Sujit Kirpekar

Ride Report #17: Carnegie SVRA

Since my first dirt outing to Metcalf I have been itching to do it again. So last weekend, I found myself at Carnegie SVRA and spent a few hours on the trails there.

Carnegie is beautiful! Some very nice trails, long and curvy, challenging at times, but manageable on a DR650. Carnegie is also much bigger than Metcalf, so one could possibly spend a lot more time there.

I spent most of my time on the greens (Pottery Loop trail, Juniper Trail and Klin Canyon Trail) and some blues (Golden Eagle and Franciscan Loop).

Here is a picture of the hill training area. Riding up that hill is harder than it seems!

On top of one of the hills there

A nice view

A nice view is incomplete without the DR!

Some people were attempting (successfully) ridiculous stuff ! That grade is close to 60 degrees there (Big Bear Black, at the end of Klin Canyon Trail)

A nice tight blue trail

Spending some quiet time at the top

I spent so much time riding the trails that I came into reserve while doing a hill climb. So before heading back home, I had to gas up in Tracy (about 10 miles down on Corral Hollow Road) before I rode back to Fremont.

Again, I was amazed at how well the DR goes from riding trails to doing 80mph on the freeway. A truly awesome machine!

International Motorcycle Show, November 2011

The last few weeks have been intensely busy at work and other things. I’ve not had a chance to ride very much although I got to see the International Motorcycle Show in San Mateo a couple of weekends ago. Suminder was in town, and we rode together and spent a couple of hours at the show.

The show was pretty much like any auto show, if you’ve ever been to one… Large meeting halls filled with OEMs, vendors, dealers and local merchants.

I spent some time checking out the Japanese OEMs and was especially impressed with the Kawasaki Versys and the Yamaha Super Tenere .

The Suzuki booth was pretty much business and usual. I sat on a Busa as Suminder clicked this picture. They did have a DR on the floor, sitting there as probably the most unsexy bike in the whole auditorium. The 2012 DR is colored in this dull gray, a color that really does not excite, and hence was not photographed.

As I walked past all the different bikes I came off with lingering thoughts about my next motorcycle. Such, tend to be dangerous thoughts, but as long as they are only thoughts, who’s stopping me from dreaming? I liked the BMW R1200GS Adventure and I liked the KTM 990 Adventure (pic below). Note to self: both bikes worth consideration.

Before we left the show, we had a chance to test ride some Harleys. I rode a 1.7L Fat Boy for about 20 minutes, to come to the realization that Harley’s are super smooth, powerful, heavy and probably not for me. That thing could do 60mph in first gear! I could rest my whole foot flat on the foot peg (really a running board)! And I could scrape my peg at 25 mph on a turn. Fun ride for sure!

Ride Report #16

Suminder is back in town, although briefly. We met up for lunch at his place on Sunday and post-lunch rode down to Santa Cruz. On the way there we took the mountain roads: Page Mill, Skyline and Hwy 9. As usual, Page Mill and Skyline were a lot of fun. This was really the first time I rode Hwy 9 (all the way) and was a little disappointed. The initial sections of Hwy 9 (close to Skyline) were beautiful. Wide sweeping turns with great tarmac and very little traffic. However, after the Big Basin stop sign, the road turns left and the traffic picks up. Hwy 9 then hits the towns of Boulder Creek, Ben Lomond and Felton, before getting into Santa Cruz. Traffic was pretty heavy and it wasn’t much fun cruising through the stop signs, traffic lights and such. The other issue was that a lot of sections of Hwy 9 were wet. Suminder almost lost control at one point, but recovered safely without a a fall.

On our way back we rode the freeway: Hwy 17 to I880. Boring but a quick and efficient return.

Ride Report #15

It’s been a few weeks since my long epic ride into the Sierras. While that was fun, it was also very tiring. In general, life has been very hectic off late, both personally and at work.

Anyway, I did find the time to squeeze in a couple of rides. Solo rides, ~50-60 miles each. Both rides were at dusk as the days are getting shorter.

This was my first time riding Redwood road and it turned out to be a nice surprise. The lanes are wider than Palomares or Calavares, and the turns are longer. It sure makes for fun riding. On my way up Redwood, I actually spotted deer at least three times. They were mostly at the side of the road minding their business, but one has to be extra careful when riding in these East Bay hills. I kept a steady (but mellow) pace and thankfully didn’t see any deer pull up in front of me.

