pelican or soft bags

[fasteddiecopeman]

For those who've NOT read my earlier posts, I converted my stock wheels to tubeless (as a project - just BECAUSE...) and installed a pair of Shinko Trail Master E-705 tubeless tires balanced with "DynaBeads". Since then I've ridden 7,113 kms (4410 miles) on the front, and 6,340 kms (3930 miles) on the rear - they were installed a week or so apart which is why the mileages differ. I've done two longer rides of about 1,000 miles each of dirt and (majority) paved, as well as just riding here-and-there, and here're my feelings about the tires: POSITIVES 1. handling on pavement - ABSOLUTELY GREAT. The bike corners like it's on rails, and is VERY confidence inspiring. It would be interesting to ride them at a track-day. Definitely better than the Kenda K270s I've run for years, ESPECIALLY after the rear 270 has 'squared off'. 2. holding air - again, ABSOLUTELY GREAT. Tire pressures have never changed by more than 1 or 2 PSI on either longish ride (36F, 42R), or just 'stooging about'. 3. braking - no numbers to compare, but, VERY confidence inspiring. 4. dirt ability - I rode several hundreds of miles on gravel, damp to wettish dirt roads as well as dry ones, and have nothing negative to report. I did NOT ride any single-track or 'challenging' dirt. NEGATIVES 1. tire temperatures - I regularly check my tire temps by holding my hand on the tread. The front seemed always pretty much like other tires I've used, 'gently' warm. The rear, however, has always felt HOT after 20 minutes or so, which is a bit alarming. (Imagine if it gets hot tubeless, what it might do with a tube adding MORE heat....) Hot but never hot enough to 'fry' my hand, just ... alarming. 2. others' reports - the Versys site I frequent had a report and picture showing an E-705 with one of the "knobs" starting to separate in the last few days; and a friend who rides a BMW 1200GS tried the E-705s until his rear threw a large piece of tread (6 to 8" I believe). Shinko gave him a replacement tire, but he won't run them again. I HAVE read of riders experiencing tread separations, but never a 'first-hand' report. 3. longevity - I'm used to getting AT LEAST 10,000 miles per rear K270, and 12,000 per front. It appears that I'll be lucky to get 6,000 from the rear Shinko, and probably 8,000 from the front (I've posted pictures in an album called "Shinko D/S tires on my KLR" in the Photos section.), but only time will tell. Will I run them again? I honestly can't answer that YET (once I see how many miles they last, I'll make a decision), but I'm tending toward thinking NOT. I hope my experiences as I written will help some of you who might be considering trying these tires. Incidentally, I'm running a Shinko Advance 005 (street tire) on the front of my Versys (over 5,000 miles on it) and am quite happy with it SO FAR. Just my .02$. YRMV. Cheers, Ed

[Jim Fortner]

On Tue, Aug 17, 2010 at 9:51 AM, RJ Kochen wrote: So I'm leaning toward the Pelican cases. The cases are easy enough to find but mounting hardware for an 08 is a bit more confusing. I've found a couple sites but not really impressed with what I've found. Any comments regarding the available options? The Caribou setup is crazy nice but also crazy expensive.

Happy Trails SU racks.