It has been an interesting half a year with the bikes. They now have +40.000 km/25.000 miles on the clock.

Since we picked them up, my bike has always been running rougher than Katrine’s and felt down on power in comparison. Contrary to Katrine’s bike, mine also used some oil between services – maybe 200 ml per 5.000 km. Initially I put it all down to how the bikes had been broken in and treated by the previous owners.

3 months ago with 26.000 km on the clock the engine died on my bike. It turned out the piston, piston rings and cylinder were shot.
There was no clear reason for the breakdown. Looking at the failed parts and listening to people more tech savvy than me the most likely cause of the problem was too little piston ring gap which made the ring seize – but it’s only a guess.
Mancos Motorsports in Colorado rebuilt the engine for me. It appears they did a good job. Since the rebuild the engine has been running both smoother and more powerful than ever before – and it doesn’t use oil anymore. It indicates that there might have been a problem with the engine from the beginning – maybe even a manufacturing error?

The breakdown made me lose all faith in the bike. One of the reasons for choosing the Rallys in the first place was the renowned Honda reliability. For a long time after the breakdown I just waited for it to happen again. After 3 months without any issues, and a bike that runs great, I have regained some of the lost faith.

The breakdown hasn’t changed my overall opinion of the Rally. I believe that with a few modifications, which I discussed in my initial review, it’s a great travel bike.

When I had the engine rebuilt I used the opportunity to inspect the valves. On both bikes the clearance was spot on with no need for adjustments.

At the same time I switched from OEM paper air filters to Twin Air foam filters on both bikes. The main reason was that I discovered that many Honda dealers even in The States didn’t have OEM air filters in stock and needed a few days to get them. It made me concerned about availability as we move on to less developed parts of the world. With a foam filter I can just clean and reuse it.

While we were at it both bikes got treated with new spark plugs.

The front brake rotor was warped on both of our bikes when we got them. It got worse over time to a point where using the front brake was a real pain in the ass. It took a while for me to source new rotors, but at 34.000 km I got my hands on what I needed and replaced rotor and pads, and changed the brake fluid on both bikes.
It is wonderful to have a proper functioning (albeit still very weak) front brake.
Bonus info: In my hunt for new rotors I discovered that the floating disc for the Rally version is around 4 times as expensive as the solid disc for the basic L version.

I prefer to run drive chains towards the loose side of the spectrum. I had been a bit too loose with the chain slack on my bike. As a result I had to replace the chain slider at 37.000 km – from now on I’ll keep a closer eye on the chain.

Now that we are on the subject of chains: I’m going to replace chain and sprockets on both bikes soon. We picked up the parts just before we crossed into Mexico a couple of weeks ago. Our current chains and sprockets show very little wear after +30.000 km but some of the links have gone stiff. We’ll be more generous with lubrication to avoid it happening with the new chains. The GIDIBII chain oilers will make that job easy.

I’m on my 3rd set of tires on my bike and Katrine on her 4th.
We both started out with knobbly tires. It quickly became apparent that it was the wrong choice for us.
Most of our riding is on tarmac. We missed the grip and smoothness of more street orientated tires – and wore the knobs down in no time.
We try to avoid off tarmac excursions in wet conditions and when we do leave the tarmac, we ride cautiously and stay on dirt and gravel roads – for that kind of riding we don’t need aggressive off road tires.

The 21” and 18” narrow rims give you a great selection of full on off road tires but a lot less to choose from when it comes to more street orientated tires.
It would have been nice with a slightly wider 17” rim in the rear (added to the “recommended mods” post).
I have a shortlist of tires I would love to try out on the Rallys, but initially all I could get my hands on in the right size were Shinko 705. They turned out to perform ok, but not great and they didn’t last all that long (around 12.000 km).
After my first set of Shinkos I managed to source a set of Dunlop Trailmax Mission. They have performed excellently, are still on the bike and in good shape after 18.000 km.
Recently we found a set of Mitas E07+ for Katrines bike. She is very happy with them, and they seem to wear nicely.

We have learned that tire pressure is paramount to reduce wear and keep the tires in good shape. Especially in the front where even a slight underinflation makes the tire scallop in no time. The recommended tire pressure is 22 psi front and rear. By trial and error we have learned that 33 psi front and 40 psi rear works best for our load and riding style.

Last month I modified the luggage rack on Katrine’s bike. The shape and sharp corners of the TUSK rack was creating undue wear on her Mosko Moto luggage harness. When we first discovered the issue we stopped further damage by adding protection between rack and harness. It was great to finally create a solution that properly rectified the course of the problem.

Other than the warped front rotor and unruly luggage rack Katrine’s bike has performed like a champ. Since the last oil change it has started using a bit of engine oil. It’s still running great and the oil consumption can be due to a couple of things. For now it’s not a concern but something to keep an eye on.

When we set out from Phoenix both bikes were equipped with windshield extension spoilers. I didn’t feel it made much of a difference, so I donated mine to a friend along the way. Katrine’s died not long after. It was always fiddly to adjust and it didn’t come as a surprise when it eventually broke apart.

If we were to do it again we would probably have kept the standard seats and just fitted something like a Wind Rider Seat Cover. We have tried, without luck, to get an airflow seat cover that fits our custom seats. Katrine is using beads on her seat to get a similar effect. I don’t feel the need.

That about sums up the first 6 months with the bikes.