I was thinking about buying a tr and really like the idea of tubeless, since the terra and strada are basically identical i wanted to put knobbies on the strada. Has anyone done this and could you tell me how it worked (pics). I basically want a version of my 1200gs put smaller and i think the strada could be it, 19 inch front is good for me and down the road Ill get a set of spoked wheels if i need to go more offroad. i dont see a downside cause everything is pretty much the same between the strada and the terra suspension, engine, etc. Am I missing something?
I hope not as I have wheels being made by Woodys right now. They had to order the rear hub from Germany so I have to wait for that. Oh well..gives me time to ponder which tires to shod her with. Thinking of Heindau k60s...or maybe TKC 80s..idk..I keep going back and forth. I bought the Strada to be a stable mate with my GS..I liked the way the terra comes tire/wheel wise but really liked the idea of having ABS...so the black one came home with me. High fender for a terra should be here in a day or two. it wasn't too much $...the wheels we not cheap...but seldom are. I have a few other things in mind and looks like I am not alone. I'll post up pics when I have some to add. More excited about this bike than I have been in a while. It's very mod able ..is that word?
hey Trapper, just curious what size tires you had made and are they tubeless. I'm sure they were close to 1000 dollars a piece. I actually like the tires 19 and 17 on my gs and I put a set of k60s on that and love them. I may not need a set of wheels made if the cast ones can handle the dirt trails but not sure how much they can handle. thanks for the info can't wait for the pictures.
Well the Strada came stock with cast wheels in 19 " front 17" rear. I decided to do 21" and 18".. Woodys said tubeless wasn't a option for 21" ...so I reckon I'll use tubes. They are expensive but not 2k. Still haven't decided on what tires I'll mount. Front wheel will be 1.85" rear is 3.5" will probably run a 140 rear I guess. Not too many choices in front size widths..the high fender should be here today or tomorrow.
I put Continental TKC80's in the standard factory size on my cast factory wheels (19"F, 17"R). Just used the bike for 4 days at the BMW Rawhyde Offroad Academy, with 2 day excursion to Base Camp Alpha in the Mojave desert. It worked splendidly, both off road and on. Love these tires. Hope this helps!
thanks infinitipearl, that's just what I was curious about, I think you just sold me. how rough was the off roaring on your trip, any single track stuff, loose rock or was it more two track jeep trail. any concerns about the toughness of the cast wheels? how about the clearance of the front tire and fender is it sufficient, it seems like it would be tight? lastly do you have a direct side view photo, sorry to be a pain in the ass. thanks a lot it seems like your the only one so far to put knobbies on the strada , I love the idea!
You know guys....after a lot of thought I decided to leave the Strada alone when it comes to changing wheels. I know Woodys wheels would be stronger. Truth is the 19"-17" seem to work so well I didn't want to mess with it. I may mount up some aggressive tires later on depending on where I take the bike. Put 300 miles on this weekend. Like her more all the time. I decided to spend those $$ for wheels for my R1200GS instead. It will save me over 7 pounds total on that bike. Doesn't sound like a lot but it's unsprung weight which is multiplied several times and will be noticable & stronger. As great as the big GS is...the new hasn't wore off the TR yet..it just calls my name.."come ride ME!"
I really like what infinity pearl has done with his Strada. The 19"-17" seem to do great on the road and I didn't want to mess up what Husqvarna was smart enough to get right by changing it up. New wheels were costly. I may still end up with a set of 21"-18" if I can find take offs from a BMW Dakar. I believe with little effort those wheels would work and you'd still have capabilities of abs. And wouldn't have 1/3 the cost of the motorcycle in 2 wheels! I am always scheming for the next thing...for once had enough sense not to fowl up a good bike as it is. YMMV..lol
trapper and infintipearl, how is the strad doe longer mile days? I know trapper you have a r1200gs like me how does it compare, I'm looking to downsize one bike do it all with dirt and highway max of 200to 300 mile trips at a time. got the 1200to do a cross country trip and now realize I don't like driving cross country so ill haul out west ride then haul back. he'll the 1200 is a pain just to get out if the garage. trapper could you make it with just the strada? thanks
Well...if I had just one bike always before I'd a picked a GS. Now I don't know for sure. If my riding didn't mean lots of interstate..(which I stay off of if possible) the Strada is becoming my favorite. If you'll use the gear box ..and most the rpm range...it's a fun, capable bike. If you try and ride the torque down low like the GS..(ESP the cam head) its much slower...but if you'll use the go juice it'll go just fine....and seems to like it. I bought the Husqvarna shield...it's small but takes a lot of wind off your chest. I reckon it'll take the aftermarket a while to come out with choices. If your gonna do 2 up...IMHO all bets are off compared to the GS..but 1 up it seems ok. The seat only has one spot for me...I can't move around much but the spot that fits feels ok for several hours at a time. I was surprised at that. Not sure I'll look to swap it..I may do some soft bags...hate to do big hard ones...afraid of what it may do to disrupt the bike at speed. Suspension settings seem to affect the high speed stability more than on other bikes. I believe I had mine too stiff..(seems kinda unusual ) but it does better a little softer than harder..YMMV. For 200 to 300 miles days..if it had heated grips.( waiting for the factory ones) I'd be fine with this bike. The range is a little less I guess but it's so easy to fuel up compared to the GS IMHO...just stick the nozzle in hit it WFO and let her rip...your full in no time without a spill! I can't come close to that on the GS..seem to always either not get her full or run her over...the little Husky is much easier ...again IMHO. So far...she's a keeper! I picked the Strada over the terra for the ABS..it being black didn't hurt either. I like the look of the low fender..but already purchased a high fender from a terra for about 60 bucks..I may or may not add it. I figure it's easier to switch wheels than to add abs.
