New ADV Rubber

 

With the rear Pirelli Scorpion getting down a bit in tread depth and me eyeing off a proper ADV ride soon I thought it was time to put some decent off road tyres on the Desert X. I have umm'd and ahhh'd for weeks about which tyres to choose. I liked the Motoz Tractionator Adventure on the rear of the Africa Twin but it did get pretty "buzzy" on the blacktop as it wore and while I would like to try their Rallz on the rear, it is even noisier as it wears. Then I stumbled on a tyre I had forgotten about, the Heidenau K60 Ranger. The Ranger was meant to be an 80% dirt tyre that was a bit more user friendly on the blacktop (especially when wet) than the K60 Scout. They were still quoting impressive life for the Ranger and I just like the look of it with it’s meaty, chunky tread blocks. 

So that was the rear decided on. For the front I did like the Bridgestone AX41 on my Africa Twin but I thought I might go for a more aggressive front tyre. I was torn between a Pirelli Scorpion Rally and the Motoz Adventure Rallz, both tyres I hadn’t tried before. My main concern wasn’t for their dirt prowess as I was confident they would be fine in that respect, more how they would affect my bike’s sweet road handling.

So, I decided to live dangerously and pulled the trigger on the Motoz Rallz. Better to pull back a notch or two on the blacktop than to go wanting for grip with a loaded 220+kg ADV on snotty dirt roads I reckon.

 

Tyres For Bikes has a huge selection of tyres under one roof so I grabbed the tyres there. Unfortunately I keep having bad experiences with them actually fitting said tyres so I elected to go to my local bike shop to have them fitted. If I supply the wheel sans bike they will do a change for $25 AUD per end. Worth the coin to get a professional, quality and balanced tyre fitting in my view.

So, all fitted up. Now to go get them dirty.

Cheers.

The Black Donuts And Some Tricolori

After my Border Patrol ride with it's heavily loaded, high speed cruising it was time for some new rear rubber on the Africa Twin. I had replaced the original Bridgestone AX41 with another back in April. I found the AX41 to be a good tyre on the dirt roads I ride and it also had plenty of grip for some fairly spirited road riding. The down side was that it was only good for about 6000 kilometres. Not the greatest longevity so....

Bridgestone AX41 shod back in April.

After much browsing of the many "What Tyres Are You Using" threads on the interwebs, two kept coming up as hoops worth a look at. The Motoz GPS and the Mitas E07 Dakar. Now, a mate has the Motoz GPS on his KTM 1090 and while it has lasted well and seems ok in the dirt, he dreads riding on the sealed stuff in the wet. With the tyre's continuous centre strip he says it spins up and slides at the drop of a hat. 

 The E05 that was on my BMW F800 was a fine tyre that gave me confidence on the tar, so, that pushed me to try a Mitas E07+.

 

A recent two day ride with Jon, the KTM mate and another workmate on his trusty DR650 saw us doing a mix of sealed road, good dirt and some sandy farm tracks with a couple of creek crossings, finally "glamping" in a pub. 

The E07 performed well but I think the front tyre is holding me back on the tar. The front feels like it is tucking when I push hard, especially when I try to stand the bike up to change direction. A close look at the front tyre showed a fair amount of wear (about 10 000km on it) so on the way home from that ride I stopped into Tyres For Bikes at Eagle Farm for a new front tyre.

I thought about trying something else but the Bridgestone had done a good job both on and off road and the life wasn't bad at 10 000km. Hence, another AX41 went on the front. Jon also put one on his KTM 1090 at the same time as his TKC 80 was pretty flogged.

Riding out of the shop the bike immediately felt smoother. The old tyre was out of balance and was shaking the front end quite a bit in hindsight.

Another thing I noticed, just as I pulled onto the motorway (which is only about 50 metres from the tyre shop) was that both my ABS and Traction control lights were illuminated! Shit!! There was no way off the motorway as it went straight up the Gateway Bridge and onto the south side of the river. About half way up the bridge the Engine light also came on! FFS, what have they done?

When I got home I inspectd the front wheel, expecting to see damage to the wheel speed sensor or it's wire but no, it looked fine. What did look wrong though was the wheel speed ring being on the other side of the fork to the wheel speed sensor!

Wheel speed ring on right fork leg.

Wheel speed sensor on left fork leg.

Wheel speed sensor wire on left fork leg.

ONE JOB! They are called Tyres For Bikes - they have one job - fitting tyres to bikes....and they had put my wheel in the bike backwards! Maybe I should have checked but really, how hard is it? They have 1 job!!

So, I reefed the wheel out and as they are located right by the airport I waited until I was going to work before dropping the wheel off to them. They didn't offer to reimburse the $33 it costs to have them fit the new tyre to the bike even though I had to take the wheel out and take it back to them for rectification. 

I'm not very happy with that level of service as there are plenty of places to buy tyres in this city. I am currently considering if I cross them permanently off my "places to shop" list.

