Well folks, the annual bash is here again. We start up tomorrow (Thursday) morning with set-up, registrations and check-in starts at 1:00 PM. Again we have a big line-up of presenters but this year we also have workshops and ride-outs. Myself, I will be doing workshops on electrical basics, bearings and DIY modifications, using the DR800 as my prop and demonstration tool. Hopefully I will be able to post photos up as the event progress. Last time I checked we had about 105 on-line pre-registrations, so the numbers are looking good. The venue is "The Outlook" a Queensland Government owned site with camping and dorm-type accommodation as well. Most importantly it has fully set-up conference and options for wet weather. So fingers crossed for an excellent three days of motorcycle travel mayhem.
DIY Stuff: Puncture repair and rear wheel bearings
Today I had a few small jobs to do including fixing a flat tyre. As this involves taking the wheel off, I thought I would try doing the rear wheel bearings and also try doing both jobs using as much as possible the tools and techniques that I would be using if on a trip. A bit of practice should I ever need to do these jobs, or ones like them away from home.
First some preparation. I ordered the replacement bearings and seals from Brisbane Motorcycles at Caboolture. I had tried to order some aftermarket bearings but these were not that easy to source, so OEM it was. I was pretty pleased how that turned out because from what I have read on various forums, the genuine Suzuki bearings are fairly good. To work out which bearings, and a seal, to order, I used the parts breakdown from CMSNL.COM.First step after unpacking was to see if they bearings come with any grease, which they do. However, it really is enough grease to protect the steel whilst in storage and transit and it is wise to pack the bearings with an appropriate waterprrof grease.
So packed them nice and full with Castrol Boating Grease, which I suspect is the same as Belray Motorcycle Waterproof Grease. Looks and feels the same and the information from Castrol is that it is suitable for axles and wheel bearings exposed to water. Taking time to push the grease in and pack as much as possible should help the bearings last. After packing the grease it was back into the packaging and into the freezer. If left long enough this shrinks the races enough to make them small enough to drop in. In this case, after two hours in the freezer, they did not just drop in but neither did they require ay significant force. The front wheel bearings will be in the freezer for several weeks.
These next few pictures show my attempt to do the repair without the bike lift or a centre stand, just like being on the trail. Although instead of a pink plastic box, I may require a rock, a log or try using the cut down walking stick prop stand. Anyhow, the balancing on the side stand trick does work.
In this photo I'm trying to show the important of keeping your axle, washers, spacers and nut together and clean. A friend of mine recently allowed a bunch of dirt on one of the spacers and it ground away.
Here you can see the screw that puncture the tyre and tube. Its about an inch, 2.5 centimetres long.
Both jobs went well and a couple of pertinent points:
1. The "Slime" brand pump was sufficient to pump up the tyre. The exact model pump is now longer available but the equivalent of today's product line-up is the Slime Tyre Inflator. The Slime brand is very affordable.
2. Using the Yamalube tyre lube was a large part of making the bead pop easily. I can't carry that with me on the bike, its a full size 300ml aerosol can. I have ordered a small container of DRC bead cream from bikebiz.com.au and hopefully that is as good.
3. I used the old trick of re-useable cable ties to keep the sprocket carrier to the hub when needed. It really helps. Of course tye sprokect carrier and cush drive rubbers where removed when replacing the bearings.
4. I made a mistake when trying to knock the old bearings out. The easy way is to place the wheel cush drive side down and knock that bearing out by using a lever (in this case a very old screwdriver) from the disk brake side. Once that side is out, turn the wheel over and knock the other side out. I used a 20 cm 1/2 inch socket driver extension as a drift.
5. Be sure to have the correct size drift or socket to bang in the new bearings. No need to have the bearings hard against the spacers. Tighten the axle after putting the wheel back on will bring the bearings in nice and smooth.
6. Plenty of grease where grease is meant to be and everything else shoudl be clean. Grease and dirt can become a form of grinding paste and of course mating surfaces such as between a bearing outer race and a hub are not meant to turn; that will cause premature wear and tear.
