hi my name's Dave Darcy and you're watching Motorcycle Adventure Dirt Bike TV now if you're
new to the channel we do three things firstly we do motorcycle tests of all the latest Adventure
bikes to hit the Australian Shores secondly and arguably close to my favourite is we do long form
motorcycle adventure and have a lot of fun on those movies and thirdly we do bike builds and
I'd like to introduce my 2023 husky 501 Heritage Edition Rally now we're partly through the build
and today is about focusing on my first steps in the last couple of days I've installed the
Cush Drive I've installed the IMs 17 litre fuel tank and the Adventure Men cave Tower
in this episode I'm going to record my experience of fitting these products and then going out and
road testing them now that's not a dirt test at the moment because I live in suburbia and
I've got to get out into the dirt to give it a real good pasting and the other opportunity I've
got is sitting in the back is a Husky 701 my prime adventure bike that's taken me all over Australia
and with that bike there's an opportunity of getting straight off this one onto that to
feel the differences in the bike that bike comes in at 147 kilos this one comes at 108. Is there
that much difference before we start the bike build and then again let's retest that in the
next episode when I have the full adventure kit on this bike now if you're new to the channel for
God's sake subscribe or better still join and have a look at the benefits that joining Mad TV bring
[Music]
I feel like I'm committing a crime at the moment
I'm riding a perfectly brand new 23 model Fe 501 in suburban streets
In the dirt is an absolute weapon and I've got this crazy notion that I can convert it into a
decent adventure bike and I'm not the only one many of you have done it out there so
each person's journey is different so I'm going to do a unique thing today I've got the 701 in
the garage so I'm going to ride this bike on the road and I'm going to go straight back to the 701
and then I'm going to ride that back to back so one of my first feelings of the road on this
bike well it's incredibly twitchy as in well twitchy is not the word it's just responsive
it's so light and agile and can just move around and then you expect that
it's a dirt bike you know it comes in at 108 kilograms so of course it's light
but to take it to into Adventureland to increase that fuel range going to increase oil capacity
there's a couple of things you've got to do and you've got to increase carrying capacity
now the first step in this conversion I'm going to do it
after I ride the 701 is to put the cush drive on the back and just to see what difference
that makes because at the end of the day the reasoning for the cush drive
is to make it more appealing on the road when it has to do you long tar miles so
I'm going to do that in a minute but first I'm going to go back to my garage and ride the 701
so light it's like a little mountain bike we are back in the garage
and there's that 701 so I'll get straight off this get on that
and feel the difference in terms of weight I think it's around a
look don't quite Beyond it 145 kilograms this is 108 so they're really light bikes
back on the 701 and already I've got memories flooding back of where this
bike has been this bike has done the tough stuff
you know crossing the top end in the Flinders ranges in the tropical North uh it's it's had a
tough life but it's been amazingly excellent for those conditions that I've thrown at it
I can't help but think you know this bike has 10 000 kilometer service intervals so nice big
oil volume you know 1.8 liters 1.7 liters it's got good suspension it's got a quick shifter
um what's noticeable straight away when you get on this as opposed to the 501 is the weight
surprisingly yeah there's only about probably 30 odd kilograms in it difference but in terms
of its resistance to turn it's noticeable you know the 501 is like a mountain bike and don't
get me wrong this bike handle is like a 450 but you can notice the difference between the two
this bike is also so much smoother like it's got a cush drive uh and currently it's running
Pirelli Scorpions which are good on the road great on the road but also a great Dual Purpose
tyre and what I noticed is when I go in when I'm going slow I can actually feel that extra weight
you know and I think part of it is the spinning force in the engine that creates a gyroscopic
effect because it's a big engine it's a it's a 701 okay let's get this cush drive on this 501 eh
step in converting this wonderful dirt bike into a an adventure slayer get this cush drive on and
with the world's greatest shifter I think that's really important because Clive loves shifters
I'm very confident the fitting of the cush drive in combination with a Pirelli Scorpion
Rally 140 by 80 will improve the ride but more importantly it's about protecting the gearbox
my only fear is that I may have over tired the rear of the bike it looks very thick and
is it going to fit is it going to rub on the Plastics I'm crossing my fingers it fits okay
when I was handing around for a course drive there were a couple of hundred dollars difference some
definitely had more bling factor and I bought mine from Link International I did receive a
discount on the purchase but that aside I like the design and that's why I went for that one
now another secret to smooth Adventure is to get those wheels balanced both back and front
nothing worse than riding along on an open stretch of country road at 100 kilometers
an hour and getting your face vibrated off due to the wheels being out of balance so
that's a secret that really improves the comfort and ride of Adventure at speed
the next step is to move the handlebars forward in the mounts to open up the cockpit and that
makes for lengthy periods of comfortable standing on the pegs and if I'm lucky I won't have to add
bar risers and that will be another thing we'll test on the road shortly I can feel
all your eyes rolling as I talk about my flippy mirrors and why what I love about them if they
get loose you can just turn them and tighten them up again and if you want them out of the road you
just Bank just put them out of the road see and that's it they're out of the road then bang up
now look at that so our ringing endorsement there's the 701 that
