BMC: Overview

Start 53943 km

End 58392 km

Total Distance = 4449 km

The best day was from Fairlie to Invercargil. The strong wind made the high gravel passes a really fun challenge. Combined with the magnificently scenic visual impact it was a totally exhilarating day.

Otago and Southland have many roads suited to adventure riding, with amazing scenery. Hopefully I will get to travel a few more of these roads in the future.

The XT400 did not miss a beat. All I did was fill it up with gas and oil the chain. I did check the valve clearance on one valve but it was fine. I really need to clean the air filter now!

If I do another trip like this, I will sort out a better, more comfortable seat. My sore bum was the only really limiting factor that I struck during this little adventure ride.

Petrol Receipts

I kept all of my petrol receipts just to gather a bit more information.

Here they are:

25 Nov 08:22 Shell Riverslea (Edgecumbe)10.13 litre 95 octane 208 km $17.51

25 Nov 12:18 Shell Wairoa 11.65 litre 95 octane 227.5 km $20.37

25 Nov 15:58 BP Connect Taihape 14.08 litre 98 octane 264 km $25.76

25 Nov 18:04 Caltex Woodville 6.07 litres 95 octane 123.2 km $10.50

25 Nov 20:05 Faulknors Mobile Masterton 6.31 litres 95 octane 117.2 km $10.84

26 Nov 02:30 Ferry crossing $73

26 Nov 7:27 Geoff Noad Energy Centre (Blenheim) 8.5 litres 95 octane 178.5 km $14.78

26 Nov 10:36 Caltex Kaikoura 12.56 litres 95 octane 133.1 km $12.56

26 Nov 14:06 Lewis Pass Motors (Springs Junction) 11.66 litres 95 octane 220.3 km $22.27

26 Nov 17:39 Springfield Service Centre (Caltex) 13.93 litres 95 octane 266.8km $24.77

26 Nov 20:12 Fairlie Gateway Top 10 holiday park. Accomodation $60

27 Nov 10:40 MGL Caltex Fairlie 9.87 litres 96 octane 180.1 km $17.26

27 Nov 12:55 Kurow Caltex ?? litres 91 octane 125.2 km $9.82 (1 litre oil $10.95)

27 Nov 14:42 Danseys Pass Coach Inn (Beer and toasted sandwiches) 23.50

27 Nov 15:16 Challenge Ranfurly 5.05 litre 95 octane 100.6 km $8.94

27 Nov 18:33 Mobil Gore 11.07 litre 91 octane 192.1 km $18.36

27 Nov 19:30 get to Oreti Beach.

29 Nov 10:38 Kingston gas Ltd 12.74 litres 95 octane 225.1 km $22.67

29 Nov 13:29 Cardrona Pub (Beer (Pint of Speights)and pasta of the day) $25.50

29 Nov 14:09 BP 2GO Wanaka 8.9 litres 98 octane 171.2 km $16.82

29 Nov 15:15 Johnston Motors Haast (Caltex) 10.43 lites 95 octane 184.2 km $20.02

29 Nov 19:21 BP Hokitika 14.68 litres 95 octane 274.1 km $26.12

29 Nov 20:27 The duke Backpackers $40 accomodation

30 Nov 10:19 BP 2GO Westport 7.45 litres 95 octane 139.1 km $14.07

30 Nov 14:29 BP 2GO Westport 11.39 litres 95 octane 223.5 km $21.52

30 Nov 15:49 Murchison Tearooms (Ham roll) $6.10

30 Nov 17:30 StarMart Bishopdale (Caltex) 11.73 litres 95 octane 218.0 km $20.40

30 Nov 20:47 Rumba cafe Picton Coffee and pasta $19.50

30 Nov 22:30 Ferry crossing $73

02 Dec 11:24 BP Connect Levin ?? litres 239.2 km $21.82

02 Dec 14:40 Caltex Raetihi 9.47 litres 95 octane 202.8 km $16.76

02 Dec 18:35 BP Connect Te Puna ?? litres 280.1 km $23.68

BMC: Day 8 Wellington to Tauranga - Home.

Wednesday 2nd December 2009

Departed Wellington approx 9:00am

Rode to Wanganui and went along the Whanganui River to Pipiriki. Then over to Raetihi.

After so many miles on the bike, my bum was starting to ache. Usually the ache went away when i got onto gravel roads as I have to continually shift my body weight around on the bike to maintain good steerage. However, I had got to the stage where it was really quite sore.

I did have more adventurous plans to go elsewhere, but due to my aching bum, I decided to take the main roads straight from Raetihi to Tauranga.

I stopped off in Oropi for 15 minutes to see Dave's very recent purchase, an NSR250, and then home to Whakamarama.

Google maps link

Depart Wellington 9:00am odometer 57800km

Arrive Home 5:15pm odometer58392km

592km over 8.25 hours.

BMC: Day 7 Wellington rest day

Tuesday 1st december 2009

I was knackered!

I slept for about 4 hours in the afternoon.

Had pizza for dinner.

Wet windy day although did go for a bit of a walk around central Wellington during a fine spell of weather.

BMC: Day 6 Greymouth - Karamea - Picton

Monday 30th November 2009

Departed Greymouth approx 9:00am

On to Westport [rock falls] and up to Karamea and to the complete end of the road at Kohaihai where the Heaphy Track starts. Light rain most of the time but was still fun.

Talked to an Israeli tramper who had hiked back out after hiking in for one day as he had forgotten his raincoat. D'oh! He was soaked through but in reasonable spirits.

Then back to Karamea pub for a beer and a vege soup.

Then back to Westport and on to Nelson.

Went part way over the Maungatapu track only to find that it was closed. I wish they could put up a sign telling you so at the start of the Maitai River Rd.

So back into Nelson and over the Queen Charlotte Drive to Picton.

I had a green Thai curry and booked my ferry ticket. $73

Set sail at 10:30pm and arrived Wellington 1:30am.

Crashed out at Pete's at 2:00am.

