New Tyres For The Desert X (and the Daytona 675)

 While I was stuck at home with the rain tumbling down and attacking various jobs, I thought I’d better get the tyres on the DX sorted out for when it cleared up. The rear Heidenau Ranger was basically worn out and the Motoz Rallz on the front was still going flat every few days.

Out with the old...

Asking around the owner groups this seemed to be a random problem that some owners had experienced while others hadn’t. Despite being a decent tyre, I didn’t want another Rallz just from the inconvenience factor so I asked around about the Motoz Desert HT and the DualVenture. The feedback seemed mixed with both being great tyres from a handling point of view but some guys suffering from the deflating problems (this is specifically on the Desert X).

I had to go to my new bestest tyre supplier, Motorcycle Tyre Warehouse, for a new rear Metzeler TD slick for Will’s Daytona, so I decided to chuck the DX wheels in the car and see what Nigel had in stock. 

I say “bestest” slightly tongue in cheek as Nigel seems to really live tyres if that is possible (unlike the clown show that is Tyres For Bikes - I have a drama every time I go there) . He spent almost an hour explaining the different characteristics of various tyres to me last time I went there and while many might just brush him as annoying, I have another scientific type mate who is the same with mtb tyres (amongst other things) so I get where he is coming from and really appreciate him trying to edumucate my caveman brain on all things tyres!

MTW have a small unit in an industrial complex that is PACKED with tyres. I had an idea that I would throw a Motoz Tractionator Adventure on the rear but was foiled with the front tyre as there were no DualVentures in stock anywhere in Brisbane. The Desert HT sounds like a tyre that would suit 90% dirt well and is a bit harder compound, so a bit too extreme for my intended use…..so what did I go with?

In with the new...

Well, completely out of left field, on the advice of a couple of members of the DX FaceBook page AND Nigel I thought I would try the Goldentyre 823 on the front. I have the 333 on the rear of both dirt bikes and they are aggressive looking, underrated hoops. The front looks super aggressive which is what I want on the dirt. As for the blacktop, I will just take it easy in the twisties while I get a feel and build confidence in it.

On Nigel’s advice I went with a 140 width on the rear tyre. I seem to recall people saying on the FB page the 150 had minimal clearance on the DX and even touched the chain guard, so I was lucky he reminded me. The 140 honestly looks a better fit, is lighter and was about $80 cheaper than the 150. 

😁

So, these hoops are fitted up and raring to go. I just need some dry weather and some inspiration on where to go (and some days off!). 

Do I camp or do I glamp in pubs? After riding light dirt bikes a fair bit lately,  probably the latter - keeping the bike lighter - is more appealing at the moment to be honest. I just need to find some obscure pubs in nothing towns as escaping the hordes is high on my list of requirements.

Will got a new rear tyre too for his track bike after he seemingly ran something over which caused a chunk to depart the right rear of his TD slick and may or may not have contributed to him low siding on the Turn 6 off camber, right hander at Morgan Park a few weeks back.🫤

This is why we went with race glass.

He was ok and the bike was ok as it is a fairly low speed corner but it might have dented his confidence a bit….which I am actually ok with as his confidence was probably starting to outweigh his ability. He needs to slow down and learn…but he is 19 and possibly knows it all……🤔🫣😳🫤😆.

Cheers and thanks for checking in!

 

Fitting A Cardo Pactalk Slim To An Airoh Commander Helmet

 As the title suggests, thanks to four days of wet weather, I finally had a crack at fitting the Pactalk Slim to the new Airoh that I purchased waaay back in January. It has been sitting patiently in the box and I have been slack with fitting it up because I haven’t really done much adv riding this year - well, apart from the trip to Nundle and the 20 creek crossings of Barry station back in April and for that ride I just used my old Airoh Commander sans comms. The rest of the time I just use my Shoei Neotec no matter which road bike I ride and it has a Pactalk fitted. So, yeah, slack.

Anyway, enough excuses! If I can’t ride I should get some maintenance tasks completed, right? 

One thing I had heard with the Airoh and comms systems is that the pre moulded speaker cups in the helmet are nowhere near your ear canal. Maybe Italians have higher and more rearward set ears…..? 😁 

To do the job right I needed to pull the cheek pads out of the helmet which are integral with the speaker holding foam side panels.

Being careful not to tear this little hook tab at the rear of the cheek pad.

The inside of the bare shell.

I needed to move the speaker cutouts forward and down to get them within a bull’s roar of my ear holes. I took a bit of an educated guess on where the speakers needed to be and marked around them.

I noted Steve said he took about four hours to complete the task on his Airoh. I have a knock-off Dremel type tool I reckon it took me longer to walk to the shed and back than it did to relocate the speaker cutouts! 

I started with a small cutting bit and roughed the hole out.

Needs more meat taken out.

Next I tried a sanding drum which basically just melted the foam out but still, it worked and left a slightly smoother finish.

Speakers in, it was time to refit the cheek pads and run some wires.

The cabling fit nicely under the side skirts of the cheek pads and the control head mount slid between the liner and the shell. The Airoh has a comms port/cutout on the left side of the helmet so a different model of Cardo might have been a better choice for this particular helmet but in the interests of helmet interchangeablity, we went with the Pactalk Slim as it will fit any helmet that you can slip the mounting between the liner and the shell.

The microphone is held in place by a patch of Velvro. The Velcro wouldn't adhere very well to the chin piece despite wiping with an alcohol wipe so I think I will be revisiting this area. Maybe the boom mike that comes with the Cardo kit will work better....but we will see how it goes for now.

When snapping the liner back in around the edge take care to get the rear hook properly engaged and don't rip it off in frustration! (like I was tempted to do)

The final job is to stick the battery pack to the rear of the helmet with some double sided tape. The regular Cardo mounts will not work here as the back of the Commander is steeply angled forward near the collar.

You can see the angle here as well as the comms port that is built into the helmet. The Pactalk Slim mounts by sliding a thin strip between the liner and the shell, It is very snug.

In any case, the tape works well and I don't anticipate any problems, especially if I handle the helmet with care (which I do with all of my helmets -  and you should too!)

Lounge room testing indicates that I have the speakers in the correct position but I will have to wait until it stops raining to give it an on road test.

The old and the new. Yes, clearly I like the Airoh Commander! 

Why?

Well, it is a light helmet at ~1500 grams (3.3lbs) (and it feels light to wear) while still featuring a peak, an internal drop down visor(sunnies), a Pinlock included in the box, an intergrated action camera mounting point, a comms port that will accept a variety of different systems, it is compatible with moto X goggles and is quite a comfortable fit on my head with good, mid level plushness. It is no Arai or Shoei on the plushness scale but then again, it is $400 to 500 Australian dollars cheaper than those two brands adv helmet offerings - both of which do not have the internal visor which is a must-have for me these days. Airoh seems to have changed their sizing though. My first Commander was a Large size. This time I needed an XL to get a proper fit, the new L was simply far too small. Not sure what gives there?

And the colour? 

Yeah, I went high visibilty this time. I must be getting old (or developing common sense) as I see the need to be more visible on our increasingly busy roads. Plus it sort of matches the new RST jacket I bought last year for summer riding, which is a shell jacket that I plan on wearing over either my Tech Air 5 or my motocross pressure suit - it gets hot here in Queensland - but I still want to be able to ride in comfort AND safety. 

Now, if it will just stop raining.....

Cheers.