The Tén

Here there will be info on the bike.
=== UNDER CONSTRUCTION ===

Maintenance schedule

km

Place

Maintenance

Comment

7200 Paris Scheduled 10000km maintenance by Yamaha
15000 Astrakhan Tire change, both Put Shinko Trail Master
19000 Samarkand Oil change I used car oil because it was the only thing Neil could find. We did Neil’s bike and then mine
? Bishkek Clean air filter
23000 Kashgar Oil change Found some Korean bike oil
25000 Ulan Baatar Chain set (Front sprocket and chain) Front sprocket was beyond dead. Used a 525 chain and a VStrom front sprocket + thick washer
25000 Bangkok Cush drive
30000 Vientiane Rear tire change Put Bridgestone Trailwing
30000 Vientiane Clean air filter
33000 Chiang Mai Oil and filter change
43000 Melbourne Oil change
45000 Sydney Valve clearances check and adjustmentSpark plug replacement Done by Yamaha Sydney
45000 Santiago Tire change, both Put Heidenau K60
48000? El Calafate Clean air filter
53000 Buenos Aires Change steering bearings There was a small notch at least since Kuala Lumpur (<40000km). Done by Yamaha Buenos Aires
53000 Fátima Oil and filter change
Chain set (Full)Cush drive
54500 Córdoba Rear tire change That Heidenau didn’t last as promised, put a Tourance
60200 Camaná, Perú (roadside) Clutch cable It got tired and left me unannounced (mostly because I hadn’t been checking it)
61147 Lima, Perú Changed the water pump seals Water pump was leaking since Chala. I had it done by a mechanic whose garage was unauspiciously named Motorrad
61147 Lima, Perú Oil change, air filter cleaning, change the gear lever seal Gear level seal was probably alright but the mechanic was worried by the mess that the Scottoiler makes in that area and thought the seal needed changing

This is the bike as it leaves the factory. Sturdy, powerful, beautiful, but not ready to travel. Here are some of the mods and accessories I’ve installed. For convenience, I’ve split them in two categories: current ones and dead ones.

Current

Touratech Zega Pro 45L Panniers

2013-01-11 12.45.40

Sturdy, really sturdy. They’ve taken a lot of beatings and lately they’ve been changing shape, the left one is a bit askew and a bit of water filters in from the top where the pannier is now slightly bigger than than the lid. If I have to find them fault it’s the attachment. It doesn’t break but it bends and they’ve become shaky. Oh, and the fact that they are 45L panniers, should never have travelled with that much luggage, it’s a real pain off-road.

Yamaha aluminium bash plate

2013-01-11 12.41.43

Nothing to object, it doesn’t obstruct the oil change and it hasn’t broken so far. Some would say it’s a bit small, the guy from off-the-road.de says that the attachments break too easily but I haven’t had any of that and it makes a nice sound when little rocks from the road fly into it.

 

Scottoiler

 

Dead

Hepco&Becker Xplorer 45L topcase

20120829_092559This piece of work is not made for off-road. The way it’s attached to the bike is not sturdy enough, especially if you have a tendency to overload it with water bottles. My conclusion is to avoid any topcase that is not firmly bolted to the mounting plate or frame. Whatever oath you take to keep it empty and use it only to keep valuables when you stop or to always put light stuff inside it, you will not keep. Or at least I don’t. The lock also started failing after some time.

Adventure Spec tool tube

as-toolThe tube itself didn’t break but you should attach it very strongly and preferably not  using the supplied flaps. The flaps broke and I lost it the first time the top case flew away from the bike. A pity, I like the tube. I should have attached it better and somewhere else. It was also to far from the center of gravity of the bike so subject to strong vibrations.