2013 Montréal Moto Show: V-Strom 650 “à la CMG”

Many motorcycle manufacturers lack opportunism when it is time to showcase their adventure bikes to the public…

 

…either the bikes are presented with road tires, or no skid plate, or with an inefficient windscreen, etc etc.

The people from CMG magazine were right on the spot presenting a rugged version of the popular V-Strom 650 at the 2013 Montreal Moto Show. 

Their “Adventure” interpretation of this motorcycle is pretty much what adventurers ultimately aim to achieve when customizing their bike for off-road/adv use.

Not only did they choose 50-50 Heidenau tires, but they also upgraded to more shock resistant tubeless wire wheel rims.  The alu cases are superb and the skid plate fits like a charm; both add to the nice rugged look of this motorcycle.  The windscreen seems more than sufficient to protect the driver from the elements even at high speed.

Also note the enlarged kickstand base, off-road handguards and most likely heated grips – the list seems complete to enjoy any adventure ride.

Well done!

ciao!
DSAQ

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Triumph Safety Recall: Tiger 800, Daytona 675, Speed Triple and Street Triple for Flashers issue

On March 21, 2013, Triumph Canada filed a safety recall on multiple 2012 and 2013 models.

As stated on Transport Canada recall # 2013089, on certain motorcycles, supports for the front and rear turn signal lamps were manufactured incorrectly and could break, causing the lamp assemblies to hang from their electrical wires. As a result, the driver’s intentions to turn may not be conveyed clearly to other road users, increasing the risk of a crash causing property damage and/or personal injury.

To correct the problem, the dealers will inspect and, if necessary, replace the turn signal lamp assemblies.  413 Motorcycles are potentially affected by this issue.

[SRC: Transport Canada]

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Manawan Reserve ride: part 4, a maze of trails

See part 3 

The last part of my ride to Manawan.  I was pleasantly surprised when I deviated from my plan and took the path that led to Zec Collin.

 

There is something spiritual about adventure motorcycling – as one never knows what’s ahead, some faith is required to make the ride a success.  Of course, that depends on one’s definition of adventure motorcycling – mine is rather simplistic: ride and have fun – which does not leave much place to planning. 

 

Well, such an approach paid off as you can see below… 

A lot of nice trails, lakes, rivers and also some challenges.

Here is how I got there:  after I adjusted my bike suspension (see part 3), I continued on the Manawan road for a few miles.  However I was still far - 30 miles away - from the Manawan Indian reserve and I had no more business on this road.

As I was riding, I saw many road signs indicating ZECs (Exploitation of natural resources…Controlled…Zone: an area where you can do many outdoor activities like hunting, fishing, camping, riding…but have to register before - obviously something I had not done – I’m learning it as I write this review.)  So, to make the ride more exciting, I took the next path for the ZEC Collin.

That was a pretty good idea:  the road was a lot more interesting for adventuring and very quiet – no more SUVs or trucks. 

After a short moment riding on this road, the path forked into 3 branches.  So, how do I decide which one to use and also, will I get lost?  Only one way to find out!

So I went with the outer left fork.  I rode as far as I could on that path, crossing a wooden bridge, flooded roads (most of the time the floods were caused by a nearby beaver dam) and creeks.  Finally a bit of this, a bit of that – everything that makes a good recipe for an adventure ride.  In conclusion: a nice ride in the forest. 

Then I stopped at Herelle lake; it was a dead end.  After reading the signs, I wished I had known more about this place.  I would have paid for a day pass and brought along a fishing rod.  That’s what happens when you don’t know a sector – you miss out on a lot.  Anyway, something else to try in the future.

So I went back and I saw another fork.  I decided to go see where it led to and stumbled upon a potential mud hole.  “Oh…no!, not today thank you.”  I would have gone through it without hesitating with a smaller/lighter bike like the 350 EXC-F that I tried earlier in the season, but it was not the case.  I must admit from the picture on the right that this mud hole did not look that bad, but the path was already quite degraded even before reaching this place.  Anyway, I still had many trails to discover and it was not the right time to waste energy “playing” in the mud.

I used this strategy for the rest of the ride: I turned around each time there was a risk that could negatively impact the ride.  That gave me more riding time and more potential discoveries.  Since I was riding in a totally unknown area, the strategy paid off.
 

