Tires for unpaved roads

[ajpagosa]

let the bike move around under you. Tilt the bike into corners but keep weight on the outside peg. After a while this becomes second nature and you can sit on the bike (except over washboard) shift your butt over onto the outside edge of the seat while turning. I would not get dirt oriented tires for the FJR.

We have a dirty expert! The bike wobbles all the time, but you don't usually feel it on the pavement. Let it move around under you.

Note dirt, and unfortunately large plume from forest fire today. Wolf Creek Pass is closed both ways indefinitely.

PS: running BT021 front and BT023GT rear stock sizes.

 

[Mr Bill]

Note dirt, and unfortunately large plume from forest fire today. Wolf Creek Pass is closed both ways indefinitely.

Knobbies won't help much on that road! Them marbles look like fun sliding!

They ruined Wolfcreek Pass! Hope they don't straighten out any more roads in Colorado!

I'll be running through Pagosa heading home after the Colorado Clusterfuck this summer.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Note dirt, and unfortunately large plume from forest fire today. Wolf Creek Pass is closed both ways indefinitely.

Knobbies won't help much on that road! Them marbles look like fun sliding!

They ruined Wolfcreek Pass! Hope they don't straighten out any more roads in Colorado!

I'll be running through Pagosa heading home after the Colorado Clusterfuck this summer.

Mr. Bill,

wifey and I will probably see you going in the opposite direction...while yer headed south from Gunnison, wifey and I will be headed north from Ouray...we'll be wearing hiviz jackets...and probably won't be on gravel roads there unless there's a detour.

 

[ajpagosa]

Note dirt, and unfortunately large plume from forest fire today. Wolf Creek Pass is closed both ways indefinitely.

Knobbies won't help much on that road! Them marbles look like fun sliding!

They ruined Wolfcreek Pass! Hope they don't straighten out any more roads in Colorado!

I'll be running through Pagosa heading home after the Colorado Clusterfuck this summer.

Yeah they do weird things to roads out here. Mag cloride then sweep off all the gravel to where it's like a clay tennis court, but deadly in the rain it is like a thin layer of gumbo. Then they'll dump vast quantities of marble gravel on other roads to "fix" them (like the one in the pic). You adapt quickly out here or else.

 

[Mr Bill]

wifey and I will probably see you going in the opposite direction...while yer headed south from Gunnison, wifey and I will be headed north from Ouray...we'll be wearing hiviz jackets...and probably won't be on gravel roads there unless there's a detour.

May not see you because that route would only be a two hour ride. I'll probably go through Rico or down 149 into Pagosa. Lot's of route choices!

I know where to eat in Rico, what's a good lunch spot in Pagosa Mr AJpagosa?

 

[ajpagosa]

For some reason I always eat at Bear Creek Saloon downtown after rides, mainly for buffalo burgers. Lot of bike groups do. Also like Tequilas for Mexican though some don't. Buffalo Inn is good as is Boss Hoggs for basic meat and potatoes stuff. My favorite BBQ place closed down unfortunately, have not replaced it. Kip's Grill & Cantina is very highly rated but I have yet to eat there.

 

[wheatonFJR]

For some reason I always eat at Bear Creek Saloon downtown after rides, mainly for buffalo burgers. Lot of bike groups do. Also like Tequilas for Mexican though some don't. Buffalo Inn is good as is Boss Hoggs for basic meat and potatoes stuff. My favorite BBQ place closed down unfortunately, have not replaced it. Kip's Grill & Cantina is very highly rated but I have yet to eat there.

I ate lunch at Tequilas in Cortez in 08...it was GREAT!

 

[mcatrophy]

...PS: running BT021 front ...

Get rid of that '21 on the front. everybody and his dog hates the '21 on the front. After a couple of 1000 miles it will handle like sh*t.

Change it for (almost) anything else.

There are as many favourites tyres as there are tyres, I run BT023GT front and rear. Hundreds go for PR2 or PR3. Then the Angel aficionados ... ... ... -> NEPRT

 

[Enn]

Ok, holding the bars loosly sounds like the best thing I can do for the moment and it does not really cost me anything extra

I will have a good oppotunity to test it out this weekend.

Many thanks to all.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Ok, holding the bars loosly sounds like the best thing I can do for the moment and it does not really cost me anything extra

I will have a good oppotunity to test it out this weekend.Many thanks to all.

take video...

:0

 

[ajpagosa]

...PS: running BT021 front ...

Get rid of that '21 on the front. everybody and his dog hates the '21 on the front. After a couple of 1000 miles it will handle like sh*t.

Change it for (almost) anything else.

