New rubbah

I removed the stock Pirelli MT-21 tires with just 250 Kms on them.

I don't want to wear them down just farting around the city. 

They are a very good 60/40 dual sport tire, and I'd like 

to save them for a long weekend dirt ride to Poland.

The new Mefo Explorer on the rear. Meaty, but less aggressive than the Pirellis.

These should do well around the city, and some occasional dirt roads.

New Mefo Explorer on the front.

Only €180 for the pair at my local KTM dealer in Berlin.

Flat tires -

Today at lunch time, I was heading home to swap the bike for the car (needed the car to run an errand later in the day).  As I got to the first traffic light just a few hundred meters from my office, I noticed a slight increase in rolling resistance as I came to a stop. I looked down and sure enough, the front tire was flat. Shit... I just wanted to get the rest of the season out of this old tire. Just a couple more weeks! Fuck it, I moved my ass to the back of the seat and rode the remaining 3 or 4 Kms across town to get home. 

I had a few minutes, so I quickly put the bike on the stand and pulled the wheel off. I put it in the basement where it could warm up a bit (it's been a few degrees below freezing around here this week).  After work, I removed the tire and tube from the rim. It was pretty easy to spot the problem: the valve stem had ripped free of the tube. Colder temps are definitely tough on tires and tubes. I've been running 15-18 psi lately, and it probably began to tear away when I left the house this morning in the minus 8 Celcius frost. 

Oh well, I happened to have two brand new front tires sitting in the basement: a Pirelli Scorpion Rally and a Dunlop D606.  I bought both because I figured I would use one on the WR, and the other on the DR.  For no particular reason, I decided to mount the Pirelli. There were still a few miles left on the old D606, but as long as I had it apart, and as long as I was using a new heavy duty Fly Racing tube, I figured I might as well use a new tire. The old tire was more or less finished. Would have been nice to ride out the rest of the season and mount the new tire over the winter as I had been planning.

Valve stem separated from the MSR ultra heavy duty tube

The new 90/90-21 Pirelli Scopion Rally. This rubber is supposed to be a little softer compound than the Dunlop D606. 

I do like the 606 a lot, and it looks like a more aggressive tread pattern than the Pirelli, but lots of people have had lots of good things to say about the Pirelli. It's a popular choice among Dakar racers apparently.

Just a month ago, I had a flat rear tire. Here you can 

see a rusty nail sticking out. When that happened, I 

pulled the tire off and used a new Kenda Tuff-Tube 

size 110/100x18. The tire was a less than 1/2 worn Dunlop D606, size 120/90-18.  At the time of this photo, this rear tire probably had 4,000 Kms on it.  Still 1,500 left, maybe more.

I like the meaty look of the D606. It's a serious 

grass shredder yet is remarkably stable on paved roads.

Flat tire

Planned on a dirt ride with Hosebag last week, but within 1/2 mile of leaving the house, I managed to get a flat tire on the WR.  Luckily, I have two bikes so it was just a matter of going home and swapping bikes for the day. When I got home that afternoon, though, I pulled the tire and installed a new tube.

I hate changing tires, but I've done it enough times that I can get the job done in about 30 minutes.

Here's the culprit... a 1 1/2" nail. 

Funny how I rode a thousand miles of mountain passes in Colorado on

this tire, with about 15psi, over a million sharp, jagged rocks without any

flats, but I ride over one stupid, small nail on the street 2 blocks from my house...

I don't like riding on patched tubes, so I just put the punctured 4.5-5.10x18

MSR Ultra Heavy Duty tube in the basement to be kept as a spare. I went 

ahead and installed a new 100/100x18 Kenda Tuff Tube. It was much easier to fit

inside the tire.  For reference, the tire is a 120/90x18 Dunlop D606 street legal knobby. 

It currently has about 1,500 miles on it (over 1/2 of those was offroad riding in Colorado). 

A couple of photos of the ride we did while the WR 

stayed at home with the flat tire.