bike's had an absolute hammering flipping mirrors are still working beautifully
so much smoother with that cush Drive
the combination of the tire as well it's both you can't you can't eliminate one from the other and
the other thing I haven't done yet is I haven't put a dual purpose tyre on the front yet and
that'll be the next thing I do now I moved the handlebars forward as well and yeah that's much
better yeah I don't need bar risers that's all I needed to do was to put the handlebars forward
and I'm happy with that I'm glad I put the cush drive in I get it now
I wasn't going to do it I thought it was a bit of a wank I'm glad I've done it
today I'm focusing on fitting the Adventure Men Cave ProLav8 Nav Tower and the IMs 17 liter tank
and if I'm lucky I might start on applying some of the Hole Shot Graphics kit but I
can't imagine myself getting too far into that before the end of the day so let's put it out
there my mechanical skills are pretty average all my mates know that and in the morning I felt like
I'd bitten off a little bit more than I could chew the tank would be a relatively easy job
the tower on the other hand was a little daunting Plug and Play is a term thrown around liberally
in the motorcycle accessory Market technically fitting the Adventure Men Cave Tower was plug
and play with an emphasis on more play around than plug that said the tower is a wonderful
piece of engineering that took my wife Sonia and I about four hours to fit to the bike if
you're not into wiring or have limited mechanical knowledge then I'd suggest getting a knowledgeable
mate or your local mechanic to fit it for you or better still try the Bike Butler Chris Bostleman
up in Hornsby and he'd do a great job for you so why the adventure men cave Tower well Mark
put me onto them with his 500 build and I saw it worked it gave great lighting and protection and
it looked beautifully made it looked the goods and from what I've seen now it is the goods
the IMs tank fitted perfectly and without a hitch I couldn't believe how easy it was to attach the
fuel pump assembly into the tank the most fiddly part of the job were cutting out reinforcement
lugs on the shrouds so that they would fit to the tank I chose the IMs tank because it was of high
quality and had a reputation amongst 500 owners of being the right kit for the bike and I'm expecting
around 400 kilometers range if I'm not too heavy on the throttle you know I had the wiring out it's
been all over the place in the front the tower's now on gotta put some Petrol in the tank I'm
really nervous you know this is a brand new bike I've been stuffing around with the wiring for ages
anyway let's put some fuel in and see how we go oh God here we go what a tank
it's like the Exxon Valdez now
Time for a ride to see what that towers like see what the IMs tank is like and my flippy mirrors
but it's starting to look the part you know some of the Hole Shot Graphics are on but not
all of them are on yet I love the front of the bike I'm not a tower fan so because that's just
weight over the top of your front wheel but you know there's trade-offs to be had basically that
Tower there weighs about three kilograms but you know what I can barely feel it on the bike
I don't know what all the fuss was about in my mind I'd
quite happy for that I love the way how this punches the air. The pocket is just
about to my visor and it comes around me so it keeps the air off my chest
very impressed with that
it's very compact I like but you know the trade-off was that it that it gives me
on navigation and it gives me great lighting for in the desert you know it doesn't matter
in the bush but it's when you're in the desert and you you're stuck out and you've got to ride late
and um it's just good lighting is a huge advantage yeah so standing on the bike you know the IMs tank
really narrow at the knees it's no different to the OEM tank I don't think
Bulb blinkers really don't fit with the design I have a replacement set of LEDs ready to go very
similar to what I have on the 701 but to fit them you need to change the relay for Led wiring and
that's a job for another day well that wraps up this episode of the 501 bike build the next time
we see you we'll be fitting this true north Moto's rear rack to the bike to increase the
carrying capacity beautiful Heritage Blue powder coated looks a mint we'll also be fitting this
adventure bike components clutch cover and that gives an additional 250 ml of oil into the sump
which hopefully extends your service interval and keeps oil temperatures cool a big shout out to cam
and Brett at Hole Shot Graphics the flavour of this bike is coming together now that's a Mad
TV bike if I ever saw one it looks the goods but there's more to come it was great working with
Cam to get the graphics the way I wanted them clean lines focused on those Heritage colors
in the next episode we'll head out to Hole Shot to get some pointers from Brett and Cam as to
how to fit Graphics to your bike so the bike looks good and the stickers stay on
and finally I'd like to congratulate Kyle Roger Kyle is going to be joining Mad TV not only behind
the scenes but hopefully you know in terms of camera work and editing but he also rides a bike
as well I think he's got a Ducati Desert X at the moment so welcome Kyle to the team and look
forward to working with you and it's a celebration we're going to finish up with his promo he made
to be the successful applicant for this job so until next time thanks for watching Mad TV
[Music]
oops
I think it's really important to be upfront with you in terms of where I'm getting the
parts and what I'm paying and I'll be frank with you I'm not paying anything for the parts these
companies I've approached them and they've provided the parts to me to make this build
but it's it's not that someone has just said I hear have a free part it doesn't work like that
I'm not interested in that I have sought those manufacturers out those suppliers out because
that's what I want on this bike to make this bike the best so yes I am being provided the parts free
of charge but they're parts that I've selected and I think that's a very important difference
it's just not what people are pushing on to me and there's no money Changing Hands in terms
of what I put on this bike this is my build and I can do as I want and I'm free to do as I want