Wilsons Sandbox

Where do you buy Moly? I read most but not every message, and I did not run across where this is being bought. I first became familiar with moly in the late 1980's. I called on a company south of Ft. Worth that treated the moon rover with it. Space craft can't use grease so parts were lubricated with moly. I bought the treatment by the case and used it in my cars. My Accura has 262,000 miles on it and still passes the Dallas emission tests. The engine has never been worked on except for changing out the timing belt. The moly I bought was an additive and was added to engine oil every 50,000 miles. In a recent magazine article I read, it said some cycle company specifically warned about adding moly to the oil. I don't remember the particulars on the article. The company I visited with (Champion Products) sold the treatment to companies direct and never sold to the public. My supply is low and I have wondered where I would buy my next case. In defense of moly, the manufacturer said it was absorbed into the metal pores and "sweated it out" under pressure. I first bought it to put in a boat motor so that I wouldn't have worry about gear rusting. The company said treated metal couldn't rust. In fact, you couldn't weld treated metal until you ground down the metal surface. I never tried that.

I have always been a fan of the KLR and have wanted one for a long time. The problem was that even the used ones have been out of my price range. I had been looking for a pair of trail bikes for my wife and I when I came across a used 1988 KLR-650. He was asking $1250, but said all he really wanted out of it was $1000. SOLD... My wife wasn't happy as it is much too big for her, I told her I am still looking for her bike. If anyone knows of a smaller dual sport for sale in Washington state let me know. XT, DR, XL, KLR, 185-350cc or so. Bike was in pretty good shape. Previous owner (DPO) had left the sprinklers on and the bike sank and tipped over. Broken left mirror mount, radiator OK, but bent in slightly. Seat and plastic all in good shape. Odometer reads 9K and change. He mentioned that his uncle owned the bike previously and the cable was broken for "a while" I'm not sure how many miles are really on it. Although it ran fine on the test drive, somehow on the trip home the carb developed problems. I took it to a great local shop (Cashmere Repair - Cashmere Washington) and he cleaned the carb out and mounted a new rear tire - I usually do all my own wrenching, but have no time right now. I actually was going to get a Continental TKC-80, but he had this one in stock and says he has used this same tire for years on his XL-650 (goes through 2 rear tires a year he said). He has something like 70K miles on his bike. Rides dual sport trails all over our area. So I decided to give the tire a try. All it says on it is GS-10. It is a pretty aggressive tire. Has anyone heard of this tire? The only review that mentioned it was from 94 and did not think highly of it. My intention is to actually try to ride mostly trails with the bike. I live close to lots of two-lane dirt/gravel roads which cover hundreds of miles here in Eastern Washington. Current front tire is a Pirelli MT-40. It still has tread, but it is going to be replaced with either the TKC-80 or maybe an MT-21. Tires seem to be a constant question on this list. I really want a 50/50 tire, but will lean more towards dirt oriented if pressed. So far the only additions to the bike are the Utah Cycle skid plate (nice unit.) Dual-Star Radiator guard - since it already had only close call with the radiator I thought this prudent. The skid plate covers the water pump so well that I didn't think the matching water pump guard was worth the $$$. New mount for mirror on back-order. New Pro-Grip grips (nice and cushy). Removed the sidestand switch - it was failing anyway. I removed the stock handguards since one was kind of beat up. I like the way it looks without them, but would like some protection. Can anyone reccommend a simple metal guard that will protect levers etc.? Also would like an inexpensive tank bag that fits OK. By inexpensive I mean about $50-80. Suggestions? - Dave in Wenatchee.