T'was a great day for a ride.

my faithful DR is always ready to ride, and never lets me down.

Powerful, comfortable, reliable, and versatile. But porky on single track trails.

WR250X street wheels, rotors, sprockets, and tires

So when I bought the WR, it came with an aftermarket set of offroad wheels and tires mounted on the bike (SM Pro wheels, and Dunlop D606 knobby tires). I simply put the OEM wheels and tires in the basement to be able to swap back and forth between dirt and street riding. 

But when the previous owner bought the aftermarket dirt wheels, he bought them without brake rotors (to save himself a few bucks, I suppose).  That meant I would have to transfer the brake discs back and forth between wheelsets. Screw that.  I knew right away that I would just be ordering an extra set of rotors.

I finally ordered a set of OEM rotors from RonAyers.com and received them just before Christmas. It was interesting to see that the new rotors were both stamped "Licensed by Galfer."  They set me back $200 for the pair, not a bad price at all for quality components.

The original wheels had the OEM rear sprocket attached.  Stock gearing on the WR250X is a 13-tooth up front, and a 42-tooth steel piece in the rear.  While I quite liked the 13/49 gearing used with the offroad wheels, it's hardly practical on the street --- not so bad around town, but horrible on the highway.  So, while ordering new brake rotors for the OEM wheels, I decided to get a nice set of 14/48 sprockets. I went with steel sprockets from SuperSprox (purchased from RockyMountainATV.com).

I got around to mounting the new rotors and rear sprocket this past week... it's been a long winter and I'm waiting for spring. I also took the time to clean and polish the wheels up, including the spokes. Also used a bit of Armor All tire foam and cleaned up the rubber. All ready for the road, now.... just gotta get rid of all this snow.

OEM brake rotors made by Galfer

14/48 front and rear SuperSprox sprocket set (steel)

7 Neutron brand oil filters

spare Kenda heavy duty 18" tube

Before installing the new rotors and sprocket, I went to a

local fastener supply store and picked up a bunch of good quality

stainless steel Allen-head bolts and some nylon lock nuts. Using

nice hardware to mount the new parts is well worth a few extra dollars.

New rotors and rear sprocket mounted.

These are the original Bridgestone Battlax BT-090 tires.

The have about a thousand miles on them.

Shinko 705 tires

Well, I finally managed to ditch the double-pumper intravenous system that had been connected to my arm for the last 2 1/2 weeks. The doctor has got me on oral antibiotics for 14 days, and he expects the infection should be completely gone by then. Let's hope so.


So, while I'm enjoying some sick leave from the office, I've been trying to get a few little jobs done around the house ... and not wanting to neglect the bike, I finally installed the Shinko 705 tires I purchased a couple of months ago.  I have a spare set of wheels for the bike, so my intention has always been to have one set of wheels with dirt tires, and another set of wheels with street tires. 

So, with the Michelin T63 knobbies already mounted on the other set, I pulled off the worn out T63 from my spare rear wheel, and a cracked Michelin Star Cross MS3 motocross tire from my spare front wheel. Then I installed two new MSR heavy duty tubes and the new Shinko tires.  I also had a new rotor for the rear wheel as the spare I had purchased from eBay had none. I bought an eBay special for $49 and that included shipping. Looks to be decent quality but time will tell. I also picked up OEM bolts from the dealer to install the rotor.

Shinko 705 rear, with a new $49 brake rotor from eBay

Shinko 705 front mounted on the RMZ wheel.

Michelin T63 tires - tread wear update

OK, here's an update on my favourite tires.  With just under 5,000 Kms on them, these are the best value I've ever had for $55 a piece.

I removed the screw from the rear tire and replaced the tube. Yes, it's worn now, but there are still one or two-thousand Kms left, and the front tire is barely 1/2 worn.

Brand new Michelin T63

Tread depth 10mm.

after 1,750 Kms

after 2,500 Kms

after 4,800 Kms. 

Tread depth is about 5-6mm.