Sometime during the Palomares/Foothill ride I lost the right side (muffler side) plastic panel. I had removed the panels and seat to install the new air filter, so I must not have tightened it up fully when putting it back. Anyway, it seems like a common problem and I found a used plastic panel in white on Advrider for $35. Dealer wanted $170 for the panel, heat shield, rubber bumper, etc.

EPIC Ride Report #14

The title says it all.This was an EPIC ride.

450+ miles
11 hours
9,600 feet of altitude change
No crashes 0r tickets
A sore set of rears and a numb pair of hands

Route: Home –> Hwy 108 (Sonora Pass) –> Hwy 395 –> Hwy 89 (Monitor Pass) –> Hwy 4 (Ebbetts Pass) –> Home

I left home at about 7AM on a cool Sunday morning.

I rode out to Tracy where I met with Alvin (on a red Triumph Daytona 675) and Paul (on a blue Ninja 600). We gassed up and started the ride towards Hwy 120/108. The first stop was at Jamestown… a small little town at the foothills of the Sierra’s.

From there the traffic on Hwy 108 starts to thin out and the riding gets fun.

As the altitude increased, the air got cooler and the DR started slowing down. Over the Sonora Pass, the loss in power is really noticeable. The DR still does have plenty power, but the sport bikes were a lot faster than me.

We rode down 108Hwy towards Hwy 395 and then headed north for lunch at Walker, CA. The BBQ was OK, not much to write home about.

After lunch, we rode up the Monitor Pass (Hwy 89) which then connects to Hwy 4.

All in all we did four major passes. Monitor Pass is clearly the best of them all for riding. Super silky smooth tarmac, breathtaking views and practically no traffic. Made for fun times 🙂

Hwy 4 is more goaty and winding than Hwy 108. The initial 30 miles is single lane with some very sharp turns. A little before Bear Valley, we stopped at Lake Alpine for some rest.

From there on, the ride home was uneventful. We slabbed it across to the Bay Area, the afternoon wind beating against our tired bodies.

Here is a nice video from Alvin’s bike. The camera turns around and focuses on me at about 4:17

Ride Report #13

Last Saturday I met up with a few riders from SBR and rode a “group ride” from San Jose to Patterson. This was my first ride in such a setting. The original SBR thread made it pretty clear that “This is not a NUB friendly ride”, so I was a little intimidated at first. I was also the only rider on a dual sport. The other six riders were on sport bikes (a Honda CBR1000, Ducati Monster, BMW S1000RR, Suzuki DL1000 and a couple of Yamaha FZ1s).

We met up at Green Bites Cafe in San Jose and took 680 to Calaveras. Calaveras is goaty enough for a DR to keep up with the sportbikes. I had fun on the twisties, keeping up with the not-so-mellow pace of the leader Rick. We got off Calveras and rdoe through Livermore to Mines Rd. This was my first time on Mines Road and I was pleasantly surprised. Nice curvy asphalt with lots of shade and not too much change in elevation. The gravel was loose in a few places, but it did not matter much with my knobbies.

We pit stopped at The Junction, where bladders were emptied and cigarettes were smoked. We then got onto Del Puerto Canyon Road towards Patterson. I must say that Del Puerto Canyon has been my favorite road in the Bay Area so far. The road follows a creek for most of the way. Excellent views, moderately challenging twisties and great pavement (a few rocks here and there) made for a fun ride.

We had lunch at Patterson and I decided to slab it back. Seventy five miles of pure interstate at 90+ mph does not make for a fun ride. Before the Altamont Pass I was pretty much at 100mph (indicated) all the time. At those speeds, and especially out in the windy central valley, the windshield was pretty much useless. It was bending all the way back over the headlight fairing providing very little resistance to the wind.

I made it home safely, but exhausted after 200+ miles of riding. I loved the whole group ride thing and might try it out again. 😀 Next time, I should remember to take along my camera.

Ride Report #12

I did a couple of interesting rides this weekend, which were in addition to a 10 mile run, house work, buying Anushka a new bike, and a hundred other odd things. I’m glad this is going to be a slow week at work, followed by such a hectic weekend.

