wind troubles

[j w]

I have a 2008 klr650 with 2900 miles, and the rear tire is 1/2 gone and front about 1/3 gone. I ride aggressively and like to use as much of the tire as I can in turns, yes occasionally even dragging the pegs on dry concrete. What has anyone out there used that gets good wear without giving up handling in a 60/40 tire (onroad/offroad)?? [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[revmaaatin]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, j w wrote:

> > I have a 2008 klr650 with 2900 miles, and the rear tire is 1/2 gone and front about 1/3 gone. I ride aggressively and like to use as much of the tire as I can in turns, yes occasionally even dragging the pegs on dry concrete. What has anyone out there used that gets good wear without giving up handling in a 60/40 tire (onroad/offroad)??

Hi Joe, NKLR is not necessary, as it is a monthly gab-fest to what is the best, better, bestest tire for the KLR. Define: good wear. and, where you live, mud, precip you encounter, and the OAT!!!! has a large influence on what will work well. IME (in my experience) I have never drug a foot peg on pavement, but did spend 13 days in the hospital after sticking the foot peg in a rut wall.... IME: Dunlop 606 Less Than 4000 miles they were toast. Loaded bike, spirited riding, never a squirmy side-wall dance in spite of riding some of the best, posted 'dangerous curves' in Arkansas Ozarks for miles and miles, followed up into Missouri Ozarks, and over to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Very satisfied with their performance on pavement and on dirt and mud, but the tires went away/wore out FAST. Of course if you are riding some 3-400 miles a day, they are gone in 10 days! IME: Kenda 270; Most rear tires last over 5K, Current rear has nearly 7K miles. Order two rears for every front tire. Reverse the front tire when you wear out the rear. (I also reverse my rear sprocket then as well.) Many believe that they are the best buy for the money. They are squirmy in the curves if push them over. I have slid them on pavement, but never had one slide out. These work for well for me. My riding (75%+) is largely gravel roads or less improved trails. IME, in temps above 100F, this tire gets really soft, (especially if you ride it!). The OEM tires: Go away fast. Some report here as little as 1K miles. Mine lasted ~3,500 rear (really used up earlier than that), the front had some left. Switched to K270's and have gone through at least 5 sets of those since. Work really well for this area of South Dakota. I am not sure what others find useful in their area where there is mud, but where I live the mud is 'gumbo' and there is not a tire made that goes through that very well. What ever tire you use-- One ditty I hear and believe, 90% of the flats occur in the last 10% of the tire wear. revmaaatin.

[roncriswell@sbcglobal.net]

The Avon Gripster is the preferred choice for many if you like pavement and dragging the pegs. I call it the Slipster in dirt or gravel, mud etc. Since I am not a peg dragger on pavement and I like traction in dirt with remarkable manners for a full knobby on pavement, I prefer the Dunlop 606. I watched a buddy pull into a convenience store parking lot with Kendas crash and burn like he hit a patch of oil (but didn't). He broke a couple of ribs.The Kendas are just kinda suddenly unpredictable in some situations. My openion. A lotta guys love em. Criswell Criswell

On Mar 29, 2009, at 11:50 AM, j w wrote: > I have a 2008 klr650 with 2900 miles, and the rear tire is 1/2 gone > and front about 1/3 gone. I ride aggressively and like to use as > much of the tire as I can in turns, yes occasionally even dragging > the pegs on dry concrete. What has anyone out there used that gets > good wear without giving up handling in a 60/40 tire (onroad/ > offroad)?? > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[mike lassman]

I got another set of rims, that way I have my knobbies for off road and smooth tires for the street, less then 30 min. To switch over.... Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry -----Original Message----- From: "roncriswell@..." Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2009 07:23:40 To: Cc: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com> Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] nklr - tires for klr650 The Avon Gripster is the preferred choice for many if you like pavement and dragging the pegs. I call it the Slipster in dirt or gravel, mud etc. Since I am not a peg dragger on pavement and I like traction in dirt with remarkable manners for a full knobby on pavement, I prefer the Dunlop 606. I watched a buddy pull into a convenience store parking lot with Kendas crash and burn like he hit a patch of oil (but didn't). He broke a couple of ribs.The Kendas are just kinda suddenly unpredictable in some situations. My openion. A lotta guys love em. Criswell Criswell