When I re-installed the tire following Monday's flat, I flipped the tire so that the slanted wear of the knobs are now facing the other way. This will help to even out the knobs during the last miles left in this great tire. I hoping the real winter snow and cold will hold off to allow me a few more weeks of commuting. If I can make it 'till Christmas then I'll toss this tire and mount a new one. I expect to have about 6,000 Kms on it by then.

Very pleased with this tire given the price tag. I've abused it to no end on the street, accelerating hard all the time, wheelies every chance I get on city streets. Not a nice way to treat a knobby.

I've got a new set of T63's in the basement!

Flat tire

Well, I got to try out my trailer today after all...

Rode to work. At lunch, I was going to zip home and discovered my rear tire was flat. So, I stayed around the office for lunch and asked a few people until I found a mini bicycle pump to borrow from a co-worker (thanks, Grant). At quitting time, I managed to pump it up to ~25 psi after about 8 million pumps. My arm was ready to fall off. I headed for home immediately, and planned to stop at a service station with a real air compressor pump just in case. By the time I got there (about 2 Kms) the tire was nearly flat. I pumped it up to about 30 psi and rode about another 1.5 Kms before it was completely flat.  At that point I was running out of time because I was on my way to meet my kids' school bus. I parked it on a quiet side street and quickly flagged down a taxi. Made it to the school bus stop just in time.

A short while later, I packed the kids into the van and hooked up the trailer. Brought the bike home and pulled the rear tire off. I've got a new Michelin T63 in the basement, plus a new heavy duty tube. I'll tackle that tomorrow evening because now I'm having a beer.

Loaded on the trailer. A little tricky when you're doing it alone.

A rusty drywall screw.

Tire Talk: Michelin T63

Time for new tires, once again. For the big roadtrip I did with Sean a few weeks ago, I decided my rear Continental TCK-80 Twinduro wasn't going to cut it. It was pretty worn -- a little bit of meat left on the centre knobbies, but not a lot. And the tread pattern was pretty squared off from all the pavement riding I had done. It may have lasted the 2,200 Kms of our trip but I didn't want to push my luck so I threw my old Avon Distanzia back on just for the trip. With it mounted on my spare rim, swapping it over was a 10-minute effort.

Here's a photo of what the rear Conti TCK looked like after about 4,800 Kms:

about 4 mm left on the centre knobs

according to my tread depth guage

And here's the Distanzia that I used for about 4,000 Kms last year:

Now that's a high mileage tire for sure, and it's

got awesome grip for street riding in the rain.

Great all-around for street use, and not bad for

light duty dirt/gravel (dry dirt, no mud). The

cracking is a little disconcerting and I will

now toss this tire out.

7 mm tread remaining after ~ 6,200 Kms

** I contacted Avon about the cracking and sent

this photo. Waiting to see what they have to say.

The new rear is a Michelin T63. Many people have compared them to the Conti TCK-80 in terms of performance for both on- and off-road, and in terms of mileage. The difference between them is price. $55 USD for the Michelin, and $115 for the Conti. You do the math. I'm curious to find out if it is as good as the Conti. So far, I'd say it compares quite well to the Conti on the street, and I'd even give it a couple more points in the dirt, but I really haven't given it a thorough test yet to say for sure.

Michelin T63 - newly installed

Tread depth is 10 mm

The front TCK-80 is still holding up well,

with approx 6,500 Kms on it. It's beginning

to show signs that the tread is flattening out

a bit from all the paved roads it has seen. I'm

quite impressed with how it's lasting. Not the best

in the mud, but can't compalin. Tread depth is 7.5 mm

And the new Michelin T63 for the front.

With the TCK holding up so well, I may not

even get to mount this Michelin until next year.

For now, this tire waits patiently in the basement.

