn't know it was that easy.

If you are interested, you might enjoy reading my thread where I detailed the steps I followed while installing the Performance Design lowering link on my Honda XR650L.

http://www.thumpertalk.com/topic/839143-how-to-performance-design-lowering-link/

Spud

will CRF do 140 km/h? and how about the subframe? will it hold aluminium panniers? if yes, im considering buying it off Thailand ( will be a CBU, but i recon it will be better than the other choices..versys is the top of the list right now but it got lots of power that i didnt need in here, not to mention its real heavy )

oh that bottle holder i dont know why but in here, lots of our rider use it. It was US$ 3 ( including bolt etc.. ), mounted on mounting bolt for left rear view mirror. But its not for some heavy stuff ( like alumunium bottle, etc) it will hold cans, plastic bottle, and other lighter bottle.

oh and im interested about that gas tank , how much it supposed to be cost when its ready? 300km might be a little low but will do for me ( the longest strecth in southern Java is 112 KM without any fuel station, but finding fuel station with 92-95 octane is a little bit hard. Finding one with EDC for credit cards is a lot harder though )


thank you for your response