High vis riding gear helps, especially a noticeable helmet. I've been down twice, once on the street (in 91) and once on track. Won't catch me w/o all the gear, all the time.
Sounds like you've been having fun. The road is probably best to get situated with the bike and how it handles. Now to upgrade to some real offroading. Do you guys have any state orv trails or riding areas? Might need some different tires for that tho. Good reason to buy another set of wheels. Quick change street to dirt for the real fun.
Bingo...it doesn't matter who's "fault" it is, the guy on the bike is the one most likely hurt or dead
For sure on the wheels! This bike is the SM model, which is super motard. The main difference is the street wheels that are fat 17", compared to more narrow 21"front and 18" rear on the other DRZ models. (Also bigger font rotor, inverted forks, and wider swing arm for the wider rear wheel.) This bike had street tires when I bought it, and I asked if they would buy the tires on the bike and I bought the trail tires, which they installed. I need a set of some true off road wheels with knobbies. Texas is top 5 for privately owned land vs public, but there is some parks (that I had to look up, never been to any). Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Big Bend National Park. Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. Franklin Mountains State Park. McKinney Falls State Park. Texas land is 4.2% public owned, 95.8% privately owned, and as a country, USA is 39.8% public owned and 60.2% private owned. Rhode Island is top for privately owned but what is that, a cul-de-sac street with eight houses?
Yea the SM part slipped my mind while writing that. Had a buddy that had one a couple years ago. An SM DRZ. He ended up getting knobbies on a set of wheels for it. Not sure exactly what he did. As for the SM outfitted DRZ of yours. No reason you can't run an oversized rotor offroad it would just be pricey if it got bent. Kinda sounds like you got the right bike for TX. Probably lots of dirt roads if you get in the right area? I would guess the state parks and such probably don't allow off road vehicles? In Michigan they usually don't. We have orv trails in the norther part of the lower peninsula and upper along with a couple "scramble" areas. They're just larger acreage areas you can ride and play in. Have to buy stickers and such to ride them. I go to Tennessee riding offroad and it's a little different down there. They have several privately owned orv parks. The one i go to is Windrock Park. It's something like 70000+ acres and 300 miles of trails. All different skill levels of trails. Maybe TX has something similar?
Welp, after nearly 20 years off the biking scene, things have opened up again. My first putt was a Maxim 550, then a Shadow 1100. Much has changed in that time. Full face helmets come with chin pieces to keep air from coming up and in. Comms are no longer plug into the bike but bluetooth and rechargeable. The old plastic HJC replaced by a carbon fiber jobbie with internal sun shield....(Sedici) Leather coats are these thin things, but with elbow and back "plates". I have proper raingear! No more water running up my legs to meet in the middle, or drain effectively into my boots...! Windshield this time. I never did much wrenching on my '93 Shadow. You tube didnt exist to diy back then! This followed me home today. Shadow Spirit. 2 pin. A little lower rpm at higher speeds than the 1100c2/Sabre model. Only things I want to do at this point in figure out how to polish the minor aluminum wear on the front forks, and find a blinking tail light gadget. Maybe I'll take it in for a tune up to make sure everythings perfect. And, maybe add under bar fog lights.
Nice ride, congrats!! Love the color. It looks well cared for. The internal flip down sun visor is something I will never be without. My primary helmet has it. Really great to be able to ride with that down and your clear one up a bit on really hot days, especially around town at low speed. Those forks should be clear coated so you might end up needing to refinish the entire legs if it's missing/stripped. Once you polish aluminum, it's a never ending affair, unless sealed over with something. Especially if you ride or store it out in the elements.
It'll take a couple weeks to get the dmv paperwork finished. No more walk-ins. I took it for a quick rip around the block yesterday. I'll check out the nifty sun visor thing on a longer ride. I like not needing to carry tinted glasses, and or a tinted visor everywhere I go. If work is part of a ride, I never leave in the same daylight conditions I arrived in. How would I go about polishing it and then clear coating? Never done that kind of thing. I have an angle grinder that will take a variety of polishers I reckon. Forks and front rim. Neither are a real eyesore, but if I can get it in good shape once, it should stay that way (garaged) for a long time.
Polishing is sort of a slippery slope. If the clear is just needing polished that’s one thing but if it is flaked/chipped or completely oxidized, the best way would be strip it all off. If it were me in that situation, I’d pull the forks off the bike, but not totally necessary depending on your level of ocd. I would only go that route if the clear is beyond salvage. From what I see in your pic, doesn’t seem to need that level of refurb. I’d say start with a decent paint polish on them and see what happens. Once bare metal is polished, every season or two you could polish again with a rag to keep it shiny. After that first time, it doesn’t take much to get back to chrome like luster, unless you let it go for too long. I’ve never clear coated it but I’ve seen guys that do (with an entire frame for example). All I’ve ever done was the edges of wheels and exhaust canisters. Since I don’t rain ride it lasts many years with little maintenance. Just a quick polish with Mothers.
Very cool, I will check that out. It doesn't need to be a show-piece, but a little elbow grease might bring it up a level. More general question: I took it for a short ride down the block and back, just cuz. I checked the engine oil dipstick, and there was cream all over it. Ran it for a moment longer, checked it again, same. I drained the oil just to see, and it was a solid brown yellow, no streaking, bubbles or stuff floating on any of it. Is that normal? It's more than I wanted to see . . new oil and filter going on tomorrow.
That’s typical of water in the oil. Extreme case once at the bike shop, I drained, refilled with the cheapest oil available, went for a short ride, then dumped it again. Keep an eagle eye on your coolant level and make sure it’s not getting into the crankcase. They alway say the worse thing for an engine is a commute that doesn’t get the oil hot enough to boil out the moisture. After you change it, make sure you go for a longer ride.
(wipes sweat from brow) thank you. I don't think it was ridden much recently, even though the seller said oil and filter change were done. I'll put a good run on it once ppwk is done. It's a 5 speed, the last one was a 4. I'm rusty and the shift points are a little different. I might attempt a coolant flush, and will mark the new level with a marker.
Good looking bike, love that color! Unless those forks are really bad, I'd leave them alone...polishing them up will turn into a major rabbit hole PITA. Chances are high that what you seen in the oil is just from someone doing short trips with the bike, should burn off after you ride more "normal" for a bit...I can't say I've ever heard of a Shadow with a head gasket leak...if anything maybe the water pump, but I really doubt even that.
I took 22 years off from riding. My last bike was a 1974 900cc BMW beater, my biggest ever at the time. My “new” bike is 100cc bigger and 43 years newer. It’s been a bit of an adjustment! I had scooters for years in between, but they don’t really count. Welcome back to the fold!
Thousands of miles of smaller "Farm to market" highways, and county roads, which could be asphalt, oil sand, gravel, dirt (or mud). Not sure on the state property, I've never been on any.
Anyone here interested in a pair of brain buckets & bags ? I didn’t even realize I still had them. They are cooty free & haven’t been worn in years. The visor on the bell has a crack on one side The neck piece on the back of this one has a zipper on it.
Rode the VTR today. LOVE this thing.. She’s proper clean at any angle. Turned over 8,700mi on the ride into work.
Did a couple more mods (see add weight to anchor) to the DRZ400 this week. Already did the Enduro Engineering skid plate. Did the Yoshimura rear Fender delete and added a PMR tail rack a couple days later. The Yoshimura RFD before and after pics:
Here's the PMR tail rack. Before and afters without factory tool bag, then after with factory tool bag. Still need to find a reasonably priced bag that fits the rack.