On Mar 29, 2009, at 11:50 AM, j w wrote: > I have a 2008 klr650 with 2900 miles, and the rear tire is 1/2 gone > and front about 1/3 gone. I ride aggressively and like to use as > much of the tire as I can in turns, yes occasionally even dragging > the pegs on dry concrete. What has anyone out there used that gets > good wear without giving up handling in a 60/40 tire (onroad/ > offroad)?? > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Mike Hansen]

Had Gripsters then TKC80. Gripster great for blacktop,highway, peg scraping no problem. fast smoth tire. about 8000 mile tire or more. poor handling on dirt of any kind. must ride cautiosly and turn slowly. TKC80 Have been Great!! peg scraping and amazing dirt performance. Nobby, so your ride is not as smooth, and poor wear. about 4-6000 miles. Tire has been through some rough terrain and then smooth highway, no problems yet. been great. Next I will try the Dunlop 606 just to see the difference. I am very happy with TKC80's I ride 60/40. ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: j w To: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2009 9:50:00 AM Subject: [DSN_KLR650] nklr - tires for klr650 I have a 2008 klr650 with 2900 miles, and the rear tire is 1/2 gone and front about 1/3 gone. I ride aggressively and like to use as much of the tire as I can in turns, yes occasionally even dragging the pegs on dry concrete. What has anyone out there used that gets good wear without giving up handling in a 60/40 tire (onroad/offroad) ?? [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Mike Hilton]

Has anyone used the K761 Dual Sport tire. It looks a lots like the Gripster and probably in the price range of the K270. I am currently using Mefo Explorers as my second set after OEM's. May consider the K761 as my next set. Mike H.

----- Original Message ----- From: Mike Hansen To: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, March 30, 2009 8:01 AM Subject: [DSN_KLR650] nklr - tires for klr650 Had Gripsters then TKC80. Gripster great for blacktop,highway, peg scraping no problem. fast smoth tire. about 8000 mile tire or more. poor handling on dirt of any kind. must ride cautiosly and turn slowly. TKC80 Have been Great!! peg scraping and amazing dirt performance. Nobby, so your ride is not as smooth, and poor wear. about 4-6000 miles. Tire has been through some rough terrain and then smooth highway, no problems yet. been great. Next I will try the Dunlop 606 just to see the difference. I am very happy with TKC80's I ride 60/40. ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: j w To: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2009 9:50:00 AM Subject: [DSN_KLR650] nklr - tires for klr650 I have a 2008 klr650 with 2900 miles, and the rear tire is 1/2 gone and front about 1/3 gone. I ride aggressively and like to use as much of the tire as I can in turns, yes occasionally even dragging the pegs on dry concrete. What has anyone out there used that gets good wear without giving up handling in a 60/40 tire (onroad/offroad) ?? [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Greg May]

