Ive personally exploded an engine on a rented DRZ400. We had been riding offroad in Cambodia, and were returning to the place where the bikes had been rented in Thailand, riding on motorway, when the conrod cracked.
I later heard that this same bike had had its cylinder head worked on a little before this, and that was done ´on the road´, or in some small village in Cambodia, so they had probably used some gasket glue, which has been known to block oil channels before, dont know if it contributed to this or not. Thats why they never said a word about repairs either, I think.
But I was riding the thing as hard as it could go, probably 120-130 kms per hour, to keep up with my mates on bigger bikes, and I feel this partly makes it my fault. Just 10 minutes before, when we stopped, I said the engine doesnt like to be revved like this constantly. Indeed it didnt.
Even if it hadnt blown up, I think a 400cc is not good for sustained highway travel, it feels exhausted even without much luggage. It is great for offroad, and any small roads, but if you do a lot of highways, you want something that cruises easily at those speeds.
|