At this year’s West Coast Touratech Rally we welcomed the Dork in the Road. You might have seen his adventure riding videos on youtube. He did a popular presentation at the event and is posting video’s following his experiences at the rally. This is part two:

Day 2 of the 2021 Touratech Rally West was another awesome time. We awoke to frost-covered motorcycles, tents, and trailers, but when the sun peeked up over the horizon, the temperature rose quickly. Before we could go riding, our friend Travis was forced to change out the rear tube on his Honda Africa Twin. After we got all that sorted, we decided to ride up to the Tyee Mountain Lookout. After taking on some amazing forest roads (paved, gravel, and dirt), and tackling the rocky, loose road section that led to the top of Tyee Mountain, we were rewarded with one of the most amazing 360 degree panorama views I’ve ever seen. You could see for miles in every direction and the scenery was breathaking. Afterward, we headed back down the mountain to the Touratech Rally 2021 grounds for an evening of cooking, drinking, campfires, and new friends. It was an amazing time at this year’s Touratech Rally, and I’m so looking forward to coming back for next year’s version in Plan, Washington.

Protect your Tenere 700 engine with Touratech’s Expedition Skid Plate. With a 21” front wheel and good ground clearance, the Yamaha Tenere 700 likes to wander off the beaten path. You are likely to find something on the ground that will make dangerous contact with the underside of your Tenere. You best protect it with an Expedition Skid Plate which offers three levels of protection in one skid plate. The stainless steel base plate distributes the load, while the heavy-duty 4mm aluminum shell provides robust protection. This is capped off by reinforced nylon sliders that absorb impact and provide a sliding surface to glide your Tenere over any obstacle in its path.

Shop for Tenere 700 Parts!

TRANSCRIPTION –

Hey folks, Ian here with Touratech USA. Today, we are going to be installing the Expedition Skid Plate on a Yamaha T7. This is the skid plate that uses a bunch of different layers to add reinforcement to the motorcycle. The main component here is your 4mm thick aluminum skid plate, and then you have these two 5mm thick stainless steel plates as the front one. That’s the front one and this is the back one right here. These guys are super strong and what they do is they spread out the load of impacts on the bottom of the skid plate onto the frame that cradles the bottom side of the engine.

The first step I always take doing an install here is to lay out all the hardware that comes in the kit. You have two stainless steel brackets here. These are only used if you do not have Touratech engine crash bars on the motorcycle. So I’m not going to use those today. You have six M8 washers. You have eight of these clip nuts. You have six of these coarse thread screws and six of their corresponding plastic spacers. Those are installed here into these sliders of what you have two. You have a whole bunch of these flange head bolts here, and then there’s two of them that are longer. They’re the exact same bolt, just a little bit longer. Four of these hex head bolts, one M8 nyloc nut and one socket cap and a bolt. So that’s the collection that you should have in your hardware pack, and let’s get straight to work.

The first thing to do is get on your computer and print out the paper instructions. There’s a lot of steps to this installation, so I highly recommend having these handy, not to mention they have the torque specs right here. We’re going to be using the Inox A2, that’s stainless steel, and we’re going to be using these torque specs while we’re working on the bike.

Once we got the instructions printed out, first thing we do is install all these clip nuts into the two sub pieces. You start with the front mounting plate and you install these just by squeezing together and clipping them in. They should be able to slide up and down like this, and they’re installed on the inside of the bracket here. Now we’re going to install these coarse thread screws and their corresponding spacers onto these nylon sliders. These go into the one o’clock… I should say the first, the third and the last position. I do that on both of the spacers. I find these much easier to install using an electric tool. I’ll show you how that works here. These coarse thread screws use a Torx T20 tool. I use the CruzTOOLS drivers on just an electric impact.

You put the screw through the plastic spacer, like so, hold it in place and then just send it down here. You don’t actually want these so tight. So when I do that, I’ll actually then go and back them out about a quarter turn, so that plastic spacer is just floating a little bit. That’ll make it a lot easier to get into the skid plate when we’re doing it at the end. So first position, third position, final position. Now that we’ve got the two sub-parts assembled and the plastic sliders all assembled, it’s time to head over to the motorcycle and start installing these two subframe pieces.

