I spooned my new tires on... recently picked up a pair of Continental Twinduros (TCK-80) tires for relatively cheap ($190 US, compared to more than $600 CDN from a local dealer). As much as I love the Avon Distanzias for their performance on the asphalt (and especially in the rain), I do intend to venture a little further off the beaten path this year, so some better off-roading tires were in order. The Avons still have a lot of tread left on them, and I intend to keep them for a upcoming roadtrip to Cape Breton this summer. Since installing them last summer, I've put about 5,000Kms on them and they still look like new. I don't expect the Twinduros will last as long, especially with my commute to work.
front Distanzia front Twinduro
rear Distanzia rear Twinduro
In fact, I also picked up a first generation SV650 front wheel ('99-'02) which is supposed to be a pretty painless su-mo wheel conversion. I took the 130/80-17 from the rear of the bike, and spooned it onto the SV front wheel. It's pretty fat for a cast sportbike wheel, but I think it looks cool. I've seen a few other DR650's on the Interweb with two rear Distanzias and it apparently handles pretty well. We'll see. Now I just need to figure out an extra rear wheel option (I'll keep my eyes open for an extra DR650 OEM rear wheel and just get myself an extra rear Distanzia for it. Having an extra set of tires mounted on wheels will make switching from dirt to street much less painful.
rear 130/80-17 Distanzia mounted on a front '99-'02 wheel
(yes, I know the rotors are mounted backwards, it was so
that they wouldn't get damaged during shipping, and one
rotor will be removed for use on the DR)
And here's my ghetto bead-breaking technique... works pretty well but still requires a little muscle.
odo: 13,450