| Author | Message | ||
     Pnw_uly |
Made you LOOK ! ! Okay, before leaving this thread in disgust, this is how the soon-to-be-released Conti TKC-80 inspired me to swap my regular street shod PR3’s on the stock “XT” rims to my “dirt oriented” Pirelli MT 60-Rs on “X” rims for a Spring ride with JPhish and another buddy, Curt. Now normally, who changes street tires for “knobbiesque” tires for a 250 mile ride with only 20-25 miles off pavement? Generally, no one. But since I already have a set of what was considered the best off-pavement tires in the Pirelli MT 60-R, and knowing the Conti’s are coming soon, figured might as well use them up before the new tires are available. Another reason for the re-shod was to become more proficient at the swap from road tires to trail tires - - sure, done it a few times, but hard to justify trail oriented tires on a bike I usually commute 400 mile a week on. . . Figured the more I do it, the quicker I’ll be - - better for future weekend off pavement adventures. Like this:  Living here in Washington gives you a great opportunity to see several climates in a single day. Sure we get plenty of rainy, overcast winter days, but really not much snow unless you increase elevation; so maybe a better title for this thread would be: "Ahhh Spring, Sun, Sand, and . . .Snow ?!?!?" So, while most of the country basks in record warm temperatures, we’ve hovered about ten degrees below normal, so when that bright, orangey-thing comes out, you know, that thing that stings your eyes - - it is definitely time to ride. . . So the plan was to travel out to the onto the Olympic Peninsula, enjoys some backroads, and hit a few miles of forest service roads. Okay, so here’s the cast - - Jphish in red, piloting the Tiger 800, former Uly owner and Curt, on his 1200GS.  Jphish and Curt conferring on the route The Wynoochee Reservoir, connected to, what else? - - the Wynoochee Dam. Pretty decent drop down to, the, you guessed it - - the Wynoochee River.   Okay, so by this time, we have some snow on the sides of the road, and some intermittent patches on the pavement. Once leaving the dam, we hit the gravel portion and snow pack. Okay, not exactly that much, 8-10”… Curt snowbound...  | ||
| Pnw_uly |
Jphish surveying the snowpack...  Uly in white...  Well, back to the thread title - - made it through the 3-4 miles of snow, and kept the bike upright for the duration… No doubt in my mind that if I had left the PR3s on, I’d still be stuck up there. Once out of the snow he continued west, ending at the Pacific - - neat spot that allows motor vehicles on the beach - - a quick couple of roster tails, started making our way back home. On the beach. . .   Enjoyable ride home, all told, 285 miles - - back at the Man Cave  Man, I love this bike! Ride Safe. | ||
| Road_kill |
Sweeeet. Thanks for sharing. I plan to try a set of those style tires after I wear out my new PR3's. Might just need to budget an extra set of rims to allow dirt/street options any time of the year. | ||
| Uly_man |
"Now normally, who changes street tires for “knobbiesque” tires for a 250 mile ride with only 20-25 miles off pavement?" Oh I dont know? I used to use Avon Distanzias. They have an even more "knobby" tread so could "off road" a bit and were still good on the road. I am not sure you could use them on a Uly though. Thanks for the pics. | ||
| Mnrider |
Great story,thanks. Nice man cave! | ||
| Jphish |
OK - what this really demonstrates is: There actually are NO limits to Hominid idiocy. 3 mentally challenged college grads, former Marine & special forces, with about 100 years of riding experience between us... without the collective common sense to turn around. BTW - Distanzias work great on a Uly - my favorite tire. What Paul thoughtfully didnt take a pic of was: the tigger TU in a drift. I went down twice - think the Uly made it thru without "napping". Dont know about GS - they were behind me... picking up all the tiger pieces. Excellent adventure!! | ||
| Jphish |
PS: dont ever buy a Red First Gear Raineer jacket - it turns 'pink' after a few years... & then you get beat up by people on Harleys & mopeds | ||
| Uly_man |
"BTW - Distanzias work great on a Uly." Thanks for the info JP. | ||
| Jphish |
Uly man - Never used the Scorpion trails so cant compare. But the Distanzias are great on dirt / pavement / wet / dry - don't matter. Stick like glue. Not a great mud tire - but ok if not to deep. (Not self clearing like a good knobby) Only down side is 4-5k mi on rear is all ya get. But if you wanted to do trip with both dirt & canyon carving - excellent choice - good in dirt & gives up nothing on pavement. 160 rear fits fine. Chow' j | ||
| Jphish |
...But you already knew all that. What bike did you use em on if not Uly? | ||
| 7873jake |
Back about 20 years ago I almost ordered a red Aerostich Darien and the lady on the other end of the phone said "I must warn you, red bleaches out the fastest of all of the colors. It becomes pink over time." Cured me of red jackets right then and there. Thanks for the write up! Enjoyed it! | ||
| Uly_man |
"What bike did you use em on if not Uly?" Yamaha XTZ 750 and (with a few mods) 110mph on the road. | ||
| Pnw_uly |
Couple of pics from Jphish. . . A good view of the snow track - - we weren't breaking trail, a few trucks had preceded us, but it was still challenging enough...  Here's me stating for about the third time, "Have I mentioned how glad I am that swapped out the PR3s for the MT 60-Rs...?"  Good Stuff. . . | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Nice. Every year round this time when it starts heating up, I start jonesing for more interesting roads to ride (i.e. outside Florida). This year, with the lame winter we, along with most of the country had, it's worse. I am looking forward to my now annual  MN adventure. Got my deet, and ready to hit the street. Happy rides, y'all. B. | ||
| Froggy |
I want a pink Aerostich now  | ||
| Jphish |
Froggy - cant have it - all bloodied up now from the beating I got today from a woman on a Honda Rukus. I think she wanted my jacket... I woulda traded but her yellow XXL one didnt fit. | ||
| Jphish |
