• Hi everyone,

    As you all know, Coffee (Dean) passed away a couple of years ago. I am Dean's ex-wife's husband and happen to have spent my career in tech. Over the years, I occasionally helped Dean with various tech issues.

    When he passed, I worked with his kids to gather the necessary credentials to keep this site running. Since then (and for however long they worked with Coffee), Woodschick and Dirtdame have been maintaining the site and covering the costs. Without their hard work and financial support, CafeHusky would have been lost.

    Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working to migrate the site to a free cloud compute instance so that Woodschick and Dirtdame no longer have to fund it. At the same time, I’ve updated the site to a current version of XenForo (the discussion software it runs on). The previous version was outdated and no longer supported.

    Unfortunately, the new software version doesn’t support importing the old site’s styles, so for now, you’ll see the XenForo default style. This may change over time.

    Coffee didn’t document the work he did on the site, so I’ve been digging through the old setup to understand how everything was running. There may still be things I’ve missed. One known issue is that email functionality is not yet working on the new site, but I hope to resolve this over time.

    Thanks for your patience and support!

Just rode the TR650... I need owners to chime in.

Donkey, this looks great! How do you normally secure one of these. Bungees, ratcheting straps? Looks like a very nice piece of luggage, and the price is right!
 
Normally, I just toss it in the side of my cargo hack. No straps required. :D

However, since the giant schnauzer takes up the tub of my wife's Ural, she normally straps the large bag on her rear luggage rack. with a couple of bungees. The flat bungees are by far the best for this. It is a very large rear rack on the back of a Ural though.

I could easily strap the small or medium bags to the back of the Husky though. For that application, I'd probably use something a little more substantial than bungees, just because I don't trust them in a lean. Ratchet straps involve a big heavy buckle that gets annoying for such a lightweight application. So if I'm going to strap something to luggage rack, it is generally going to be one of three things.

Cambuckle straps like these from Northern Tool. (Still overkill, but lighter than ratchets. Easy to find anywhere.)

332779_lg.jpg


Spring buckle straps. (These are my favorite. I have a few old Army ones that have really lightweight buckles. I cut them down shorter so I wouldn't have so much slack when I use them on the bike.)

cat%20spring%20buckle.jpg


I keep a few of these Carolina North Rope Ratchets in the tool kits in the hack. They function as compact tie downs and even better, easy guy-wires for the tents.

41GPEBjhTKL.jpg


If you look over at the luggage thread, I posted a pic of my cargo hack holding my gym bag and a full 1/6 barrel keg of beer. Those are tall, skinny, and heavy. That was an impromptu keg purchase, and all I had on me were my 1/8" rope ratchets and a spring buckle straps. They held that keg on a 52 mile trip home on the backroads without a problem. I haven't used my cambuckles since.
 
Donkey, you are awesome! You gotta let me buy you a beer or a bite next time you are over in my neck of the woods.
 
Careful there, I'm a beer snob with expensive taste. I tried to get into Wild Weeds last time I was in Asheville, but the Southern Conference basketball tournament was in town and everything was 1+ hour wait. Ended up sweet-talking my way into the tapas bar.

Hell, just ride on down the mountain and hit up Southern Pines. I've got four beers on tap at the house, and its open 24/7. My wife lovingly supports my homebrew addiction.
 
Oskar Blues new brewery is 5 minutes from my doorstep. Excellent beer, or you might prefer the Thirsty Monk. They have an excellent selection of local fare and and AMAZING list of imports. The offer stands :)
 
Next said:
Oskar Blues new brewery is 5 minutes from my doorstep. Excellent beer, or you might prefer the Thirsty Monk. They have an excellent selection of local fare and and AMAZING list of imports. The offer stands :)
Click to expand...

I'll PM you next time I'm up that way. It'll probably be this summer. Eurosport has some parts waiting for me when I return in June. :D
 
Next said:
Hello all,
I recently moved to the Western NC from Texas. I currently own a Moto Guzzi Griso, which is a hoot to ride, but can't take advantage of all of the terrain that Appalachia has to offer--it's strictly an asphalt eater. The wife says we are a one bike family and so I started looking at BMWs, which led me to the TR650.

I rode the Strada demo bike today at BMW Asheville, it was a surprising little bike. Light as a feather after the Griso, and quicker than I thought a single would/could. It beats the pants of the KLR I rode last week in acceleration, breaking, really everything. I liked the bike alot, but it will take some adjustment. Specifically the weight (so light) and the narrow feel. How does the Terra compare to the Strada stability-wise at speed, do the tires change things that much? I really wanted to test ride a Terra, but they were only doing demos of the Strada.


