BIG ADVENTURE on my 2021 Svartpilen 401

BISavage said:
Oil change is good, common to find extra black gasket material loose in the screens, no biggie though.

Id definately recommend dealer check for the first service unless you know what your doing... need to adjust the spokes, check the swing arm, head bearings, etc...

Chain is easy, I put mine on the rear stand so the tire can rotate, but its not necessary.
Check if it touched the swing arm and rotate the wheel to do it at 4 or 5 different places at least. If it touches the swing arm, I normally need a half turn on the adjustment screws to it in range. The 2-5mm is at the tightest section of chain, right there where the picture shows you. I am sure that others know better tricks than me though, I run a motocross chain...
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Cool. Ya, seemed easy enough. Just wasn't sure if I was supposed to block the chain or not. I do all my snowmobile maintenance and have even done complete engine rebuilds on it, so this is easy enough...just need to know the specifics/tricks for motorcycle maintenance. Thanks!

And ya, I could spend lots of time trying to figure out how to do all the stuff in the 1000 km check but the dealer will do this one for sure.



R
 
RobWCanada said:
Bike didn’t have any electrical issues so that’s a plus. I haven’t gone for my 1000km service yet…but I will be doing an oil change on the weekend before I ride it anymore and then take it in for its first checkup. I figure I should at least have a dealer do the first one.
R
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The oil change on these bikes is a pain as the drain plug is hidden by the exhaust header pipe so it needs to be loosened at the motor. And there are two screens to be cleaned as well as a filter to be replaced. I was happy for the dealer to do the first one - my laziness showing through.
 
GenericUser1 said:
Amazing adventure. I don't even ride if there is a chance of rain.
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Come on man! Lol

It's actually not to bad. As I said the wind is far worse.

If that damn suit/gloves were waterproof it would've been alright. Still more fun than sitting at home looking at the covid numbers on the news haha


R
 
Well, rain in a rainy area is, rainy and wet.

Not to be compared to a freak downpour as the first rain in 300 days on some well utimized road in Oildale; that could be about the scariest road condition known to man...

...Much like bull riding, to stay on 8 seconds is already victory.
 
Wow...in the icy depths of Ontario right now -4°F I was reviewing my adventure lol. I miss it.

Planning a trip out to hopefully Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in the spring/summer. Can't wait. I'll prolly start a new thread about it once I have some sorta idea of where to go! Or if anyone has any ideas on great places to ride in that area please lemme know. Cabot trail in NS looks amazing...hugely popular.


R
 
Congrats on the bike and welcome Rob!

Agree with the others, amazing first trip on the bike. I for one hate riding when its raining hard, mainly due to the poor visibility (mine and other driver's).
 
I'm resurrecting this old thread by way of a hello—from another Canadian (and former Saskatchewaner): sorry about the golf-ball hail, Rob. Out here in southern Alberta it seems every used car has some hail damage somewhere—my own included.

I'm in Calgary these days and my mum is in Brandon. I'm glad to hear the bike held up fine for that long haul. The flat, treeless blast across Saskatchewan won't be a lot of fun, but I'm looking to do a run to MB on the Vit in the summer, likely Grasslands National Park in SK, and then eventually on to the Lake of the Woods / Lake Nipigon stretch for some camping.

Have you fit anything further in terms of side panniers with NS in mind?

RobWCanada said:
Saskatchewan and Manitoba are pretty flat, and the weather brutal, I would have loved to have seen it in the sunshine, but that's not what was in store for me. Once I got to eastern Manitoba, the landscape suddenly changed about 100 km from the border, trees, rocks, small mountains/hills (i.e. noticeable elevation).

If nobody has been to Northern Ontario (Kenora, Hwy 622 to Atikokan, Nipigon, North Eastern Lake Superior Provincial Parks) this was unbelievable scenery, I've lived in Toronto my whole life and didn't know this was here, simply beautiful and awe inspiring. Sadly however, almost this whole part of my trip was again, in the rain.