Tread depth is 9.5 mm

Odometer: 19,850 Kms

TCK-80 tire wear update - again

A little over 4,000 Kms on the Continental Twinduro TCK-80 tires and I must say these have been great tires.  Again, most of my daily riding is pure abuse, accelerating hard and wheelie-ing all the way to the office and home again, with some weekend rides to fire roads and trails through the woods. They're a very competent performer off-pavement, not the greatest in mud (but decent), perfect for gravel roads, quiet on the asphalt and very good grip in the rain.

A few weeks ago I had been riding offroad all afternoon with 15 psi in the tires, and forgot to pump them back up before getting on th highway for the hour-long ride home at 120 Km/hr. This stupid move on my part probably cost 20 % of the tire's entire life.

Rear tire - new

Rear tire after 1,000 Kms

Rear tire after 2,000 Kms

Rear tire after 4,000Kms

Front tire - new

Front tire after 1,000 Kms

Front tire after 2,000 Kms

Front tire after 4,000 Kms -- still looks almost new.

Conclusion: Well, the rear tire is definitely nearing the end of its life. If I hadn't ridden that hour or so on the highway with 15 psi it might look a little different. The front is still looking great, though. I'm definintely impressed with it. And considering how much I abuse these tires on the street, all the wheelies and hard acceleration, I'm quite suprised the rear has held up this well.

I've just ordered a new set of rubber -- this time, a pair of Michelin T63 knobbies. They're supposed to be similiar to the Continentals, but cheaper: the pair was $109 US shipped (from MotorcycyleSuperstore.com). That's nearly 1/2 the price of the Continentals.

Odometer: 17,401 Km

TCK-80 tire wear update

About a month ago, I gave a tire wear update after the first 1,000 Kms on my new Continental TCK-80 Twinduro tires. 

Time for another update to show what they look like after 2,000 Km. Again, I've mostly been riding it hard and wheelie-ing all the way to work and back, so mostly hard city riding. These tires have seen a little off-road action since the first 1,000 Kms, but not much.

Rear tire - new

Rear tire after 1,000 Kms

Rear tire after 2,000 Kms

Front tire - new

Front tire after 1,000 Kms

Front tire after 2,000 Kms

Conclusion: the rear tire is beginning to show some wear, but there's still plenty of life left in it. The front, on the other hand, is barely showing any sign of wear, maybe because it spends a lot of time in the air. I've been abusing these tires for 2,000 Kms now on the street mostly (I've probably ridden less than 50 Kms in the dirt).  I will buy these tires again. They've proven to be pretty good on the street as far as their ability to provide grip on wet and dry asphalt. They've also proven to be a very good tire off-road. They are remarkably quiet on the street for a light knobby.

Odometer: 15,452 Km

Continental Twinduro TCK-80 tire wear

I've got just over a thousand hard Kilometres on the Twinduro tires, and all but about 5 of those Kms have been on the street, and most of that has been hard city riding with lots of wheelies, and almost always full throttle acceleration. I'm impressed with how these tires are holding up, considering how much abuse I've put them through in the last 6 weeks or so.

Rear tire after 1,000 Km

Front tire after 1,000 Kms - almost no wear

The rear has some visible wear, but very little. At this rate I expect to see at least 6,000 Kms from it, and more for the front tire. So far, I'm quite impressed at how they're holding up. Last summer when I bought this bike, the previous owner had just installed a brand new original equipment Trailwing on the rear --- I had that thing worn out in about a month, with about 1,500 Kms, and traction sucked. These Twinduros handle quite well on the street for a knobby, although they don't stop nearly as quickly as the Avon Distanzias when a cement truck suddenly makes a left turn right front of you. I've locked up the rear tire several times, and rather easily I might add. The Avons had great stopping grip when you grab the brakes really hard in a panic stop.

While I've only done a few short offroad Kilometres with these tires, I am very impressed with their grip. I found a trail along some hydro lines and it quickly turned swampy. I was able to plow through like a bulldozer. If these tires last as I expect they will, then I'll surely buy them again. I also hit a Kilometre or two on a dry packed dirt & gravel road and they gripped as well as any offroad tire.

Continental Twinduro tires

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