Google maps Link

Depart Greymouth 9:00am odometer 57111km

Arrive Picton 8:00pm odometer 57800km

689km over 11 hours

BMC: Day 5 Invercargil to Greymouth

Sunday 29th November 2009

Got up about 7:00am. had another pre-paid $11 breakfast.

Packed up my tent and oiled the chain.

Departed the campground approx 9:10am.

There was a toy run organised to go out to Wyndham where the street racing was to be held.

However, due to the nasty looking weather forecast I decided to make tracks back up North.

I went through Winton and on towards Frankton. Then up the Coronet Peak Rd to Skippers Rd and out to Skippers Bridge. This is a very narrow twisty gravel road with totally blind single lane corners. It would not be so bad except for the number of tourists and small buses travelling it.

On to Wanaka. Here I diverted off to Treble Cone just to have a look. Then back to Wanaka and over to Haast. I made sure I got to Haast before 5pm just in case the petrol stations were shutting early to force people to stay the night. However, upon arrival I noticed a sign that said 24 hour card operated pumps. I did not need to check this out as the petrol station was open.

Up the West Coast Rd to Hokitika. I decided I did not need to fill up at Fox Glacier, as a result I VERY NEARLY ran out of gas before Hokitika. I must have pulled into Hokitika with less than 100 ml of petrol left. I was going to stay the night in Hokitika but decided to press on to Greymouth as I was feeling quite good.

Google maps Link

Depart Invercargil 9:10am odometer 56293

Arrive Greymouth 8:10pm odometer 57111km

818km over 11 hours

BMC: Day 4 At the Rally.

Saturday 28th November 2009

I had a good sleep-in in my tent.

The wind was up and was bitterly cold. It stayed like this for the duration of my time in Invercargil. I got in the queue for my $11 pre-paid breakfast and by the time i got to the servery they had run out of bacon and beans. Watched the road racing at Teretonga and then took in some of the speedway racing over at the speedway track. Both within walking distance of the camp ground.

Spent the evening in Jonno's campervan talking to an ex British Army helicopter pilot who used to fly around Southland doing live deer capture. Very interesting converasation.

BMC: Day 3 Fairlie to Invercargil

Friday 27th November 2009

Slept in till about 8:30am. Washed a few clothes. Checked the valve clearance on the noisy tappet (RH Exhaust). It seemed perfectly fine at 4 to 5 thou.

About 11:30am took off to Burke's Pass and headed along Rollesby Valley Rd then onto Mackenzie Pass Rd. Then along the Hakataramea Pass Rd. Fantastic scenery. Came out at Kurow where I gassed up.

Then on to Duntroon and over Dansey's Pass. It was blowing a gale and it was difficult going. I adapted my riding to suit the blustery conditions and really started to enjoy the ride immensly.

[more descriptive text reqd]

The Dansey's Pass Pub was an unexpected but completely welcome sight. What a great Pub! I stopped and had a beer and a couple of toasted sandwiches. Appriox 1:00pm.

I gassed up again at Ranfurly and headed off to Patearoa and through Paerau, along Upper Taieri Paerau Rd onto Linburn Runs Rd and then onto the Deep Creek Rd which leads onto the Lake Onslow Rd and through to Roxburgh. This was a pretty cool road!

Back onto the seal and through to Raes Junction, Tapanui, Gore and Invercargil.

I rode out onto Oreti Beach at 7:30pm to find that the beach racing had been cancelled due to high winds and also high-ish tide due partially also to the high winds. This was a bit of a bummer. I had just ridden for three days solid. I had really been looking forward to seeing the beach racing.

I went back to the Rally campgound near Teretonga racetrack and checked in and set up my tent. I went into the main marquee and got myself a couple of whiskeys. I started to look for Jonno, and almost instantly found him amoungst a few hundred bikers. Sweet.

Crawled into my tent at midnight. Job done!

Google Maps Link

Departed Fairlie 11:30am odometer 55797km

Arrive camp ground Invercargil 8:00pm odometer 56293km

496km over 8.5 hours

BMC: Day 2 Picton to Fairlie

Thursday 26th November 2009

On the Wellington side at the ferry terminal there were about 10 other bikes all heading down for the Burt Munroe Challenge. I got talking to them all as you do. One guy had put some Ducati 1098 mufflers on his VFR800. Looked pretty cool.

I got about 2 hours sleep on the ferry lying on the lounge bar floor with my ear plugs in.

Set off from Picton about 5:50am along the coast road to Rarangi and Blenheim. I had a major front end slide on a patch of gravel on seal just as the sun hit me with blinding sun strike at one point. Quite dangerous but I came out of it totally OK.

On towards Kaikoura and stopped to see if the Awatere Valley Rd through the Molesworth Sheep Station was open. It wasn't so I had to carry on via the Inland Kaikoura Rd stopping at Mt. Lyford.


Then along the Lewis Pass to reefton and through to Nelson's Creek and Inchbonnie. Riding along the Lewis Pass into a head wind at times I found the power of the XT lacking a bit. I was often down to 90km/h in 4th gear. To be able to ride fast enough to enjoy the more open sweepers on tarmac roads, a bit more horsepower is required. I can see why 600-660cc single cylinder 4 stroke adventure bikes are quite popular.

The Nelson Creek to Inchbonnie back road is quite open hardpack dirt/gravel and I was able to cruise at 90-100km/h quite safely. It was a bit of higher speed non-tarmac fun.



Back over Arthur's Pass to Darfield, Geraldine and Fairlie. Stayed the night at a Fairlie camp ground. Met 2 other bikers. One was Peter Steadman from Te Puke (GPz550) and his mate Carl (XJ1200?).

Depart Picton 5:50am odometer 54918km

Arrive Fairlie 8:30pm odometer 55797km

879 km over 14.5 hours

Google Maps Link

BMC: Day 1 Tauranga to Wellington

Wednesday 25th November 2009

Left Home at 6:10am. Went via Poripori Rd, then out along Oropi Rd.

