Me with my DR before going on my first tour with motorcycle at 2007My story with the motorcycles starts the October of 2005 when I was 19 years old. At that time I was a university student and I neede a small motorcycle in order to move around at my island in the summer (Skopelos Island, Greece). At the same time my friend Chris was looking for a new motorcycle. He had a Suzuki DR 250S, six speed, kick starting, without battery and tachometer and with reversed forks. He already had 60.000 km with it. We made the arrangements so I got the DR and Chris got a BMW GS 600. I didn't have previous experince with motorcycles so I got my licence and started riding it. I was very cautious at the begining but I soon learned it. The DR was my companion for the next six years and I really pushed it to its limits. I went on tours with two persons and full load, I was using it for transportation at the centre of Athens, I went off road a lot of times and it never caused me any serious problems. One day on May 2011 and while I was serving at the military the engine stopped and refused to start again. The valves were damaged. I repaired the whole upper part of the cylinder and the DR was operational again. In that time I realised that I had to find a bigger motorcycle and in the end of August a short time before getting discharged from the military, I got a Honda Transalp 600 '92 in very good condition. From the August of 2011 the DR is my second motorcycle. The odometer was at 98500 km. I didn't want to sell it because it is my first motorcycle and I have a lot of good memories with it. I would like to keep it and rebuild it when I will have the ability in the future.
One major modification I did at my DR was on its lights. Since this model didnt have battery, the front lights were poor especially in total darkness. So I replaced the mask and put one from a old Yamaxa XT 600R which had bigger mirror. I also installed a xenon system with a balast. The system had a lamp consisted of one xenon bulb conected to the ballast and operated when the high beam was on and one halogen bulb for use in the city.
My friend Chris had already installed a Nonfango top case at the motorcycle, but after some tours with a lot of load the supports cracked so I was afraid to use it again. When I needed more load I was using a pair of Colori panniers.
For navigation I was using a Garmin Etrex Legend gps receiver and the Asus P526 mobile phone and navigator.
The tires I found most suitable for this motorcycle are the Metzeler Enduro 3 Sahara.
During a beach party at Skopelos Island
With a friend going for camping
From a short tour at Evoia
Wed Dec 28, 2011 1:17 pm