Motoz Mountain Hybrid Rear Tire Review

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Mud-Pluggin': Testing the DIY Camera Swivel Mount

After riding a friend's trials bike last weekend, I took the Berg out for a slow and steady mud-pluggin' ride around the local trails at the end of Doumont Road, Nanaimo.  I tested the lowered pegs (excellent!), the boots (excellent!) and the prototype cheap and easy DIY "whirlitzer cam"...  It was fun putting it together and not quite as challenging to use as I thought, although it can be cumbersome, and a little destabilizing as it whirls around ya helmet!...Any way, here's the vid...

ADV Thread: Vancouver Island Day Trips

This fella, who goes by the moniker Tropic o Canada has an interesting multi-year thread going on ADVRider of single day and multi-day rides on, predominantly southern Vancouver Island (although I notice he visits the north-end of the island too).  I found it very interesting and inspiring, particularly because he rides whatever the season or weather and frequently solos.  He touches everything from spelunking rides, curiosities and every-day maintenance on his DRZ400, It's going in the links section, as the thread is still active with his posts.  Well worth a read on a rainy day.

He engineered his Rotopax to sit on the side of the bike. Eh, Andy? Eh??

Brush Clearing Made Easy: Foldable Agawa Canyon Boreal 21

For you quadders and brush-clearing enthusiasts, I just stumbled across a Canadian made folding saw reviewed on DSBC.  It looks excellent!  This is the time of year when things need cleaning out, and I always carry a little foldable hand saw, but nothing like this!  67USD.

Top Folded.  Bottom: Deployed.

Great video review:

UPDATED: Forma Terrain TX Enduro Series Boot Review

Just a quick entry to say, after initially being underwhelmed by these boots,  I'm liking the Formas more and more now.  After several walks on rocky terrain (thanks, James), and some insoles (my feet are long but not wide), lowered pegs on the bike, these boots are working well.

I have been on two slow speed (very) single-track rooty technical rides with the TX Enduros and begun to get quite used to them. After initially disliking the clunky over protected feel, they are now conforming to my feet, becoming more flexible and giving me the feedback I need to change gear and brake more accurately.  I had one off yesterday on black top, and had it not been for the boots and the excellent MSR knee guards, I would be in a cast with a likely fractured patella and twisted ankle.  Admittedly it was a slow speed on-the-pegs lock to lock figure eight practice with no real speed involved, but my right knee and boot were the first to impact the road and become sandwiched by the bike.  I'm wincing to think about what that would have been like if I had been wearing sweat pants and my hush puppies...

The boots are very comfortable now, the adjusters are extremely well thought out, super easy to use and make for very quick fitting and removal.  No word on waterproof"ness" yet, but the soles are grippy and the buckles don't snag on leaves or debris.  Needless to say, with the solid hiking boot sole, the steel toe, rear impact guards and hinge, I feel well protected.

The only downside is that because I wanted the enduro sole for hiking to those inaccessible fishing holes, the grips make it hard to slide the boot on the ground, and require a deliberate thought to lift the boot from the pegs rather than slide them off.  But frankly that's like buying a Porsche and complaining about the lack of room...Not that I'll ever be in that position.  I'm sure I'll get used to that too, over time.

Being my first bike boot ever, I don't feel I can give them a rating so far, but I will say they are growing on me in leaps and bounda and are well worth the money, especially when compared to similarly equipped - but far more expensive - boots from other well known companies like Gaerne, Sidi and the like.

More Bergy Bits: DIY Lowered Footpegs on the Husaberg FE390

Lowered by 1.5 inches...screw 7mm!

One of the interesting things that all bike owners get to do is modify and customize their ride to suit themselves.  I had a DR650 which I resprung, de-weighted and lowered the footpegs on (with the help of a friend who could weld).  While re-springing the big Suzuki was amazing, lowering the pegs was the best and cheapest mod I did.  It boosted my riding ability more than any other mod has ever done before or since. It transformed my confidence on slower more technical sections and, together with bar risers, made it much more comfortable to stand on the pegs.  Of course lowering the centre of gravity didn't hurt either; in fact, it was amazing how much easier the big bike was to navigate through quite technical areas at walking speed.