Stopped at Dave's to grease the suspension. I also dropped off a dish washing brush as whenever I do the dishes there, they never have one. I also wanted to ask Dave about the roads around Ashurst. Their place looked pretty quiet at 6:30am so I didn't knock on the door and wake them up. I left the brush but forgot to grease my suspension. Meh!

Oropi Rd onto Mountain Rd and No. 2 Rd to Te Puke. Then out to Paengaroa and along Old Coach Rd an onto Matata and Edgcumbe. Then through Te Teko and Murapara. I stopped off at Lake Waikaremoana and had a pie and a banana. Then on to Wairoa and Napier. Then on to Taihape, nearly running out of gas.

Taihape to Mangaweka and Cheltenham then Ashurst. I then went over the saddle Rd to Woodville and back towards Palmerston North along the gorge road. Then I turned off at Ballance Gorge Rd and went along Hall Block Rd. The signs said No Exit but I thought I might be able to make way through anyway. After about 15 km of extremely gusty gravel road I came to a locked gate and had to turn back. Extremely strong winds! Nearly could not ride along the gravel as the wind just kept sledging the front wheel sideways to the edge of the road. Had to travel very slowly in first and second gear.

After this little dead end side track it was about 7:00pm so I just took the main roads down to Wellington over the Rimatuka's.

Arrived at Pete's place 9:20pm. Got to sleep at 11:00pm. Woke up at 1:00am and went down to catch the ferry.

Start Tauranga 6:10am odometer 53943km

Wellington 9:20pm odometer 54918km

975 km over 15 hours

Google map Link

http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=116+Leyland+Rd,+Whakamarama,+Bay+Of+Plenty+3176&daddr=Minden+Rd+to:Poripori+Rd,+Tauranga,+3171+to:2000+Oropi+Rd,+Oropi+to:Mountain+Road,+Oropi+to:No.+2+Rd+Te+puke+to:paengaroa+to:500+old+coach+Rd,+Pongakawa+to:1600+Old+Coach+Rd,+Bay+Of+Plenty+3186+to:Ohinepanea,+Bay+Of+Plenty+to:Edgecumbe,+Bay+Of+Plenty+to:1000+Te+Teko+Rd,+Te+Teko+to:Murupara,+Bay+Of+Plenty+to:Wairoa,+Hawkes+Bay+to:Tutira,+Hawkes+Bay+to:Fernhill,+Hawkes+Bay+to:Kuripapango,+Hawkes+Bay+to:Taihape,+Manawatu-wanganui+to:Rangiwahia+to:Ashhurst+to:Saddle+rd+to:Woodville+to:North+Range+Rd+to:Featherston+to:Wellington&hl=en&geocode=FaQ7wP0d9nt9CilLTH1xGcZtbTGhsiZnOmyGaQ%3BFXqRwP0dxk9-CimTKx_Sq8VtbTGr3_KyV4GCDQ%3BFQnQv_0dV0J-Cin5GqF0dM9tbTEx3SWwcDghEQ%3BFdfwvv0dYsd_CikLvIATFNFtbTEu8J78rQv_WA%3BFQMlvv0dP2iACil_7sJpfdRtbTGyjsRB2qkI0A%3BFVq1vv0dvSGCCim3iQreXX9ubTHaQ8emnkpqSg%3BFSfevv0d4NODCimPUXwsRntubTF-RmIVV0qN9g%3BFaGIvv0dMUWECikXMPtXZ2NubTGwqPwmLvWiZQ%3BFZGFvv0dV6CFCilZpI2DMmFubTFbs1vDjtESvQ%3BFdOfvv0dkhSGCimVuTkH6mBubTHwFGsF3WE_ig%3BFeOFvP0dvi-KCilJjGHnSv9ubTFJeC4zm3CbWQ%3BFUnWu_0did-JCimdHWgKUPlubTEfSgBso-bLHA%3BFcwltf0dH1CICindCovYDc5ubTHat5FZBvgb-A%3BFdlNrP0d7kuTCikHdMtWKppobTHgR-pLV_pDhg%3BFa68qf0dxvuKCim1pJoaeP1obTEx-XvMH5-hNQ%3BFb7go_0dcDSJCimhbbQ377dpbTGcofzMb_RGRA%3BFRXhpv0dGpSCCilDCPgBe4ZpbTEq9GxLXZOrgw%3BFX6Uov0dcnd6Cilx9nLL2m5qbTEKfJ1z0II6hg%3BFQA6n_0d_hh8CikPplNcDHZqbTEixQ7EXtkDZg%3BFYVEmf0dWtF5CimZHsiQKLdBbTEa_TGCjXKswQ%3BFf0jmf0dQ5t6Cik1BAr1nrlBbTGfwPq_wMopeA%3BFTqBmP0dSYN7Cim_GbT4aLxBbTE5n9RaM1cMEQ%3BFdD0l_0devd5Cg%3BFZ6ajP0dGzZzCilnQ5UsY8pAbTFZq0CUwmqeUg%3B&mra=ls&sll=-40.392581,176.940308&sspn=3.907381,6.696167&ie=UTF8&ll=-39.520992,178.439941&spn=7.913405,13.392334&z=7

Burt Munroe Challenge: Preparation

Tuesday 24th November 2009.

Well, I entered the Burt Munroe Challenge online.

$50 entry and 2 cooked breakfast (Sat and Sun Morning) at $11 each. $72 total.

Then I booked a Cook Strait Ferry crossing getting a BMC discount. $73.

I am allowing 3 days to get to Invercargil.

Two days (Sat Sun) at the rally.

Then 3 days to get home again.

I expect to take in a LOT of gravel and out-of-the-way roads.

I got a new Mitas E-09 rear tyre from LMS in Palmerston North $160 incl freight. The odometer showed 53774km at tyre change. I love these tyres.

