Wilsons Sandbox

Posted: **Thu Jul 08, 2004 11:38 pm**

I accidentally sent this directly to John Lyons last night. He was kind enough to reply and point out my mistake (Thanks John!) So, here it is again (yet another tires post) Hello Everyone, I'm a soon-to-be KLR 650 owner (it's on the truck, here any day now), and I too have searched these archives for information on tires... (trying to educate myself for the inevitable new tire purchase in the future) Questions about tire choice seems to come up quite often here in the group, but there is no "definitive" list of available tires with information on their stengths and weaknesses (that I've seen anyway). The FAQ is great, but I'd really like to have a bit more information on the tires that are listed there. Maybe tire selection is just too subjective? But anyway, the type of tire that I'd most likely get the most use from would: 1) Have good longevity, 2) Be comfortable on the road, 3) Have good performance on wet roads (I live in Seattle, after all), 4) Perform reasonably well on fairly easy "off road" stretches. and 5) Be at least "okay" value for the money. What I've been able to gather so far is that a tire like the Sirac, Gripster or Distancia might be right for me. But, sometimes there are comments regarding other tires, like various Kendas, that make me think those would be a good fit for my needs, too. Perhaps the best thing to do is just ride, burn up lots of tires, and form my own opinions, but I don't have so much spare cash to just buy tires willy-nilly as experiments... I'd sure like to get a better handle on what tires are best suited for my "newbie style" -- maybe 80/20 on-off road (with off-road being limited to easy stuff for the near future), with good performance on wet roads. Thanks everyone, this group is great!

Posted: **Fri Jul 09, 2004 5:46 am**

> What I've been able to gather so far is that a tire like the Sirac, > Gripster or Distancia might be right for me. But, sometimes there > are comments regarding other tires, like various Kendas, that make > me think those would be a good fit for my needs, too.

Because of bad knees and shoulders I'm mostly ON-road, with my off-road excursions limited to logging roads and light trail riding. I last had Distanzia's that lasted about 9500 miles. The rear might have gone another 1000 miles (max), but the front wouldn't pass inspection because of kind of weird cupping. I replaced them this Spring with Metzler Tourances, which come as stock rubber on one or more of the BMW models. These are excellent tires except for mud, in which they suck just as much as the Distanzia's did. Otherwise, though, these tires are fantastic. They're super glue on pavement - including wet pavement. I make up for being unable to off-road by riding like a madman on-road. (Grin) They stick extremely well. I used the Bridgestone Ultra Heavy Duty tubes front and rear. (The rear is available only in 18", but that is a non-issue.) With those incredibly heavy tubes, and the radial Tourances, I'm quite confident that I won't end up with a flat tire on the side of an insanely busy Interstate. AGAIN. Mark --------------------------------------- KLR650 Motorcycle Website: http://klr6500.tripod.com/

Posted: **Fri Jul 09, 2004 9:30 am**

I have owned a '99 KLR for about a week. It needed tires, and after looking around, I settled on Dunlop 607s. They are stock on V strom, and maybe the BMWs. The tires are more of a 95/5 tire IMO.

Posted: **Fri Jul 09, 2004 8:18 pm**

Ive got a A18 not yet ready for new shoes yet but Bad knees keep me off my dirt bike thats why i bought the KLR. I like the looks of the MT90 Scorpion S/T. Havent got any feedback from anyone on it neg. Was leaning toward it later this year. --- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "Mark St.Hilaire, Sr" wrote:

> > What I've been able to gather so far is that a tire like the

Sirac,

> > Gripster or Distancia might be right for me. But, sometimes

there

> > are comments regarding other tires, like various Kendas, that

make

> > me think those would be a good fit for my needs, too. > > Because of bad knees and shoulders I'm mostly ON-road, with my off-

road

> excursions limited to logging roads and light trail riding. I last

had

> Distanzia's that lasted about 9500 miles. The rear might have gone

another

> 1000 miles (max), but the front wouldn't pass inspection because

of kind of

> weird cupping. > > I replaced them this Spring with Metzler Tourances, which come as

stock

> rubber on one or more of the BMW models. These are excellent tires

except

> for mud, in which they suck just as much as the Distanzia's did.

Otherwise,

> though, these tires are fantastic. They're super glue on pavement - > including wet pavement. I make up for being unable to off-road by

riding

> like a madman on-road. (Grin) They stick extremely well. > > I used the Bridgestone Ultra Heavy Duty tubes front and rear. (The

rear is

> available only in 18", but that is a non-issue.) With those

incredibly heavy

> tubes, and the radial Tourances, I'm quite confident that I won't

end up

> with a flat tire on the side of an insanely busy Interstate. AGAIN. > > Mark > --------------------------------------- > KLR650 Motorcycle Website: > http://klr6500.tripod.com/

Posted: **Fri Jul 09, 2004 8:27 pm**

If you have good arms, you could turn it off and push it down all the hills. DC Devon wrote:

> > ectoprocta@... wrote: > > >>There were two people in fuel economy poll who said they got 70+mpg. >> >>What is the secret? >> >> > > Driving like a granny. > > Buying imperial gallons, not US gallons. > > Devon > > > > List sponsored by Dual Sport News at www.dualsportnews.com. List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html > Unsubscribe by sending a blank message to: > DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com . > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > >

Wilsons Sandbox

maximizing fuel economy

tires for a newbie (was: tread depth)

tires for a newbie (was: tread depth)

tires for a newbie (was: tread depth)

tires for a newbie (was: tread depth)

maximizing fuel economy