T-5 Days: Disaster Strikes

Five days left before departure. I don’t have a bike.

After my last shakedown run over Memorial Day weekend, I was completing final maintenance on the DRZ to get it ready: fresh tires, chain, brake pads, clutch pack, and a final oil change. Unfortunately, I found some pieces of metal that looked suspiciously like bits of a piston oil seal ring on the drain plug magnet. Somewhat optimistically (and riskily, to be totally honest), I put everything back together and ran the bike for another week.

I did another oil change on 6/6 (about one week before the planned departure date) to make the final call. There were more bits of metal on the drain plug magnet, which confirmed the diagnosis. Given the remoteness and demands of this trip, I will not be running the DRZ for my ’24 Arctic Ocean trip. While the main symptom so far has been increased oil consumption (which makes sense for a blown seal ring), the risk of the ring breaking and lodging itself somewhere important in the engine is just too great.

I put a huge amount of work into that bike, so I’m keeping it and will rebuild the engine again when I get back.

I drooled over the Husqvarna Norden 901 as soon as they announced it back in 2019, but I was still quite happy with my Tiger 1200. With a 0.9L engine producing 103 horsepower and weighing a bit under 500 lbs fully fueled, it fits in right in between my DRZ build (0.44L / 45ish HP / 385 lbs) and Tiger (1.2L / 139 HP / 600 lbs). Since I wanted to keep the DRZ and having all three didn’t make sense (practically or financially), the only real choice was to trade in the Tiger.

The Tiger’s been a huge part of my life: It was the bike I used for my first Iron Butt ride, I lived on it for a month on a cross country trip, Tori fell in love with motorcycles on the back of that bike, I proposed to her while out on a ride on it. It really was a hard choice to trade it in, but I think it was the right choice.

Norden being Swedish for “The North” only makes the choice more appropriate. The bike is designed as an off-road focused long distance travel bike, which does make it an excellent choice for a trip like this. I’m losing some off-road chops compared to the DRZ, but gaining much more comfort and highway capabilities.

I got incredibly lucky that my local KTM/Husky dealership (Manchester Honda/KTM/Husqvarna) had just received an up-spec Expedition Edition of the bike, which comes equipped with essentials that I would have needed to source myself in less than a week or live without: touring windscreen, heated grips & seat, cruise control, heavy duty skid plate, and upgraded suspension. It also has basic luggage racks, hand guards, and a GPS mount that would do in a pinch, but probably aren’t quite ready for a trip of this scale.

The dealer was great and they worked with me on the trade-in, waived a bunch of fees, and got everything signed and sorted in a few hours on Friday, June 7. Unfortunately the bike was basically fresh out of the crate and hadn’t even made it to the showroom floor yet, so they weren’t able to prep it for me to ride home the same day. I’m now planning/hoping that the Norden is ready to pick up from the dealership on Monday or Tuesday and I can spend a few evenings getting used to the bike and getting it set up for the trip.

I overnighted any remaining essential equipment (sturdier luggage racks, better GPS mount, aluminum-backed hand guards, folding mirrors, a pre-filter setup for the air intake, among others). Everything else I need I should be able to salvage from the Tiger or DRZ, like phone mounts, my GPS cradle, luggage, and so on. It’ll be a long week trying to squeeze that all in before departure on Friday, but it should be doable.

In addition to the timing of setup, the other wrinkle is hitting the first 600 mile service that’s required to keep the warranty intact (and for the health of the engine). I can do the oil change myself, but there are diagnostic checks and reprogramming required that only a dealer can do. I booked a service appointment at the Husky Dealership in Sturgis, SD on what was originally intended to be a rest & exploration day in the Black Hills. Tori and I will have to unload the bike from the truck a few times on the long drive out to SD for me to get in the 600 miles of riding required. Since breaking in an engine properly requires varied RPMs and engine loads, I’ll need to keep off the interstate, which will slow us down significantly.

The shops I’ve contacted for shipping and a pre-planned tire change in Anchorage and Whitehorse (respectively) were also super accommodating to the bike swap, so the rest of the plan should be stable.

In the meantime, Tori and I are doing all the packing and prep we can for both of our trips this weekend. That should let me concentrate on the Norden once I can take delivery. I’m also doing as much research into the bike as I can now to make sure I know what to watch for how and how to tweak the bike to my preferences, and with sourcing a few additional tools & spare parts just in case.