When you sell this bike you are going to miss it despite all of the headaches.
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When you sell this bike you are going to miss it despite all of the headaches.
how do you figure?
like most bikes/women, I'll romanticize about the moments I enjoyed and the thrills I had, but I won't miss the maintenance, upkeep, frustration, and expense :lol:
took a little hacking with a drill bit to make the holes for the rear rack, but new rear plastic is on:
https://i.imgur.com/2dtMUdY.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/q4AtpDk.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/BzOSeUF.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/AxQKbHx.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/vQHs42H.jpg
I have it listed for $6,500/best offer...expecting to settle at $6k
So far someone has offered to trade a 2004 Range Rover :spit:
and if I can get $6k....
https://i.imgur.com/5dR2kM9.jpg
?
-more performance than the "mom jeans" DL650 (almost sport bike level feeling)
-comfortable riding position
-sufficient luggage capacity for a top case (which I put on all my bikes nowadays)
-and a Yamaha = I won't have to spend the purchase price ($6k) in maintenance to ride it 18 months :hellyeah:
When the 690 came into the stable, it replaced the EX500's street duties, but wasn’t reliable enough and far too expensive. Now let's pretend the 690 never existed; the FJ09 would have replaced the EX500 for street duty.
I'll still need a reliable long distance desert bike on top of this
so I threw an ad on ADV rider about 10 days ago for $6,500 and got zero bites.
just a question on why the top end was rebuilt so early
couple trade offers for an older salvage R1200GS wit 72,000 miles, and a "rebuilt (noname) chopper which only needs a few things to be complete"
so...that means ride it!!
https://i.imgur.com/jybNJjn.jpg
northern/eastern San Diego county has a group of riders that hits the twisty country-ish roads and lower elevation mountain roads weekly:
https://i.imgur.com/VNhLFMO.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/BzBE5bT.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/cwPTlVd.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/UgXZqTA.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/G9VkP10.jpg
every week they go somewhere different-ish
this week we went past lake henshaw:
https://i.imgur.com/7tKi29m.jpg
to a biker bar called Josie's Hideout:
https://i.imgur.com/rp7lB9U.jpg
harley biker bar kind of place with cute waitress staff
then down to Santa Ysabel for Julian Pie:
https://i.imgur.com/h8asena.jpg
caramel dutch apple is awesome
it's a pretty cool corner of two major roads to sit and eat...there are motorcycles passing through every 10-15 mins...I saw tons of BMW 1250's and Harleys.
occasionally some unique stuff too with Harley engines:
https://i.imgur.com/EZrUVj5.jpg
then from there, some scenic county roads:
https://i.imgur.com/ZXcOraK.jpg
it's amazing how green they were for CA (we recently had more rain than usual over 1-2 days, for a couple weeks)
then some slab/freeway:
https://i.imgur.com/aE3LsLx.jpg
cutting through all the traffic heading to the beach at 3:30pm:
https://i.imgur.com/DlktLaB.jpg
to La Jolla:
https://i.imgur.com/5JixnT4.jpg
bikes and beaches after some twisties in January; not bad
https://i.imgur.com/WC0af8M.jpg
with some lazy doggos:
https://i.imgur.com/iPc1IZE.jpg
then a truck ride home in 90mph traffic from San Diego to OC. Drivers on this last slab at 10:30 at night at 45 degree weather are nutso. It feels like I'm going to get mowed down the whole ride up. Ride the good stuff, truck the crappy slabby stuff.
finally got to try this:
https://i.imgur.com/NkE4eBh.jpg
simply putting it on underneath a jacket was not enough to stay warm. When you're going over 70mph, the heat just wisps away.
the key is layer placement (underneath a sweatshirt and a jacket), and heat retention (I added a rain shell from REI).
now I can ride high 40's, sun down, 80+mph, on the lowest setting :hellyeah:
ready to ride to GMR to Crystal Lake cafe to the snow :lol:
wait a minute :spit:
https://i.imgur.com/uZ4nY7N.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Rx586Ma.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/0q2jwWN.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/L5M79hT.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/z1DL76m.jpg
hard to say exactly where it's coming from; hand checked the bolt torques, hosed it down and ran it, and it seems ok.
going to do more testing
trying to figure this stuff out at home before going to a dealer.
Check the crankcase breather hose, likely goes into the airbox.
Check the valve cover. I have seen them weep on the 690/701 motors.
Many 690/701 groups on Facebook to search/ask around in as well. This issue has probably made its way there at some point.
Excessive chain lube dripping from the front sprocket?
tbh, I saw it in San Diego and thought it was excessive lube, since the last product I used was super wet/watery and flung off pretty easily; but the finger test showed oil.