So today was a good day. Practice on some old skills, testing out some new techniques and ideas I have tried before which in turn builds my confidence for travelling further afield.
First some preparation. I ordered the replacement bearings and seals from Brisbane Motorcycles at Caboolture. I had tried to order some aftermarket bearings but these were not that easy to source, so OEM it was. I was pretty pleased how that turned out because from what I have read on various forums, the genuine Suzuki bearings are fairly good. To work out which bearings, and a seal, to order, I used the parts breakdown from CMSNL.COM.First step after unpacking was to see if they bearings come with any grease, which they do. However, it really is enough grease to protect the steel whilst in storage and transit and it is wise to pack the bearings with an appropriate waterprrof grease.
So packed them nice and full with Castrol Boating Grease, which I suspect is the same as Belray Motorcycle Waterproof Grease. Looks and feels the same and the information from Castrol is that it is suitable for axles and wheel bearings exposed to water. Taking time to push the grease in and pack as much as possible should help the bearings last. After packing the grease it was back into the packaging and into the freezer. If left long enough this shrinks the races enough to make them small enough to drop in. In this case, after two hours in the freezer, they did not just drop in but neither did they require ay significant force. The front wheel bearings will be in the freezer for several weeks.
These next few pictures show my attempt to do the repair without the bike lift or a centre stand, just like being on the trail. Although instead of a pink plastic box, I may require a rock, a log or try using the cut down walking stick prop stand. Anyhow, the balancing on the side stand trick does work.
In this photo I'm trying to show the important of keeping your axle, washers, spacers and nut together and clean. A friend of mine recently allowed a bunch of dirt on one of the spacers and it ground away.
Here you can see the screw that puncture the tyre and tube. Its about an inch, 2.5 centimetres long.
1. The "Slime" brand pump was sufficient to pump up the tyre. The exact model pump is now longer available but the equivalent of today's product line-up is the Slime Tyre Inflator. The Slime brand is very affordable.
2. Using the Yamalube tyre lube was a large part of making the bead pop easily. I can't carry that with me on the bike, its a full size 300ml aerosol can. I have ordered a small container of DRC bead cream from bikebiz.com.au and hopefully that is as good.
3. I used the old trick of re-useable cable ties to keep the sprocket carrier to the hub when needed. It really helps. Of course tye sprokect carrier and cush drive rubbers where removed when replacing the bearings.
4. I made a mistake when trying to knock the old bearings out. The easy way is to place the wheel cush drive side down and knock that bearing out by using a lever (in this case a very old screwdriver) from the disk brake side. Once that side is out, turn the wheel over and knock the other side out. I used a 20 cm 1/2 inch socket driver extension as a drift.
5. Be sure to have the correct size drift or socket to bang in the new bearings. No need to have the bearings hard against the spacers. Tighten the axle after putting the wheel back on will bring the bearings in nice and smooth.
6. Plenty of grease where grease is meant to be and everything else shoudl be clean. Grease and dirt can become a form of grinding paste and of course mating surfaces such as between a bearing outer race and a hub are not meant to turn; that will cause premature wear and tear.
So today was a good day. Practice on some old skills, testing out some new techniques and ideas I have tried before which in turn builds my confidence for travelling further afield.
Thursday 11 June 2015. Boonah area and Condamine Rover Road Ride with Horizons Unlimited
Its been a while and I note as I type this that I have missed blogging on a few events as well. Hopefully I will get back to these in the next week or so.
On Thursday just gone by, I met up with some guys from Horizons Unlimited South-East-Queensland community and we rode through the Condamine River Road and the are surrounding Boonah. We were lead by David of Plab B Racing. Davis has quite a story to tell and I invite you to have a look at his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/planBracingg . A number of creek crossing and plenty of dirt and a little bit of mud. Great day for everyone. The most of the photos below were taken by David and Don:
Here's a mudmap of the roads and trails we took:
When all the riding was done, we had lunch at Flavours Cafe in Boonah, an excellent locale to have a hot coffee and bacon and egg breakfast roll, at 2:00 PM! For bikers especially as you can sit on the outside verandah and keep an eye on your bike and equipment as well and enjoy the company.