For the front piece, we need the socket cap, M8 bolt, two of the M8 washers and the M8 lock nut as well as two of these M6x20 flange-head bolts. You can see on the instructions here that these flange-head bolts are screwing into the subframe on the motorcycle. So I’m going to put some Loctite on these, and then the M8x30 bolt is going into its own Nyloc nuts. So I’m going to put anti-seize on that one before I head to the bike.

Here we are under the motorcycle ready to install the front sub part and this installs with three bolts. The two lower mounting positions go here and here on the front engine cradle, and then the upper bolt here goes right up in here in this hole that’s cast in the front of the crank case here. So we’re going to bolt it up like that. I’m going to start by just loosely installing these two flange-head bolts by hand, just to hold the bracket in place, and then I’ll work on the top hole. Once you get the top bolt through and we have the two bottom bolts just loosely started, you can take the nyloc nut and another one of the washers here and install it on the back side of the upper bolt.

Now I’m going to use a Torx T30 bit to snug up these two lower bolts and a 6mm Allen drive and a 13mm spanner wrench to tighten up the upper bolt. This upper bolt is a little bit hard to get to because of the shape of the frame. So just make sure you have a good selection of tools to try and make sure you can reach it here. With  the front plate installed, now it’s time to work on the rear sub plate. And that requires all four of these longer M8 hex head bolts as well as two of the shorter flange-head bolts. All of these are screwing into the frame of the motorcycle. So I’m going to use thread locker on all six of them. Remember that at this point, if you do not have Touratech lower engine guards on your bike, you will need these spacers to be installed here or here. I’m not quite sure yet. But since our bike already has those on the bike, we are not going to be using these pieces.

So from both sides of the motorcycle, we have to remove the two factory bolts here. These factory bolts use a 12mm head. With those four bolts out, we now hold this plate up and loosely install it with the two big hex head bolts going back here, and then the flange-head bolt going right here on both sides. Make sure you got the washers and some thread locker installed on these bolts. With the three bolts on each side now loosely install, use a Torx T30 bit to screw in the two flange-head bolts, and then use a 13mm socket to screw in the two big bolts on the sides. Now that we have the rear and forward subframe brackets installed underneath the bike, we’re going to install the actual skid plate itself.

To do that, we are going to use the remaining six M6 flange-head bolts and we’re going to put thread locker on all of them because they’re all screwing into those J nuts that we previously installed or those clip nuts. And so we want to make sure that they don’t rattle out. Little blue thread locker. For installing the skid plate under the bike, I like to start with the two front bolts that are going to go into these J nuts here. So hold the plate up with one hand, and with the other hand, just loosely start these bolts into the clip nuts. You’ll notice that I’m not putting any bolts in these front holes right here. That’s because these are used last to secure the nylon reinforcement sliders.

Now the last step is to install these sliders on the bottom side of the skid plate. These are held in place by the little bobbins that you previously installed and the two longer flange-head M6 bolts. I like to put just a little bit of Loctite on both of these guys, and then we’ll use our Torx T30 to drive them home. All right. That’s all there is to it. Skid plate is fully installed. Underside of this motorcycle is now protected way better than stock, and it’s ready to go for a ride.

Touratech USA

Motorcycle Camping: Cooking Supplies

When searching for cooking supplies, we always evaluate their size, weight, and durability. A mess kit should be lightweight enough to pack in a motorcycle luggage, but durable enough to cook and be cleaned without deterioration. You don’t want to keep investing in a lightweight mess kit each time you camp.

Your mess kit essentials will include a frying pan for eggs and protein rich hot foods, as well as a pot with a lid for stews and chili. Teflon frying pans are ideal for easy cleanup. Simply wipe your frying pan with a paper towel and it’s ready for use the next day without fear of bacteria growing on it.

Besides your canteen and thermos for coffee, you may consider bringing some disposable plastic cups for any additional drinks, such as soda or juice. This will save time having to clean out a metaphoric sink full of dishes. Always practice safe recycling too.

We recommend bringing a blow-up sink or folding water bowl to soak and wash any cooking utensils and silverware you bring to the campsite. These are compact and will keep your cooking utensils sanitary.

Obviously, a soft cooler will be required to store food and drinks. You can chill drinks with thermal ice packs that won’t melt in the heat.