Anyway, on Saturday, we met up with some old friends in Belmont. Vjiay (below) rides a red Ninja 250. We rode down Skyline towards four corners, and then rode 84 and Pescadero to the Pescadero beach. This worked out to be a fun and enjoyable ride, with ample opportunities to push hard in the curves, followed by several mellow miles following a slow car or truck. We rode back to town on Hwy 1 and Hwy 92. I was impressed with the little Ninja: it had no trouble doing 90 mph (indicated) on the slab.

DAKAR & ADV Decals (the DR Poseur)

Well, I’ll come clean. I like stickers as much as my 4 year old. I’ve always been a fan of DAKAR rally and the whole adventure riding thing. So a few ago ago I ordered a reflective DAKAR decal and a couple of ADV reflective decals too. Here are some pictures:

New DAKAR Decal and ADV Decal on the windshield 🙂

Reflective at night :

Large ADV decal on right side panel:

Also reflective at night :

I also recently ordered a set of racing leathers from eBay. There is a pretty awesome seller from Pakistan who sells custom made leather racing sets. It took about 3 weeks after I sent him all my measurements, but the set fits perfectly. It’s made of pretty thick real leather and has the good quality armor in all the right places. I also like the racing hump 🙂

The DR650: Unlimited smiles per mile

It has now been a little over one thousand miles since I bought the DR650SE. First off, here are some statistics:

Miles ridden = 1,000
Days ridden = 60, exactly 2 months
Longest ride = 105 miles roundtrip
Dirt rides = 1
Dirt miles = Probably about 20
Mods done = 2
Money spent on mods = $16 😀
Money spent on maintenance = $329 (new tires, oil & filter, cam chain tensioner oil leak, etc.)

If you ever start searching for adventure bikes or dual sports, you will literally find hundreds of thousands of reviews, comments and posts online about the DR650. There is a very active fanbase: riders, adventurers, off-roaders, modders, supermotards and so on. A lot of threads focus on comparing the DR v/s Kawasaki KLR650 v/s Honda XR650L v/s BMW F650GS. And a lot of threads document how the DR has been ridden across: North America, South America, Africa, Asia and occasionally around the world.

Anyway, here are my simplistic thoughts on the DR:

The Good:

The DR is really an amazing first bike. Cheap to buy, cheap to maintain and cheap to insure.
The DR is extremely simple. No fuel injection, no ABS, no radiator, no computer, a single cylinder and air cooled. You cannot get simpler than that. There is nothing to break, nothing to fix.
The DR has basically been unchanged since 1996. Simple classic design that works today as well as it did 16 years ago.
The engine has very good low and mid-range torque. It never fails to bring on a smile as I come out of a corner.
The DR can handle the twisties like a boss. Yes, I’m comfortable taking on the big sport bikes on Hwy 9.
There is a wealth of information online and a very strong community. There are ample aftermarket parts and support to please almost everyone.

The Bad:

There are no bragging rights with the DR.
As I said in the good part, the DR has basically been unchanged since 1996. So the setup is old school, especially the suspension.
The DR is not very freeway friendly. No Iron Butt highway long-hauls here.
Everyone complains about the small DR fuel tank (3.2 gals) and the hard seat. I’ve not really found either to be an issue.

The Ugly:

The DR’s no stunner. Not going to pose alongside the Italian bikes anytime soon.

It is my conclusion that the DR simply cannot be beaten for the smiles per mile it offers. I’ll leave you with a video of the DR650. Judge for yourself:

The $6 windshield mod

As you probably know, the DR is not a freeway friendly motorcycle. Single cylinder thumping, the handlebar vibrations and a naked fairingless design with no wind protection do not make for long comfortable freeway rides. Some say they enjoy the clean air of a naked bike — to those I say ride the San Mateo Bridge on a summer evening.

Long story short: I researched several windscreens options for the DR and stumbled upon an excellent thread on ADVRider. One enterprising ADV inmate (lstewart) posted his experience using a simple Sterilite garbage bin to create a plastic windshield. After a few questions and a bit of planning, I decided to give it a try myself. When it comes to modding: innovation, adaptation, resourcefulness and frugality all figure high on my list.

The mod was very easy. I picked up a Sterilite 10 gallon trash can at Target ($6), cut it using a template and bent it by hand. I also picked up some industrial strength Velcro (white) from Lowes ($3) and fastened the windscreen to the headlight fairing. The screen comes on and off in a second.