If you want to join us for a ride, the best way to keep in contact is our facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/brisbane.horizonscommunity
or via Horizons Unlimited website:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/
On Thursday just gone by, I met up with some guys from Horizons Unlimited South-East-Queensland community and we rode through the Condamine River Road and the are surrounding Boonah. We were lead by David of Plab B Racing. Davis has quite a story to tell and I invite you to have a look at his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/planBracingg . A number of creek crossing and plenty of dirt and a little bit of mud. Great day for everyone. The most of the photos below were taken by David and Don:
If you want to join us for a ride, the best way to keep in contact is our facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/brisbane.horizonscommunity
or via Horizons Unlimited website:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/
Tuesday 28 April 2015. One more hole, one more leak
As the dedicated reader may be aware, the Suzuki DR800 has been a bit leaky on the oil front. This is simply an issue of it being a 25 year old bike. As a result I have been very slowly but just as much very surely, chasing down oil leaks. It is very satisfying to look down on the engine or transmission case and see only dust collecting where once there would have been oil. Mind you, now I need to lubricate the chain more often.
The latest oil leak resolution was to send the oil cooler lines to ENZED at Brendale. The guys there did a great job of pulling off the 25 year-old braided cable and replacing it all as per the picture below. The few short check I have done reveal no additional oil being bled out. Cost was AUD $132.00. The cost to replace just one line was $154.00, involved a four week wait as it was imported from Japan and the second line was simply not available. Great job fron ENZED and another problem are ticked off the list. The next part is wiring up the heated grips ... BTW, it is a BIG list.
The latest oil leak resolution was to send the oil cooler lines to ENZED at Brendale. The guys there did a great job of pulling off the 25 year-old braided cable and replacing it all as per the picture below. The few short check I have done reveal no additional oil being bled out. Cost was AUD $132.00. The cost to replace just one line was $154.00, involved a four week wait as it was imported from Japan and the second line was simply not available. Great job fron ENZED and another problem are ticked off the list. The next part is wiring up the heated grips ... BTW, it is a BIG list.
ANZAC Weekend Ride 2015, Day 3, Sunday 26 April 2015
Today is the last day of the ride and it sure turned up some surprises. We agreed during breakfast to head back down to Tenterfield and turn off to Woodenbong, the first signed turnoff seem to be the one we needed to go on.
Finding that first signed turnoff was easy but it was not the one we had imagined. No matter, its not a holiday, its an adventure. We cam across "Thunderbolt's Cave", where Captain Thunderbolt had hid out may years ago and had a look. Futher on was the tirn off to Boonoo Boonoo Falls and Bald Rock. I recalled on seeing these signs that Karen and I and our two boys had been here before about 12 years ago but we only went as far as the turnoff to Bald Rock. As it turned out, further on, the road was not quite what Peter, Kerri and I had prepared for. We pushed on regardless and had a good time. Greta views and at one of our stops we had a chance for Kerri and Peter to give me some advice on the oil cooler lines that were sweating out a bit of oil. I must admit to feeling a bit of relief everytime we saw another road sign confirming that we were indeed on our way to Woodenbong. We did pass a couple of familiar looking bikes which over the following few days, turned out to be friends from Horizons Unlimited. Next time, we will have to stop.
Eventually made it to Woodenbong and spotted the Border Ranges Yowie. This is important as we used to always joke with the boys about the yowie and yowie crossing when taking them to a couple of different holidays in that region.
After leaving Woodenbong, there was still a distance of tight corners and scary oncoming traffic. Eventually though the road opened up nicely with flowing, on-camber roads, beautiful scenery and plenty of space for the last 20 minutes to Rathdowney. More of that please. We pulled over and revelled in the moment, noting to plan the road parts a bit more carefully for next time. I headed back through Beaudesert and Peter and Kerri mounted up and went back theough Boonah and home. A very long day for them both.
A very enjoyable weekend and I need to thank a few people for making this one happen:
Peter and Kerri's wives for putting up with this fairly new interest of theirs.