Today’s stoves are designed to be lightweight and easily portable. Choose a lightweight fuel powered stove with a single burner to cook hot meals and easily pack up during travel. Don’t forget the propane or fuel that powers the stove or else you’ll have to stick to dehydrated meals and fruit for your entire trip.

These stoves are also great for making the morning coffee, cooking on the frying pan, or even steaming some tea in a kettle. Portable grills are also an option and can be compatible with the same fuel source, but it’s a little pointless to bring a stove for meat that will spoil if not cooked on the first day.

Here are some cooking tips to keep mind:

• Bring wooden spatulas if you cook any patties on the grill or stove
• Metal cooking utensils will scratch Teflon pans and are not good heat transfers
• A roasting stick is perfect for any hotdogs, s’mores, or vegetables you want to cook over the fire
• Salt and pepper are your best friend for flavor and freshness

What’s camping without cooking over a fire? Be sure to bring waterproof matches to light fires. Don’t forget a heat glove or a potholder to transfer hot plates from the stove or fire!

Other necessary supplies include:

• A pocket knife for filleting and cutting vegetables
• Hand sanitizer
• Paper towels
• Tupperware or plastic containers to store food
• Freezer bags if you bring any meat or fish
• Cooking sheets or foil
• Scrubbing pads and travel dish soap

You could also consider bringing a fishing pole. We’re huge advocates of fishing while ADV touring, though some days those fish aren’t biting, so don’t make it your only source of food!

Motorcycle Camping: Sterilized Water

This needs a stand-alone section for motorcycle camping. Just as important as preparing the right meals for the road, you also need a sterilized source of water.

Be sure to bring a collapsible water bottle able to hold at least 30oz. of water. We recommend camping near a water source and bringing a water desalination filter in case your campsite doesn’t have its own fresh water supply.

Additional Tips

Finally, it’s important to protect yourself and your campsite from unwanted visitors. Always seal food away after cooking and don’t throw any food waste in the fire so you don’t attract any animals to your campsite, especially bears!

Consider bringing alternative fire starters for a campfire, such as empty egg cartons. These are safer than lighter fluid.

And always clean up after your campsite and try and practice proper disposal – don’t ruin it for the next rider who’s out there trying to get away from it all.

Adventure motorcycle legend, Helge Pedersen stopped by the office on his new Touratech equipped R1200GS Adventure complete with sidecar yesterday. This red ride rocks Touratech suspension, is set-up for world tours with the Globeriders team and check out the custom painted Zega Pro Panniers!

We love it!

Touratech-USA

Tool-less Design to Transform Helmet Quickly

As ADV touring motorcyclists, we carry around enough tools already. Thankfully, the Aventuro can transform between its three personalities with no tools needed. The simple pods on each side of the helmet that hold the faceshield and sun visor are easily removed without tools. The mechanism stays firmly locked in place, and even after washing out in a sandbox around 50 mph and gently slapping the ground, nothing came loose. The other tool-less fastener is the one on the upper portion of the lid that holds the visor in place.

 The Aventuro Carbon also arrives with an assortment of camera-holding pods that easily attach to these three tool-less fasteners.

 

No Drag Sun Visor

Any motocross-style helmet with a sun visor is culprit to nasty head buffeting. Touratech addressed this with the “NO Drag” sun visor, which features strategically placed openings for wind to rush through it. At normal trail or fire-road speeds, and most posted speed-limit speeds on main roads, this ADV helmet produces barely any head buffeting – especially when the correct windscreen is utilized.

 At higher on-road or highway speeds, as expected some buffeting will occur. The solution is simple—take the visor off.

 The sun visor also features a handy extension in front that, with a simple tug or push, extends the visor about a half inch. This tiny extension helps much when the sun is blaring in your field of vision.

Optimal Ventilation

By default, dual-sport helmets provide great ventilation due to the open-bottom chin bar design. This is not good for cold weather, but the Aventuro Carbon combats this with a removable chin curtain.

 Additional ventilation is welcomed from the chin vent, which is removable to clean the bug-trapping screen behind it, two closable upper vents (top of head), two closable brow vents (for forehead) and two always-open exhaust vents. The brow vents can sometimes be hard to close due to their flush design, but with practice things get easier.

