an eccentric and his dream - nklr-ish

[cycletip]

Love ride reports like this.  Thanks for sharing it Eddie.  Bet you'll never pass by that town or building and not think about your chance encounter.  Taking time to smell the roses can be very enjoyable! 

[notanymoore]

Well, hey, it's Chicago.  It was below freezing when I started out this morning.  Got maybe 3-4 weekends left before being reduced to mid-afternoon two hour rides, assuming it's dry, the sun is out and the temperature is above freezing.   In 2006, after a 15 year hiatus, I  bought a bike.  After evaluating the few "standard" bikes available, it came down to the KLR 650 and the Suzuki VStrom 650.    A red KLR 650, won; and after several upgrades to "roadify" the bike, it turned into a decent ride - 16 tooth front sprocket, superbike chain, Acerbis mini-fender, grip puppies, Seat cover, Nerf bars, bigger windscreen,Bridgestone Trailwings replacing the POS OEM tires. Fast forward 10 years and I go into a dealership to get some new gloves and out front is a used WeeStrom for sale. A fully farkled WeeStrom - adventure style.  Crash bars, skid plate, cruise control, cigarette style outlet, adjustable windscreen - circa  2006 with 24K on the clock; just like the one I almost bought 10 years ago.  They hung a sold sign on it after a test ride.   .  So after 2K on the Weestrom and another 2K on the KLR (31K and going),  I've come to a few conclusions: 1) The WeeStrom may be an adventure bike; it's not a dual sport bike..  The Metzler Tourance tires hit anything but asphalt and you gotta go real slow.   Gravel roads are like riding on marbles and anything more than hardpack dirt two-tracks and you're in trouble.  Sorry but Tourance tires under a 500 Lb. ride (wet) ain't fun off the tarmac.. 2) The WeeStrom in not a (sub)urban commuter bike - too top heavy.  I've laid down the bike (at a stop) twice because I was more used to the weight of the KLR.  No damage other than a bruised ego.  And you have to be VERY conscious of your momentum on back roads.     3) Crash bars are essential on a WeeStrom (and KLR for that matter).  Not just for my embarassing trips to the pavement, but they are also indispensible for LIFTING the bike back up by your self.  Not to mention saving me several hundred bucks on replacement plastic.   4) The WeeStrom IS a great touring bike; best combination of power, gas tank capacity and stability in a standard bike for it's size.  Not bad as a 2-up bike either as long as the passenger isn't Rosie O'Donnell. The bike does rev a little high @75 MPH for my tastes.   With improved offroad tires; it might even beat the other "adventures" bikes that cost $20K and weigh 600 Lbs (how they got those offroad I'll never know.  Must be why the Tenere comes with a winch).  And it's a better cold weather ride than the KLR (2006 anyhow),   So my questions: A) The Tourance are almost at the of their end of tread.  All the Internet searches I do seem to indicate these are the favorites for the Wee.  Any other recommendations?  I'd like something a little better off asphalt without sacrificing highway ride.   Are Bridgestone Trailwings an option?  Any others?   ANything but Simko's.  I've never trusted Asian rubber after some bad experieinces on my cars. B) Is a 16 tooth sprocket a good idea?   I've read on the Internet it is.  And from what I've read; the stock front sprocket from a GSX-R600 fits and is better than the the non-OEM brands (though more expensive).  What about 17 tooth?  I've heard some use the front sprocket off the VStrom 1000 but it seems a little tall to me.  Comments?      .    .  

[notanymoore]

Oops wrong group.  Sorry.

[SniperOne308]