The old tyre (also a Mitas E-09) had 5mm of tread depth left, so I may well use that again at some stage. The old tyre was put on at 48365km. So has done 5409km for 9mm of wear. (601km/mm of wear) This is about 170km/mm worse than the previous 2 E-09's. Hmmm?

I got Wobbly to weld an enlarged foot on the end of the side stand just so that it doesn't sink into the dirt as much.

The carbueration on the XT400 was still not all that good.

I got two 100 main jets off a friend Jared and I borrowed the needle out of the CV carb on a mates TT600. I put them in and the bike went the best it has ever gone. It was a little lacking in bottom end but was very good in the top end. I was happy enough for now.

I took it in to Smithy's for a warrant of fitness; $28, and registered it for 3 months; $86.

I also bought a pair of black padded Lycra cycling shorts for $70 to wear under my leather pants. I hope these help to make the ride a bit more comfortable.

I bought 4 AAA batteries for my torch $9.60.

I also filled up with 98 octane from BP. This was a little interesting. I was carrying a 2 litre jerry can in the rack pack and was on reserve tank, so was not worried about running out of gas. It just so happened that I ran out of gas on the downhill approach to the Te Puna BP. So I was able to measure exactly how much fuel the bike held. To fill it up to the absolute top from completely empty (even the carby bowls empty) took 13.9 litres.

Yesterday I did about 100km and today I did about 70 km on the bike just to make sure everything was OK. And everything did indeed seem OK. Cool.

Well actually, ever since I had the tappet cover welded up, the RHS exhaust tappet has ticked quite loudly. I have checked and re-checked the clearance. I also tightened the tappet up until it stopped ticking, just to see what it would take. When I did this, the bike became very difficult to start and would not idle at a low rev. Hence, the exhaust valve was probably always open a little. I will just put up with the tick.

I will head off about 5:30am tomorrow morning. 53943km currently showing on odometer.

I will go via Waikaremoana, the Napier- Taihape Rd and eastern Waiarapa to Pete's place in Thorndon, Wellington. This will probably take a full 14 hours I expect. I will have to get up at 1:30am Thursday and get on the 2:30am ferry crossing. Arrive Picton 5:30am. Yes, I am on a mission.

Some XT400 Data/Specifications

I found some data on the XT 400 at this Russian website: http://translate.google.co.nz/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http://www.motovelosport.ru/articles/2004%252012%252018%2520Yamaha%2520XT400%2520Artesia/2004%252012%252018%2520yamaha%2520xt400%2520artesia%25201.php&ei=SK9XStDjGYnGsQPj_KieCQ&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=10&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dyamaha%2Bxt%2B400%2Bartesia%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1C1SKPC_enNZ333NZ333%26sa%3DN%26start%3D10This has been Google translated to English from Russian.

«Yamaha XT400 Artesia», dual-purpose motorcycle
Model Year	1992
engine	399 cm3
power	31 hp
bulk	155 kg
average price	$ 3000

Ttttttttttt

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
General information
Model	«Yamaha XT400»
Year of debut	1992
Dry weight, kg	155
Dimensions, mm	2220x835x860
Wheelbase, mm	1445
The amount of fuel, l	13
Engine
Type	1-cylinder, 4-stroke
Gas Distribution	OEF, 4 valve
Bore x stroke mm	87x67, 2
Displacement, cm3	399
Compression ratio	9.2
Max. Power, hp at rpm	31/7000
Max.Torque, Nm at rpm	33/6000
Cooling System	air
System startup	electric
Transmission
Strength	multi-in oil bath
Gearbox	5-speed
Main channel	chain
Chassis
Frame	single, steel
Front suspension	telescopic fork
Rear suspension	pendulum, with monoamortizatorom and progressive feature of
Front brake	disc, 2-Porsche. clamp
Rear brake	disc, 1-piston. clamp
Front tire	90/90-21
Rear tire	120/90-17
The dynamics and efficiency
Maks.skorost km / h	135
Fuel consumption (average), 100 km	6

Tauranga Massage

Back together after rebuild

Sunday 7th Jun 2009

Yesterday I went to see Tim. He had the engine all back together after getting the cam back from Kelford cams.

We put the engine back in the bike. The new carbs fitted in perfectly well. It was quite surprising.
Just as we were starting it up we ran into an electrical problem. It was very difficult to track it down and lead us on a 1 hour goose chase, but Tim discovered that the positive battery wire was not quite making good contact where I had attached it to the battery. D'oh!

The bike seemed to be running quite lean at low revs and Tim later discovered that this was due to the vacuum petrol tap hose (not present on XT but was part of GPX configuration) just loose and letting in fresh air downstream of the LHS carby. This was easily fixed by bunging it up.

The bike now seems to grunt quite well at low revs and low throttle, but the jetting just strangles it anywhere else. I need to make some jetting and needle changes.

Just for the record, the standard Keihin 30mm CV carbies (of a GPX250, Model No. CVK EA24 V592) are jetted accordingly:
Round type main jets 108
Pilot jet 38
Emulsion tube, No Numbers
Needle N16I (Quite a weird needle in my opinion as it tapers of very sharply in the last one fifth of the throttle as the CV carbs open right up.)
Mixture screw,.. I haven't checked it yet but it has been wound in 2 full turns from when I first got it from the wreckers.

Note: The CV carb on the original YDIS setup has a 32mm ID at the intake to the head. The mechanical throttle slide carby on the original YDIS setup has a 30mm ID at the intake to the head. However, both of these carbies have a smaller oval shape to them at the actual throttle slide.
The YDIS mechanical slide carb has:
Round type main jet 108
Pilot Jet 48
Needle 5D90
Emulsion tube V00
The YDIS CV carb has:
Main jet 96 (not 95 or 98,.. I double checked with magnifying glass as 96 is an odd size)
Pilot Jet: there is none
Needle 5Y15
Emulsion tube 90

So I am immediately tempted to try the new GPX250 carbs with:
main jet 108
pilot jet 48
Emulsion tube, not sure
Needle: something similar in profile to the 5D90

I might put the bike on a dyno with an exhaust CO meter to help get the jetting right.