Also, when it’s raining these vents didn’t link a drop, and neither did the faceshield.

Pinlock Faceshield and Viewport

One of my major complaints with any type of motorcycle helmet, especially a dual-sport lid, is the lack of peripheral vision due to a narrow horizontal view. This helmet is not only wide horizontally, it’s also wide vertically, providing optimal vision for riders in many different situations.

 The Touratech Aventuro Carbon also arrives with a Pin-Lock ready and scratch-resistant faceshield, and every helmet includes a clear Pin-Lock. This is the only true way to battle fog; just watch you don’t scratch your Pin-Lock as I have zillions of times due to dumb mistakes like wiping a piece of dust off it with a glove on.

Comfort Issues: None

The inside material of the Aventuro, which is removable for washing days of sweat and dust away, is plush and comfortable on the scalp and skin. One word of caution: never pull the emergency yellow straps built into the cheekpads for emergency removal. This may distort the helmet; instead, learn how to remove them through Touratech’s video.

As for shape, it reminds me of Arai’s “intermediate oval,” which is what most riders have. I never felt any hot spots or discomfort issues due to tightness or looseness—of course that’s in my normal size of medium. Things felt a bit snug when I first put the helmet it on, but this is normal; it takes time for everything to break in. As for the Aventuro, it broke in after about two day-long rides.

Lightweight for added Comfort!

Just as the Aventuro Carbon states, the lid’s shell is built with Carbon Fiber. This construction aids in drastically less weight and more strength over typical helmet shells. The medium—with sun visor and faceshield attached— weighs just over three pounds.

The shell, which fits to size (Medium: 57-58 cm), is DOT and EC 22-05 certified.

 Concluding Thoughts

Designed from Germany’s maddest ADV riders, I didn’t expect anything less from the Aventuro Carbon helmet. Due to its features that were designed by real-world riders, the Aventuro has proven itself over and over the past two years, always excelling in the three criteria of ADV helmet superiority: lightweight, comfort and versatility.

To bad these lids only are recommended to wear for five years. But that’s also a good thing, and gives me an excuse to try the all-new version that’s also modular.

 

The new user interface allows you to browse with categories and filters to easily find the products you’re looking for.

 

More advanced user accounts allow you to track the progress of your orders and view/save user information.

 

We’re now able to accept PayPal payments and the checkout process has been streamlined and is quicker and easier!

 

A new layout with larger pictures and and easier to browse format.

 

Check out the new blog! We’ll be updating the stories regularly with great info, photos and video from around the Adventure Motorcycle Universe!

 

Touratech-USA never stops working to help our customers explore the world from two-wheels and we know the new touratech-usa.com will do that.

Please spend some time on the site, let us know what you think and excuse us for the next couple of weeks as we knock out the kinks!

A quick note on skidplate technology: Like with most things on motorcycles, weight and strength are always the two opposing factors.  You could get your crazy uncle to weld up some absurd 1/4” thick plate steel monstrosity that would never fail, and it would probably also stop small-arms fire.  The downside is it would also weigh the same as a bank vault door.  There is a balance that needs to be found.  Protect the vital bits, but do it without adding too much weight.

I know I ran my original Touratech skidplate, though more than it should have handled, and it did fine. I couldn’t make my skidplate fail, and I beat on it like it owed me money.

Installation is really easy.  Remove the stock “skidplate,” and pull the rubbers.  Since it is now 2015, I would recommend just buying new rubber bits, they are cheap (KTM PN: 600.03.096.000), and the stock ones tend get hard and brittle over time.

Put the rubbers into the Touratech frame where required.

Install the awesome new skid plate to the original factory skidplate mounting points.

That is it. 

If you have a 990 there is a bracket to install for the battery, this is shown in the provided instructions.

Hot Tip: 

When doing an oil change, don’t try to use the oil drain hole for the sump, you’ll just make a mess.  I tried it once, and now just remove the four bolts holding the skidplate on, and save the time of cleaning up the mess. 

This is a great piece of gear, just look at the photos of KTM LC8’s racing and getting weird, most of the time you’ll find a Touratech Skidplate on the bottom side.  Good luck out there, have fun, and godspeed.