Devon TRF Group Forum

Hi Mike try SimonP he knows what works on motorway and lanes.

Just put on new Continental TKC80, front and rear, done a hundred miles now.
Cant fault them, fine for trail riding but do inspire confidence on the road.
I did my shakedown on an old pair of AC10s, acceptable on the lanes (not my choice) and diabolical on the road.
At a steady 70 the noise was horrendous, really tiring.
On the "tiring" bit, I bought one of the Ying tong screen tops, fully adjustable, well made, £16 delivered.
Absolutely brilliant, got rid of 90% of the buffeting.
The whole idea that you might need to munch some miles to get to "wherever" or get a move on to catch the ferry back etc, means LESS tiring is good!
Bike nearly finished now, think it is going to tick all the boxes, just need to become more at ease with it, no bits shaking loose etc etc.
TET - yippee!

Looked at all the various bikes for purchase or ideas.

Pour moi, Carbs not fuel injection, air cooled not water cooled, 18/21" not 17/19, chain driven, standard size discs (larger ones get bent), large single engine, wide ratio box for dual carriageway / munching the miles, light enough for one person to pick up etc

So I plonked for a CCM 644 DS, fitted 18/21 wheels, tubliss and TKC80s.

I checked their faults, broken subframes, poor build quality, although most of the parts are all good, Brembo, WP etc and an unburstable Suzuki 650 lump (I hope)

Made up centre stand, bars to triangulate rear subframe and support for panniers, tail tidy, bashplate (6mm), rack for front guard / screen support and controls.

Bar warmers, USB charging for Ying Tong 7" sat nav in waterproof bar mount case.

Separate seat bit for protection of the obvious bits, seat had too much slope to the front so everything was being dragged about, no problem for a couple of hours but after 2 days! (needed sorting)

Drink system, camelbak fine for a few hours trail riding or H&H, but just extra weight on your person.

Tool kit in behind headlights, tight to forks.

Went to a lot of trouble to consolidate all weight, sat nav at eye level (Ask Brian TTR), controls to hand.

My personal take on the modern generation true adventure bike - not really fit for purpose.

Too heavy, luggage is usually way back and far too high, sat nav on bars too far from line of sight, replacement parts a fortune, plug in diagnostics etc

A lot of thought and far too much time went into it, 2 day shakedown went well apart from hitting a bridge, but good to go now.

Time will tell!!!

Always a compromise first choice were mitas mt 09 Dakar , bitch to fit very hard side walls front didn't wear as well as the rear .I have just fitted conti tkc 80 not tried them yet a lot easier to fit and cost a lot more. other one I considered was the anakee wild . Off to France Wednesday time will tell

simon p