I spent the day on the CDT with a couple of KLR buddies and another with a 2015 R1200 GSA that was wearing Continential's new TKC 70.  He had no trouble going everywhere we went with that road biased tire. I run K60 Scouts front and rear on my '09 KLR and have been impressed on pavement, rain, sand, gravel, soupy mud (not the deep sticky stuff).  They are more aggressive than the TKC 70 above and more noisy on the pavement, but they have been high mileage on two different KLRs (12k miles front, 7500 rear).  Prior to the K60s I was running Dunlop D606 tires on my KLRs but was only getting 3k out of a rear tire. On my '08 R1200 GSA I run Continential's TKC 80.  While it is a low profile knobby it does really well on all the above surfaces with this bike and is not as noisy as the K60.  The only limitation is mileage at 4500 rear and 7k front. Randy Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone -------- Original message -------- From: "RJTaylor@... [DSN_KLR650]" DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com> Date: 10/17/2015 8:34 PM (GMT-07:00) To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Subject: [DSN_KLR650] End of another riding season, comments and questions...   Well, hey, it's Chicago.  It was below freezing when I started out this morning.  Got maybe 3-4 weekends left before being reduced to mid-afternoon two hour rides, assuming it's dry, the sun is out and the temperature is above freezing.   In 2006, after a 15 year hiatus, I  bought a bike.  After evaluating the few "standard" bikes available, it came down to the KLR 650 and the Suzuki VStrom 650.    A red KLR 650, won; and after several upgrades to "roadify" the bike, it turned into a decent ride - 16 tooth front sprocket, superbike chain, Acerbis mini-fender, grip puppies, Seat cover, Nerf bars, bigger windscreen,Bridgestone Trailwings replacing the POS OEM tires. Fast forward 10 years and I go into a dealership to get some new gloves and out front is a used WeeStrom for sale. A fully farkled WeeStrom - adventure style.  Crash bars, skid plate, cruise control, cigarette style outlet, adjustable windscreen - circa  2006 with 24K on the clock; just like the one I almost bought 10 years ago.  They hung a sold sign on it after a test ride.   .  So after 2K on the Weestrom and another 2K on the KLR (31K and going),  I've come to a few conclusions: 1) The WeeStrom may be an adventure bike; it's not a dual sport bike..  The Metzler Tourance tires hit anything but asphalt and you gotta go real slow.   Gravel roads are like riding on marbles and anything more than hardpack dirt two-tracks and you're in trouble.  Sorry but Tourance tires under a 500 Lb. ride (wet) ain't fun off the tarmac.. 2) The WeeStrom in not a (sub)urban commuter bike - too top heavy.  I've laid down the bike (at a stop) twice because I was more used to the weight of the KLR.  No damage other than a bruised ego.  And you have to be VERY conscious of your momentum on back roads.     3) Crash bars are essential on a WeeStrom (and KLR for that matter).  Not just for my embarassing trips to the pavement, but they are also indispensible for LIFTING the bike back up by your self.  Not to mention saving me several hundred bucks on replacement plastic.   4) The WeeStrom IS a great touring bike; best combination of power, gas tank capacity and stability in a standard bike for it's size.  Not bad as a 2-up bike either as long as the passenger isn't Rosie O'Donnell. The bike does rev a little high @75 MPH for my tastes.   With improved offroad tires; it might even beat the other "adventures" bikes that cost $20K and weigh 600 Lbs (how they got those offroad I'll never know.  Must be why the Tenere comes with a winch).  And it's a better cold weather ride than the KLR (2006 anyhow),   So my questions: A) The Tourance are almost at the of their end of tread.  All the Internet searches I do seem to indicate these are the favorites for the Wee.  Any other recommendations?  I'd like something a little better off asphalt without sacrificing highway ride.   Are Bridgestone Trailwings an option?  Any others?   ANything but Simko's.  I've never trusted Asian rubber after some bad experieinces on my cars. B) Is a 16 tooth sprocket a good idea?   I've read on the Internet it is.  And from what I've read; the stock front sprocket from a GSX-R600 fits and is better than the the non-OEM brands (though more expensive).  What about 17 tooth?  I've heard some use the front sprocket off the VStrom 1000 but it seems a little tall to me.  Comments?      .    .  

[cycletip]

notanymore - great choice on the Suzuki IMO.  Nice complement to your KLR for all the reasons you mentioned.  My experience with the TKC 80's has been outstanding, but that's on a BMW 1150GSA.  They don't wear particularly long but what you get for the time they last is an amazing grip on and off road including wet surfaces.  When riding the GSA it's usually fully loaded and very heavy.  Performance with those tires has been well beyond my expectations.  Have also ran Tourance prior to the TKC and found them to be suitable in most conditions but definitely not up to the TKC's off road.  You can feel the TKC's going slow but that disappears very quickly above 5 - 10 mph on tarmac.  Think you nailed Tourance performance off road.  They work OK but it's a big compromise to the TKC's.  Another thing that surprised me was how evenly they wore.  No cupping or oddities at all.  Getting every last mile out of them 4 - 5 K.    Can't answer your gearing question but would say it's all dependent on the type of riding you do.  Keep in mind an adventure bike that's geared too high is a handful off road.  Can quickly become a limiting factor.     Monty

[eddie mauri]

