Here goes. 
I started reading about the Enfield 500 and fitting a Yanmar L100 clone into it, as seen here: http://www.altmann.haan.de/riding_on_salad_oil/
After many conversations with the owner of this conversion I decided the Enfield wouldn't be the best thing to convert. I needed something a bit more "Adventure" style. Although I will definitely be using an Enfield sprung seat.
The L100 is originally a Yanmar engine but loads of Chinese companies have copied it. It supplies a paltry 10HP, which should eventually get the bike to 65mph. You may have heard the expression anything over 10HP is wheel-spin? This probably applies to a bike that doesn't have a heavy diesel engine in it. I'm expecting performance to be dreadful.
I set about looking for a cheap trail bike something around 400cc. This as difficult as everybody wants them. It had to have a steel frame because one way or the other the frame was getting cut and/or modified. I was looking at the XR400 or 650L but then an 1992 XTZ660 Tenere came up for £350 on this site.
Criteria was simple. Straight steel frame, decent suspension and good wheels/brakes.
The picture looked MUCH better than the real thing. When I say MUCH, I mean that everything was broke. I somehow rode it back from Nottingham, although by the time I was up Newcastle I was doing 7000RPM at 60mph complements of one ****ed clutch.
The bike looked like good value. It was not. It came with a spare wheel, and it needed it, as the one fitted had a large hole in it.
Having bought my first house I took a bit of time to get the pre-fab garage renovated. I have a reputation for doing things properly after all, and after spending two weeks breathing in asbestos
the bike was inside and the tools began to be assembled.
I stripped the bugger to the engine and that's coming out today. Most the bolts were seized and a grinder was used extensively. I also noticed how shit Yamaha are at building bikes, everything is over-engineered. The rear passenger pegs weigh as much as a KTM Enduro.
I started reading about the Enfield 500 and fitting a Yanmar L100 clone into it, as seen here: http://www.altmann.haan.de/riding_on_salad_oil/
After many conversations with the owner of this conversion I decided the Enfield wouldn't be the best thing to convert. I needed something a bit more "Adventure" style. Although I will definitely be using an Enfield sprung seat.
The L100 is originally a Yanmar engine but loads of Chinese companies have copied it. It supplies a paltry 10HP, which should eventually get the bike to 65mph. You may have heard the expression anything over 10HP is wheel-spin? This probably applies to a bike that doesn't have a heavy diesel engine in it. I'm expecting performance to be dreadful.
I set about looking for a cheap trail bike something around 400cc. This as difficult as everybody wants them. It had to have a steel frame because one way or the other the frame was getting cut and/or modified. I was looking at the XR400 or 650L but then an 1992 XTZ660 Tenere came up for £350 on this site.
Criteria was simple. Straight steel frame, decent suspension and good wheels/brakes.
The picture looked MUCH better than the real thing. When I say MUCH, I mean that everything was broke. I somehow rode it back from Nottingham, although by the time I was up Newcastle I was doing 7000RPM at 60mph complements of one ****ed clutch.
The bike looked like good value. It was not. It came with a spare wheel, and it needed it, as the one fitted had a large hole in it.
Having bought my first house I took a bit of time to get the pre-fab garage renovated. I have a reputation for doing things properly after all, and after spending two weeks breathing in asbestos
the bike was inside and the tools began to be assembled.I stripped the bugger to the engine and that's coming out today. Most the bolts were seized and a grinder was used extensively. I also noticed how shit Yamaha are at building bikes, everything is over-engineered. The rear passenger pegs weigh as much as a KTM Enduro.
