You only have... ...ONE WEEK! The bike is ready, and I'm packing everything today. I'm puttin' her into the wind at Oh-dark-thirty Thursday AM.
Thanks Gary and all for the well wishes and prayers. Great to read all the last minute little fixes and tweaks. Dont worry, i too still have some stuff to do. George is indeed the single greatest Husky resource. It was only after walking into his shop and talking all things Husky that i took the plunge. Drives me nuts to read the moto mags talking about how racer whats-his-name are now figuring out how to get the Huskys to work. Gimme a break. George has had it figured out since Nixon was president, and he never took a break. Anyway, its all good. Looking forward to meeting everyone and looking forward to a nice, fun, relaxing trail ride down in baja. Taking a close look at the weather next few days to fine tune the route thru the mountains. I'll be at Georges shop the 26th @ 2pm. Crossing Tecate @ 6pm. Arriving RSV 7pm.
No minute like the very last. Put it back together an hour ago and started for the first time since taking it apart a month ago. Added the new XPC Seat (thanks Jim with XPC as he definitely got the seat to me asap). Need to set the modes on the Vapor. See photo of case saver made on the spot by Herbie Evans of Charleston. Herbie really helped me get it together towards the end and has a great attention to detail. Now I just need to get to BentAero for its trek cross-Country like the sticker says on the swingarm. Now off to pack the bags.
Mike this timeline don't make no sense to me... Tecate has got to be about 3-4 hours From George's shop. So are you planning on showing up and then leaving immediately? I think George is expecting us to show up througout the day. I was planning on being there pretty early and then have some time to make any tweaks he recommends. -- Yesterday, I decided to do a trial run to test out all my farkles. Depending on how you look at it it was a great success or a horrible failure. I crashed, and I thought for sure broke my arm. It feels much better today, I have full motion and no bruising (like from a bleeding bone) and just a little swelling so I'm choosing to call it a sprang. I bent my bars a little, but I can live with that. I broke my helmet, fortunately Shoei is local and I am going to go pick up replacement parts tomorrow. And last but not least, may I present my brand new Maxxis Desert IT tire: (I thought DOT was like an extra level of certification, I didn't realize it meannt 'not possible' to ride on the road. Today I went and got a new 606, but I feel like a total retard. I got a 120, and now looking at it I dunno why I didn't get a 130. What do you guys think? should I get a 130 Rear?
Sorry to hear about your off, and am glad you are (relatively) okay. I'd hazard a guess that using a 120 would be okay, but I'll let the experts chime in. I can haul a Karoo that has 300 miles of Arkansas on it with me if you need it.
I use anything from a 120 - 140, depending on avaliablity and price. and I go through rears ALOT. The smaller ones usually turn better. You should be fine. George even put on a 130 or 120 for me once. I believe the 610 was originally designed with a 130 in mind. JUst think how lil in the overall picture 10 - 20 mm actually is. There's probaly as much as that difference in between manufactuers and models of tires for the "same" size.
My old tire is a 130 and it's an inch and a half wider I'm just a little concerned about sand, thinking wider would be better than agressive turning in BAja.
Did you measure your old tire after you took it off the wheel and the new tire before mounting it? If so, I'm not surprised that the measurements show such a big gap. I don't have any experience with the TE610, of course, but I've regularly used the next smallest tire on lots of my bikes. I preferred the smaller tire on my 2-strokes And as far as sand goes, well, I can say that wider is not necessarily better in the sand Ask anyone that rode behind me in Baja in the deep stuff Of course, I'm talking a 150 on a 17" rim, but still... WoodsChick
Bummer on the tire. I've had no problems with Maxxis IT Desert on the road, and I like them a lot. Up to 90mph (short stretch, but plenty at 60-65 mph) without issue. But I don't believe they're DOT certified. Seems like you must have gotten a bad apple. Glad your noggin is ok. Was the wipeout related to the tire?
Was that 1 ride on that Maxxis? Your 610 must be a stump puller. The Michellin new S12-XC are working good on my 510. IDK if they would be a good baja tire though.
I think the wipeout was related to my noggin (brain fart) Staring at rock repeating in my head "Don't hit rock you're looking at! Don't Hit that Rock you're looking at!! Oh crap you hit that" Whap! Thud!!) They are not DOT so I now take that as kind of critical. Plus my buddy said that if you wreck your insurance won't cover you and if you hurt someone it becomes criminal negligence. Doesn't seem worthwhile to run non DOT tires... It was pretty nice in the 5 minutes I had it in dirt lot near where I live though... Yeah one ride, but it was 100 miles of pavement. I think it lasted OK most of the way, but once I got out near Barstow there was some fresh smooth pavement and I decided to see what the lynx fairing would do so I went 100 for a couple miles. I think that's when the damage happened. I was wearing earphones so didn't hear anything thumping which it certainly must have done. I don't know what you mean. I drove it nice for a long time, but then let it rip. it had to be warmed up after 60 miles @60-70MPH no? It was just Dumb this one hurts the least of my owie's Here's my lid... Fortunately Shoei's offices are somewhat local (Tustin), so I'm gonna go get the broken plastic parts tomorrow and I'll have them test it when I get back. I'm taking it with to Baja because of money/time constraints, But I think it's done.