On a happier note, I got the Twin out for a spin mid last week, despite the rain that was threatening. Number one child also came for the ride. We tracked up the back side of Beechmont from Canungra as the roadworks of recent years have turned that goat track into some nice wide, sweeping, constant radius corners....before turning back to goat track. I also figured the inland side of the mountain would be a drier alternative to the coastal side. This proved to be true as we arrived at The Flying Bean cafe in some low cloud but still quite dry.

The impending deluge had clearly scared everyone else off as this is the first time I have ever been to The Bean and not seen a motorcycle parked up out the front! I had pride of place but chose to stay out of the mud!

My daughter had some breakfast and a coffee while I was good and just had coffee. (trying to lose some Covid kilos) It did look nice though....

A local Magpie was hopeful of a few crumbs but we dissuaded him from coming any closer, me still being scarred by his crazy bretheren buzzing me during the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail End 2 End X 2 bike ride at the end of August! (link to last year's ride above)

The rain did eventually arrive, as did a couple of other hardy motorcyclists so we settled in for another coffee and a chat. In fact, we spent 3 hours chatting to two guys who rolled up on a Ninja 1000 and a BMW F850GSA. One was Italian, the other a German, both having lived in Oz for a few years. It was a very entertaining morning. Eventually though we needed to get going and we headed off into some thick fog and quite heavy rain. No problem though as Queensland is warm - being wet and warm is fine.

On another motorcycling note, I took the Tuono to Hawtt Decals where Emma (or was it Emily?) applied some cool rim decals which added a splash of colour and I think look pretty cool. I had a good time chatting all things motorcycling with her as both her and her husband are keen riders and road racers. I will definitely be using their services again. I just need more imagination to come up with some cool decals - something I'm not naturally endowed with though, unfortunately.

I think it came up well but you be the judge.

Pre rim decal

Post rim decal.

Hawtt Decals are located at the base of Mt Mee, one of the north side bike roads so of course I needed to "generate some heat in the tyres to help cure the decals"..... and being a week day it was nice and quiet on the roads....apart from the booming of a V4 Tuono that is!!

I finally got to twist the throttle pretty hard and this thing not only sounds great but handles so awesomely, being able to flick it from side to side with much less effort than the old R1! I am not sure about the Metzler tyres though- not much feedback on offer - but as they were brand new on the bike when I bought it I guess I am stuck with them for a few years.

I stopped in at the PitStop Cafe on Mt Mee road. I can't believe I hadn't been here before last week! It is very inauspicious looking from the front....

But walk in and look out the back...... !!

The views go on forever to the south east over Dayboro, to the Brisbane city skyline just 30 kilometres away as the crow flies!

This is what I love about bikes, be they motor or pedal powered. They get me out there, discovering places I have never visited and better still, talking to random strangers for hours because of a shared passion. I was pleased to be able to share that experience with my daughter last week on the Beechmont ride...and I think she gets it. 

Cheers and thanks for checkin' in.

New Rubber

Well, after 6 years and just over 8000km I have finally worn out the Michelin Pilot Power Pure tyres that I had fitted waaay back here.  The funny thing is that my prediction was pretty accurate in that one of my kids IS finishing high school this year!! :-0
Scary!!

Luckily for me, my brother suffered a puncture while out on a ride with the lads back in December 2016. That Michelin Pilot Road 4 was only on the bike a relatively short time he tells me (which may or may not be true as it looks like it might have around 4000km on it between those blog posts), so quite new-ish, miles wise. Or, new to me.....

After finishing off my Pilot Power Pures during his recent visit, Steve mailed the rear tyre up to me. That meant a quick trip to Tyres For Bikes out at Eagle Farm to have it fitted, plus a brand new Michelin Pilot Road 5 for the front.

New/second hand Michelin Pilot Road 4 rear

New/new!! Michelin Pilot Road 5 front.

It will be interesting to see how many miles/years I get out of these tyres as they are supposed to be pretty hard wearing and get in the vicinity of 11 000km (6840mi). That would be about 10 years of usage at my current rate and see me at almost 60 years of age!! They are also pretty good in the wet with rave reviews from such hard men as Geoff J. If they are good enough for him in the land of the Long White (Rain) Cloud then they are good enough for me!

On another note, while I was at Tyres For Bikes, I spoke to the owner of this little toy.

He was getting a puncture repaired and looking around it I was actually reasonably impressed with how the Zero looked. It was weird to hear it ride off as it made almost no noise and the owner mentioned that was hard to get used to, plus the lack of vibration - with no reciprocating combustion engine throbbing away. Interesting but I am not sure a 200km range would cut it in the real world. Maybe for a commuter bike where you can plug it in at work - but I can see that being an issue with cheap arse Aussie employers if more and more employees start using electric vehicles in time and plugging into the work outlet......

Anywho, cheers and thanks for checkin' in!

Plus Size

No, I am not referring to garments for larger folk here. I mean + size mountain bike tyres. 

Fat bottom girl....... 3.0 inch

Plus (+) size tyres are in the 2.8 to 3.0 inch width range (“normal” is 2.0 to 2.4) and are a relatively new “standard” in the mtb industry. The idea is to allow tyres to be run at low pressure (10-15 psi) to give superglue-like grip and have more flex to help avoid punctures. I joined the + size crowd late last year to see what the fuss was about and have been enjoying the ridiculous grip that 3 inch tyres give. The down side is that there is a lot of rubber in a + size tyre. That mass is harder to spin up to speed and also makes it harder to change direction.