Karen, for putting up with this whole motorcycle thing for years and also for the time and expense that this bike has consumed. However, both the bike and my skills have come a long way and now the bike costs far less to run and is far more reliable and capable than ever before.
Nick and Mary-Jane who own the chalet outside Stanthorpe. Thanks guys for your continued generousity.
Penny, my boss at work for letting me have the preceeding Wednesday off. Thanks to the extra time I was able to complete one solo assignment, one group assignment without pressure and with a clear head.
And of course, Peter and Kerri for taking the time out of their farming schedules. Next time will be as good, or even better. Hopefully Mark will be able to join us as well.
Finding that first signed turnoff was easy but it was not the one we had imagined. No matter, its not a holiday, its an adventure. We cam across "Thunderbolt's Cave", where Captain Thunderbolt had hid out may years ago and had a look. Futher on was the tirn off to Boonoo Boonoo Falls and Bald Rock. I recalled on seeing these signs that Karen and I and our two boys had been here before about 12 years ago but we only went as far as the turnoff to Bald Rock. As it turned out, further on, the road was not quite what Peter, Kerri and I had prepared for. We pushed on regardless and had a good time. Greta views and at one of our stops we had a chance for Kerri and Peter to give me some advice on the oil cooler lines that were sweating out a bit of oil. I must admit to feeling a bit of relief everytime we saw another road sign confirming that we were indeed on our way to Woodenbong. We did pass a couple of familiar looking bikes which over the following few days, turned out to be friends from Horizons Unlimited. Next time, we will have to stop.
Eventually made it to Woodenbong and spotted the Border Ranges Yowie. This is important as we used to always joke with the boys about the yowie and yowie crossing when taking them to a couple of different holidays in that region.
After leaving Woodenbong, there was still a distance of tight corners and scary oncoming traffic. Eventually though the road opened up nicely with flowing, on-camber roads, beautiful scenery and plenty of space for the last 20 minutes to Rathdowney. More of that please. We pulled over and revelled in the moment, noting to plan the road parts a bit more carefully for next time. I headed back through Beaudesert and Peter and Kerri mounted up and went back theough Boonah and home. A very long day for them both.
A very enjoyable weekend and I need to thank a few people for making this one happen:
Peter and Kerri's wives for putting up with this fairly new interest of theirs.
Karen, for putting up with this whole motorcycle thing for years and also for the time and expense that this bike has consumed. However, both the bike and my skills have come a long way and now the bike costs far less to run and is far more reliable and capable than ever before.
Nick and Mary-Jane who own the chalet outside Stanthorpe. Thanks guys for your continued generousity.
Penny, my boss at work for letting me have the preceeding Wednesday off. Thanks to the extra time I was able to complete one solo assignment, one group assignment without pressure and with a clear head.
And of course, Peter and Kerri for taking the time out of their farming schedules. Next time will be as good, or even better. Hopefully Mark will be able to join us as well.
ANZAC Weekend Ride 2015, Day 2, Saturday 25 April 2015
The 100th anniversary of ANZAC Day. There are many ways of looking at that day but none of those can diminish the courage displayed by the soldiers on the ground.
On this day Peter, Kerri and I planned to ride from Stanthorpe to Inverell, visit the National Transport Museum and return. So we did just that. Breakfats at MacDonalds and then off down the New England Highway, stopping at Deepwater for refreshments, turning off at Glenn Innes and another short hop to Inverell. Between Glen Innes and Inverell is this great lookout. I can never remember the name but we will call it Pajero Place, from a previous trip Karen and I did in our old Pajero. At the top of the short but rutted track were three other Pajeros and their very enthusiastic owners. A great time with the boys and a great memory to recall as well.
Into Inverell and then to the musem. At least that's what we planned. It has moved since I last visited and so we had to use the S&A method. Stop & Ask. Hard for men to do but once you have been riding motorcycles long enough you learn that there is no loss of pride or shame in asking. In fact, no matter where you are, almost always people are only to happy to help. Armed with new directions, we then made our way across town and the photos of the museum spek for themselves:
After a very late lunch at KFC, back to Stanthorpe. It was getting late and so we stopped for dinner ath the Balledean Motel Tavern. As we passed by and saw that it was a family friendly place it looked good. When we saw the smoke coming out of the chimney, the place had us at hello. Another great country dinner and then back the final hop to our chalet.