Just out of curiosity what was the issue with the big tires? Not able to turn or something else? I had a 908 (140) in Sand and liked it fine. (hated it everywhere else though) A Maxxis dual sport in 130 that was pretty good. I'm just concerned I won't get flotation in sand with a 120. The consensus is I'm over-thinking the problem?? It's all moot though, the tire is mounted. Even if Cycle Gear will take it back, they didn't have a 130 in stock and I'm too broke to go hunting for another. So I guess I'm running it. I dunno if my body can handle another pre-run testing session
I have a brand new Metzler Karoo 140/80/18 if you need it, or a Michelin AC10. You could just get me a new one when you get back from Baja. And I was calling Woodschick, Sandplowchick when I followerd her track out to the road. I think its a little swim with the fatties.
That is really the issue IMHO. Wide tires are a trade-off between getting the traction needed to get the power down, and ease of turn. It's quite apparent on the track when I am switching between an SV650 (160 rear) and a 1098s (190 rear).
I'd like to see some authority for those propositions. I'm skeptical. Let me add... On the criminal side, nothing becomes criminal until a jury of your peers convicts you. So, yes, it is theoretically possible that a jury could come to the unanimous decision, beyond a reasonable doubt, that someone's selection of a non-DOT tire was negligent AND that the selection resulted in serious bodily injury/death to another. But I think there would have to extenuating circumstances of causation -- like you were going 100 mph and the tire blew out. Also keep in mind that any negligent activity causing serious injury or death could theoretically be criminal negligence, like if you drive on severely worn tires in the rain, or if the tires were really old, or under inflated, or if you were riding a wheelie. My point here is that there is no ipso facto relationship -- non-DOT = criminal negligence. On the insurance side, the proposition doesn't really make sense to me. There are accidents every day where the insured did something in violation of a law, like running a red light, or failure to use a turn signal, or wasn't wearing a seat belt, etc. I'm not aware of any rule that says the insurance company is off-the-hook for liability arising from an accident if your vehicle was in violation of a DOT requirement. But I'm not an expert.
That kind of heat cycling is actually probally to much too fast. 60-70 MPH for a knobby, especially depending on tire pressure is ALOT of heat. Generally more heat cycles with less "heat", ie. slower speeds, start at 30-40 MPH. Of course the need for heat cycling varies greatly for different tires. After that experience, I would do a good 2-4 heat cycles and let it cool down some in between before I did 60-70 MPH on pavement on THAT tire new. And wider better in sand?? FWIW I believe the Maxxis IT Desert isn't even avaliable in a 140. I believe thats what George mounted for me on my 610 before my first Baja ride. If my memeory is correct it was actually a 120. And that bumpkus about the liabilty on a non DOT tire, I'm no lawyer but, I highly doubt it. And I REALLY doubt that is something to worry about in Baja. Glad your OK !!
FYI all, Maxxis Dez IT is a 68M tire, 68 is the load index (694lbs), the M is an 80mph(130kph) speed rating, this is a non-dot tire. the Michelin Desert and Baja 18 in rear tires are both R rated (106mph) and are both DOT rated, they are both load index 70 (736lbs) (for example of very hi quality heavyweight DS/offroad/racing rubber)
I'd been thinking of trying the Michelin Desert, but heard it's a bitch to get on and off, doesn't sound fun for those trail side fixes, 'course I guess it's stiff enough that you can simply ride it out. Expensive too. While DOT rated, many report that they are pretty sketchy on the tarmac, and downright scary when wet. Does that sound about right? I never got around to trying them myself. I did pick up the Motoz H/T's, non DOT, from paragonpowersports.com in Murietta, I'd meet the guys who own the place while picking up my seat at XPC, I guess they are the US importer/distributor. They had the tires to me the next day. Sadly, they were out of my preferred 130 so I opted for the 140. My only concern is that the 130 was already leaving scuff marks on my Uptite exhaust when I'd bottom the bike, going back to a 140... hmmm. Might have to see if George has got any ideas to offset the exhaust a bit further to the left, washers perhaps. Then again it might be kinda nostalgic to hear the buuurrrrrppp when I bottom out, kinda like having playing cards in my spokes when I was a kid. :smirk:
