[dsn_klr650] license plate pop quiz nklr

[roncriswell@sbcglobal.net]

The only flat I have had on the KLR was ...... passing a car and doing 90 mph or so ..... hmmm .... feeling kinda wiggly .....OH No! A wood screw imbedded in my 606. No flat repair stuff, no tube no tools. Believe it or not a Harley guy on a pretty Soft Tail stopped to help and a guy in a pickup stopped also. I used my best salesmanship (and I am a lousy salesman) in talking the guy in the pickup to haul me home (40 miles away) All 3 of us loaded it with no ramp and tied it down with parachute cord I had. Had a flat on my Connie after getting up to 110 pulling into my driveway. Another wood screw. I have noticed and now more careful when pulling out of parking lots in the gravelly trash areas of roadways a lot of nails and crap on the side of the road so am careful to look out for that kinda stuff pulling out. Criswell

On Aug 14, 2009, at 8:09 PM, The Reverend wrote: > I doubt that would really happen unless you *seriously* ignore the > bikes > input. > > Because karma came to bite me in the ass (and then reward me > moments later), > I got to experience a flat tire last night - yes, the very same > night I had > planned to replace the tires. It stranded me 10 minutes from my house. > > The first clue was coming off the freeway, making the turn onto the > highway > the rear felt a little... Squirrely... Now those tires were have > done that > before in aggressive cornering, but either it was an oil slick or > it was > just the Kendas. > I'm sailing about 80mph when suddenly the rear of the bike gets very > slippery and I figured that the gamble was wrong. It's a flat. > > Indeed. > > Alas, over the years I've had a few incidents where I've had a > flat. The > ZX9R popped a rear at 130mph, it popped a rear a few times > actually. The > Suzuki did the same etc. They let you know. If you gently roll off the > throttle and don't make any hasty movements, you'll be fine. > Of course, you might anticipate it a bit if you inspect the tires > regularly > too (which is why I had my Shinko's at the ready). > > So I figure that tires are more a preference than "more money = more > quality" as long as you're within the parameters of them. > > I need to pose this question in my "riding group" too. In my years > of riding > with them, I can think of one time where a possible flat may have > caused a > bike to go down (due to no fault of the rider!)- and this in a > group with > thousands of miles per week between us. > > My curiosity is piqued. > > -----Original Message----- > From: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com > [mailto:DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com] On > Behalf Of Jeff Khoury > > If there's one thing I don't skimp on, it's motorcycle tires. I > don't wanna > be riding down the road and wake up in the hospital. > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Tengai Mark Van Horn]

At 12:38 AM -0700 8/15/09, Jeff Khoury wrote:

>...I ride to work every morning on the legendary 405, but I won't do >it on a cheap tire.

I have no problem riding a cheap tire, but I won't ride a cheap tube. Mark

[fasteddiecopeman]

Craig, I've been using Kenda K270 knobbies since the OEM Dunlops wore out, at 36 psi front & rear. I REGULARLY get 17,000 kms from the rear, and 21,000 from the fronts. Cheers, Ed

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Craig Kahler wrote: > > A big reason I would consider an other than stock rear tire is mileage. If there is a tire available which will provide substantially higher mileage than stock, let me know about it. I would be willing to pay up to triple the cost of a stock tire, if I only had to change it half as often. > > Craig Kahler >

[Jake Wilson]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Tengai Mark Van Horn wrote:

> > At 12:38 AM -0700 8/15/09, Jeff Khoury wrote: > >...I ride to work every morning on the legendary 405, but I won't do > >it on a cheap tire. > > I have no problem riding a cheap tire, but I won't ride a cheap tube. > > Mark >

~~~~AFAIK, tires sold for use on public roads in the U.S. have to meet DOT requirements, no matter what country they are made in. IMO, what I look for in a tire is age- I want it under 5 years old, preferably no more than two years old when buying new. Tread depth- inexpensive tire with plenty of tread depth is better than an expensive tire w/illegal tread depth. Keep it inflated properly I've ridden on Chinese tires (Cheng Shin), or are they Taiwanese? the Kymco People 150 I rode, all I could find to fit it properly were Cheng Shin tires. I've also ridden on Russian tires when I rode a Ural for a while (5 K kilometers). Not a bad knobby tire. Very soft so it wore fast. Rode on Indian tires once (Indian scooter). Brand was Nylogrips. Very haerd rubber so they esarned the nickname-nyloslips. Okay in the rain if you kept them squared up in the corners and kept your speed down Jake Reddick Fla.

[revmaaatin]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Jeff Khoury wrote:

> > In my professional life, some of my favorites are wonky and cattywompus. > > - > Jeff Khoury >

NKLR In agriculture, cattywompus is commonly used to describe tilling the soil on the diagonal--to realign the plow/disk/harrow furrow where the soil is 'broken' between plantings. It allows the planting machinery to see more easily where they need to plant. The planter has a 'boom' that extends to the outboard side and scratches/indexes the earth--which on the next pass, that index line is aligned with the center of the tractor for the next pass over the unplanted soil. GPS has changed some of that, but the soil is still indexed in case you have a GPS failure. CAttywompus used with no till farming, a special spring-tooth harrow goes across the field 'cattywompus' so as to re-aligning the chaff so that the no till planters, planting across the long side of a field, will cut across the re-aligned chaff. If you pass through where there are large wheat fields that have just been harvested then harrowed, you will see 40-60ft 'stripes' in the wheat field/chaff--this is where the spring-tooth harrow have realigned the chaff. This is necessary/helpful so the the no-till planters will not 'ball-up' the cutting disk with old chaff that lies on the ground, aligned along the previous planting axis. Wonky--now everyone knows that is the condition of a certain chocolate factory visited by hateful children that are out of control. It must be so, Hollywood said so. Two more words/phrase from down East. 1) Lovely. 2) Bless his/her heart. Neither are said as a compliment, or with endearment --none of which has the slightest thing to do with tire upgrades. shrug. revmaaatin.

[revmaaatin]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Jeff Khoury wrote:

> > I switched away from the stock tire because it erased itself in a scant 5600 miles. The Metzeler has a slightly more aggressive tread design, but using the scientific "fingernail" test, it is a much harder compound and should give me a few more miles. > > The reason this is important to me is that I put so many miles on the bike. I've only had it since December and I already have over 6500 miles on it - commuting, touring and trail riding. > > > > -Jeff Khoury > Astatic Solutions, LLC.

Jeff, Rick--others, You must be living right, IRT to 5600 smiles on OEM tires. Most that have posted here during the past 5 years--most owners report ~3K smiles, to as little as 1K smiles; of which I would say those tires were really rode very hard. I just rode the KLR250 OEM tires 2000 miles in 5 days to include 4+ hours in the rain/wet pavement, and I would say, I was very pleased with them. If I was going to ride a lot of pavement, and a little bit of dry-gravel roads, OEM would be a good choice. They work well in the dry and the wet pavement and offer a smooth ride. They were OK, even during the ~40 miles of dry gravel while searching for a way around road construction--the tire was adequate--although the conditions were always, 'dry'. My 13 y/o son rode the same bike/tires yesterday ~40 miles, packed gravel, damp, light sand, and did just fine. I would say, the OEM tire will not be the next choice, as 80%+ of this bikes future will be gravel--and most likely will be a K270 or a D606. Often the gravel will be damp to wet. All that said, If I was going to do a 3-5K minimalist type ride that was mostly pavement oriented, the OEM would be preferable to the K270. I had not rode the OEM tires (OEM to the KLR650--the 250 and the 650 use the same tire pattern, etal) since Oct of 2003 when I got my new to me, A15; I was pleased with their driving performance then--but was surprised at 3200 miles, the rear was toast. In defense of the OEM tire, I was the 3rd owner at 2005 miles, so have no idea if the tires were abused, properly inflated, etc during the first 2K miles of their life. shrug. We read, listen, and write what works for us. I would agree with Rick; if you can get 5600 miles out of the OEM tires, you have found a tire that works good for you. One thing that has not been said, "What is wore out?" Some have mentioned they ride them till their slick.... Slick is way to smooth for me. cough. and have been guilty of riding them near slick. Had a rancer/church lady say, "That tire is a little slick...." I changed the tire. She understood the importance of tread depth, and was correct to suggest that I was being a little to frugal. So, What is wore out? If 3/32 (or some other figure) was the minimum that we all compared tire life--as the great equalizer, that 3/32 was the minimum we would ride the tire, I think reported tire mileage would be significantly, different. Fellow poster Jeff Saline, suggests that 90% of the flats occur in the last 10% of the tire life = change early and escape the heartache of a trail side repair--or worse. Following that advice has worked very well for me. revmaaatin.

[Rick McCauley]

That is the price at the Kawasaki shop. And the way I understand it, they are only available through Kawasaki. Rick A17

--- On Fri, 8/14/09, Michael wrote: From: Michael Subject: Re: tire upgrade To: "Rick McCauley" Date: Friday, August 14, 2009, 3:36 PM Where are you getting OEM Tires for those prices. I went to the Kenda 761 because of cost. They are great but handle different in high wind. The OEM was twice the cost. Michael --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Rick McCauley wrote: > > > There are a lot of posts about what tire to use. Am I the only one that uses the OEM tires? > The rear costs $55.00 delivered to my door, and the front costs $45.00. I ride 4,500 miles a year on average. I get a new rear tire every Spring, and a new front one every other. I used to spend almost twice that every year for the rear tire on my V65 Sabre. I was just wondering why everyone seems to want a different tire? I understand if you are going mudding, or are using the KLR as a motocrosser (Yikes), but for the type of riding done on a KLR, the stock tires seem great. > > Rick > A17 > > > --- On Fri, 8/14/09, Jeff Khoury wrote: > > > From: Jeff Khoury > Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] Re: tire upgrade > To: "Jeff Saline" > Cc: "foolstools@..." , "DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com" DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com> > Date: Friday, August 14, 2009, 9:30 AM > > > > > > > In my professional life, some of my favorites are wonky and cattywompus. > > - > Jeff Khoury > > On Aug 14, 2009, at 7:10 AM, Jeff Saline wrote: > > > On Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:54:44 -0000 "David Giuliani" > > writes: > > > Another question and a little clarification: > > > > > > When I "balanced" the wheel/tire on a pair of jack stands, it kept > > > landing at the same point until I worked up to 2 oz. of 1/4 oz. > > > weights lined up along one side between the spokes. I've never had > > > to place that many before. Could it be do to the newly installed > > > extra heavy duty tube? Has anyone experienced this? > > > > > > > > > I'm wondering what sort of pressure you guys run in the TKC80. I'd > > > like to keep an average for road, gravel, and dirt use but don't > > > want to sacrifice road-ability for my 15% trail use. And I don't > > > want to sacrifice wear either. My weight plus minor gear usually > > > doesn't go over 220lbs. > > > > > > Dave > > <><><><><><> <><><> > > <><><><><><> <><><> > > > > Dave, > > > > I've had to add lots of weight when using a heavy or ultra heavy duty > > tube too. I did find/feel a large piece of material inside a tube > > which > > I think was from installing the valve at manufacture. It made the > > balancing pretty whacky*. You could try rotating the tire 90 to 180 > > degrees to see if that makes any difference but I don't think it will. > > My suggestion is to just ride it once it's balanced. > > > > I run Kenda K270s at 32 psi front and 36 psi rear for most of my > > riding. > > I normally don't change pressures for off pavement riding. I think the > > TKC80s are a similar tread and might work about the same. I'm a bit > > lighter than you fully loaded. > > > > * Whacky is a technical term only for use by trained professionals and > > often misused by other than trained professionals. : ) > > > > Best, > > > > Jeff Saline > > ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal > > Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads. org > > The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota > > 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT > > > > . > > ____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _ > > You can take it with you! Click here for a luxurious new motor home > > and travel in style! > > http://thirdpartyof fers.juno. com/TGL2141/ fc/BLSrjpTD0ffnN 0iMBzLVOxYSfLDrQ awKgdaNapDbsbbF8 htPp803slf4Bo8/ > > > > [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]

[Rick McCauley]

The OEM K750 is a fine tire. I hardly consider it unsafe. Unless you put it on a bike that can go well ove 100 mph. Rick A17

--- On Fri, 8/14/09, Jeff Khoury wrote: From: Jeff Khoury Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] Re: tire upgrade To: "Rick McCauley" Cc: "dsn_klr650@yahoogroups.com" dsn_klr650@yahoogroups.com> Date: Friday, August 14, 2009, 3:51 PM If there's one thing I don't skimp on, it's motorcycle tires. I don't wanna be riding down the road and wake up in the hospital. - Jeff Khoury On Aug 14, 2009, at 12:48 PM, Rick McCauley wrote: Ouch !! I would want to get 12,000 miles out of it to make it worth buying. Rick A17 --- On Fri, 8/14/09, Jeff Khoury wrote: From: Jeff Khoury Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] Re: tire upgrade To: "Rick McCauley" Cc: "dsn_klr650@yahoogroups.com" dsn_klr650@yahoogroups.com> Date: Friday, August 14, 2009, 2:23 PM I will keep everyone posted. I have 1200 miles or so on it now, and it is wearing well. I paid $166.00 for it using my brother's discount at Santa Monica Kawasaki. (he works for Moto-Tow and they have a company account). They can be had on the Internet for $145.00 plus shipping. - Jeff Khoury On Aug 14, 2009, at 12:01 PM, Rick McCauley wrote: > I would like to hear how many miles you get out of the metzler, and > how much did it cost? > > Rick > A17 > > --- On Fri, 8/14/09, Jeff Khoury wrote: > > From: Jeff Khoury > Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] Re: tire upgrade > To: "Rick McCauley" > Cc: "dsn klr650" > Date: Friday, August 14, 2009, 12:43 PM > > > > I switched away from the stock tire because it erased itself in a > scant 5600 miles. The Metzeler has a slightly more aggressive tread > design, but using the scientific "fingernail" test, it is a much > harder compound and should give me a few more miles. > > The reason this is important to me is that I put so many miles on > the bike. I've only had it since December and I already have over > 6500 miles on it - commuting, touring and trail riding. > > -Jeff Khoury > Astatic Solutions, LLC. