I finally got around to taking a proper ride with the 690. It was a hot day, so I strapped on my CamelBak and started off towards Vihti. I ended up doing a really nice ride around the capital area from Vihti to Hyvinkää. Then to Karkkila and topping it off with some enduro track action in Sipoo. Altogether some 270 km.
I finally managed to find some proper single tracks and gravel roads. Even some overgrown forest roads with some wet sections. I was thrilled and started to feel that the bike was really performing well. The suspension started to feel a bit more friendly after the ride. Maybe it was also getting broken in as I did do some jumps, landing on flat ground. I didn’t manage to bottom out though. I would like to have a lot more softness up top with a nice progressive spring action. It seems very hard on the wrists with the fast compressions. Slow comp seems fine to me, and I felt very confident cruising on the pegs in the sand forest tracks.
No pics this time. I was too stoked about the riding to bother taking my camera out. Next time.
Riding back from Sipoo without ear plugs, the usual paranoia crept back into my head due to strange engine noises I kept hearing. Luckily the first maintenance is booked in a few days time so all things should be confirmed then. Hopefully it will confirm that I’m a paranoid idiot.
I think the cam chain tensioner keeps a bit of slack in the chain. I noticed a gut wrenching sound in the engine as well, but after some research and investigation I decided it was just the tensioner. Bike has run flawlessly.
Liam, that’s probably true. The hydraulic tensioner apparently gets noisy when oil pressure drops. This can happen, not only with low oil levels, but also with the engine running hot and the oil getting frothy. I’m currently looking into the Rally Raid manual chain tensioner, preparing for a longer ride.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lK1XtUJ2KbI