85% of the time I will be riding twisties and fire roads here--the TR650 seems to be perfect. I didn't have time to ride the BMW 700GS, but I think I might need to ride one before making a firm decision. That other 10-15% of riding is longer trips in the summer, like 7-10 day camping trips up to Connecticut and maybe even all the way to TX.

I am a little worried about the Husky (really me) handling those kind of long days. I suspect teh rider fatigue of 300+ mile days could be pretty intense on this little guy. TO those who know theBMW 700/800 would the rider fatigue level( or lack thereof) and the extra HP warrant the 700?

I haven't owned a bike with this low a displacement in 8 years. I know there is not a single bike that can do everything, but that's kind of what I am searching for. The Husky is close, darn close.
If you have ridden it long distance, or have any sage advice I would love to hear it.
Click to expand...
 
Next said:
Hello all,
I recently moved to the Western NC from Texas. I currently own a Moto Guzzi Griso, which is a hoot to ride, but can't take advantage of all of the terrain that Appalachia has to offer--it's strictly an asphalt eater. The wife says we are a one bike family and so I started looking at BMWs, which led me to the TR650.

I rode the Strada demo bike today at BMW Asheville, it was a surprising little bike. Light as a feather after the Griso, and quicker than I thought a single would/could. It beats the pants of the KLR I rode last week in acceleration, breaking, really everything. I liked the bike alot, but it will take some adjustment. Specifically the weight (so light) and the narrow feel. How does the Terra compare to the Strada stability-wise at speed, do the tires change things that much? I really wanted to test ride a Terra, but they were only doing demos of the Strada.


85% of the time I will be riding twisties and fire roads here--the TR650 seems to be perfect. I didn't have time to ride the BMW 700GS, but I think I might need to ride one before making a firm decision. That other 10-15% of riding is longer trips in the summer, like 7-10 day camping trips up to Connecticut and maybe even all the way to TX.

I am a little worried about the Husky (really me) handling those kind of long days. I suspect teh rider fatigue of 300+ mile days could be pretty intense on this little guy. TO those who know theBMW 700/800 would the rider fatigue level( or lack thereof) and the extra HP warrant the 700?

I haven't owned a bike with this low a displacement in 8 years. I know there is not a single bike that can do everything, but that's kind of what I am searching for. The Husky is close, darn close.
If you have ridden it long distance, or have any sage advice I would love to hear it.
Click to expand...

On 3/15 2013 I purchased a 2013 TR 650 Terra. My last Dual Purpose bike was an 1991 100GSPD.
The Terra is a huge leap from the PD. Power is huge throughout the spectrum. Gearing is bit long legged for serious off the road usage. (but many gear changes available)
I ride primarely as a 80 mile a day loop commuter, but live on 12 acres of total woods and hills. The Terra is a BEAST!
Highly Bless this bike!
 
Hey all! I'm new and having a bit ot trouble navigating your site....bare with me.
About three weeks ago I purchased a 2013 Husqvarna TR650 Terra. My last Dual purpose bike was a 1991 BMW GS100PD.
WOW! How times have changed! The TR650 is and off road monster. Little tall on gearing, but many gear choices available.
It will do the full 107mph, but tread at your own risk****************************************! Light in the front over 80mph.
Factory tires are great for DUAL PURPOSE. Don't get mired in mud.
I bought the bike to supplement my 80 mile daily loop to and from my shop. I'm closer to the 85mpg than the 75.5 dealer estimet.
It handle with all the grace of a great cruzer. Throttling in to a big sweeper is awesome!
BUY THIS BIKE!
 
Steve Ward said:
On 3/15 2013 I purchased a 2013 TR 650 Terra. My last Dual Purpose bike was an 1991 100GSPD.
The Terra is a huge leap from the PD. Power is huge throughout the spectrum. Gearing is bit long legged for serious off the road usage. (but many gear changes available)
I ride primarely as a 80 mile a day loop commuter, but live on 12 acres of total woods and hills. The Terra is a BEAST!
Highly Bless this bike!
Click to expand...

Welcome Steve. They have come a long way for sure. You can go down 1 to 2 teeth easily on the counter-shaft sprocket for the desired effect. Went down one on mine for now. Got a dual sport ride on the 13th so will see how it goes. Enjoy the new bike!
 
Enjoy the bike Steve. I am eager to pick up the Strada myself, currently waiting on parts. Planning a Terra front fender setup, but keeping the 19/17 alloy wheel combo for now. Can't wait!
 
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