alaska tires / tires in general

[ryanwow2000]

I have a suggestion. Just about two years ago, riding through B.C. towards Alaska, I rode a stretch with a couple of KLR guys all through Vancouver island (fantastic, highly recommended) including one Bryan Townsend. He was running MT21's and kept on saying how well they were handling on the pavement. I was skeptical, and later decided to go with a Gripster as I headed toward Mexico, hoping to get a tire that wouldn't fall apart in the first thousand miles as did both the Kenda I had as well as an even more 50-50 tire (can{t remember which that was, like the bridgestone TW 42 but chafa (a knockoff. got my money back though.) In the town of Mulege in Baja California, with 2500 miles on the gripster and about 55% tread left (I don't know how all these people get 9000 miles out of theirs, perhaps it has something to do with my need for speed and my heavy luggage. Of course, everyone seems to get 50mpg too, and the only time I ever got 50 was when I crawled back at 35mph from Prudhoe to Fairbanks with some other riders who loved to trod) I was lucky enough to notice a gaping hole, a half inch in diamater, just off-center of the tire. Luckily the monster tube was holding form, not expanding through the whole and holding shape and pressure. Talk about a long history of tire problems! I blamed this one on the route from el Paraiso to Mission San Javier, they say it's the roughest of the Baja 1000, and I believe it. I dare anyone to try and find a suitable 17 inch motorcyle in Mulege. After asking around all over town (the classic Latin American scavenger hunt, an endless succession of people who send you to another who they are sure has exactly what you need), one guy said he had a couple of old used motorcycle tires, and I could at least take a look. I must have been the luckiest man on Earth, for upon arriving to his house I saw it, dusty, half-worn, and sitting in the sun atop a pile of random junk. A Pirelli MT21. The motorcycle gods were smiling upon me that day. This MT21 was at least half used and pretty-well sun-baked, but I mounted it and ultimately didn't have to mount another for three thousand miles. And Bryan was right, it handled surprisingly well in the curves for such an aggressive tire. Not bad, I thought. Durability and true dual-surface performance. And luckily for me, availability. It was the only decent tire I could find in all of Guadalajara, save for a very streety Dunlop for a hundred and sixty bucks. And what did it cost me? Seventy-five bucks. One year and six thousand, four hundred miles later, here I am in Guatemala finally ready once again to replace the only dual-sport tire that ever did me right. Of course, I rode it 500 miles more than I should have, for in the last couple hundred miles I succeeded in erasing all trace of the center knobs. Admittedly I am a madman in the twisties. Without my luggage I drag the footpegs, and with it and all its 175 well-placed pounds, I grind my happy-trails aluminum panniers (too lazy to remount them higher... anyone have some nice nylon corner pieces to use as sliders?) on these windy Mexican and Guatemalan roads. (highly suggested is the carretera between Tuxtla Gutierrez and San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas, as well as the route from Ciudad Cuauhtemoc (the border) to Quetzaltengao on highway 190, the Panamerican Highway. Alot of smooth fresh asphalt through alot of that route...) I have no doubt I will surely die before reaching Tierra del Fuego, but I just can't slow down, though I've tried many times. The temptation in tight twisting roads is just too powerful for my weak constitution. I say all this not to make you aware of my probably impending trip to the never-ending twisties in the sky, but rather to point out the road-worthiness of the MT21. Of course, it doesn't track quite as well as an 80/20 tire, but it's not so far off. As far as off-road goes, they're far, far superior to an 80/20 tire. I have three dirt road volcano summits that support this supposition. And while I must admit I have yet to really test them in deep mud, with their aggressive tread I imagine they will handle it pretty well. All this, and it's quiet too. I haven't tried the D606's but with the performance I've had from the MT21's, I doubt I ever will unless I find myself with an unexpected gaping hole in my tread and a used D606 is the only tire availabe... A lot of words for a little advice, I realize, but nonetheless there's my cent and a half. Oh, where's my camera? As I type here in this internet cafe, next to me there's a teenage girl in a brightly colored traditional Mayan Huipile saving her Word file to disk and surfing the net. What a fantastic juxtaposition and commentary on modern Mayan life. Ryan Bock KLR650A12 SF - Prudhoe Bay - Ushuaia May 2002 - ? Currently in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala

[squasher_1]

I finally got my KLR running (MIA Nov, 2003). Thanks Bill M for selling me your spare motor. I rode it up and down the street for a test ride. when I got back I noticed the headlight was burned out. I replaced it and started the bike. The beam was shining against a wall and was bright. When I reved the motor the head light went dim, almost as if it were out. when I let go of the throttle the light got bright again. Everytime I blipped the throttle the light went dim. I switch it to high beam and the light got brighter when I blipped the throttle anyone know whats wrong??????????? I dont feel like taking the bike apart again Thanks