Hi Mike, checked back through my Sent Box and found this info i sent last last year after a summer on the 761's, seems like my Sent Box like my basement needs cleaning and emptying. It's a little long winded but after a second summer on them all I said still holds true. There is now about 10000kms on the rear and 9000 on the front, like I suspected the front will be scalloped to the point of being useless before it is worn out, it's pretty much there now, while the wear on the rear has seemed to have just stopped. Last summer was pretty wet here so I managed to get caught in a couple good heavy rains and while I'm still a bit leary about the large tread blocks in the wet I have had no issues. My percentage of dirt vs street last year was probably more like 50/50 and while I still avoid deep mud I was through some pretty rough trails with a good mix of water, various sized rocks and mud holes with pretty hard bottom with no problems. Even worn as they are and not aired down I can see no difference from when they were new. After all the tire posts I've seen lately I will eithe put on another set of 761's or a set of 270's depending on how much of what type of riding I'm doing when I go to order them. See below for the original post and have a great evening.....Greg Original post: I have never used the the Gripsters, but I do presently have a set of Kenda 761's mounted now. Mileage first, the rear presently has what was surprisng to me when I checked 6332 km's on it, the centre groove which is very shallow on these tires has pretty much disappeared so it still has tons of mileage left on it yet. The front was put on a little after the rear so it has 5000 km's on it presently and is starting to scallop quite noticeably to the point that the front will be useless long before it wears out, the leading edges of the centre section of the tire has virtually no wear. I run 32 psi front and rear and do probably about 70% pavement, mostly secondary roads the other 30% mostly gravel and dirt roads of varying quality. Pavement speeds would average 80-120 kpm and dirt would probably be in the 40 to 80 kph. add in some higher gravel road speeds and lower single track speeds. I have high friction front brake pads, braided ss front brake line up front and am a hard front braker, if you can use that term for a bike that has a single small front disc. I would say this has a lot to do with the front tire scalloping so much. From a performance point of view on the street I have been really pleased with them. When the rear was originally installed it was matched to the stock front and seemed to work quite well on and off road. As a set the 761's seem to grip and track very well on dry pavement, I haven't touched a peg (the feelers were gone when I bought the bike) but I have touched a boot which leaves about 1/4 chicken strips on the edge of the tires, in the wet because of the big tread blocks with no sipes I tread pretty carefully much more so then I would on my streetbike in the same conditions, again they track well with no hydro planeing and at the level I push them the front sticks well but you can make the rear slide slightly but very predictably, a street tire would never slide in the same condition. Speaking about sliding the rear will also slide on dry pavement that is a little slick for some reason, sand on a corner by where I work comes to mind, I can slide the rear on this corner in second gear with no problem in a perfectly controlled way. The front always sticks perfectly under the same conditions. Off road the rear has worked as well or better then I would have expected with an 80/20 tire. When it was matched with the OEM front it worked quite well in some pretty tight and nasty woods paths which a good mixture of pretty steep climbs, lots of ruts a fair amount of about 18 inch or so water crossings but admittedly pretty good hard pack where it was wet. IMO this bike doesn't belong in what I consider deep mud with any tires, my 200KDX is meant for that. As a set the 761's work good, the front acceptably but not as well as the rear off road, at slow speeds in sand or wet mud the front pushes to varying degrees, the harder you push the more it pushes. On gravel and dry hard pack the front works fine but you have to be comfortable with it hunting around a bit and trust it to just do it's job. If you're not comfortable with the front moving around and you're going to do any amount off road I would consider a more off road biased front tire. One thing I should mention about these tires that I never considered until the first time it happened, which is probably true off road with any tire that has a similar 80/20 tread pattern is going down steep downhills. Lacking knobs on the rear tire it has virtually no traction no matter how hard you attempt to get your weight on the rear of the bike so you best be comfortable with braking with the front if you have to in this type of situation. The best decription I can give is that it feels like you are in neutreal with the rear tire freewheeling. Definitely this is the worst trait I've found with these tires off road, the section of trail where I noticed this the most is dry usually and a mixture of mud, grass and small rocks and while the rear is useless here the front does a good job of hanging in there and controlling my desent even if the first time or two I experienced it there was definitely a pucker moment. Overall especially for the cost I would definitely buy another set, they match the bike, they do everything I ask from them quite well but you have to respect their limits. Hopefully this wasn't way too long winded, have a great evening....Greg

