Another fabulous 27°C day in the July heatwave. Not a huge amount to say about this one. Four Yamahas hit the backroads and trails of the Burren earlier and put the Super Ténéré 750, a slightly newer Ténéré 700, an XT600 and a WR450F through […]
These wild camping trips are becoming a regular thing now with 4 trips under our belts .. and the fifth one only a few days away!!! The first trip was a real learning experience. My initial impression of the bike was that it felt wrong. […]
The 2016 500 EXC should have be sprung as standard with 4.6 springs in the forks and a 7.2kg spring on the shock. The previous owner must have been a big guy, as my used model came fitted with 5.0 springs in the front, and […]
After the valve clearance test, I wanted to test the compressibility of the motor. A standard compression tester can do this, but I think a cylinder leakdown test is more accurate. In order to do this test the bike has to be at operating temperature, […]
Seeing as the motor on this used (new-to-me) bike has 150 hours on her, and the KTM service schedule recommends a piston at 135hrs, it’s kinda overdue a piston. Before we actually get to installing the new piston though, we’ll do some checking on the […]
Some people say that if you have €100 to spend on your bike, then spend €99 of it on suspension. I’m not sure I agree with the 99:1 ratio, but definitely 50:50 .. your suspension is the most important part of your bike IMO. Like […]
It seems everyone you talk to is running different tyres and pressures, and everyone has an opinion on what works best. What they really should be saying though, is what works best for them. A tyre that works well in dry sand might not do […]
Ever had a wheel bearing failure? You get that metal on metal knocking from the back wheel, and it kinda ruins your day, right.. Seeing as I’ve had a number of ruined days, these days I consider wheel bearings as a consumable, a service item, […]