tearin'm up

[spike55_bmw]

Rev: Anthracite coal, per se, isn't really that abrasive. Hell on lung tissue, but not too bad on hardened steel. If you remember the Mohs hardness scale from your days in geology class: diamonds are 10 and your finger nail can scratch a 2 which is Gypsum. Anthracite is about 3.5, so a little harder than a finger nail. Silica sand is about 7. Why we have sandpaper and not coalpaper. In the world of motorcycle chain abrasion, I'm more worried by the broken up quartz (mountain stone / silica) disrupted by the mining process than I am about the coal itself. No don't me wrong, many of my relatives have and died of black lung from their days in the mines, as well as, the amount of airborne particulate matter that still gets blown around today. Nasty stuff usually because the particles can be very small and fine their way into everything. For the most part, we were on wet quartz versus wet coal / shale. Falling down an abandoned mine shaft or a broken beer bottle could ruin your day too. Don R100, A6F

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "revmaaatin" wrote: > > Don, > Sounds like you had fun! > > If I were riding in that environment, I think I would be spraying off my chain every 100 miles, unless of course I have misunderstood the corrosive, erosive nature of the coal dust. (It is sure hard on lungs. cough). > > 2009 I bought a 1997 KLR 250 with 970 miles on the clock, purchased near Wilkes Barre, PA. It had seen much of the same riding you describe, although it was only lightly used on those same coal dust trails. (as reported here in a ride report) > > Examining the chain prior to my departure to South Dakota = 1750 miles, 5 days, I noticed the black soot on the chain. At least I think it was a chain. smile. > > I spray washed it with WD40, again, and every 100 miles @ fuel stops. > It bled coal dust even after I got it home. Now at 3Ksmiles, original OEM chain, it now just bleeds gumbo dust when I spray it with WD40. > > I would thinK: > All that black dust has to be very difficult on an O-ring chain. > > revmaaatin. > > > --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "spike55_bmw" wrote: > > > > This weekend was our first KLR (pre & post '08) and others (2xBMW, KTM 950, DRZs) ride up into the hard coal area of northcentral PA. > > > > As many know, it has been raining here approx 4-5 days a week and it poured all the way to the rendezvous site. Drizzled at the start but slowly subsided although still foggy on top of the high-points. > > > > Not sure of the socio-economic reasons why people throw their trash (tires, broken glass, bottles, paper, and regular household wastes) in these abandoned coal mining areas but it wears on me besides being dangerous. > > > > by the end of the day all were covered in black mud, knobbie tires were very desirable as noted by two crashes of a bike with Michelin Tourances. My Kenda 761s were passable but very squirmy, which put me at the back of the pack. > > > > The more adventurous took one trail and broke two gear shift levers. A Vise-grips really does work but not preferable. The other bright spot was that I was one of the three lime green 2006 KLRs in service. > > > > Don R100, A6F > > >