[…]

Rob
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araadt said:
I'm resurrecting this old thread by way of a hello—from another Canadian (and former Saskatchewaner): sorry about the golf-ball hail, Rob. Out here in southern Alberta it seems every used car has some hail damage somewhere—my own included.

I'm in Calgary these days and my mum is in Brandon. I'm glad to hear the bike held up fine for that long haul. The flat, treeless blast across Saskatchewan won't be a lot of fun, but I'm looking to do a run to MB on the Vit in the summer, likely Grasslands National Park in SK, and then eventually on to the Lake of the Woods / Lake Nipigon stretch for some camping.

Have you fit anything further in terms of side panniers with NS in mind?
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Ha! There's your post. (I pm'd the user already as his post didn't show up because he was a new user -- puzzling, because I got a notification).

Anyway, I'll post here what I told araadt as others may be interested...or not. haha

----
Hey,

No, not gonna worry about side panniers. The DryBag 350 and backpack was enough. Had everything I needed. I did however switch out the backpack (I was originally gonna wear it but they’re so damn uncomfortable …dunno how people do it). I switched the backpack for a DryBag 260 which can clip to the top of the 350…they’re modular. Backpack was hard to get stuff out of too. So with the two bags it’ll be 61L of storage!

I have a tank bag too (I think 12L). SW-Motech pro series tank bag. It’s a small one. If I can, I may get a bigger one but not sure it’ll fit on the Svart. I'd love the PRO tank bag but it's biiig.

sw-motech.com

PRO Sport tank bag. 12 l-17 l.

PRO Sport tank bag. 12 l-17 l.
sw-motech.com sw-motech.com


R
 
And in turn, my response was:

Cheers! The Vit arrives in a week or two (or so says the dealer—who knows these days) and yeah, as a 40-year-old I couldn't imagine doing 2000 km in that hunched-over Vitpilen position with a laden backpack on.

I've been thinking about the Unit Garage panniers here and there—but am still trying to get a sense of what my needs will be. The DryBag is a good thought—60L is enough for my backcountry hiking gear, I'd imagine it'd be enough for a road trip too.
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As an aside:

The bags I've been thinking of are the Unit Garage TPU panniers. I like the roll top and figure the waterproofing is worthwhile. There seems to be little evidence of them on Youtube—aside from their own product videos—but there's a smattering of other forum posts elsewhere, referencing other bags of theirs: vitpilenforum (suede looks great—I'm a hipster, what can I say—but probably isn't that practical in use) and here in a BMW R9T group.

The upside(?) to their system is they're using a third-party attachment mechanism made by KlickFix. This gives me confidence parts will be available in the future if needed—or we could go the custom route like this post, or on a 701 here, and build our own bags.
 
araadt said:
And in turn, my response was:



As an aside:

The bags I've been thinking of are the Unit Garage TPU panniers. I like the roll top and figure the waterproofing is worthwhile. There seems to be little evidence of them on Youtube—aside from their own product videos—but there's a smattering of other forum posts elsewhere, referencing other bags of theirs: vitpilenforum (suede looks great—I'm a hipster, what can I say—but probably isn't that practical in use) and here in a BMW R9T group.

The upside(?) to their system is they're using a third-party attachment mechanism made by KlickFix. This gives me confidence parts will be available in the future if needed—or we could go the custom route like this post, or on a 701 here, and build our own bags.
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Hmm, well just to outfit the left and right side is gonna run you $455 CAD. Without the bags. I did see this option before I bought the SW-Motech DryBags and just decided they look really nice but not worth it. But all personal preference. Get what you like.
 
I should add that that the bag linked is 20-26L.

Keep in mind that although say a 35L bag is only 10-15L bigger this is a huge diff in terms of what you can pack in it. Like maybe a tent? Anyway, from our PM you may have thought of that already.

If you do get the unit garage pls post pics I’d be curious to see them and get your thoughts.

R
 
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