7873jake...now ya tell me. Its been a great water proof jacket, but soon to be retired. I convinced my brothers wife that she should make him wear more visible colors when riding... guess what he's getting? Of course he's retired CHP & carries a gun - so hopefully less assults on "pinky". | ||
| Jphish |
Fltwistygirl - We should still have plenty of our 140% snowpack left thru June. We'll save some for ya. Hey - have you ever tried Picaridin in place of DEET? The 20% stuff has none of DEETs offending properties & works great. Also doesnt melt the plastic on the Moto's. | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
"We should still have plenty of our 140% snowpack left thru June." That is impressive. I believe the latest in the year I've seen the white stuff on the ground in the dark recesses of the MN woods is May. I do miss some snow related activities, (don't miss shoveling). Snow on a uly looks like fun. "have you ever tried Picaridin in place of DEET? The 20% stuff has none of DEETs offending properties & works great. Also doesnt melt the plastic on the Moto's." I have tried Picardin and it just was not as effective against the little buggers. Maybe I'll give it another shot as u know deet is pretty unpleasant stuff. Fortunately it is usually cooler in the northwoods where the mozzies are real thick in N. MN, and layers keep 'em away til I park the bike for the evening. Then out comes the deet. Never leave home without it up there. | ||
| Jphish |
Ha! never heard the little blood suckers refered to as 'mozzies" - I imagine in Minn they have a few other pet names as well. The original Picaridin (10%) didnt work well - but the 20% seems to be sufficient potency. But Minn mozzies seem particularly voracious ! | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Mid-80's here today, just finished a hot 3 wheeled class and those pics of snow are looking pretty good! It's been a couple years since I used the picardin so they may have upped the %. Prolly better with more of the good stuff in it. And yes, they are horrendous in MN, worse the farther north you go. Sounds like you already knew that though. I actually invested in mosquito netting to wear when doing stuff in the yard up there. MN peeps have a few other pet names for the blood sucking fiends that I cannot share on here, a family friendly board. I think the term "mozzy" is actually Australian in origin, but may be used by peeps in the UK as well. My previous company had offices down under and I worked with a bunch of UK people here in FL so I'm not sure where I picked that term up, but it sounded better than some of the four letter options I've heard  . | ||
| Jphish |
Mid 80's?! We may see that here in Aug...Oh well, more time to wear the 'pink' jacket. Yeah - they usually just call mozzies "FMs" here...Not sure if thats the genus or species... | ||
| Pnw_uly |
"I plan to try a set of those style tires after I wear out my new PR3's. Might just need to budget an extra set of rims to allow dirt/street options any time of the year." The MT 60-Rs are a very good tire, maybe 40/60 off-pavement vs. pavement, whereas my guess is the Distanzia is probably more 60/40 (others will argue the point, but hey, it's my thread...). But both wear quickly when relegated to the tarmac, and neither come in a rear 180 width, but as mentioned, the 150/160 widths for these tires seem to work fine - - slight cornering variation, but nothing extreme (again, just my opinion). Obviously no results yet for the TKC 80, but can't imagine anything but less tread life on the asphalt. I do recommend the spare wheelset, depending on your riding habits or desires. It'll probably be still some time in the future when I "break even" on the additional expense, but it sure was worth it a few days ago... I'd also recommend outfitting the trail wheelset with brake rotors and drive pulley - - may not be worth the expense to some, but much, much faster on the re-shod, and multiple use of the pulley and rotor fasteners is not encouraged. "Nice Man Cave" Thanks - it was the one new thing that came with our old house, and it was uninsulated studs when we moved in. It's a "double-tandem" (aka Double-Wide), so plenty of room for the two vehicles up front and bikes to the back end, with work area, T.V., fridge, Barcalounger, stereo. . .  It would be a great refuge if I could just get my wife to Stay Out!!  | ||
| Motorbike |
That is really nice. Is that an epoxy floor, the kind that needs to be professionally installed? I was considering having that done to my garage and shop but was quoted over $3500! | ||
| Pnw_uly |
Is that an epoxy floor, the kind that needs to be professionally installed? I was considering having that done to my garage and shop but was quoted over $3500! Ha - Nope ! ! That's about $150 worth of indoor/outdoor carpet! Easy install, and I still have the forward portion of the garage (where the Mustang and 4x4 are parked) which is concrete - - for oil changes, woodworking, paint projects, etc. It's been in there for two years, and still looks fine. I do vacuum it with the shop-vac every once and while, but no more often than I would have to sweep it. Not sure if it's okay to hijack my own thread, but here's a few more pics of the Man Cave. . .  I like to joke that the Man Cave project began because my lovely wife didn't want the Barcolounger in the house. . . Concrete past the carpet near the Exploder  I've posted this elsewhere on BadWeb, but that's O.S.B. on the lower portion (darker gray) and sheetrock above (lighter gray), both turned longways. All "seamed" (I'm not a tape and mud kind of guy) with 4" diamond plate chair rail.  "Big Box" laminate counter-top mounted on Coleman storage cabinets...  How it was on purchase...  | ||
| Hughesatron |
That is a nice mancave | ||
| Jphish |
Hey Paul - it's your thread - Hijack away. Very nice! - Hell, with a "mancave like that...who needs a house ?! | ||
| Pnw_uly |
Back to the regularly scheduled thread. . . At the start of the snow - - not too bad looking...  End of the snow - - welcoming good 'ol dirt under the tires...  "Day Ride" fuel storage - - 'bout a half gallon with both tubes mounted...  Didn't need it, but always good to have on-hand. |
