Hi Guys,
Sorry to have been out of the Forum for quite a while but I've been pretty busy - among other things putting 10,000 kms onto G 650 X-Country!
I've now tried the bike out under just about every condition that I can think of, and certainly more that I had asked for it: green lanes, rather hard hill climbs, fast road riding, long-ish distance touring laden with camping clobber and, as of Monday last, a morning burn up in glorious mountain roads with a lithe and very lovely young woman on the pillion - thanks to the bike's good looks, "
¡Qué chulo!", certainly not mine! - And with Mrs Klaus' consent I hasten to add!
So, how to make a X-County fit a huge range of needs/desires - now read on:
OK - mods and accessories: Continental TKC 80 trial/enduro tyres - have transformed the bike! They’re not a great deal of change for road use apart from a rather sickening noise from the front boot under hard braking. Riding in the wet is OK, surprisingly good in fact and wear and tear seems better than the Metzeler Tourance as fitted to the series: I've just changed the rear tyre after about 6,500 kms, although there is still plenty of tread for road use (I'm going on a
'competitive' rally in the Pyrenees later this month, so felt I'd better be as well equipped as possible!) But off-road they give a great sense of control, especially riding out of deep ruts at an angle, sliding through mud holes, etc. - can't say better really.
Hepco & Becker luggage rack: easily takes my 11kg camping bag even though the small print (in the form of a sticker on the tubing once you've taken delivery!) says the recommended load is only 5 kgs!
Touratech lightweight aluminium bash plate - I fitted this as the original nylon one didn't seem to be up to the job - especially as I live in a rocky country. The part was easy to fit although the gap for the oil pipe behind the gearbox is wrong, needing a bit more taken out - Touratech seem to know this as they advise 'bending' the oil pipe to suit. Bending a rigid pipe eh? So
null points here. Worse in fact, as the missing armour laves the oil pipe exposed to the elements as it were! The hole for the oil drain nut also appears off-centre, but I think a ring spanner will work - I'll have to wait and see for that but it would be a real drag to have to a) keep taking the plate off to change the oil or b) enlarge the hole. But otherwise the plate doesn't get clogged up with mud or boulders and it looks great!
Touratech hand guards - easy to fit and not too bulky although they look a bit too slender for rushing through forest branches. If I had my time over I would have searched further around the 'net, but I had an order for the bash plate and wanted to pad out the postage so that's my fault - they also look much better once I'd scraped the logo off!
Touratech chain guard/guide - eminently sensible and well produced. The guard fits right over the rear sprocket where the chain engages the teeth, so I have a lot of faith in this fitting -
diez points here!
Wish list:H & b centre stand – this should come in handy for all sorts of occasions but I’m worried about the ground clearance – I see another X-Country in my zone but s/he’s always flying out of a side road when I’m whizzing by in the car, so although I can see a centre stand I’m not sure what it is – it doesn’t look as good as the H & B one!
A few spacers to lift the front mudguard just a couple of centimetres further away from the tyre – this doesn’t look too difficult, just a question of having a workshop to hand – where are/were you Touratech?
Epic and humdrum journeys:As I mentioned in my introduction I live between Catalonia's Mediterranean coast at Tarragona, near Barcelona, and the Pyrenees near a place called Tremp, in what is called the Pre-Pyrenees (the main difference is that these are limestone, so it's a landscape of wide open sierra and impressive gorges, rather than 'Alpine' peaks spending about six months in each but not all in one chunk as it were. In between the two are the littoral mountain ranges, limestone again in the main, and the 'pla d'Urgell' a huge plain of wheat fields, olive groves and fruit orchards. So I do a lot of riding on windy back roads, country lanes and a few very fast major routes. Off road there are networks of forest trails in the mountain and a veritable maze of farm tracks in the plain - one literally needs a compass even still it's very easy to get lost - no SatNavs for me! Basically the bike just laps these up - I make it a point never to do the same route twice and always allow several hours extra - although naturally I have my favourites! - I love the way the X-Country is so adaptable -'Jack of all trades. . '? Well, perhaps but if it's not a 'master' of all then it's so close run so as not to matter - I suppose this depends on one's expectations though.
Long rides have taken me up into the high Pyrenees over the Port de Bonaigües pass - west into Aragon via Pony de Suerte, Ainsa and a fabulous tour around the Sierra de Guara based at Camping Alquezar - the owner/manager is another rejuvenated biker and gave me a fantastic itinerary (I'll do the Googlemap one of there days - if anyone's interested send me a PM). Then down over the Los Monegros region to Belchite, west to Calatayud and then my longest and hardest day's riding yet along the Cordillera Iberica and into the weird Maestrazgo region - a very isolated areas despite its seeming close to the coast: Calatayud - Molina de Aragon - Albaracín - Teruel - Cantavieja - Morella - Peñiscola - an odd sounding destination, perhaps, but about the only nice place to stay along that whole section of coast!
Finally, “At last!” I hear you cry! Passenger work was just fine! This is in sharp contras to what I’d been led to expect from a post on AVRider - which now I cannot find! – but bearing in mind that my companion was a) very lithe, and b) a very good pillion rider, the bike more than matched anything I could expect of it. OK, I’m not going to drive RTW with Mrs K, who can ride the bike perfectly well for herself, and besides, we bicker and squabble enough in the car! But, seriously, I had a great ride over a wide range of conditions, narrow ‘B’ roads with lots of hairy bends – here the braking is decidedly ponderous – wide open major roads with lots of overtaking around fast bends – OK but a bit hairy on log downhill bends – and finally a fast hill climb up an pass with virtually no traffic, overtaking lanes through and seriously off camber, ever tightening comers – here the extra weight on the rear wheel made the ride sublime, there seemed to e no angle of lean too much - my passenger loved it, but on the downhill section I was less enamoured!
Here’s the route we did if ever you want a few hours’ break from slugging it the Mediterranean coast roads – NB the
Catalan Cartographic Institute’s maps are much much better than anything else you’ll get online – select ‘Image’ and then you can merge satellite and cartographic images to taste – sexy!
Narrow windy ‘B’ roads:
Torredembarra – Salomo – Santes Creus – Pont d’Armentera – Santa Coloma de Queralt (not via Pontils – stay on the C37 until it joins the B220!) – Llorac – Ciutadilla.
Fast ‘A’ roads (best at luchtime when there’s no truck traffic!):
Ciutadilla – Belltall – Montblanc
Amazing fast mountain pass , the ‘Coll de Lilla’:
Follow the N240 from Montblanc to Tarragona – the fun starts at Lilla and ends at Fontescaldes!
That's all for now folks - illustrations fto follow!
Simon
. I saw one for the first time on Saturday and was smitten - small, beautifully made, slim and looking like a sensible weight. It was an 09 model with the lower seat.
