Metaljockey
Race Dog
Like some of you may know, I got an X-Challenge to replace the 640 Adventure, and immediately took it on a 9000km shake down ride around South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. So here is my take on what the bike is like.
First up, what I got.
I got a X-Challenge with about 2000km on the clock for R50 000. Included was handguards, passenger pegs and a Leo Vance exhaust. The Leo Vance I was going to fit in any case, and seeing as it is about R5000 on it's own, I like to delude myself that I paid R45 000 for a virtually new X.
What I changed.
I got the bike two weeks before my trip started. So I had to work feverishly to get things sorted that I wanted to.
- I fitted the Touratech tank. I believe that locally they are about R11 000. My wife just happened to be holidaying in Europe at the time and I had her buy one from Touratech in Germany, and bring it in as luggage. All in, Vat and duty, the tank cost me R6500. Not too bad. and because it fits in addition to the OEM tank, it gives you 25l capacity in total.
- I made up a carier rack from 15mm mild steel pipe that I had powder coated.
- I made a carrier plate from marine ply.
- I made up pannier racks from the same.
- I modified a Dakar aftermarket screen.
- I fitted Tubliss to the front wheel.
- I tried to fit Tubliss to the rear, but could not make it work, it is not specced for that width rim.
- I fitted a extra thick tube to the rear.
- I fitted a Michelin Desert 140 to the the rear.
- I fitted a Dunlop D606 to the front.
- I had a baffle made up to quieten down the Leo Vance.
- I drilled a hole in the gear lever to give it a weak spot.
- I fitted a Hyde protector over the original aluminium one.
- I modified the rear shock splash guard so as not to rub on the shock anymore
- I fitted an auxiliary power supply.
- I fitted a heat shield on the Leo Vance.
- I had a pic from my Angola trip screen printed and applied on the two pieces of body work left.
- I had the seat cut down to the wide part and then padded the same width with softer foam.
What's it like?
First up let me say, I do not think it is the best thing since sliced cheese. I'm not calling it a piece of shit, but all bikes have some negatives and so does this one.
- Obviously, for my purposes, the bare bike needs quite a lot of fitting before it becomes a long distance off-road bike. Essential is a bigger tank, a screen and luggage racks. That's a couple of bucks.
- The X is not overpowered. My corking of the Leo Vance may have something to do with it. For my purposes I do not really need a very powerful bike, but I was aware that I could periodically use a couple of extra horses. I may add here that in addition to myself the X carried about 80kg of pillion and luggage. That's a payload of about 160kg.
- The air shock gave me shit. While on the West Coast leg of the trip with Kamanya, Jacko and Nardus, the thing started squeeking like a 1981 Suzuki. And I had no weight on the bike then, just me and some tools. At early morning start-up there would be no damping at all, bouncing around like a CV2, until the shock heated up from riding and damping returned.
- The dashboard is part of engine management. What that means is if you moer into a tree, or flip the bike and the speedo breaks, the bike stops. The odds of such a thing happening is remote, but it does happen, and this niggle sits in my mind all the time.
- It's slow. The speedo over reads badly. 140km/h on the speedo shows 125km/h on the GPS. I would have liked to be able to sit comfortably at 140km/h. It doesn't.
The positives - plenty.
- First up and big thing for me, fuel injection. It starts when I say so. Every time. That's one hell of a good feeling. Whether it's cold, hot, down by the sea in Port St Johns, up on Sani, wherever, no worries about chokes, jets, float levels, fuckall. When I hit the button, it says 'let's go'.
- The air shock. Funny enough, it has it's positives too. Much bigger range of adjustment, light as a feather and an interesting damping action. Going over a hump at speed, a regular shock would extend down until the weight of the bike comes down and then the shock will compress and then move up again to riding position. The air shock moves down on the unloading but the compression damping starts at the top of the stroke and eases back to riding position. In other words two movements, not a pogo action like a conventional shock. It takes a bit of getting used to, but I like it.
- Dry weight 144kg. Pleases me no end. Phenominal.
- Rotax motor. Need I say more.
- Cheap, nothing on the market can even remotely compete.
- Looks goddamn sexy with that TT tank.
Stacking up against the 640.
Look, I spent a lot of quality time on the 640. I have a lot of time for that bike. But generally the X in it's current state kicks it's ass.
The X is better in that,
- it's less vibey,
- it gets 550km on 25l where the 640 got 400km on 26l,
- no carburettor. In it's time the 640's carb gave shit with, the needle, the seat, the float level and the choke,
- it's got a side stand. Try living with a bike that only has a centre stand.
The 640 is better in that,
- it has a kick starter,
- it has the tank, the screen and the luggage racks standard.
