How not to break in your brand new Terra 650

Picked up the bike in AZ a few days ago, rode it around the first day and put 103 miles on it then changed the oil.
Fueled it up last night and decided today would be a good day to test it out on the trails.
I felt the border road would be a good break in, and I would take a section I did on my Border Road 100 thread, then ride back home. A nice 100 mile round trip morning ride.

How wrong was I.

Here was my intended route:


I must have been in a funk this morning, or maybe because it it a brand new bike, I decided not to bring a tool bag.
I also assumed (who knows why) that this bike didn't have tubes in the tires.

I took off in the 37* weather, with high wind warnings on the news. I was only planning on being gone for a few hours so no big deal.
I hit the border road, headed west. Continued on for several miles then approached the corner of the bootheel.
This is where the nice dirt road turned into some less forgiving 2 track.


Keep in mind this is my first time riding this bike offroad. Its not the DR350 I'm used to and I'm still in the break in stage (so no high revving or bogging the motor down if I can help it).

I made it to the corner with no mishaps:



The trail got nastier from this point as the border road turned south.


I wish my skidplate was in already.

I made it to Monument 41 unscathed and learning that this bike is not a dirt bike but something a little heavier.


About 10 miles south of the corner, the Terra started handling funny and I noticed something was up.
My fears were confirmed. I had a flat tire in BFE. With no tools, patches, plugs, or tubes. :huh

At this point I am literally in the middle of nowhere. 30-40 miles from home, and about 30 miles from the nearest ranch (in the US).

I had no choice but to keep riding and try to baby it 30 miles to the nearest ranch, hoping they had a plug (at this point I still was unaware about the tubes) and some air for me to use.

So I chugged along at 10-12 mph, avoiding rocks and everything I could. This was a pain in the ass.

At one point I saw a truck on the Mexico side of the border with some guys in it. I waved them down and began talking in Spanish, asking for some air.

One guy began talking to me in German (great), but the other spoke native Spanish and said they had a full air tank in the truck bed. So I lumbered the bike up to the border fence and they stretched out a hose.
Air was back in the tire but I was racing against the clock. I could hear the leak and still had 25 miles to go.

I thanked them dearly and took off like a bat out of Hell.

Unfortunately the air only lasted 4-5 miles and I was back to $hit creek.

A few hours and some sore arms/shoulders later, I made it to the nearest ranch house.
I don't know how I didn't destroy the tire in the process, but it still looked usuable.
I explained my situation and they showed me to the shop and handed me a set of plugs.

Now I still have my head up my ass at this point and think that its a regular tire on a rim with sealed spokes.
In order to find my leak, I have to air up the tire and then plug it.

So I began filling it with air, the tire slowly filled...

*POP*

What the hell was that? Maybe the beads getting seated?

Nope. The tube was twisted from 30 miles of no air and then burst when air was introduced to it. Awesome.

I had to borrow their landline (no cell signal for 25 miles) and call my wife.

Fortunately she wasn't incredibly pissed, but I had to give her directions for a 50 mile journey from the house to somewhere she's never been.

Luckily she showed up an hour later, we loaded the bike into the truck and made it home.

Lessons learned:
Don't leave the house without tools and tire repair stuff. Ever.

Learn your bike before you take it to BFE or you might not make it back.

I'm uploading stuff from my helmet cam so I'll have a video to go with this.

Nice bike. Sounds like quite an adventure. You're off to a great start with it.

oser

Consider it broke in now. Let her rip!

HF

Ready for that featurette!

A cheap lesson learned. Nice looking bike. DD

I can laugh now that I know you made it home safe. Enjoyed your misadventure and your writing style! Thanks for sharing.

Great RR. Better take the wifey out to dinner!

HaHa this sounds like something that would happen to me. Back in the 50's and early 60's my parents lived down your way. My father worked on the old south line of the Southern Pacific Railroad. I have wanted to ride that area for years. Enjoy the new bike and update when you can. George

Our ranch is right near the old railroad bed. They used to ship the cattle by freight train back in the day.

Here is a link for the first part of the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9815zt1Sahs

That is classic " that's why they call it adventure riding" material. Sounds like some of the "adventures" i've been on. The video demonstrates how smooth these bike run. Looks like a lot of fun down there, not so much a good place to break down. Thanks for the heads up. Been sneaking off without my tools. Did get the skid plate made and on,I have the parts to make tool tube up front. That project just got moved up the priority list. Thanks, Glad your all right.
btw, I had to take my wife out and buy a new oil pan for my beemer. I was glad she came to pick me up. all in all a reasonable tow / recovery fee.

sweet! get a skid plate and re-do the ride when you've got tools and tube with you. love the cross-nation air refill. how crazy to be in BFE and see some other dudes on the other side...with air.

the way the news paints it, you should have had several illegal immigrants carry it to your house. you could then adopt them.

Sorry for the delay,

The final video:

http://youtu.be/4LDbcVdJXPQ

Nice riding down there, and it looks endless! I'm impressed...you stayed pretty calm, considering. But I guess you could have edited out all those four letter words.