Raidxtreme XTZ850

[bewdleybiker]

Hello everybody

I know its not an Africa Twin but I've met a lot of nice people through this site and I hope nobody will mind my showing them the latest developments with my old friend, my Super Ten. I know there are one or two closet XTZ fans in here

You may remember I posted up on here about it a while back, saying that rather than buying a new bike, I'd rather breathe new life into an old bike that I've had since 1994 and has been all through Africa and the Middle East with me.

So....,

to cut a long story short the girls at www.raidxtreme.eu (Jenna and Kymmy) have just done an amazing job puting an TDM850 engine into it and bolting a Wr450f front end on

The very shortened version of the story is like this

frame stripped down till it looked like this



the donor engine a TDM850 (4TX the 270 degree crank one) stripped till it looked like this



and then the rebuild began

the barrels were honed and new rings fitted



and the engine was throughly cleaned (inside and out !) and repainted



the frame was stripped right back, repainted and then the engine was bolted back in



the yolks from the massive WR450F forks just needed a tiny bit of machining to make fit



and then the rear Ohlins which had already been serviced went back in place along with the standard swingarm



a whole new loom was needed to cope with the different ignition requirements, carburetters and throttles of the 270 degree 850 engine



and then the rebuild really powered ahead



nearly there



and to cut a very long story short, the end result is......

bloody amazing......










I've cut 7 weeks of amazing work down into a couple of sentences but in short the quality of workmanship at the girls is amazing

I'll post up some more details of the massive amount of work they did (a lot of it not charged I have to say) but I have had the bike back for 2 days and from the off it has run perfectly, - carburation, suspension, balance, stability, everything

They have done an awesome job - you can tell that they have worked for a long time in the motorsport industry. The quality of work is sensational, a lot of it is belt and braces and I shall have no hesitation about setting off for Morocco in the Autumn for a blast on this bike. As a team, every electrical, mechanical or engineering challenge seems to be a joy to them which they overcome with the sort of ease which would have me crying into my pillow for days on end. For sure a rebuild such as this is nowhere near as simple as I have made it sound but they have done a brilliant and speedy job at building what for me is the perfect on/off road touring bike.

Hopefully I can wield it at the Cambrian too, and if there are any Midlanders who are up for a big trail bike ride, then I can't wait to put it through its paces

If anyone wants to know more about the build then I'd be really happy to answer up here, but if its complicated Jenna and Kymmy will have to chip in

They have done so much work on this bike and I can't begin to describe how grateful I am to them

It's brilliant, thanks Jenna and Kymmy

[alpslapper]

The website goes to a site under construction

This comment might be taken the wrong way, but I hope it doesnt come across as wrong or impertinent - but - I can understand you wanting to revive your bike as she's done so many miles for you and taken you all over the world - so - with an engine from one make of bike, and the front end from another, how does it feel like YOUR bike?

Remined me of the sketch in only fools and horses when the guy says hes had the same brush for 20 years, he's replaced the handles 30 times and the head 20 times but its the same old brush and he's never be parted form it (or something like that)

[bewdleybiker]

This comment might be taken the wrong way, but I hope it doesnt come across as wrong or impertinent - but - I can understand you wanting to revive your bike as she's done so many miles for you and taken you all over the world - so - with an engine from one make of bike, and the front end from another, how does it feel like YOUR bike?

I ain't quite the same person that rode down to Cape Town in 1995 either - didn't have a wife, 2 kids, a dog or mortgage then.

We all evolve and change a bit over the years and the bike does too. I never said it was a restoration project, I said I wanted to breathe some new life into it rather than buy a brand new bike that means nothing to me. In fact, so far I've done that with a KTM640, an XR650 and a DRZ400, all of which kinda meant nothing to me so I sold 'em pretty much straight away as they felt soulless to me.

Each to their own.

Oh and try XTZ850.com - thats under construction as well but there is an email address there

[AIRWOLF]

WOW !!!!!!!! ain't that a beauty

Had a 4TX for six year's, cracking motor, never missed a beat, load'sa grunt too

Ain't you going to have fun

[alpslapper]

I ain't quite the same person that rode down to Cape Town in 1995 either - didn't have a wife, 2 kids, a dog or mortgage then.

Ahhh - no fish in the pond out the back - not fully evolved then

Great looking bike - Love the IMO

[Cabby]

I like these bikes....I could get an old one for almost the same as an engine for the Alp (hens teeth).

Dunno if 5'8" touches the floor though...


Oh ...and Kymmy, Jenna.....Class....

[meljordan]

Pure quallity. What a great job your all to be congratulated.And i agree i can't see the point of spending £8500+ on a new new bike when you can with the help of a few gurus put a proven bike back to good order.

[Palmer]

That's awsome

[bewdleybiker]

Pure quallity. What a great job your all to be congratulated.And i agree i can't see the point of spending £8500+ on a new new bike when you can with the help of a few gurus put a proven bike back to good order.

Exactly You can do exactly the same sort of thing to an XRV and then we can both grind unreliable KTM990s into the dirt.

[digitalcaptive]

Exactly You can do exactly the same sort of thing to an XRV and then we can both grind unreliable KTM990s into the dirt.

That certainly looks like a special piece of kit, Well worth the hard work!