End of the Riding Season, you say?  I beg to differ, down here in the deep south, this is beginning of the riding season!  From now until mid December is the best time to ride.  Then it gets a tad nippy, into the low 40's, until mid January, then the riding season begins again. Actually, the summer is the worst time to ride with the oppressive heat, rain,  and humidity.  Horace Greeley quipped, "Go West, young man", I say "Move south, KLR rider"

31N90W

[Eddie]

Hi Eddie I am Eddie also in Birmingham thinking of a fall run down to LA lower Alabama and on down to PC and back your right our season is yr round usually??!! Sent from Eddie's iPhone

On Oct 19, 2015, at 12:54 PM, eddie mauri eddiebmauri@... [DSN_KLR650] DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

  End of the Riding Season, you say?  I beg to differ, down here in the deep south, this is beginning of the riding season!  From now until mid December is the best time to ride.  Then it gets a tad nippy, into the low 40's, until mid January, then the riding season begins again. Actually, the summer is the worst time to ride with the oppressive heat, rain,  and humidity.  Horace Greeley quipped, "Go West, young man", I say "Move south, KLR rider" 31N90W

[DesertDatsuns]

Same for us too in the southwest, we're *finally* under 100 degrees, so our riding season has just started! Ryan Phoenix On 10/19/2015 10:54 AM, eddie mauri eddiebmauri@... [DSN_KLR650] wrote:

End of the Riding Season, you say? I beg to differ, down here in the deep south, this is beginning of the riding season! From now until mid December is the best time to ride. Then it gets a tad nippy, into the low 40's, until mid January, then the riding season begins again. Actually, the summer is the worst time to ride with the oppressive heat, rain, and humidity. Horace Greeley quipped, "Go West, young man", I say "Move south, KLR rider" 31N90W

[Buddy Eckles]

Same for us too in the southwest, we're *finally* under 100 degrees, so our riding season has just started! Ryan Phoenix On 10/19/2015 10:54 AM, eddie mauri eddiebmauri@... [DSN_KLR650] wrote:

[quote]   End of the Riding Season, you say?  I beg to differ, down here in the deep south, this is beginning of the riding season!  From now until mid December is the best time to ride.  Then it gets a tad nippy, into the low 40's, until mid January, then the riding season begins again. Actually, the summer is the worst time to ride with the oppressive heat, rain,  and humidity.  Horace Greeley quipped, "Go West, young man", I say "Move south, KLR rider" 31N90W

[/quote]

[Eddie]

#ygrps-yiv-392320145 {margin:0.7em;}#ygrps-yiv-392320145 p {margin:0;}#ygrps-yiv-392320145 .ygrps-yiv-392320145OECFntDef {font-family:"Segoe UI", Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10pt;} Third Eddie here in 65F Columbus, Ga. I'll take a little cool over 109F road air temps in July any day! LOL My lady friend and I took our bikes over to Robins AFB Saturday to see the 2nd biggest aircraft museum in the US (or so they say). It was nice until the sun neared the horizon. Then the mecury dropped a good ten degrees in about 90 minutes. My textile Joe Rocket jacket got it's rain liner and a fleece vest upgrade in a hurry! =)   --- New Outlook Express and Windows Live Mail replacement - get it here: http://www.oeclassic.com/   -eddie Original Message:

From: Eddie eddie@... [DSN_KLR650] DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com> Reply-To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com>, Eddie To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com>, eddie mauri Sent: 10/19/2015 2:08:04 PM Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Re: End of another riding season, comments and questions...    Hi Eddie I am Eddie also in Birmingham thinking of a fall run down to LA lower Alabama and on down to PC and back your right our season is yr round usually??!! Sent from Eddie's iPhone

On Oct 19, 2015, at 12:54 PM, eddie mauri eddiebmauri@... [DSN_KLR650] DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

End of the Riding Season, you say?  I beg to differ, down here in the deep south, this is beginning of the riding season!  From now until mid December is the best time to ride.  Then it gets a tad nippy, into the low 40's, until mid January, then the riding season begins again. Actually, the summer is the worst time to ride with the oppressive heat, rain,  and humidity.  Horace Greeley quipped, "Go West, young man", I say "Move south, KLR rider" 31N90W Posted by: Eddie Reply via web post eddie@...?subject=Re%3A%20%5BDSN_KLR650%5D%20Re%3A%20End%20of%20another%20riding%20season%2C%20comments%20and%20questions%2E%2E%2E DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com?subject=Re%3A%20%5BDSN_KLR650%5D%20Re%3A%20End%20of%20another%20riding%20season%2C%20comments%20and%20questions%2E%2E%2E Start a New To pic Messages in this topic (6)