On TV---new stage review.

That's why I say the KDX, modern enough suspension and brakes, awesome power spread for a 2-stroke. Best bike I ever owned was a Yamaha DT200, from a fast long trail ride perspective it was awesome, plenty of power to loft the front wheel when you needed but a mellow hit. It was lacking in the suspension department, and of course like all things good on 2 wheels or 4 you couldn't get the new(er) better suspended version here. Manufacturers here are forced to cater to what people think they want, elsewhere it's more about what is needed to get the job done. The DT230 never hit our shores, such a pity. My 450 EXC was an awesome bike, but not something you could ride all day, too tall, too much power and too stiff.

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Power means nothing if you cannot control it!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/2016 01:52AM by ElectroTech.

I just finished Long Way Down, the Ewan McGregor sequel to Long Way Round.

Holy shit, they sure did blow through a lot of rear shocks on those $30,000+ BMW bikes. They were loaded down very heavy, but they also got to upgrade them.

It was gravel washboard that did all the damage.

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ElectroTech
That's why I say the KDX, modern enough suspension and brakes, awesome power spread for a 2-stroke. Best bike I ever owned was a Yamaha DT200, from a fast long trail ride perspective it was awesome, plenty of power to loft the front wheel when you needed but a mellow hit. It was lacking in the suspension department, and of course like all things good on 2 wheels or 4 you couldn't get the new(er) better suspended version here. Manufacturers here are forced to cater to what people think they want, elsewhere it's more about what is needed to get the job done. The DT230 never hit our shores, such a pity. My 450 EXC was an awesome bike, but not something you could ride all day, too tall, too much power and too stiff.

Interesting comments all the way from OZ, a country not noted for the most searing intellectural exxtremes but rather more "just ordinary dumb excesses"

https://transmoto.com.au/rider-feedback-450exc-vs-wr450f/

It says right in the intro:

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"Despite the fact that many blokes would be far better off aboard a more manageable 250 or 350cc enduro machine,

Australian riders routinely prioritise horsepower above all else. Which is why the 450cc enduro bike segment has attracted the lion’s share of money spent on dirt bikes in this country for years.

Routinely at or near the top of those sales charts have been the 450cc enduro models from Yamaha and KTM – two long-time rivals for the Australian consumers’ hard-earned dollar and for race titles"

Australians may be somewhere between a bunch of Texans and a buncha lager-louts, but there SEEMS to be more physicality there and thus a bit of sense...

North America on the other hand-----:690-900cc....(shakes head)...

Fuck i just thought: we talking with a man who decided against all advice there was some advantage to a tiny short car where the roads are LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG and Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaast and then on bikes talks of a giant pig-beast behemoth with a few 'styling cues" referencing "Dakar" as a bike..

Fuckit. I give up.

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

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ElectroTech

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Snidewhips
sold the drz was gonna get a 690 enduro but the rally car is enough toy for this year. if i take next year off to build a hyundai genesis i'll def do this. i really liked the drz just not the lack of ability to hoghway transit for long stretches without out sackin on the engine (plus i weigh 250) is the 690 similarily good for some tight trails? its only a lil bigger and a lot monpkwerfuller

For that kind of money I would buy 2 purpose built machines, an older 220kdx and a 650-900 street/touring bike. What's up with the genesis?

Can confirm that the KDX220 is a superb trail bike in stock form.... Once you get the jetting sorted.
Just did 15mi of adventure riding and 25mi of single track yesterday, with the last 1/8mi taking about 1.5hrs to complete. KDX was a champ.

my 96 Dr350se it maybe the rallymoto bike until i can finish the car

---

I would rather drive a slow car fast as a fast car slow!
first rule of cars: get what makes you happy, your the one paying for it!

And a note on the utility and transferability of playing video games with supercars of the past and today---(oh yeah how fuckin realistic is it driving some nerds idea of what a Group B Audi Quatto is when we clamber into our little warmed over street cars..oh yeah transferability)..