I believe I have it traced to this fastener:
https://i.imgur.com/VvKoc13.jpg
it wasn't quite hand loose, and it needed maybe 3/4 turn to tighten properly.
topped off the level and going to do a ride on Monday
all this street makes me ITCHY for some dirt
took 30-ish mins for the front and 45-ish mins for the rear:
https://i.imgur.com/67XG0Su.jpg
honestly the lengthier part was lining up the front rim with the rotor, while spinning the lower fork legs to be straight, and getting the axle in.
the rear tire's valve stem was also a little tricky to get straight. I had to unmount one side and jiggle things to get it lined up
13-ish changes done so far; the Rabaconda is free, and any future tire change is free :hellyeah:
also ponied up for a battery powered pump, instead of heading to my truck to get air:
https://i.imgur.com/YIQH1wz.jpg
$25 and uses my drill battery
took less than a minute to get to 18psi
https://i.imgur.com/jhJjAo5.jpg
next rides:
-1/30: local fire road
-2/4 or 2/5: high desert
-2/8: San Diego/Temecula area "hump day" dual sport ride with the Flying Monkeys
-2/18 or 2/19: high desert/husky
-3/22-25th: death valley
-April: 3 days of epic canyons? Joshua Tree NP?
-May: Temecula? CA-94/border wall/box canyon road?
-June: Camping?
-July: Coastal/PCH? Night rides?
-Aug: flu/covid season start again. ugh.
Did you want to join our Baja trip April 1? The guys are going for a week but I'll likely just be there for the first weekend and riding back solo Sunday or possibly Monday.
It sucks I work M-F or I'd ask to tag along to some of those dates you listed. Then again, maybe you're better w/o me :lmao:
My god, you are cursed. No one with a computer is ever going to buy this bike!
:spit: my buddy suggested after B2V that this bike has bottomed out for resale at any mileage; so just use it for light street duty and just focus on buying a new dual sport for dirt.
The market is just dumb for pre 2019 690’s. $5k gets you a 2017 690/12k miles, a 2015 WR250R/25k miles, or a 2009 KTM dual sport. There’s a chance that with a little more 690 mileage and a year, the YZ250 is worth more than the 690 :spit: The hell?
I got a sight-unseen-fly-and-ride offer of $5k cash; so I am guessing that’s my quick sale price. At that price I’d rather just keep it for upcoming rides.
@onecheek - thanks for the invite, as Baja is on my list, but won’t be able to get the time off for that. We can Santiago on any random weekend it’s not raining and we’re both off; it’s a pretty mediocre ride. We can even do a 6-8pm run in spring if it’s a day either or both of us are working.
I did really well on mine. I bought in new for 8500, rode it hard for 5 years and sold it for 6500. I never had any mechanicals and it lived life at redline in all gears. routinely cruising at 122mph terminal velocity.
Here's a minty WR250R with low miles with a (now lowered) 5k asking price and similar mods I did to mine and highly recommend: https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/2...-area.1609335/
thanks Mike!
I had seen a spread of WR250R's from 4,000-$7,000...if I tried hard enough, I'm sure I could find a 17+ with sub 6k miles
the point I was making is that the WR holds its value compared to the euro bikes. $6,700 brand new, then $5,000 average on the used market.
A new 690 is $14k, but a 6 year old used one is $5k. Especially with the motor having been cracked open, the dealer even refused to give me any sort of offer at all, and won't put it on their sales floor.
anyhoo, jonesing for dirt...
***LONG POST W' HEAVY PICTURE WARNING***
After spending most of January doing pavement rides in San Diego, I was jonesing for some dirt. The desert weather was prime.
So I posted up and got an invite to ride somewhere in the high desert. Met up with Joel (@NSFW on ADV rider - he organizes the Death Valley noobs, and Pahrump rallies) and a couple of his friends
https://i.imgur.com/VUCy2iC.jpg
So we headed out from camp, out to the fire roads:
https://i.imgur.com/2xkH4z9.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/atqSwDf.jpg
behold: Nico - this kid was 18 years old, applying to the air force. He was an excellent leader/tour guide, with great passionate for being out riding the high desert.
https://i.imgur.com/2ZyQLrh.jpg
not going to lie, I'm super jealous he grew up in CA and was riding the high desert since he was a kid
no GPS's, no euro bikes, no radios, just an XR250R, gear, and his family in the desert. That's how they did it.
he loves this place. and he absolutely flies on that XR250R!
https://i.imgur.com/f94nrdm.jpg
XR4 squad
https://i.imgur.com/h4qxrlj.jpg
the kindest father/son duo I'd ever met:
https://i.imgur.com/aqv52jx.jpg
very pretty trees:
https://i.imgur.com/NTWoWU5.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/JcfKQoL.jpg
oh hey, is that snow up there?