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Rick McCauley" > To: "dsn klr650" > Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 9:11:53 AM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific > Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] Re: tire upgrade > > There are a lot of posts about what tire to use. Am I the only one > that uses the OEM tires? > The rear costs $55.00 delivered to my door, and the front costs > $45.00. I ride 4,500 miles a year on average. I get a new rear tire > every Spring, and a new front one every other. I used to spend > almost twice that every year for the rear tire on my V65 Sabre. I > was just wondering why everyone seems to want a different tire? I > understand if you are going mudding, or are using the KLR as a > motocrosser (Yikes), but for the type of riding done on a KLR, the > stock tires seem great. > > Rick > A17 > > --- On Fri, 8/14/09, Jeff Khoury < jeff@astatic. net > wrote: > > From: Jeff Khoury < jeff@astatic. net > > Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] Re: tire upgrade > To: "Jeff Saline" < salinej1@juno. com > > Cc: " foolstools@gmail. com " < foolstools@gmail. com >, " > DSN_KLR650@yahoogro ups.com " < DSN_KLR650@yahoogro ups.com > > Date: Friday, August 14, 2009, 9:30 AM > > In my professional life, some of my favorites are wonky and > cattywompus. > > - > Jeff Khoury > > On Aug 14, 2009, at 7:10 AM, Jeff Saline wrote: > > > On Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:54:44 -0000 "David Giuliani" > > writes: > > > Another question and a little clarification: > > > > > > When I "balanced" the wheel/tire on a pair of jack stands, it kept > > > landing at the same point until I worked up to 2 oz. of 1/4 oz. > > > weights lined up along one side between the spokes. I've never had > > > to place that many before. Could it be do to the newly installed > > > extra heavy duty tube? Has anyone experienced this? > > > > > > > > > I'm wondering what sort of pressure you guys run in the TKC80. I'd > > > like to keep an average for road, gravel, and dirt use but don't > > > want to sacrifice road-ability for my 15% trail use. And I don't > > > want to sacrifice wear either. My weight plus minor gear usually > > > doesn't go over 220lbs. > > > > > > Dave > > <><><><><><> <><><> > > <><><><><><> <><><> > > > > Dave, > > > > I've had to add lots of weight when using a heavy or ultra heavy > duty > > tube too. I did find/feel a large piece of material inside a tube > > which > > I think was from installing the valve at manufacture. It made the > > balancing pretty whacky*. You could try rotating the tire 90 to 180 > > degrees to see if that makes any difference but I don't think it > will. > > My suggestion is to just ride it once it's balanced. > > > > I run Kenda K270s at 32 psi front and 36 psi rear for most of my > > riding. > > I normally don't change pressures for off pavement riding. I think > the > > TKC80s are a similar tread and might work about the same. I'm a bit > > lighter than you fully loaded. > > > > * Whacky is a technical term only for use by trained professionals > and > > often misused by other than trained professionals. : ) > > > > Best, > > > > Jeff Saline > > ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal > > Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads. org > > The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota > > 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT > > > > . > > ____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _ > > You can take it with you! Click here for a luxurious new motor home > > and travel in style! > > http://thirdpartyof fers.juno. com/TGL2141/ fc/BLSrjpTD0ffnN > 0iMBzLVOxYSfLDrQ awKgdaNapDbsbbF8 htPp803slf4Bo8/ > > > > [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] > > [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] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Rick McCauley]

That sounds more like it. So what are you paying for the 270's, and what are you dirt / pavement percentages? Rick A17

--- On Sat, 8/15/09, fasteddiecopeman wrote: From: fasteddiecopeman Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Re: tire upgrade To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Date: Saturday, August 15, 2009, 10:27 AM Craig, I've been using Kenda K270 knobbies since the OEM Dunlops wore out, at 36 psi front & rear. I REGULARLY get 17,000 kms from the rear, and 21,000 from the fronts. Cheers, Ed --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogro ups.com, Craig Kahler wrote: > > A big reason I would consider an other than stock rear tire is mileage. If there is a tire available which will provide substantially higher mileage than stock, let me know about it. I would be willing to pay up to triple the cost of a stock tire, if I only had to change it half as often. > > Craig Kahler > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Jud Jones]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Rick McCauley wrote: I was just wondering why everyone seems to want a different tire? Because the stock tire won't climb its way out of a rut? I bought my "98 with a fresh K270 on it and a stock front. It only took one trip to the Big Horns to make me scrap the stocker, well before the end of its life. ("Useful life" would be a misnomer.) The k270 went on for a total of close to 10,000 miles. I averaged 9,500 per tire with three successive K270s on the rear.