has anyone changed out there 21" front and 18" rear? Is the tire that came with the bike good for off-road use. I read that some people don't like the stock tire in mud and sand but I never am clear if they air down to about 20psi or so. ??? Steve
This topic has been covered over and over again on every motorcycle thread everywhere. But, to answer your question, the stock tires are road biased, probably 80%. A tire "good" for sand and mud will not be "good" for pavement. You need to tell us where you intend to ride in order to get any kind of intelligent answer, or spend some more time reading!
Good point. I would say 50/50. I use my BMW GSA the same way as far as riding 600 miles to go off-road for a couple of hundred miles. I know I'm not going to ride the Terra that far but still the same concept of riding to where I go off-road. I'm running Heidenhaus on the rear and TKC 80 on the front. This way I get the longevity on the rear and the bite in the front. I air down to 18-20 psi whenever I go off-road. Just wondering how whatever set up the Terra the same way or use the stock tires.
I just ordered a set of Pirelli MT 21's for what it's worth. The stock tires are rubbish off road and I end up doing more dirt with the bike than on road. I'll save the commuting for my old beemers.
I have three new rears in the garage waiting for me to decide where and when to mount them. D606, for the TE630, and D908RR plus Heidi K60 Scout for the Terra. At first glance the K60 looks similar to the stock Sahara, but on closer inspection the blocks are deeper and farther apart on the K60. I'm still thinking of burning up the Sahara before mounting the 908 later this summer for a big, dirty ride, then going back to the Heidi when I return. That 908 is a mean, beefy looking tire and it looks like it should just laugh at thorns and small prickly things! Way too wide for the 630, and I've read reports of mileage between 1000 and 9000. How can that be? I found one on sale and will have to keep my eyes open for another later this summer, or fall. Fab likes!
After hearing and reading about the Sahara's, I just went and ordered TKC80's for front and rear - what the hell!
This can't be right, can it? There are 4oz of total added weights here. I have a good vibration at above 65 and think this is the source. I need some opinions before I talk with my dealer who installed these tires when I bought the bike. I usually mount my own tires and use dynabeads but they offered to mount them free so I took advantage of it. I don't want to gripe for nothing if you guys say this is somewhat normal, but I have never seen this much weight on a cycle tire.
Good choice of tires that's my next set. That does seem a little excessive. But the 908 has a little weight to it. Where is your valve stem compared to the weight. In the picture your weight is @ 5-5:30 Just trying to figure out if the rim has internal weight already. Here's mine...if my weight is @ 3:00 then my valve stem is @ 2:30 (can just see it at the top of pic) Maybe you just need a little rubber twist to use less weight. (No rim locks) might be easy if you can balance them yourself.
Ok...thanks HuskyDude. I cleaned the tire and found the stem dot where the weights are. It's green if you can see it. Might just do the twist like you said and balance myself.
I have the same deal with my front Sahara, never seen so much lead that was outside of a pig. Annoying pulsing at the front at 65 - 90 Klms, had my dealer balance it at 1000 service, good on everything, mainly sell dirt bikes. Less weight in a different spot on the rim, the same annoying pulse so just ordered a set of pirelli hoops for this W/E so hope this goes away now.
I run much more weights than shown on my WRR and TE but then they have the Tubliss. My Saharas have less than shown. Just put on the weights until they balance and don't worry about it. I use a static balancer here at home and put on removeable spoke weights. Once balanced, the tires are smooth as a baby's butt at speed. I did have a little problem with a slightly out of round rim in the Terra, something not experienced on any new motorcycle that I've ever owned, so it's something that folks might check. The out of round wasn't extreme, but at 60 mph and up it was very unpleasant.
Did you adjust out of roundness with spoke manipulation? I have an old one like this but it is not for balancing...like to add that to it some how.
I had a high spot and pulled it in over the space of 4 to 5 spokes. If all spokes started out with the same tension, it probably wasn't a great idea. It looked to me that the rim was not round to start with, and that the lacing wasn't the cause. Who knows? I got it running smooth, but elected to get Woody's to lace up some strong, round, Excels. Expensive fix, by the way, but I love the way it looks now.
Did you reuse the hubs or did you get new ones? Weight difference over stock? I rode a TR over the weekend and really like how smooth the motor is compared to my TE630; I mainly use the bike to commute but I'm not sure I can accept the 60 lb weight gain for offroading. Trying to think how much weight loss is practical on the TR.
Travis, I used the stock hubs. You might save a little going to Woody's version of the RAD hubs, but not a lot. The Excels are strong and beefy, so not much there either. You'd have to go more exotic to do a lot of good on unsprung weight, IMO. This is probably not the machine to try and make into a flyweight. If someone comes up with a single exhaust that would definitely cut some pounds, as would a Shorai or equal battery. This is my road/light adventure bike, and as such, the weight is OK. In fact, it's good! If I want to get rambunctious I go to my other trail bikes.
Just mounted up Pirelli MT21's. They were cheap I swear the stock Terra tires just fell off the bead by hand. I think I got both tires changed in under and hour and was riding around the neighborhood. That's a personal record for me with only tire spoons and warm soap water. I'll be able to report back on how they handle after next weekend's dirt trip.
Hmmm, I have never seen a Rally Raid tire that far out of balance before. I remember when you first installed it that you mentioned something about it being out of balance, but that it self balanced after a while. That's a really reliable tire, especially for the weight of the Terra. If you can't get it balanced, I'd give Dunlop a call, that's their premier tire.
I have not addressed it yet Tinken, but I agree. If I can't get it right, I will get ahold of them. The first problem I had that you mention was on the front tire. That issue went away in about 10 miles. I believe it was from the little rubber strings left on the tire from the injection mold process. Once those wore off, everything was fine..plus it was very cold that day. I believe the issue on the rear tire is just a mounting issue. Where the weight you see is, is where the tire stem is suppose to be. I need to remove it and relocate it. I will post when it is resolved. After the winter and now that it is the mud season here, I know I picked the perfect tire for my personal needs. The D908 will always be on this bike. It's gotten me through some pretty nasty stuff...snow, ice, slush, mud, ect...