There are as many favourites tyres as there are tyres, I run BT023GT front and rear. Hundreds go for PR2 or PR3. Then the Angel aficionados ... ... ... -> NEPRT

That is what I'm planning on doing. Got out of sync replacing front vs rear. My last front 021 must have been defective, got the weirdest wear pattern I've ever seen. Wore down to the cord on both sides of the center, but 2" center section still had good hard rubber on it. Pressures were fine. FTW. Anyway had to replace that early, so far so good, then a few k later the rear was gone and had done proper research by then, went with the 023gt.

 

[wheatonFJR]

...PS: running BT021 front ...

Get rid of that '21 on the front. everybody and his dog hates the '21 on the front. After a couple of 1000 miles it will handle like sh*t.

Change it for (almost) anything else.

There are as many favourites tyres as there are tyres, I run BT023GT front and rear. Hundreds go for PR2 or PR3. Then the Angel aficionados ... ... ... -> NEPRT

That is what I'm planning on doing. Got out of sync replacing front vs rear. My last front 021 must have been defective, got the weirdest wear pattern I've ever seen. Wore down to the cord on both sides of the center, but 2" center section still had good hard rubber on it. Pressures were fine. FTW. Anyway had to replace that early, so far so good, then a few k later the rear was gone and had done proper research by then, went with the 023gt.

That weird wear pattern is probably why many don't like the -021s

 

[Enn]

So I did try the loose-handlebar-mod over weekend and it worked fine! I have no problems on unpaved roads any more! That was a great advice, saved me from buying a dualsport

.

Thanks to all.

 

[wheatonFJR]

So I did try the loose-handlebar-mod over weekend and it worked fine! I have no problems on unpaved roads any more! That was a great advice, saved me from buying a dualsport

.Thanks to all.

With all that extra money that you saved jingling around in your pocket now, you probably have enough $$ to visit the states.

 

[obijohn]

I think going to the Darkside for gravel roads would be akin to Russian Roulette. There's a reason car tires are made the way they are, and motorcycle tires are made the way they are. I can imagine how it would feel to ride my 635 lb beast on a car tire, in a curve, on a gravel road, and feel that sudden transition from tread to sidewall/edge.

I agree with the solution: ride slowly and sensibly on gravel, without trying to overcontrol the bike... and save the off-road hooliganism for bikes better suited to that purpose.

 

[RadioHowie]

I can imagine how it would feel to ride my 635 lb beast on a car tire, in a curve, on a gravel road, and feel that sudden transition from tread to sidewall/edge.

No, really, you can't imagine, until you try it a realize how wrong your imagination has been.

 

[wheatonFJR]

...I agree with the solution: ride slowly and sensibly on gravel, without trying to overcontrol the bike... and save the off-road hooliganism for bikes better suited to that purpose.

I know someone who rode from Prudhoe Bay to Key West on an FJR over rutted gravel roads...with a top heavy, gas laden bike...probably definitely faster than I would have.

You can take any bike anywhere...just know your skill set, and agree beforehand to only ride as fast as your skill allows and to what risk level you are willing to take.

 

[yamafitter]

The definitive answer to the original question is knobbie tires. Yes you can take a FJR on PR2's up the Haul Road to Prudhoe Bay if that is really what you want to do. If you hit rain on the North Slope or in the Atigun Pass figure on your rad getting plugged with Calcium Chloride goo and there are no car washes in Prudhoe Bay to wash the rad clean and I don't remember seeing one in Coldfoot either. That means you either ride the FJR into the Yukon River to wash it off and have the bike float away into the Bering Sea or somehow make it all the way back to Fairbanks.

Personally I like my FJR too much to subject it to that much abuse and the ride would be far more enjoyable on a bike better suited to the task like a KTM 990 Adventure or something similar. The problem gets worse on a road like the Dempster Hwy going up to Inuvik NWT since the gravel is quite a bit more abrasive and the standard motorcycle street tire simply will not likely stand up to the abuse. A number of the Adventure crowd will ship tires to Dawson City and change over to TKC's or a similar agressive thread D/S tire before tackling that road.

Again it is possible to ride an FJR or something similar up to Inuvik on standard tires and it has been done, just not by sane people.

 

[jmgrif]

What I do! Loosen grip on handle bars, and while sitting clamp knees firmly to gas tank. Trying to over control steering just makes it worse. I've done this with all my bikes which until the FJR were sport bikes whose tires make loose gravel and unpaved roads not so much fun! The knee clamp really does make the ride feel more stable?

 

[Jack D]

I am an FJR rider that loves dirt roads but I have multiple bikes so the FJR seldom does the dirt. I did take the FJR down a washboard dirt road about a mile and it broke 3 of the plastic windshield screws. Love the FJR but if I felt I needed to put on more aggressive tires for the dirt roads I would consider a different bike, dual sport bikes are also good street bikes but the opposite is not true.