More to come once the jetting is sorted.
We spent about 5 hours on the bike on Saturday (11am - 4pm)
On Sunday we went to the Airshow and worked on bike for 3 hours. (approx 1pm - 4pm)

Engine Rebuild

Well, the XT started to lose power.
I noticed that the it was burning about 500ml of oil every 1000kms and there was a bit of oil starting to accumulate in the air box.
So I am ( well, Tim is actually) now in the process of a full engine rebuild.

Piston:
I wanted to get a piston that would take it out to about 450cc but after looking around couldn't find anything suitable so just settled on a standard Yamaha piston at 0.5mm oversize. (Now 87.5mm bore)
Piston $198.19
Rings $79.47
Gudgeon Pin $36.95
2 x Circlips $4.20
I did think about using the piston out of an XT600, but after much deliberation decided against that.
The bore was bored out to match the piston by Regal Automotive. ($120)
The piston has exactly the same part number as the SRX 400 piston.

I talked to a guy on the KiwiBiker forums who has tried modifying an XT400.
See this link: http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=7362

Carbies:
I have bought a pair of Kiehin CV carbs off a GPX250 from a wrecker in Upper Hutt. $250. These have a 30mm intake diameter and should be significantly better than the standard YDIS carbs that have an oval shaped intake about 30mm x 18mm. ($260)

Apparently the GPX250 carbs work well on SRX600's and XT600's. I'm hoping that they will be OK on the 400 also but time will tell.
Here is where I found out about it:
the second to last paragraph for Question 3 at this website: http://72.14.235.132/search?q=cache:amUBgpOBxz0J:www.thumperpage.com/articles/srx6faq.html+gpx250+srx&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk
They do fit pretty good! Just had to stretch the LHS upsteam rubber manifold to fit and swap cables over to the RHS of the bike. And just had to slightly bend the rear brake fluid reservoir bracket a little bit to give clearance on the throttle cable twist on the carbies.

Reshape Cams:
The camshaft is being modified by Kelford Cams in Christchurch. ($315) http://www.kelford.co.nz/
I am just hoping that they know what they are doing.
My instructions to them are basically: It is a 1992 XT 400 and probably revs to about 9000rpm. Do what you think. [Actually Tim asked to have the lift increased by 0.5mm]

I guess they will just do a standard re-profiling to give a more modern cam timing.

[The 50 thou duration on both inlet and exhaust was increased to 229 degrees, (from what?)]

Head work:
Tim has ground away at the head to get a nice air flow path. He ground the valve seat stems back to the body of the head and will just use a thin section of the old head gasket to increase compression slightly.
Also there was a crack in the top of the rocker cover which was seeping oil. This has been welded up by Regal Automotive (~$40). The crack was due to stress from the top engine mount I guess.

Flywheel:

Tim thought the flywheel was pretty excessively heavy so he machined it down to what you see in the pix. Pity I didn't get a "before" shot for comparison.

Exhaust Header Pipes:

Tim ground out the weld bulge in the inside of the header pipes where they join onto the head for slightly better flow.

Misc:
New bearings throughout engine. Cheap.
Cam chain $80.23 + gst
4 x valve stem seals $32.50 + gst
Oil filter ~$15.00 + gst
Gaskets:
Base gasket $32.08 + gst
Cam chain tensioner gasket $ 7.47 + gst
Crankcase gasket $24.33 + gst
Another crankcase gasket $20.13 + gst
Oil Seals:
Oil seal 25 x 40 x 5 $9.44 + gst
Another seal $8.21 + gst

Piston, rings etc + seals and gaskets came to about $610 all up incl gst.
Rebore and welding $160
Cam Mods $315

Oil and new Plug $70

Total: $1155-ish plus I'll have to sort Tim out.

I also tightened the spokes on the front wheel as they were all a bit loose.

I broke 3 spokes in the process so will need to get 3 from the wreckers and fit them.

I am thinking that if it used to have about 20 - 25 horsepower, then after this work it may get to about 30 hp after I get the jeting and needles sorted in the carbs. Well maybe.

More to come once it is all back together.

Sam's 40th - Day 4

Rode back to Tauranga

Left Puniho 9:30am and went to the rhodedendron gardens at Pukeiti ($14)

Spent about 1.5 hours there.

Stopped at the Centre of the North Island in the Pureora National Park. [Photos to come]

Then on to Tauranga

Got home approx 9:00pm 53387 km

Rear brake pads were toast when I got home.

Bought some new EBC "Fusion" pads from Bayride ($53). EBC Part No. FA101TT

Advertised as "New Carbon Graphite "Tout Terrain" or TT" pads.

Supposed to "run cooler making them ideal for MX and ATV"

"Tout" is basically French for "All". Hence, - All Terrain

Sam's 40th - Day 3

Chilled out at the factory

Sam's 40th - Day 2

Went to WOMAD

Sam's 40th - Day 1

Bought a new Metzler Karoo2 front tyre ($140 + 20 fit and balance) from Smithy's.

Rode down to Tim and Chantelles Dairy factory at Puniho near Okato.

430 km took approx 8 hours.

Arrived about 10pm.