On this day Peter, Kerri and I planned to ride from Stanthorpe to Inverell, visit the National Transport Museum and return. So we did just that. Breakfats at MacDonalds and then off down the New England Highway, stopping at Deepwater for refreshments, turning off at Glenn Innes and another short hop to Inverell. Between Glen Innes and Inverell is this great lookout. I can never remember the name but we will call it Pajero Place, from a previous trip Karen and I did in our old Pajero. At the top of the short but rutted track were three other Pajeros and their very enthusiastic owners. A great time with the boys and a great memory to recall as well.
After a very late lunch at KFC, back to Stanthorpe. It was getting late and so we stopped for dinner ath the Balledean Motel Tavern. As we passed by and saw that it was a family friendly place it looked good. When we saw the smoke coming out of the chimney, the place had us at hello. Another great country dinner and then back the final hop to our chalet.
ANZAC Weekend Ride 2015, Day 1, Friday 24 April 2015
Everyone has their own way of celebrating ANZAC day. Whilst I used to attend the local dawn services, I have started to celebrate more my embracing what the ANZACs may have been fighting for. In 2015 Kerri, Peter and I went on our second annual ANZAC Day ride. Unfortunately Mark could not join us due to commitments but I do note that in 2016, ANZAC Day falls on a Monday so fingers crossed for next year.
The trip started on Friday 24 April with myself heading out solo to Flavours Cafe at Boonah. Just before Beaudesert I thought a nice stretch and quick snap of the bike as it is currently setup would be good. Please note that all my clothes and a standard sleeping bag can now fit into the one roll-top bag at the back of the bike. The saddle bags were just for tools, first aid kit, jacket liner and the seat bag was just for study books. So a smaller sleeping bag, books on PDF and a bit more work on tools etc and the whole package should be even neater.
Peter and Kerri would join me there later. What a great place for coffee and lemon cheesecake to die for.
You can not miss the place as it is on the main road into Boonah, the large Queenlander style building on your left. Plenty of parking and revhead friendly. The owner, Graham embraces all types of gearheads and himself has raced sports sedans at the highest level in Australia. The walls have lots of really interesting memorabilia. Graham came out to chat and is vey keen to help us out with Horizons Unlimited as well. Then a chat with two local off-road riders, mounted on a Yamaha XT660 and Suzuki DR650 who know the area very well. Left with a map of the area with a heap of hand written notes on local tracks that I can't wait to try out.
Peter and Kerri arrived, had a drink and refreshments and then we were off. Following my Google maps at times we were not 100% sure we were on the right track but it turns out we were the whole time. Here are some photos of the scenes on the way to our final destination just outside Stanthorpe:
It was about 6:30 PM, I think, when we rolled into Stanthorpe for tea and although the last hour was a little bit of a worry, it was well worth the ride. Very pleasing to see roadsigns that confirmed were were on the right track at times though.
The trip started on Friday 24 April with myself heading out solo to Flavours Cafe at Boonah. Just before Beaudesert I thought a nice stretch and quick snap of the bike as it is currently setup would be good. Please note that all my clothes and a standard sleeping bag can now fit into the one roll-top bag at the back of the bike. The saddle bags were just for tools, first aid kit, jacket liner and the seat bag was just for study books. So a smaller sleeping bag, books on PDF and a bit more work on tools etc and the whole package should be even neater.
Peter and Kerri would join me there later. What a great place for coffee and lemon cheesecake to die for.
Peter and Kerri arrived, had a drink and refreshments and then we were off. Following my Google maps at times we were not 100% sure we were on the right track but it turns out we were the whole time. Here are some photos of the scenes on the way to our final destination just outside Stanthorpe:
It was about 6:30 PM, I think, when we rolled into Stanthorpe for tea and although the last hour was a little bit of a worry, it was well worth the ride. Very pleasing to see roadsigns that confirmed were were on the right track at times though.
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