--- On Mon, 3/30/09, Mike Hilton wrote: From: Mike Hilton Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] nklr - tires for klr650 To: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "Mike Hansen" Received: Monday, March 30, 2009, 11:30 AM Has anyone used the K761 Dual Sport tire. It looks a lots like the Gripster and probably in the price range of the K270. I am currently using Mefo Explorers as my second set after OEM's. May consider the K761 as my next set. Mike H. ----- Original Message ----- From: Mike Hansen To: DSN_klr650@yahoogro ups.com Sent: Monday, March 30, 2009 8:01 AM Subject: [DSN_KLR650] nklr - tires for klr650 Had Gripsters then TKC80. Gripster great for blacktop,highway, peg scraping no problem. fast smoth tire. about 8000 mile tire or more. poor handling on dirt of any kind. must ride cautiosly and turn slowly. TKC80 Have been Great!! peg scraping and amazing dirt performance. Nobby, so your ride is not as smooth, and poor wear. about 4-6000 miles. Tire has been through some rough terrain and then smooth highway, no problems yet. been great. Next I will try the Dunlop 606 just to see the difference. I am very happy with TKC80's I ride 60/40. ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: j w To: DSN_klr650@yahoogro ups.com Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2009 9:50:00 AM Subject: [DSN_KLR650] nklr - tires for klr650 I have a 2008 klr650 with 2900 miles, and the rear tire is 1/2 gone and front about 1/3 gone. I ride aggressively and like to use as much of the tire as I can in turns, yes occasionally even dragging the pegs on dry concrete. What has anyone out there used that gets good wear without giving up handling in a 60/40 tire (onroad/offroad) ?? [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] __________________________________________________________________ Instant Messaging, free SMS, sharing photos and more... Try the new Yahoo! Canada Messenger at http://ca.beta.messenger.yahoo.com/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[revmaaatin]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "roncriswell@..." wrote:

> > The Avon Gripster is the preferred choice for many if you like > pavement and dragging the pegs. I call it the Slipster in dirt or > gravel, mud etc. Since I am not a peg dragger on pavement and I like > traction in dirt with remarkable manners for a full knobby on > pavement, I prefer the Dunlop 606. I watched a buddy pull into a > convenience store parking lot with Kendas crash and burn like he hit > a patch of oil (but didn't). He broke a couple of ribs.The Kendas are > just kinda suddenly unpredictable in some situations. My openion. A > lotta guys love em. > > Criswell

Ron, I also love the D606 and ride the K270. Your story about the guy crash and burn was just the opposite what I saw last summer. My partner was riding his D606's (me on my K270's) and he panicked stopped while turning--after he realized the closing traffic was closing much faster than he first realized--resulting in nearly high-siding his bike. When he let off the rear locked brake with forward movement, the laws of gyroscopic precession took over and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride began. Only a slight more speed and he would have flipped into the oncoming traffic. I didn't see your 'situation' nor did you see mine, but I suspect rider technique had a lot to do with both outcomes--and the one I watched was saved from crashing--was not rider skill but blind, dumb luck. We have all been lucky at least once... and my friend, was grateful for that! Just a note to remember what is taught about locked up brakes at MSF: (on pavement) If you lock up your rear brake, (especially if you are leaned or banked into a turn) ride that brake to a full stop, or you might just find yourself high-sided off your trusty KLR--or any other bike for that matter. The moment you let off the locked brake, and you are in a turn, you are going over the top. Others may be able to explain the engineering terms better, but the final thing that I remember: Ride the brake to a full stop if the wheel is locked! revmaaatin. who knows there are those who have high-sided, and those who will high-side again. the trick to to keep the frequency as low as possible

[Jud Jones]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "revmaaatin" wrote:

> revmaaatin. who knows there are those who have high-sided, and those who will high-side again. the trick to to keep the frequency as low as possible >

The trick is to keep the amplitude as low as possible.

[revmaaatin]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "Jud Jones" wrote:

> > --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "revmaaatin" wrote: > > > revmaaatin. who knows there are those who have high-sided, and those who will high-side again. the trick to to keep the frequency as low as possible > > > > The trick is to keep the amplitude as low as possible. >

What's the fun in that? grin. ah, Some seek a sign. Others, seek a sine. Others, just sigh-- but most will have to change their shorts. shrug. revmaaatin. who in retrospect, wants it both ways: low amplitude and low frequency