Start 52353 km

New Front tyre Fitted 52370 km

Finish ride 52900 km

I took the back roads. Was a really twisty turny ride all up :-)

Part One:

http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Whakamarama&daddr=Takitimu+Dr+to:Oropi+Rd+to:Mountain+Rd,+Oropi,+Bay+of+Plenty+3173+to:Mangatoi+Rd+to:Tumunui+Rd,+Rotorua+to:Rehi+Rd,+3077+to:Maleme+Rd,+Ohakuri,+Waikato+to:Tirohanga+Rd,+Mokai,+3078+to:-38.52131,175.906219+to:Whangamata+Rd+to:Tihoi+Rd&hl=en&geocode=%3BFZDowP0dkvx_Cg%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3BFbwQs_0dWq55Cg&mra=dme&mrcr=7,8&mrsp=9&sz=10&via=1&rtol=0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11&dirflg=h&sll=-38.141037,176.095734&sspn=0.99476,2.114868&ie=UTF8&z=10

Part 2:

http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=-38.492294,175.56427&daddr=Ongarue+Waimiha+Rd,+Waimiha,+Manawatu-Wanganui+to:Mangatupoto+to:Ohura+to:Whangamomona,+Manawatu-Wanganui,+New+Zealand+to:Tarata+Rd,+4387,+New+Zealand+to:Henui+Junction+Rd+to:Carrington+Rd+to:Wiremu+Rd+to:Puniho+Rd&hl=en&geocode=%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3BFVwbq_0dEmVgCg%3BFeQZqv0dTnpfCg%3BFf4eqf0dcJZdCg%3BFdyBqf0dsPJcCg&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=0&sz=10&rtol=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9&sll=-38.818311,174.776001&sspn=0.985457,2.114868&ie=UTF8&z=10

New Speedo Cable

Thursday 5th March 2008

Today I picked up a new speedo cable from Bayride Yamaha. ( $34.20).
It is quite a pain not having the speedo working as I use the trip meter as a fuel guage.
Also topped up the oil (500 ml)
Also cleaned the air filter.

Note, odometer stopped at 52160.
Trip started at 49662
Trip covered 4896km + about 100 km extra at home, so odometer should read about 54650 km
So odometer now reads about 2500 km on the low side.

Natalie's Wedding - Overview

Odometer start distance 49662 km
End of day 1 Wellington 50450 km 788 km 828 km
End of day 2 Springfield 51120 km 670 km 1458 km
End of day 3 Geraldine 51315 km 195 km 1653 km (rain affected day)
End of day 4 Dunedin 51553 km 238 km 1891 km (rain affected day)
End of day 5 Dunedin 51553 km 0 km 1891 km (rain affected day)
End of day 6 Bluff (St.I)51976 km 423 km 2314 km
Speedo cable broke on day 7 so distances calculated off google maps from here on.
End of day 7 Te Anau 239 km 2553km
End of day 8 Haast 589 km 3142 km
End of day 9 Wellington 809 km 3951 km
End of day 10 Tauranga 945 km 4896 km

All up cost about $1650 + tyre wear (approx $100)
Rear Tyre had 6.5 mm of tread left out of 14mm when new.
Rear tyre was fitted at 48365 km and odometer would now read 54558 if speedo cable had not broken. So 7.5mm of wear over 6193km = 825 km/mm of tread wear. This is slightly better than the prevoius Mitas E-09 rear tyre that wore at a rate of 775 km /mm.

The front tyre wears the knobs on an angle so it is more difficult to calculate the wear.
Front tyre fitted at 45750 km and now at 54558km = 8808 km. The tyre is now pretty much toast. But it was a very good tyre.

The XT 400 performed well. Only problem was a broken speedo cable. Not bad for a 5000km trip.
The weather played a bit of a role in this trip. It rained during the course of the wedding.
Days 3 and 5 were shortened considerably due to rain. Otherwise I would have ventured out to Lake Tekapo and Cromwell on day 3. Day 5 was just a day lost waiting for the rain to clear.
Also, when at Haast I became aware if the incoming rain so decided to "high-tail" it back home. 1750 km in 2 days. Otherwise I would have ventured up into Takaka and possibly hiked in the Abel Tasman National Park. Also I would have covered the rest of the Dusty Butt 1000 that I had not yet completed.

Rain cannot be helped, and I had a great time overall. In particular it was great to travel Arthur's Pass and the Milford Rd again. These are my 2 favorite roads in New Zealand.
I was also extremely impressed with the Gentle Annie Highway from Taihape to Napier. I love riding twisty hilly roads through "big country" with massive panoramic views of mountains, lakes and rivers. There is a certain magic to it that just makes you feel good.
The bird life on Stewart Island and the nature walk on Ulva Island were also highlights.
Another 2 minor highlights were the eastern Waiarapa roads and the back road from Cheltenham to Mangaweka.

Natalie's Wedding - Day 10 - Wellington - Tauranga

Friday 27th February 2008

Woke up to Coffee and Croissants. "On ya" Pete.
Headed off over the Rimatukas to Featherston.
Then went out to Martinborough and on to Gladstone.
Checked out the Cliffhanger uphill track. http://www.cliffhanger.org.nz/hillclimb/hillclimb.htm
On to CastlePoint via a forestry road. Trucker unlocked gate for me.
Tinui Pub had restaurant removed by Mrs in marriage break-up ah-lah Speights ad. The eastern Wairapa roads were great little tight twisty things. Encountered a lot of motorcycle police due to cycle race.


Then over to Ekatahuna via Tinui - Alfredton Rd. This was freshly graded in parts and was quite marble-y as there were no wheel tracks to ride in. I started to show first signs of fatigue and the road really was quite challenging mentally.
On to Woodville, Ashurst, Fielding, Cheltenham. Then right onto back road to Mangaweka. This road was great. Really twisty with incredible papa cliffs in the last 10 km. Dangerous and a bit freaky.
Along Highway 1 to Taihape.

Then over the "Gentle Annie" highway 38 to Napier. This road deserves special mention. It is the most "South-Island-esque" road in the North Island in terms of panoramic views. It felt like you were riding up in the sky! Very good section of gravel in the middle section. I think the sign said 27 km of gravel but it felt like about 50-60 km. Towards the end of the gravel I did have a near miss with an SUV that was drifting through a corner uphill towards me. I was feeling totally rejuvenated cranking the XT along this twisty, hilly skyroad. Super fun fun yippee yahoo!

