11th Nat'l NT Rally - Jun 23-26, 2021 - Spearfish, SD

Yoda · Jun 30, 2021

Coyote Chris said:
No offense, my friend, but Dual sport is kind of a stretch. Its a dirt bike you can ride carefully on the pavement. It gives the name "Enduro" a whole new meaning.

Hey, Chris. No offense taken. After all everything IS relative. I’m sure a lot of big Harley and GoldWing riders look down their noses at those “tiny 700’s” like the NT. And, I can laugh at the little “Postie” Honda 110’s that have been ridden ‘round the world’!

But, there actually seems to be a lot of people who think the CRF300L Rally might just be the ‘Unicorn’ for round the world expeditions. Much smaller and lighter than big ‘ol BMW 1250 GS, but still Honda reliable as dirt, and stingy on almost any kind of gas. More modern than the DR650, or KLR650, It will safely haul you AND your gear on almost any third world road anywhere. AND, it doesn’t take a team to pick it up after a fall.

You just better not laugh when I show up next year hauling a trailer full of gear.
Rich

Coyote Chris · Jul 1, 2021

Yoda said:
Hey, Chris. No offense taken. After all everything IS relative. I’m sure a lot of big Harley and GoldWing riders look down their noses at those “tiny 700’s” like the NT. And, I can laugh at the little “Postie” Honda 110’s that have been ridden ‘round the world’!

But, there actually seems to be a lot of people who think the CRF300L Rally might just be the ‘Unicorn’ for round the world expeditions. Much smaller and lighter than big ‘ol BMW 1250 GS, but still Honda reliable as dirt, and stingy on almost any kind of gas. More modern than the DR650, or KLR650, It will safely haul you AND your gear on almost any third world road anywhere. AND, it doesn’t take a team to pick it up after a fall.

You just better not laugh when I show up next year hauling a trailer full of gear.
Rich

HA! Remember what happened to "Itchy Boots"!!! I am bringing my dog next time!

Frosty · Jul 1, 2021

LOL! So there are 4 of those shirts?
Getting home after the rally was like many others. Temps ran from 47 to 106 degrees. A brief amount of misting with no real rain. Now that I think about it, our trips to Spearfish are in nice weather and beautiful country. The trip back is the same country, but varied weather. I did enjoy our ride through Shell Canyon after coming down from the Big Horns.

I am always happy to see old and new friends from around the country. Thanks to all for coming. See you next year!

DirtFlier · Jul 1, 2021

There is a YouTube channel called "Itchy Boots" and it's about a nice woman from the Netherlands who rides all over the world - mostly in undeveloped countries - on smaller motorcycles. She did a lot of traveling initially on a Royal Enfield 400 cc Himalyan and now she's on a Honda CRF250L in southern Africa.

As far as I know, neither bike was provided by the manufacturer and was paid for with her own money.

Coyote Chris · Jul 1, 2021

DirtFlier said:
There is a YouTube channel called "Itchy Boots" and it's about a nice woman from the Netherlands who rides all over the world - mostly in undeveloped countries - on smaller motorcycles. She did a lot of traveling initially on a Royal Enfield 400 cc Himalyan and now she's on a Honda CRF250L in southern Africa.

As far as I know, neither bike was provided by the manufacturer and was paid for with her own money.

She was on a Honda 500 for awhile.

Coyote Chris · Jul 1, 2021

Frosty said:
LOL! So there are 4 of those shirts?
Getting home after the rally was like many others. Temps ran from 47 to 106 degrees. A brief amount of misting with no real rain. Now that I think about it, our trips to Spearfish are in nice weather and beautiful country. The trip back is the same country, but varied weather. I did enjoy our ride through Shell Canyon after coming down from the Big Horns.

I am always happy to see old and new friends from around the country. Thanks to all for coming. See you next year!

Great to see everybody....that is why I am there....

Coyote Chris · Jul 1, 2021

Thanks to Chuck for the Dupont chain lube and clean system. Lubed once a touring day and cleaned when I got home. 2,000 mi.
As far as I can tell, there was no change to the chain tension in 2,000 miles.
Before

After

Phil Tarman · Jul 1, 2021

Coyote Chris said:
Great to see everybody....that is why I am there....

What year was this taken? '12 or '12, maybe?

Phil Tarman · Jul 1, 2021

That chain looks great. That may be the system that makes a chain not such a big deal.

Mellow · Jul 1, 2021

New chains are so darn good I may never use anything on mine othe than to just wipe them clean. I lube mine once a day and it has 12k miles on it, looks new and the sprockets do too. Probably will just change out every 20k miles.