How this relates to me and my AZTR750 attempt is that I really don't need to make this race any harder than it needs to be (you could argue that using a + size 27.5 bike instead of a "normal" 29er is already enough of a handicap).

Typical 29er with 2.1 or 2.2 tyres

To this end, I have been hunting for tyre recommendations from Arizona locals on the various forums. I have learnt plenty about what people think will and will not work, tyre wise, but some of the recommended tyres aren't available Down Under.

As a result, I have used some gut instinct, some blind faith and a dash of test pilot to make the leap to purchase a couple of Maxxis 2.8 tyres. I have gone for a Rekon with EXO (sidewall protection) for the front and an Ikon, also with EXO for the rear.

My reasoning? Well, the "go to" tyre for 29 inch wheels in this race is the Maxxis Ardent, as it is tough enough to withstand the AZ desert. You can't get an Ardent in a + size, so the closest tyre I can see is the Recon. It has a waaaay more aggressive tread than I need with + size tyres but that tread will hopefully help with puncture protection. I will, unfortunately, also slow me down with a bit of extra rolling resistance.

For the rear I have, somewhat controversially, gone with an Ikon.
Controversial?
Yes, because Ikons are a bit lightweight in construction in their skinnier incarnation. I used an Ikon 2.2 on the rear of my Tour Divide bike because I didn't need that much grip, instead preferring less rolling resistance in that 4500km gravel grind. With the + size version though, that relative lack of grip isn't as pronounced because there is simply way more rubber on the trail. The real test will be to see how resilient to cuts and punctures it will be as the AZT is notoriously brutal on tyres, especially sidewalls and this is where the skinny Ikon is a bit weak. The sidewalls "feel" quite thick with Maxxis's added EXO sidewall protection even though the tyre is 120tpi (threads per inch) construction. I would have preferred both tyres to be the tougher 60tpi construction but this is where there is some compromise in + size tyres. Going too strong in the casing adds weight. Weight equals slower speed - as in forward motion and in steering feel.
Both are bad, m'kay?

You can see from the photos below how much weight I have shaved off the rotating mass just with the new 2.8 tyres, versus the 3.0s I have been running.

WTB Bridger 3.0 that I have been running on the front.

Maxxis Rekon 2.8 that will replace the Bridger - 297grams saved (10.5 oz)!

Maxxis Chronicle 3.0 (60tpi) that I have been running on the rear.

Maxxis Ikon 2.8 that will adorn the rear - 227g (8 oz) saving!!

Only time will tell if I have chosen wisely. + size tyres aren't cheap, so I will be sticking by my choice unless I can prove them to be unworthy over the next 4 weeks prior to the race. This means getting the Beast loaded up and hammering it across some rocky, unforgiving trails. Unfortunately (or fortunately) we don't have the cacti problem so I can't simulate that particular issue in trying to expose any weakness. While a 524g (1.15 lb) saving is significant, it is worthless if the tyres let me down on day one in the Canelos.

Not rocky, nor unforgiving - but it was on the way to find rocky and unforgiving!


Fingers crossed I have chosen wisely.....................or that I ride lucky...........!
I will be happy to take either.





Cheers

New Hoops

About this time last year I went for a two day ride through northern New South Wales on the R1. You can read about that ride here.

That ride saw the end of the Bridgestone BT016 tyres that the bike came shod with. But here we are, 12 months later, with the same set of tyres fitted. What The?!? I hear you ask. Well, I am a bit of a tight arse and due to a lack of riding I put off buying a new set of tyres.

I had to commute to work for a few days last month and of course it was raining....and my tyres were shot....and my pucker factor was at "full clench".  Firetruck! I need new tyres!

So, off I went, credit card in hand to the local Yamaha dealer. I was hoping for the best but expecting the worst. Well, I was pleasantly surprised as a set of Michelin Pilot Power Pure tyres, in the correct size for my R1 were to be had for just $399. Fitted no less! Putting that into perspective that is about $100 less than they used to cost 10 years ago. Minor win! They even tensioned my clunky steering head bearings for free. Another win!

Riding (gingerly) away from said dealer I instantly noticed the difference in handling. On the old, shagged tyres I had to muscle the bike into a corner, then hold steering pressure on the bars to hold it into the turn. This was very uncomfortable and disconcerting. With the new tyres fitted the bike simply rolled over into a turn and sat there, exactly where I put it. Woo Hoo! I had forgotten how good new rubber feels.

Fat rubber.

New front hoop = accurate steering. Win.

The 'cycle has 29 600km(18 500mi) on the clock so it will be interesting to see how many km I get out of the Michelins. I am not expecting mega miles as I want sticky tyres first and foremost. To be honest, if I get 5000km out of the set I will be happy. And (somewhat embarrassingly) at the rate I currently ride both my kids will nearly be finished high school before it is time to go tyre shopping again!

I will be doing my best to change this sad fact soon.

Cheers.