From Napier I headed over to Taupo. It was now dark and I was getting quite tired. Had a bottle of "V" and a snickers bar. Arrive Taupo approx 9:00pm.
Then on to Rotorua and Tauranga via Pyes Pa Rd. Was starting to drizzle. Mental concentration was getting hard in Pyes Pa twisties. Almost overshot a couple of tight wet corners.
Then on to Whakamarama and home. Got to bed at 01:10 am.
I was definitely feeling the effects of just having ridden for 14 hours covering 950 kms, on top of a previous day of about 14 hours riding covering 800 kms combined with a late night ferry trip and only 5 hours sleep.

I slept in til 10:00am and was still feeling pretty fly-blown after a morning shower.
As predicted, the weather had turned very nasty. Strong winds and heavy rain. I was glad to have put in that extra effort to get home and beat the rain.

Here is a GoogleMaps link of the path travelled:

http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&source=embed&saddr=-41.294317,174.770508&daddr=martinborough+to:Gladstone,+Wellington+to:Wainuioru,+Wellington+to:Te+Parae+Rd+to:castlepoint+to:Castle+Hill+Rd+to:Alfredton,+Manawatu-Wanganui+to:Mulgrave+St+to:Bunnythorpe+to:Peep-O-Day+to:Ruahine+Rd+to:Taihape,+Manawatu-Wanganui+to:Erewhon,+Manawatu-Wanganui+to:SH+2B+to:Taupo,+Waikato+to:Whakamarama,+Bay+of+Plenty&hl=en&geocode=%3B%3B%3B%3BFQa5jv0dtLd6Cg%3B%3BFXuokv0dLu98Cg%3B%3BFacqmf0dncN5Cg%3B%3B%3BFSufoP0dLsF6Cg%3B%3B%3BFchTpf0d3uGKCg%3B%3B&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=0&sz=7&sll=-39.053318,176.066895&sspn=5.195413,11.601562&ie=UTF8&t=p&ll=-39.053318,176.066895&spn=7.69532,16.347656&z=6

Natalie's Wedding - Day 9 - Haast - Jackson Bay - Wellington

Thursday 25th February 2008

Woke up about 7:30am and packed up the tent and loaded up bike. Fuelled up at Haast Beach Mobil station. The petrol was about 30 cents per litre more expensive than usual.

Rode out to Jackson Bay. The road was sealed all the way. There was not too much going on at Jackson Bay.

A couple of burned down houses, a "Talley's" cray/fish factory, a lot of cray pots stacked up, and the "Cray Pot" restaurant. Clearly the wharf here is the main functioning part of Jackson Bay. It seems like a lot of crayfish are caught around here. There was some sort of marine farm out in the bay as well. Oysters maybe?
Then rode about 5 km back toward Haast and turned right into Jackson River Rd (20km gravel) [ Greenstone, Red Hills]



The Jackson River road was almost a 4WD track in places. It came to an end at a private gate. It is possible to contact the owner and travel on almost to the coast, but the track becomes very difficult and I doubt my bike would get through. The Mobil petrol station man had been along it. He told me that it is very boggy with lots of cording across the bogs. A mission for another day perhaps.


On the way back to the sealed road I was tempted to walk the track to Lake Ellery. Someone had scratched into the DOC sign that it was 40minutes one way. This was just a bit too much time so I continued on.

Then back to Haast.
Got weather report and decided to make a bit of an endurance event of getting home. Heavy rain was forecast over much of the South Island for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I figured I could probably get home in 2 days and beat the rain.
Bought possum/merino socks at Haast Visitor Centre. (great socks!) ($32)
Rode up west coast to Greytown then across to Blenheim and Picton.

I had to stop in Blenhiem to clean the visor on my helmet. The number of insects that I killed travelling into Blenhiem from St Anaud was unbelievable. At times it seemed like about 10 per second.
Caught the 10:35 pm ferry to Wellington.
Crashed out on Pete's couch in Thorndon approx. 2:00am.


Here is a googlemap of the trip. Note it talkes about 20 seconds for the route to show.
http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Haast+Beach&daddr=Jackson+bay,+West+Coast+to:Jackson+River+Rd+to:Taylorville+Rd+to:Atarau+Rd+to:Nelson+St+to:SH+1&hl=en&geocode=%3B%3BFazeXv0ddK0LCg%3BFWNUeP0dizY1Cg%3BFXwZev0dihU5Cg%3BFTijhv0dDGheCg%3BFdIKiv0dNhpfCg&mra=ls&via=3&sll=-42.956423,171.419678&sspn=4.719955,6.196289&ie=UTF8&ll=-42.70666,171.276855&spn=4.739044,6.196289&z=7

Natalie's Wedding - Day 8 - Te Anau - Milford Sound - Haast

Wednesday 25th February 2008

At about 8:30am I rode out to Milford Sound and back to Te Anau.

This road is possibly the most scenic of all NZ roads. The rainfall in Milford is about 5 - 7 meters per annum. That is a LOT of rainfall. Luckily however, it was a fine day and the clouds were high so that the views were magnificent. The stop lights on the Homer Tunnel change every 15 minutes. Usually this would be a bit of a pain to have to wait so long for the lights to change. However, it is quite nice to take a bit of time out at the tunnel entrance and look around a bit. Thsi was the 4th time I had been out to Milford Sound, but the first time with dry roads.
Then headed off toward Mossburn but turned left onto Manorva Lakes Rd (gravel).

I had a quick look at the Manorva Lakes, they were very clear, and then went back to Mount Nicholas Rd and on to Walter Peak Station at the very end of the road. I probably covered about 80km of gravel getting to Walter Peak Station. It was mostly flat and straight but got a bit more interesting near Walter Peak Station. At one point I had to pull over and let about a thousand sheep go past. This road reminded me quite a lot of the roads in the Molesworth Sheep Station. I also came across about 10 keen cyclists cycling from Walter Peak Station to Te Anau.

Walter Peak Station had an area set up for tourists where they could get up close to tame sheep and cattle. There were shearing demonstrations etc, and a tourist shop.

Fantastic pub here. Excellent grounds and view.
I caught the Ernslaw steam powered ship across to Queenstown ($49)
Then on to Wanaka and over the Haast Pass to Haast. Fantastic road. I particularly like the section near the bridge known as "The Gates of Haast".