First in support... I know that many of the worlds militarys and special operations teams and of course cops--who really want to play army and pretend we--all of us are the Enemy-----have been using "First Person Shooter" games, both commercial and special to train their guys to shoot without hesitation and thought--reflexively...(Just as i say the goal of thousands of hourse of seat-time is training and reinforcing reflexive correct response to stimulous--the road)

In those first person shooter games you look at a scene, move hand and pull a trigger..It trains you to rapidly acquire targets and accurately move hand and shoot... The game action and the desired action in real life is THE SAME.
Maybe a real gun kicks and is louder...those i have fired certainly were ( like a 1898 RCMP LOOOOOOOOOOONG barrel revolver in .45 cal or something. JEEEZUZ!! Kicked like a 12g shotgun)

Maybe there are other things directly mimicking the real world analogue..

But aside from the unrealistic cars in the games, real forces do not act on me..

Gravity is always dominant and straight down, theres no force on my whole body ---------> that way or <------------, no, force ^ that way on a jump, no down force in linked turns, no force forward on braking--if indeed one even uses the brakes---the single most important skill to master to go beyond "local amateur playing" level..

Tilting the seat and vibrating the wheel is not the same.

It is not anywhere near the same except in the area of scenery flashing by---and one dimensional on a screen is nowhere like 3 dimensions and force and 360 degrees.

Finally. IF playing video games was effective at imparting ideas and experiences to total novices.....

Why wouldn't we simply be setting students from Kindergarten to Doctorate degree down in front of video games with various titles "2nd Grade English" or "Umberto Eco's writing on Semiotics as found in " Il nome della rosa " and "Eco's The "open work" (opera aperta), the "intention of the reader" ("intentio lectoris", the "limits" of interpretation"
Or brain surgery?
Bond trading?
Child care?

Everything?

Because --and for fucks sake it should be obvious---a video or video game is at best a Simulacrum,

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(A simulacrum (plural: simulacra from Latin: simulacrum, which means "likeness, similarity" is a representation or imitation of a person or thing.[1] The word was first recorded in the English language in the late 16th century, used to describe a representation, such as a statue or a painting, especially of a god. By the late 19th century, it had gathered a secondary association of inferiority: an image without the substance or qualities of the original.[2] Philosopher Fredric Jameson offers photorealism as an example of artistic simulacrum, where a painting is sometimes created by copying a photograph that is itself a copy of the real.[3] Other art forms that play with simulacra include trompe-l'œil,[4] pop art, Italian neorealism, and French New Wave.)

That's why I ask if watching porn videos is good practice to make you a better, and alert, and nicer partner in the real pillow world.

No mas..

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

i hope people let me win so i could send you the trophy.
the complete opposite of how john would want the w.
just got in from a 20k light bike.
feels good!
i will agree to the group b stuff i wish there was a 110hp fwd car to pratice in dirt but there isn't. unless you play richard burns rally where classic fwd's like the mini or even r2 fiestas fit the bill better for what i'm doing. practicing or having fun. kinda like if i'm jerking off to vids or having sex.( whatever your stint about thats all about) sex life councelling anarchy.and refresher if i fit on the crx with the cage i would've stuck with it. and point taken that a longer wheel base is nicer on higher speed gravel. don't worry old fella all the ranting and raving is being listened too, you gotta let the pups make mistakes too. we can't all custom build shit for old rigs all the time. not on the budget or time restraints hence a cheap and easy honda.
you can experience offsetting g forces and smooth lines or scrubbing speed at rallyx or karting. that if "learned" is applicable to any 4wheel racing as well as setting sections due to dynamics of corners to optimize speed. it all relative einstien.
thought maybe we were clicking then something clicked.

hard to give a single fuck..

thanks for the bike advice all the time is appreciated and noted.
i'll take all info on those bone busting 2 wheelers into consideration. with the short riding season we get up here the thought of a dual sport is nice doe

---

All bridges burnt, island life is beauty



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/2016 03:07AM by Snidewhips.

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Robert Culbertson

The silly street version can be a silly dirt version with just swapping the wheels out. You also get the nice and adjustable inverted fork on the SM.

I miss embarrassing the sport bike guys on tight and twisty mountain roads, even with its roaring 30ish hp

I also wouldn't label the DRZ400 as slow. It's no 2-stroke screamer, but it'll power wheelie in 1-2. It's also amazingly easy to ride fast and slide around corners.

If you swap wheels then you still should change out for a dirt front rotor. The SM is a bit big for anything loose.

For a heavy low power bike it keeps up well on the street and on dirt. I would say I can outpace half the people on 2 strokes I ride with on single track. Makes for some good excuses at the end of the day. Just exhausting manhandling such a heavy bike.