https://i.imgur.com/nuuDIk9.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/3m3uqP9.jpg
Joel and Franco decided to stop and enjoy some views, so Nico/John and I headed up in elevation:
https://i.imgur.com/CVx9vco.jpg
to my surprise, it did have some "paved" sections:
https://i.imgur.com/3FdFzX7.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/jyEsCQW.jpg
getting closer to the snow level!
https://i.imgur.com/1gjCior.jpg
then we finally hit it!
https://i.imgur.com/9IpZXsI.jpg
then it transitioned into pretty trees:
https://i.imgur.com/LBMNIxi.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/5MwzgWd.jpg
it was here that the trail suddenly transitioned to hardpack snow/ice, and the bikes were backlogged (including a couple on the ground)
https://i.imgur.com/IFA57lR.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/XWCgzGm.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/9dqhe9a.jpg
I helped this biker get his bike into the dirt, and my boots slipped in the process and I ended up on my ass too
https://i.imgur.com/W2dLg2g.jpg
we talked to a rider who made it a little further and he confirmed that it only got worse farther up.
So we made our way back down the hill and found Joel and Frank hanging out and enjoying the day, just smelling the roses:
https://i.imgur.com/kZxjmk5.jpg
we all hung out and commiserated for a bit, then Joel and Frank decided to head back to camp, and Nico/John and I headed onwards:
https://i.imgur.com/tGKFepF.jpg
this was the only major SxS traffic we hit:
https://i.imgur.com/AI1kfUn.jpg
rode into more beautiful joshua/yucca trees:
https://i.imgur.com/jRuiO7x.jpg
and just at the base of the mountain, we stopped at the pacific crest trail!
https://i.imgur.com/89plWah.jpg
add this to the multitude of spots I've intersected the PCT. Plenty of water jugs here for any hikers.
from there, we continued up into elevation:
https://i.imgur.com/4lV66rA.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/iJJMQcY.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/yGACwLL.jpg
When Nico stopped at an intersection, I got curious about the trail to the right:
https://i.imgur.com/aTctwi8.jpg
this slight turn off had some nice views of the canyon:
https://i.imgur.com/V9U3rJ7.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/cnTOfgZ.jpg
then onwards to our destination:
https://i.imgur.com/jwUAVnS.jpg
then finally made it the last bit of the way to the top, where there was a radio tower
https://i.imgur.com/BuycouY.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ergf8fX.jpg
hung out at that "appreciation station" for a bit:
https://i.imgur.com/TyTCq2v.jpg
then began our way back down to camp.
when Nico made a sudden right:
https://i.imgur.com/krvNoE6.jpg
into a flowy, windy trail with soft loamy dirt:
https://i.imgur.com/V3rLbQN.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/TXPSa1D.jpg
with elevation changes!
https://i.imgur.com/oCRkDeA.jpg
more pretty views on the way back to camp:
https://i.imgur.com/iAQc3y5.jpg
we were pretty close to camp, when I stopped Nico, and said there was a problem with his bike. So I got off mine:
https://i.imgur.com/UYOTXGL.jpg
and I told him, the issue he had, was that he needed to try my bike out:
so I saddled the mighty XR250R
https://i.imgur.com/hYbX5UI.jpg
and Nico took the 690R, which he did great!
into some sandy whoops:
https://i.imgur.com/N6SGOy7.jpg
and back to camp
here Franco and Nico were so generous in preparing and sharing from their herd; we ate like kings with hot pizza, fresh salad, artichoke dip and bread, coffee, sodas, waters, etc.
there's something about a hot meal in the desert that just tastes 100% better than at home
then Nico and Franco took me out to the burro Schmidt tunnel:
https://i.imgur.com/rPxjHB8.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/tDwnWLi.jpg
with a stop at the silt mines:
https://i.imgur.com/29QjM72.jpg
beautiful skies:
https://i.imgur.com/pTrGyX7.jpg
we rode until the sun went down into the night:
https://i.imgur.com/SSQ955m.jpg
then we got out of the wind and hung out in one of the RV's for some hot soup, tri-tip steak, and stories around the campfire.
Good times, great riding, and even better people.
Fuckin awesome!
there's a group near Temecula that has met every Wednesday evening for several years (Flying Monkeys "hump day" rides).
They do a 30-90 mile ADV/dual sport ride akin to a midweek dirt fix.
https://i.imgur.com/cDhZabs.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/xmzDy8E.jpg
joined them last night, and had a good time!
we did a mountain fire road to Margarita Peak
man, I was riding at 80-85% of what I can do on the 690, and the F800GS/890R/T7 were ahead of me!
they just smash over the hard pack rain ruts, rocks, and washouts. They really move for ADV bikes! unfortunately the T7 took a tip and it was at an awkward angle, but we helped stand him up.
690 fits in quite nicely amongst ADV rides.
You can still do the 75mph of pavement as equally well as smashing down the dirt fire roads. The YZ would suck on pavement.