Well, not quite knobbies, say 1/2 way that direction from the Tourance EXPs... Picked up a set of Heidanau K60 Scouts today. Was thinking about it, and the second puncture in the rear yesterday sealed the fate of the Tourances. At 3800 miles, they were looking like they had a lot left. Kept the front for a spare, tossed the rear. Test road about 15 miles of road, including freeway, they'll do fine there. Gravel test tomorrow.
I am running the tourance on the rear and a TKC 80 up front. I love this setup for running on fire roads up in the mountains and then hopping on the parkway. I might run another TKC 80 on the back when I wear these out, but I kinda think this might be the perfect combo for my riding style. Was suggested to me by folks on here
On my GSA I run a TKC on the front and a Heidenkau on the rear. Works well. I think the TKC is a bit more aggressive for the front where it helps in sand, and the Heidi wears longer on the rear than a TKC.
Over on Advrider today (on the TR thread under Thumpers) there is talk of fright inducing front end instability with Terra's with Heidenkaus or other knobbies on the front. I was wondering how the Strada is doing with TKC's or Heidi's up front? Our Strada still has under 1,000 miles on it and I am trying hard to keep her under 4,000 RPM's, which equals 60ish MPH in top gear. The Terra demo I took for a spin at the dealer seemed dead on stable up to a brief 75mph or so (industrial street on a Sat., no freeway), but it had the stock tires. I am wondering if the 19in front wheel on the Strada will equal a bit more stablility? I'd like the bike to be stable up to about 85 without luggage and high 70's with luggage, with a TKC mounted on front. Is that going to be unreasonable? Do I need to look for a steering damper?
I put 125 miles on the K60 Scouts Sunday. About 75 paved, 50 unpaved. The unpaved was all logging roads. Varied from bare dirt, to 3 inches of fresh gravel, some relatively smooth, some full of washboard. I'm really conservative off road, and found the tires a big improvement over the stock Tourance EXPs there. On pavement, they took a bit of getting used to, but 15 minutes into the day I forgot about them for the most part. In a couple of places where I started getting too enthusiastic on pavement I reminded myself i was on new tires, and they were 50/50, not street tires. In dirty air the bike weaved with the Tourances, I don't think that got worse. I ran 36/32 as I didn't have any better information. Last night I sent email to Heidenau asking for their recommendations for the Strada. This morning I had a reply: ----- Dear Kevin, our recommendation for the pressure is: street air pressure front wheel air pressure rear wheel solo use 2,3 bar (33 psi) 2,7 bar (39 psi) with co-driver 2,4 bar (35 psi) 2,9 bar (42 psi) with co-driver and luggage 2,5 bar (36 psi) 3,0 bar (44 psi) terrain air pressure front wheel air pressure rear wheel solo use 1,8 bar (26 psi) 2,0 bar (29 psi) with co-driver 2,0 bar (29 psi) 2,3 bar (33 psi) with co-driver and luggage 2,2 bar (32 psi) 2,5 bar (36 psi) I hope this will help you. With kindly regards/Mit freundlichen Grüßen Sebastian Arlt Sales Dep./Verkauf Telefon +49(03529) 552 813 Fax +49(03529) 512 438 EMail arlt@reifenwerk-heidenau.de Internet http://www.reifenwerk-heidenau.de ----- I'm 280, so I ride 'two up' all the time. I'm looking forward to trying a bit more pressure on the road, and a bit less off road. It will be interesting to see if I can tell the difference. I'll do some higher speeds and let you know if get's worse.
I don't know how direct the comparison between the Strada experience and the Terra experience is. There's different tire sizes, different front end geometries, different rear shock, and maybe forks too. Not to mention non bike variances likes rider weight/geometry/posture and tire pressures. Your wobble may vary!
Did a 60/40 loop of about 100 miles yesterday. Ran 36/44 on pavement, 29/33 off pavement. I liked both enough to call it good. I'll be using those as my regular pressures. I'm really liking the tires, I think they are a good match for the way I am using the Strada. Regarding the wobble, I've done some runs up to 70 in traffic, and up to 80 with no traffic. I found the 80 in clean air to be more stable than the 70 in dirty air. I did not find anything 'fright inducing' at all. However, the front end does want to track anything irregular on pavement. Encountered some paving where they had stripped the road, it wiggled a bunch. Had about 10 miles where they have paved just the tire track portion of the road, leaving many small edges that the front end wanted to follow. Finally, on several the forest service bridges with the wood beams running lengthwise, it wanted to find the groove in between and stick with it. Non of this was 'fright inducing.' More of a, 'hmm, this thing likes to track.' There are significant tread patter differences between the 19" and 21" K60s, and different geometries on the bikes, and different rider/gear loading. My experience on the Strada may be very different than the typical Terra experience.
I too the Strada to be stable at speed, comfortable, and nimble. At 75-80mph it does quite well, and I feel totally confident that it will be great on longer trips. I have 2000+ miles planned for next week The more time I spend on forums the more I realize posts are a VERY mixed bag of opinions, hearsay, and terribly useful info. I am not sure what people expect out of the TR series of bikes, but for me it has ticked all the boxes and I couldn't be happier. The Tourance in the rear and TKC-80 up front make for a great combo for 50/50 IMHO.