Then I discovered this bridge.  It was in very bad shape.  I could see the river flowing thought it, 10 feet lower.  There were also nail heads (visible from the picture) all the way along the bridge.  “Hmmm…not very inviting.  If I get a flat trying to cross that bridge, I’ll hate myself to death especially since I am 160 miles away from home in the woods.  It’s not worth it.”  I have an emergency tire repair kit and a bike hand pump under the seat but I sincerely wish I’ll never have to use it – touch wood.

The trail on the other side of the bridge, however, seemed very interesting.  I’ll probably never know what I missed!

I went back to check out the second of the three forks I had seen earlier.  It was a winding truck road with plenty of hills – a real rollercoaster ride.  It was a nice place to test my off-road riding skills.  The path became more technical, with big rocks and holes further on the way, finally ending with a forestry exploitation.  Trees were lying on the ground along the road– it looked like a war zone - but unfortunately we need wood to build our houses.  The road abruptly ended after a few miles and I had to go back.  The suspension adjustments I had done earlier were useful here as well and made the return pretty satisfying: I was able to push the bike much faster than I usually do in similar road conditions.

Then the last fork.  That section was not bad as well.  After a while, from the top of a mound, the road below snaked along the mountainside as far as I could see. 

I was looking forward to seeing where the road led to, but with a little stress as well.  It is difficult to explain the feelings that spark when adventuring: a mix of excitement and dizziness, irrational fear of the unknown and admiration when facing a nice panorama. 

Any fears of getting lost or running out of fuel vanished quickly when I finally got back on the main road at the 29 km milestone.  “Wut?!  That’s it?.”  I thought I was up further north, but that was fine.  After 2 hours of off-road riding, I was ready to go back home - some 3 extra hours to go. 

On my way back, still on the Manawan road, after 2 hours of off-road practice and a couple of energy drinks, I started taking chances passing SUVs.  I got the scare of my life when my front wheel started to uncontrollably oscillate after I hit a sand patch at 70 mph.  Ouch!!  I don’t know how I got out of this situation, but it was enough to cool me down until I got back on the paved road. 

Anyway, that was a pretty nice ride.  I would do it again, but there is so much more to discover in this area!  As an example, the ride around Taureau lake… certainly one of the most beautiful places in Quebec for trail riding as per an ATV rider told me…  I’m already dreaming about it!

Ciao!
DSAQ

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BMW R1200GS 2013 Recalled for ASC software update

With the increase of electronics in modern vehicles, it is not a surprise that an update is required in the latest BMW adventure motorcycle software. 

As the number of lines of code required to drive all the new electronics increases, the potential for programming errors grows accordingly.  Software companies have to deal with bugs on a regular basis and the transportation industry now faces the same reality. 

Fortunately, once discovered, software issues can be easily fixed and only require an update of the vehicle computer code.  In this particular case, the problem reported by BMW is related to the Automatic Stability Control (ASC) system which may not reactivate following off-road use in the “Enduro-Pro” mode. As the ASC warning lamp is no longer illuminated, the rider may be unaware that the system is still currently deactivated.  This could result in a crash causing property damage and/or personal injury.

To fix the issue the dealers will install an updated ASC software.

Only 31 models have been recalled.

[SRC: TRANSPORT CANADA]

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Manawan Reserve ride: part 3 The Manawan road

See part 2

Riding the Manawan road turned out to be a life-sized mechanical lab that revived recent painful experiences – and with some thought, older ones too…

If you ever ride a motorcycle on the Parent road, you will feel quite at home on the Manawan road.  Both roads have the same vocation: fast fire roads that have been tortured by loaded logging trucks.  Both roads send the same painful sensations to the rider: intense vibrations in the handle bars… strong enough that one cannot keep his hands tight on the grips – imagine yourself trying to stop a Harley Davidson engine from vibrating with your hands.

It was quite stressful to ride the Manawan road under those conditions with a pickup following closely at 45 mph (75 km/h).  I could not go any faster because of the intensity of the vibrations transmitted by the washboard-like road and I was under the impression that the guy behind me was losing his patience.  I let him pass as soon as I had a chance and I made a first stop.

If I had not brought along a ratchet with the appropriate socket that fits my suspension adjusting nub, I would have turned around without a second thought.  But fortunately, it could be fixed.

