Lou,
various answers to embellish Ross, and to answer you as well--
--- In
DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "Ross Lindberg"
wrote:
SNIP
Go ahead and ride the knobs off of the tires.
LOU--how much tread you got remaining on those tires. Very few
people get much more than 3500 miles out of a rear tire. Maybe a
little more out of a front tire. REMEMBER: a motorcycle has very
little tire on the road--make sure that tire has some tread on it!
SNIP
> When you wear out a tire, I would purchase a new tube and install
in
> the new tire, while carrying the old tube along as a spare.
Ross has an excellent suggestion; make it a HD tube. What has not
been said here, is 'air-pressure'. The OEM book suggest something
like 21F/24R--which is scary low if you are very agressive on the OEM
tires. THe lower pressure is 'average'--when was the last time you
were an average rider. smile. 21/24: Can you say, 'slide the
tires'--it will scare the crap out of you when the tires slide and
you are not expecting it. Pressures closer to 30F/32R or +/- a few
lbs. I run 32/36 asphalt with a loaded bike or 24/28 for softer
surfaces--going back up to higher pressures if there are a lot of
rocks to preclude pinch flats. All this with HD or ultra HD tubes.
I carry a
> patch kit, glue and tire irons, but I carry the extra tubes just in
> case a tube gets really mangled and the patch kit won't fix it. I
also
> carry a 12 volt air compressor that I bought on sale at Radio Shack
for
> $10 on a recommendation from Jeff Saline. I use it each time I
change
> tires or due routine inflation duties to make sure it is still
working
> properly.
>
> I would also suggest that you mount the new tire yourself when the
time
> comes. It is a bit of a job the first time, but you will improve
with
> practice and the excersize will also boost your confidence level as
you
> will now know how to deal with a flat.
>
> The best piece of advice I got off of this list is to do all your
> maintenance with the tools you carry on the bike. Obviously the
> factory tools are junk, so make up your own set. At first you will
be
> buying quite a few tools and may be worrying about the cost, but if
you
> are ever stuck in the boonies by yourself you'll be happy you have
> decent tools.
Ross and Lou,
My local welding shop had a killer deal on 'Cresant' brand tool kit
in a fold up kit--consisting of SAE and metric stuff. I robbed all
the sockets, and small wrenches, ratchets, etc screwdrivers, etc and
built a 80% KLR tool kit. I then went to harbor freight and bought
their 'black' metric wrench set for the axle wrenches--(Yeah, I know,
I could have (an do own) a Fredette wrench). It is all in tool
sleeve with individual pockets for each wrench/tool. It invetories
the tools when it is laying on the ground--something for every
pocket, etc.
I've have gotten into the habit of using only the tools
> that I carry on my bike. If I get stuck and wish I had a certain
tool,
> I try to figure out how can I do this with what I have, just like
if I
> was out in the boonies. If it can't be done, I add the tool to my
> collection. It's another confidence builder.
Nothing much worse than trying to fix something with a 'sorry-tool'--
it will leave you stranded.
>
> Above all, just have fun. That's what KLR's are all about.
SNIP
TRANSLATION: He means, go change the gas. Often.
> Ross Lindberg
> Fertile, MN
revmaaatin
... the tread depth on front tire is still about
6mm so I guess I have some life left in that one.