- it handles better in sand,
- it can be hotwired.
Ok, that's basically it. Fire away.
First up, what I got.
I got a X-Challenge with about 2000km on the clock for R50 000. Included was handguards, passenger pegs and a Leo Vance exhaust. The Leo Vance I was going to fit in any case, and seeing as it is about R5000 on it's own, I like to delude myself that I paid R45 000 for a virtually new X.
What I changed.
I got the bike two weeks before my trip started. So I had to work feverishly to get things sorted that I wanted to.
- I fitted the Touratech tank. I believe that locally they are about R11 000. My wife just happened to be holidaying in Europe at the time and I had her buy one from Touratech in Germany, and bring it in as luggage. All in, Vat and duty, the tank cost me R6500. Not too bad. and because it fits in addition to the OEM tank, it gives you 25l capacity in total.
- I made up a carier rack from 15mm mild steel pipe that I had powder coated.
- I made a carrier plate from marine ply.
- I made up pannier racks from the same.
- I modified a Dakar aftermarket screen.
- I fitted Tubliss to the front wheel.
- I tried to fit Tubliss to the rear, but could not make it work, it is not specced for that width rim.
- I fitted a extra thick tube to the rear.
- I fitted a Michelin Desert 140 to the the rear.
- I fitted a Dunlop D606 to the front.
- I had a baffle made up to quieten down the Leo Vance.
- I drilled a hole in the gear lever to give it a weak spot.
- I fitted a Hyde protector over the original aluminium one.
- I modified the rear shock splash guard so as not to rub on the shock anymore
- I fitted an auxiliary power supply.
- I fitted a heat shield on the Leo Vance.
- I had a pic from my Angola trip screen printed and applied on the two pieces of body work left.
- I had the seat cut down to the wide part and then padded the same width with softer foam.
What's it like?
First up let me say, I do not think it is the best thing since sliced cheese. I'm not calling it a piece of shit, but all bikes have some negatives and so does this one.
- Obviously, for my purposes, the bare bike needs quite a lot of fitting before it becomes a long distance off-road bike. Essential is a bigger tank, a screen and luggage racks. That's a couple of bucks.
- The X is not overpowered. My corking of the Leo Vance may have something to do with it. For my purposes I do not really need a very powerful bike, but I was aware that I could periodically use a couple of extra horses. I may add here that in addition to myself the X carried about 80kg of pillion and luggage. That's a payload of about 160kg.
- The air shock gave me shit. While on the West Coast leg of the trip with Kamanya, Jacko and Nardus, the thing started squeeking like a 1981 Suzuki. And I had no weight on the bike then, just me and some tools. At early morning start-up there would be no damping at all, bouncing around like a CV2, until the shock heated up from riding and damping returned.
- The dashboard is part of engine management. What that means is if you moer into a tree, or flip the bike and the speedo breaks, the bike stops. The odds of such a thing happening is remote, but it does happen, and this niggle sits in my mind all the time.
- It's slow. The speedo over reads badly. 140km/h on the speedo shows 125km/h on the GPS. I would have liked to be able to sit comfortably at 140km/h. It doesn't.
The positives - plenty.
- First up and big thing for me, fuel injection. It starts when I say so. Every time. That's one hell of a good feeling. Whether it's cold, hot, down by the sea in Port St Johns, up on Sani, wherever, no worries about chokes, jets, float levels, fuckall. When I hit the button, it says 'let's go'.
- The air shock. Funny enough, it has it's positives too. Much bigger range of adjustment, light as a feather and an interesting damping action. Going over a hump at speed, a regular shock would extend down until the weight of the bike comes down and then the shock will compress and then move up again to riding position. The air shock moves down on the unloading but the compression damping starts at the top of the stroke and eases back to riding position. In other words two movements, not a pogo action like a conventional shock. It takes a bit of getting used to, but I like it.
- Dry weight 144kg. Pleases me no end. Phenominal.
- Rotax motor. Need I say more.
- Cheap, nothing on the market can even remotely compete.
- Looks goddamn sexy with that TT tank.
Stacking up against the 640.
Look, I spent a lot of quality time on the 640. I have a lot of time for that bike. But generally the X in it's current state kicks it's ass.
The X is better in that,
- it's less vibey,
- it gets 550km on 25l where the 640 got 400km on 26l,
- no carburettor. In it's time the 640's carb gave shit with, the needle, the seat, the float level and the choke,
- it's got a side stand. Try living with a bike that only has a centre stand.
The 640 is better in that,
- it has a kick starter,
- it has the tank, the screen and the luggage racks standard.
- it handles better in sand,
- it can be hotwired.
Ok, that's basically it. Fire away.