On arrival at Haast (about 7:01pm) I pulled into the Petrol Station to fuel up. The attendant told me that they had just shut. I asked were the nearest petrol station was and he said Fox Glacier or Wanaka. He was VERY unhelpful. I couldn't help but suspect that the Haast petrol stations close early in an attempt to increase the income of other services in the area (food and accommodation) while at the same time not really missing out on any business themselves.

I rode down to Haast Beach. There were a few people camped on the beach and others in campervans. I went for a bit of a spin up the beach but found the sand quite soft and it was quite tricky going. I was worried that I might get stuck in the sand and so made sure to keep my momentum up.




I pitched my tent for the night in the dunes just back from Haast Beach. The mozzies soon found me. I was glad to have some insect repellant and a can of fly spray. I was pretty tired. I had just traveled about 600km in about 10.5 hours. I had a great sleep.

Route Part One:
http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Te+Anau&daddr=Milford+Sound+to:-45.431226,167.720032+to:Mavora+Lakes+Rd+to:Mount+Nicholas+Beach+Bay+Rd&hl=en&geocode=%3B%3B%3BFQM5Tf0dWCIGCg%3BFXiaT_0doaALCg&mra=dme&mrcr=1,2&mrsp=2&sz=9&via=3&sll=-45.096791,168.255615&sspn=1.13812,2.120361&ie=UTF8&z=9

Route Part Two
http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Queenstown&daddr=Haast+Beach&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=-45.096791,168.255615&sspn=1.13812,2.120361&ie=UTF8&ll=-44.414164,169.024658&spn=2.303321,4.240723&z=8

Natalie's Wedding - Day 7 - Stewart Island to Te Anau

Tuesday 24th February 2008

Got up at 2:30am and went for a walk down Fern Gully Track hoping to see a kiwi in the bush. I walked off the track into the bush about 100 metres. I stood still and waited for about 15 minutes thinking that I would at least hear some bird life scuttling about. I didn't see or hear a thing. It was pitch black and raining very lightly. I was back in bed at 4:00am a little disappointed.







Caught a water taxi from Golden bay to Ulva Island at 11:00am. Walked Ulva Island for approx 3 hours. There is a pamphlet on the Island ($3 honesty box) that shows the birds you are likely to see and has many other points of interest. I found it very useful and interesting. I saw a kiwi about 2m off the walking track. I was pretty happy about that. I also saw South Isl. Saddlebacks, Stewart Is. Weka's (very friendly), Stewart Is. Robins (on my shoe), Tui's, Kaka, the NZ Parakeet (Kakariki), a flock of Brown Creepers (Pipipi), fantails, and more. It was pretty cool for birdwatching and the 3 hours went quite quickly. I didn't get to see a rifleman, NZs smallest bird.
At one time I was alone on West End Beach on Ulva Is. and I heard a loud snorting sound come from some bushes where the sand met the bush line. I turned around to look and saw some bushes swaying. This was a bit scary as there was obviously a large animal in the bush quite near me. I tried to think what animal it could possibly be. Ulva Is. is protected and there wouldn't be any pigs or cattle on the island. I cautiously crept a little closer to the area of interest. Again I heard a loud puffy grunting sound, and the bushes swayed again. The sound was very base and seemed to indicate a possibly very large animal. OK, now I was quite scared and thought about getting the hell out of there. However, I just couldn't let it go,.. I wanted to know WHAT kind of animal this could possibly be. I crept even closer to the source of the sound. I stood at the bush line and looked around in the bush. I was ready to run for it at the slightest sign of danger. Again I heard the noise and this time I saw the head of a sea lion swaying up and down in the bush about 3m from where I stood. I also caught a slight whiff of a fishy smell. The sea lion's breath no doubt. I watched the sea lion for about 30 seconds then moved away.




Caught the water Taxi back to Stewart Island at 2:10pm. ($25 return) Then on the ferry to Bluff at 3:30pm. Much smoother ride this time. Took a photo of the "Wet Fish Dept." sign at Bluff. It just seemed to appeal to my sense of humour.



Depart Bluff about 5:00pm
At Invercargill I went out to Oreti Beach and had a quick blat down the beach as per Burt Munroe. There was a bunch of bikers on Harley's and tourers that were gathered on the beach having a beer and paying homage to Burt. They cheered me on as I blasted past.
Also stopped at the gate to Teretonga raceway.

Then north to Lorneville and left onto highway 99 to Manapouri and Te Anau. Near Tuatapere I noticed an on coming police car and glanced down at the speedo. At that very instant the needle on the speedo dropped from 100km/h down to zero. I thought that this was particularly weird and for a split second thought that the cop may have played a part in this. However I very soon came to the realisation that my speedo cable had just broken. It seemed a weird coincident that the speedo cable should break at exactly the same time as a police car appeared.

I stayed the night at a backpackers In Te Anau. I shared a dorm with two German girls and a Kiwi girl. The German girls had been in NZ 3 days and had just come from Queenstown. Already there were quite annoyed with the way NZ (esp. Queenstown) had "processed" them as tourists and taken their money. They asked me what I thought they should do while in NZ. I suggested buying a campervan and just driving around the South Island camping out where ever they fancied. It was difficult to give definite locations and or events off the top of my head. For me it is the journey that is fun. I guess motorcyclists are fairly well misunderstood by the general public.

Here is a link to Google Maps showing the route I travelled.
http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Shannon+St&daddr=Dunns+Rd+to:Tweed+St+to:-46.143686,167.695313+to:Lakefront+Dr&hl=en&geocode=FTUAOf0dVIgICg%3BFQFoO_0dJQcHCg%3BFeK3O_0d8MUICg%3B%3BFZj4Sv0dRRf_CQ&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=3&sz=9&via=1,2,3&sll=-46.0999,168.066101&sspn=1.117955,2.120361&ie=UTF8&z=9