The original steel pegs (ktm footpeg 590.03.041.250)

The Husaberg has much more ground clearance than the old DR, and being a very compact bike, it can be cramped in the cockpit for a 6 footer wanting to stand on the pegs for long periods of time and ride dual-sport.  Not only that, but standing on the pegs gives the impression of being in helicopter. Not that the bike notices at all; it's my neurosis.  So, after riding for a year, I decided, rather than buy some risers, a high bar, and re-thread all the cables and hydraulics, it would be simpler to buy some lower pegs.
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But, on looking around there are only a few aftermarket products out there.  They are slick, look nice, come in anodized blue or orange aluminum (depending on your cool-aid of choice), but they only offer a whopping 7mm of adjustment down by using a "collar".  7mm?  That won't even defer the height gain from my new boots.  For this you pay in $189 US before shipping, duty and taxes. Call it $250 CDN, or if you like $35 per mm.

Ouch.

So there was only one thing for it, a pegoplasty or peg-reduction if you like.  The exact opposite of those pecker augmentation emails Andy keeps getting.  [edit:  Hey, don't knock it--those augmentation devices worked for me! ~Andy]  First, I thought about making an extension bracket that would slot into the original bodywork and hang lower, but that would be very hard to stabilize as the peg is held with a large-bore clevis pin with only split-pin securing it.  The pegs would waggle.  Not the thing when slopping through mud or balancing on that log.   Then I happened across a guy who has done the same thing on his KTM 990.  Oh yeah, they use the same pegs as all the other KTM/Husa/Husky products out there - ktm footpeg 590.03.041.250.  Actually it's stamped right on the peg.  So I looked that up...$60 per peg. That was my insurance.  I would cut the pegs themselves, get a plate welded in, and weld the peg back together.  If I didn't like it, then I could always buy original (or aftermarket - $35 per mm...ouch) pegs again without having screwed up the bracket.  

Despite what Andy's mum told him, that is what 1.5 inches looks like.  When I got the pegs back, because of where I had directed them to cut, they had these serrations on the bracket.  They would not be nice on my boots, so I ground them off.

Grinding the serrations off...Something I wouldn't have had to do if I had them cut the bracket off the peg, rather than the peg off the bracket...but what fun would that have been?  Now I can look at these in the knowledge, that in some small way, I helped fabricate them...I could over time, even exaggerate and take all the credit...No, only the Welsh would stoop.

Then I sat on the bike, pondered, measured some more and fabricated some wooden "pegs" at approximately the what felt like the right height and measured.  1.5 inches lower would do it.  My legs would be somewhat straighter, I would not feel like I was lurching over the bars when standing. Not only that, my centre of gravity would be lower.

Wish I could weld like that.  Heck, I wish could weld!

But there are other, more serious considerations to worry about: the pegs must be no lower than the bash plate, the rear brake pedal must be able to be adjusted low enough, and the side stand must clear the port peg...I turns out that lowering the pegs by 1.5 inches is the absolute maximum that you can manage while meeting all of those criteria.

A 1.5 inch plate welded in place.  Top serrations removed.

So after that long-winded ramble, here are the shots of the finished product.  Thank you Nanaimo Sheet Metal - precision cut, plate inserted and, critically, welded back together at exactly the right angle (no not 90 degrees!).  I furnished them with the link above and they did the rest.  $100 for both. Money well spent?  Only time will tell.

Grinding finished.

Above and below.  Mounted on the bike.

Above and Below: brake pedal adjusted fully low with specified 5mm play.

I haven't ridden with it yet, but I am very pleased with the results so far.  I'll mount my new rear (ouch that sounds awkward) and let you know how it goes...  Maybe some more finagling with shifter and brake, but that can be fun too!