Time to experiment.  For this first stop, I reduced the preload on both sides of the fork by turning the adjustment nubs counter clockwise by about 2 turns (making sure to turn each of them equally.)

A few minutes and that was it!  So easy when you have the right tool.  I still don’t understand why there is no tool that fits the front adjustment nubs with the Versys basic toolset.  It would have saved me a lot of frustration.

Alright!  Back on the road.  Wow!  It was amazing how much smoother the ride felt!  But still, there was room for improvement.  So a second stop was required – 2 other turns off on each side and off we go.  Unbelievable!  The road that was almost impracticable a moment ago was now transformed – almost no vibrations at the handle bars!  Terrific!

Third stop.  Why not continue the experimentation.  I removed all I could: 2 or 3 more turns off.  Voila.  That was it.  All the vibrations transmitted by the road were filtered by the suspension.  Then the 4th stop…

I had to stop a last time.  The rear suspension was still pretty stiff and there were a lot of vibrations coming from the back wheel.  Fortunately Kawasaki had provided the required tool (a hook wrench) for the rear suspension adjustment nub, but it was not as efficient as I would have liked. 

Adjusting the rear suspension is quite a challenge as it is required to balance the bike on the kick stand to take off the the weight from the rear wheel, then use the dedicated tool on the rear nub – this tool, the hook wrench, grabs one of the teeth of the nub (I included a picture of a similar wrench on the left) and it is necessary to pull upward to reduce the preload.  It would have been easier if the kick stand had not sunk into the sand due to a very small contact area with the ground (a flat foot kick stand would have been appreciated!  See the picture on the right) and if the darn wrench did not snap off every 2 seconds – sincerely…Kawasaki could have chosen a better wrench to include in the toolset.  Anyway, with a bit of patience I got the job done.

The result: a pretty well adapted suspension for this type of road – no more vibrations no matter how deep the washboard peaks were or how fast I was riding.  Who would have thought the Versys had all the required qualities to ride in such conditions?  Pretty well hidden qualities, but the name fits the bike for sure.  After all those adjustments, I was able to follow any pickups or SUVs on the road but this time I was pushing on their back.

This experimentation revived the pain I went through at the engineering school understanding the theory on filters (mechanical filters as well as electrical ones).  All this theory I had gobbled 20 years ago, without realising its real life application is now much clearer in my mind – engineering schools should probably send their students to ride bikes on similar roads Braaap!

Next part: a maze of trails.

Ciao!
DSAQ

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2013 BMW R1200GS Recalled

On February 6, 2013, BMW filed a safety recall with Transport Canada for the 2013 R1200GS.

The reason of this recall is the transmission oil pressure that may be too high on certain motorcycles, causing the output shaft sealing ring to leak.

An oil leakage ahead of the rear tire could render the vehicle unstable. This could result in a crash causing property damage and/or personal injury.

To fix the issue, the dealers will install an oil restrictor to reduce oil pressure at the transmission output.

Only 31 units are affected.

[SRC: TRANSPORT CANADA]

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The Montreal Motorcycle Show 2013: Win one of 6 pairs of tickets!

The Montreal Motorcycle Show will soon be here to make us dream about new bikes brilliantly engineered by the manufacturers.

I recently contacted the Director of Communications of the Show and I was pleasantly surprised by his willingness to collaborate!

He offered me 6 pairs of tickets to access the event that I could use to organize this contest.

1. So how does it work? 
   

You may participate and win one of the 6 pairs of tickets by:

1. Subscribing to the DS Adventure Quebec mailing list – submit your email address in the box titled “Follow by Email” on the right side of this page (this box is not visible on smart phones.)  You will receive a confirmation email.  With this option, you will be automatically enrolled to future contests as well; or
2. Simply send an email to dsadvq@gmail.com with the title: “DS Adventure Quebec: Win one of 6 pairs of tickets! contest”.

This is as simple as that…and please, share this information with your friends!  The draw will be held on February 19^th, 2013.  The winners will be required to provide their first name, last name and city of residence.

And the winners are…

Hugues-Frédéric Brouillette
Gatineau

Marilyne Lavoie
Lachine

Jean-Paul Bernier
Laval

Denis Ouellet
St-Jean-sur-Richelieu

Sabrina Layek
Paris

Sylvain Beauvais
Gatineau

Thank you all for your participation and have a great day at the Montreal Motorcycle Show!
DSAQ

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