13 replies to this topic

[overthrottle]

Ended up laying her down twice.     

 

I just bought it a couple weeks ago and it's my first street bike.  I have some dirt bike experience though, and since we were camping last weekend I had to give a try!

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=ZVyCaTgQUJw

Edited by overthrottle, 05 September 2014 - 04:05 am.

[mammonista]

well you're a lot braver than me. prolly the reason so few TDMs are absolutely scratch free!

[overthrottle]

_{Ha!  Well the previous owner had dropped it a couple times, so the fairing was already scratched and cracked in a couple spots.  I plan to fix the cracks and repaint them eventually, but wanted to wait until I was pretty comfortable with the bike first.  Figured I would have a few accidents of my own.}

 

_{If it had been pristine bodywork, I wouldn't have had the heart to do it, knowing how rare these bikes are in the US.   I plan to get her looking pristine at some point though.  Loving this bike so far!}

Edited by overthrottle, 05 September 2014 - 01:06 pm.

[dablik]

Haha your mad overthrottle, a bit adventurous that ride eh, looks like you had fun anyway,, welcome to the nuthouse btw 

[harvey krumpet]

Great vid. Nice to see somebody else feeling the fear. Thanks for posting.

It's taken me ages to get comfortable(ish) riding the TDM on trails like that. It requires a lot of commitment and a lot of standing up body language, you got to ride it like a trials bike on steroids and use that throttle. Easier said than done.

More aggressive tires give the front more side grip, turning & braking, but not a lot more rear traction in the slippy stuff. Still have to use momentum to get through the goop or wet clay. Maintaining a steady throttle & using the back brake to control speed is much smoother & grippier than getting on and off the throttle. Got to keep your head up, too.

I hope the damages buff out.

[overthrottle]

Thanks for the feedback guys!  

 

Harvey, the info you gave makes sense and I really appreciate the tips. I think if the front wheel had more grip I would have possibly avoided both the lay-downs. It seemed like both times the front wheel got wet / muddy, and then the very next rut just grabbed it and I couldn't get it to climb out quick enough. Then the front end just slides out from under me.  It happens occasionally on my dirt bikes too, but they are light enough bikes that I can usually just give it more throttle and pop the front tire out before I am too far over.  These TDM's go over quick once they lose traction!!     What tires have you found that you really liked for off-road use?  And do they still behave well on-road as well?   

 

Damage to the bodywork was pretty minimal actually. Only thing semi-major was the one header pipe cracked and broke off under the collar. I think it must have been cracked before and I just finished it off because I can't find any dents or any other sign of actual impact on the exhaust system. I have the one collar off already and am still fighting with the other one. I think I will be able to just weld the cracked section on the header pipe and put her back together.

 

Mark

Edited by overthrottle, 05 September 2014 - 10:23 pm.

[harvey krumpet]

Once the front is weighted I don't think a moto x tire would stop it from ploughing away.

The bike is to heavy to change direction quickly or flick around on the throttle like a dirt bike, might as well send it a letter if you want to try & get out of a muddy rut.

The TDM handles trails remarkably well when you pick a line & stick to it, head up, stood up, legs bent, looking for your next position on the trail. The moment you look down or at the rut you want to avoid it turns to custard. Steps, pot holes & wash outs which make you go eek don't faze the bike if you get your weight right back & keep a bit of gas on, not to quick, though.... With good timing and a good bounce of the suspension getting the front lifted over steps or gullies is possible.

If you know how to ride a dirt bike standing up in tight, slippery stuff the same techniques work on the TDM, moving your weight out of a turn to find traction or in to lose it and tighten your turn, weight back, legs bent over bumps, weight forward over the bars when braking etc.

Sitting on it like a pudding the bike feels awful, all that weight swaying around. It's good on open gravel roads but as soon as things tighten up or get bumpy I'm standing.

My old dual purpose tires were a Pirelli MT 90 front & Shinko 705 rear. Loved the Pirelli, great on wet & dry seal & predictable on everything except wet grass, slick clay & ice rinks.

The Shinko was great value, behaved impeccably on dry tar seal until 2/3rds worn, had a couple of twitches in the rain probably due to diesel or oil. Worked great on trails at road pressure, even better with a few psi let out of it. Not a lot of edge grip through corners off seal but I quite like being able to get around a corner on blips of the throttle so the bike stays upright, especially down hill when you don't want to load the front.

Overall the dual purpose tires increase your safety margins not speed or agility.

I'm doing exactly the same rides on T30 sport touring tires with no problems apart from some downhill butt puckery on wet clay or deep gravel. Get that rear brake lever exactly where you want it.

[overthrottle]

Wow!  Ton of great info there!  I will try to apply some of that next time. Thanks!!

 

After entirely too much effort, I finally was able to get the other header collar to un-seize itself from the studs.   It turns out both of the pipes had been previously brazed at some point, and it looks like I broke the pipe right where it had been previously brazed.  Do you guys think I should try to weld it (or now I am actually thinking maybe having a muffler shop weld it)   or should it just be re-brazed since it had been done previously.

 

I have read that brazing is not ideal at this part of the pipe because the exhaust is nearly hot enough to flow/melt the braze, but have also read that trying to weld over a braze will cause contamination of the weld.

 

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[TDMick]

Can't find the videos of those eastern european guys, who where taking Mk1s to places they should never have been.

 

Brilliant vids, and some good techniques on show.

Can't find them on the search though.

 

Respect for having a go.

[dapleb]

Can't find the videos of those eastern european guys, who where taking Mk1s to places they should never have been.

 

 

http://www.carpe-tdm...owtopic=9508=

[TDMick]

http://www.carpe-tdm...owtopic=9508=

I knew you'd find it.

[harvey krumpet]

I knew you'd find it.

 Cheers dapleb. I hoped so, too.

 

I'm to scared of banging the bike about. It still scrubs up beautifully. Whenever I'm looking at an obstacle & asking myself the hard question the answer is usually no.

Nothing worse than seeing the broken result of riding with your fingers crossed sat in the shed every day.

 

Those Estonian videos got me started, if they can do that then I certainly have room for improvement.

 

Still, after all these years the TDM can still drop my jaw. I've ridden 100's of kilometres on washed out, flooded, land slipped, forestry & farm roads lately, on road tires. The bike does not give a damn. Give the bike the right instructions and it just gets on with it.

My riding has improved hugely over the last couple of years or more accurately my awareness of my riding has improved, training & practice increased my faith in physics giving a bit more confidence, the TDM is still a better bike than I am rider.

Quite amazing.

 

Er, quick edit, ps what ever. i'm amazed at the bike, fairly startled that the old dogs & new tricks claim may not, strictly, be true.

Edited by harvey krumpet, 06 September 2014 - 11:38 am.

[SingleCylinder]

 Stand up, look up, throttle up. Put a set of knobbies on the bike and enjoy.

[masterbrewer]