Hondafan · Jul 2, 2021

Coyote Chris said:
Thanks to Chuck for the Dupont chain lube and clean system. Lubed once a touring day and cleaned when I got home. 2,000 mi.
As far as I can tell, there was no change to the chain tension in 2,000 miles.
Before

After

That is impressive. I will definitely pick up a six pack of that. Thanks for posting.

Coyote Chris · Jul 2, 2021

Phil Tarman said:
What year was this taken? '12 or '12, maybe?

Found it on the web and too lazy to go through all my pics (read busy....smoke alert for this weekend....I bet it was a couple of years after 12

Coyote Chris · Jul 2, 2021

Mellow said:
New chains are so darn good I may never use anything on mine othe than to just wipe them clean. I lube mine once a day and it has 12k miles on it, looks new and the sprockets do too. Probably will just change out every 20k miles.

I am curious as to what this chain and sprokets look like at 20k. I read lots of stories about people changeing at 20 k. The weak link (pun intended) is that the stuff I wash off with the cleaner is gritty. Gritty paste is a great way to wear down sprockets. At 15k I will look at the front sprocket and see how it looks as it of course goes roundy go round more than the rear. Then there are tests to see how worn the chain is. 20k will be when I am about 76 years old. By then, my FJR will have put on about 200 lbs and be gone but I bet I still have the VFR. Changing the sprockets and chain on THIS bike doesnt look too hard. I would like to try the screw type master link.

Coyote Chris · Jul 2, 2021

Phil Tarman said:
That chain looks great. That may be the system that makes a chain not such a big deal.

With the Chuck system, and the new chains, it has taken alot of the work out of chain maintenance. In days of yore, there is no way I could have ridden 2000 miles with the chain slack not changing. I am cleaning the chains about 2-3 times a year and it takes 1/2 hour as I am fussy about getting all the crap off everything.

Mellow · Jul 2, 2021

Coyote Chris said:
I would like to try the screw type master link.

They are pretty cool and make it very easy.

Yoda · Jul 2, 2021

I cleaned and lubed thoroughly with the DuPont chain wax/Teflon before the trip to Spearfish.

I did not lube anymore during the trip, thinking it would just be encapsulating road grime and dirt in the lube.

After returning home, some 2400 miles later, I thoroughly cleaned the chain with Simple Green, a soft paint brush, and rinsed with water. I let it completely dry, then re-lubed with the DuPont chain lube. It looks as clean as Coyote Chris’ chain, with no change in chain slack.

The Simple Green is an excellent degreaser, and appears to give the same results as the DuPont solvent type cleaner. Time will tell which system is better.

Coyote Chris · Jul 2, 2021

Mellow said:
They are pretty cool and make it very easy.

Thats the heiffer, all right.

Coyote Chris · Jul 2, 2021

Yoda said:
I cleaned and lubed thoroughly with the DuPont chain wax/Teflon before the trip to Spearfish.

I did not lube anymore during the trip, thinking it would just be encapsulating road grime and dirt in the lube.

After returning home, some 2400 miles later, I thoroughly cleaned the chain with Simple Green, a soft paint brush, and rinsed with water. I let it completely dry, then re-lubed with the DuPont chain lube. It looks as clean as Coyote Chris’ chain, with no change in chain slack.

The Simple Green is an excellent degreaser, and appears to give the same results as the DuPont solvent type cleaner. Time will tell which system is better.

Simple green may work just fine. Probably wont hurt the O rings although I dont know that. The only true test would be to use Simple Green, dry the chain without oiling, then put on a can of Dupont Chain cleaner and see if more grit/grease come off. The dupont chain lube before it dries is also an excellent chain cleaner. And very inexpensive for using on the road. If your chain and sprokets are cheep and quick to replace and you use the bike off road anyway, dont worry, be happy. I am technically interested in why so many people are spending hundreds of dollars and mucho time every 20K. Necessity or laziness?
(See PM about a topic we talked about)

Chucksklrst · Jul 2, 2021

I use WD 40 on a rag as a great degreaser. Just don't spray directly on the chain as it is also a solvent. Don't want to force it past the O- rings of the links. Of course a lot of pros and cons about that.

Brillot2000 · Jul 3, 2021

I saw a Burgundy NT heading East on US-189 about 20 miles out of Jackson Hole, WY. The ride was wearing a Hi-Vis Jacket.

Maybe it was someone coming back from Spearfish. It would be very nice to know If I was sharing the highway with another member even if it was briefly.