Good dirty front knobby is a necessity, and a helmet lamp (I ran the tusk) is invaluable for "seeing ahead"
https://i.imgur.com/YGYNmd1.jpg
these pool filter socks catch quite a bit:
https://i.imgur.com/304d44j.jpg
and man Kurlon & TLS25RS are correct:
a dedicated cleaner (with kerosene?) does WAY BETTER then the old way of rinsing with some clothing detergent and wringing it out:
https://i.imgur.com/02OjyM6.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/tR04a5a.jpg?1
new pool filter sock as a pre-filter
upcoming rides:
-high desert loop Saturday 2/18
-maybe local dual sport run Sunday 2/19
-maybe hump day next Wednesday 2/22
-maybe one more hump day 3/8
-then DEATH VALLLEY NOOBS RALLY 3/22-3/25
then that generally finishes off, the long distance desert season for me
the 690 goes back to street rubber - short canyon rides, Joshua tree on pavement, CA-94/border wall, coastal overnight rides
the YZ comes back out for short evening/night 1-3 hour rides for this year...next year: Ultra Bee in & YZ is retired/non-op/resto mod bike
https://i.imgur.com/s94rdyZ.jpg
so I setup a ride with a buddy, then a veteran ADV member asked to tag along :eek:
it's not often you get the privilege to ride with senior desert guys, so treat it with respect
but thanks to the guidance of others in the community, I was successfully trained to lead a high desert ride with no assistance:
-I showed up on time
-I had the GPX tracks pre-loaded and I navigated - my loop connected as much of "the good stuff" that's out there
-I didn't babysit pleasure by checking if people were ok - instead I didn't check in with them at all. I merely made sure nobody missed a turn, and nobody was hurt
-I kept the ride going - we didn't stop often to chitchat for 30 mins. We only had 4 stops, lasting only 5-10 mins, then we'd keep going.
-I showed up with a bike that worked, and did not need to stop and do any trailside maintenance, although I had the tools to change a tire or tighten fasteners.
-ride slowly around blind turns and the lunch spot - need to beware of side by sides and kids on ATV's!
-I brought a radio and did a radio test before any re-start
-I was jiving on the bike and had a good flow.
-Just be present. Skip the GoPro, and just enjoy the ride. Don't let all the social media content generation distract you or slow you down.
https://i.imgur.com/UmLl161.jpg
good day!
good variety throughout the day, so a lot of sections had good flow.
Some areas were smooth with good berms and turn after turn after turn. :hellyeah:
Going through a longer heavy sand wash that finished with bike-eating whoops, I was glad I didn't have the YZ.
Those sections are *rough* on the bikes. You don't want to be a on a bike where you have doubt about its reliability.
only casualty was a snapped bar clamp on the Cycra Pro Bend.
I didn't go down at all, so I don't know how that happened.
oh FFS, I didn't even crash and hard parts just randomly break after a dirt ride?
https://i.imgur.com/gJ3gfaM.jpg
wrap around hand guard felt loose, everything was tight, but this part was snapped:
https://i.imgur.com/wb5O3iV.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/NggYYac.jpg
oh well, at least it's not a top end, inline fuel filter, subframe bolts, or spark plugs :deathslap:
meanwhile, I think I can join Xrocket on the snow fun; socal got an arctic storm thing:
https://i.imgur.com/Dr4zfcs.png
@ Iglu - remember Crystal Lake Cafe at the end of Glendora Mountain Road?
https://i.imgur.com/3mptheC.jpg
My local spot also got dumped too, at lower elevations than usual, so it'll be closed for however long
https://i.imgur.com/oEdMbqY.jpg
pretty view from home though
high desert should be good, might head out for a novelty snow ride Monday or Tuesday
https://i.imgur.com/wjQPjaI.jpg
the novelty was ok, if you're going to do it properly, stud the tires and use a lighter bike
the first few miles were muddy and snotty
https://i.imgur.com/F9MtQKR.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/jwC4V0g.jpg
once I got up into elevation the snow was packed down, the front tire traction was crap.
Couldn't steer away from obstacles, the bike kept sliding into ruts, and any lean angle made the bike want to lay down on its side.
view was good though:
https://i.imgur.com/5UzXe6K.jpg
@onecheek may know where this is:
https://i.imgur.com/gVpzmqn.jpg
boots stay in the bed :spit:
https://i.imgur.com/VLzLukv.jpg
this is the right bike:
https://i.imgur.com/3J8i7U9.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Osdx9zx.jpg
incredible:
https://i.imgur.com/8hS3Sep.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/JpbWUHn.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/E40sE33.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/0tIOgxq.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/L4khCDC.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/FoeiM2c.jpg
then I got this after I got back:
https://i.imgur.com/IuIMEe0.jpg
Did you check out Charles Manson's truck?? Your back was to it in this pic.
Edit: here’s my bike next to it
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e86875417e.jpg