airing down and sugar sand

[dooden]

I have played in Michigan Sugar Sand.. much like Florida's and yes airring down helps alot, but even without I found the KLR acceptable in the deep stuff, but on the pegs, ass back as far as you can hang on and twist the throttle alot and surf it around. Don't hurt much if you fall being sugar sand. Used to do it on a 125cc years ago, but power fell off quickly on the 125cc unlike the 650cc it just keeps making power. Dooden A15 Green Ape

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, LDHunter wrote: > > KLRistas, > > > > I've "discovered" something that many of you have probably known for years. > > > > First I'll preface by saying that I've usually just avoided deep loose sand > all the years I've ridden dual sports (I'm in Florida which is often called > the sand box) because they typically have tires and weight that cause the > bikes to "plow" the front wheel and cause a lot of arm, shoulder, and back > stress as I fought to keep control of the bikes. > > > > Recently a friend and I went for a ride and he has a DR650 which is slightly > better in the loose stuff than a KLR but he ran off and left me in an almost > effortless fashion when we hit some of the loose stuff. > > > > The next time we stopped for a breather I asked him why he didn't seem to > know. All he could say was that the bike was handling a lot better that day. > > > > We started snooping around the bike looking at this and that and suddenly I > had a bright idea to check his tire pressures. > > > > Sure enough. His front tire was down to 15 pounds. He has a slow leak in his > front tube and the "good" result from this was greatly improved sand > performance. > > > > I had been airing my D606's down to 22 in the rear and 18 in the front and > had achieved marginally improved loose sand results but on that day I > decided to get aggressive and air down a bunch more, keeping in mind that I > was running the risk of spinning my tires on my rims unless I used rim locks > and thereby ruining tubes. > > > > I took my rear tire down to 18 pounds and my front down to a radical 12 > pounds and VOILA!!! Suddenly my 500 pound pig which wallowed in every sand > pit it could find was transformed into a sure footed cat. > > > > Well... That may be a bit of an exaggeration but I CAN tell you the > difference was HUGE and I can now ride the sand much easier than before and > fight the bike much less. > > > > I know that 12 pounds in the front tire is radical and my on road handling > can be nothing short of dangerous but I forgot (I'm old and forgetful) to > change my tire pressures when I slabbed it home that day and have been on a > couple rides since then and no bad effects. > > > > Don't forget that the D606 has such a strong sidewall that it can be "run > flat" for mile upon mile anyway. > > > > Anyway... I want to make sure than anyone that reads this doesn't > immediately air down and head out for a ride and get hurt. You should > approach this "airing down" technique VERY VERY carefully and don't come > running to me if you wreck and kill yourself. > > > > So... There you have it. After 40 years of riding dual sports I learned > something this week. > > > > $bob$ > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >

[Thomas James Komjathy]

Well, I think the newer KLR has been out there long enough to get a good general perspective form the clan. I have had several pre-08 models of the KLR and I have been very happy with them. What is the groups impression of the new upgrades, is it worth throwing down 5K for one? TK