Archive for July, 2009

FAILED!

Before I venture off for my trip to China, I decided I would take a much needed break this 4th of July weekend and ride up north to Grand Marais on the North Shore to visit a friend. However after leaving on July 3rd I ran into traffic on 35W about a half hour out of the city near Forest Lake. I figured things would get better once I got further out, however the situation only got worse. My hand was so cramped from clutching and by the time traffic would let up I would get into Grand Marais late that night. I decided it was best to turn around and call it off. I spend enough time in traffic during the week there was no way I was going to sit in traffic and waste my life on the weekend.

In any case, I installed a new pair of Michelin Anakee tiers on my bike earlier the week before in preparation. After doing some research I found these had some of the best reviews, with excellent tread life as well. As I ride my KLR mostly on the road, I was looking for a touring tire for 90% road and 10% dirt/gravel, the Anakees seemed to fit well. My plan was to order the tiers on-line and take the wheels off myself to save some money, then take the tiers in to get mounted/balanced. Both tiers came off with relative ease, although I would recommend getting the KLR50 manual which has step by step instructions on basically any maintenance you’ll ever do on your bike. I first took my wheels to the Hitching Post, however they wanted to charge $45 a tier to mount and balance, which I thought was insane. Instead I took my tiers to a local shop where I live, the next day I had my tiers mounted and perfectly balanced.

After getting my wheels back on, my first impressions of the new tiers were great. I feel like I can really grind my pegs in the corners, although I think the bike does turn in a bit easier then before. Mind you my old tiers were nicely squared off, so the difference was expected. I haven’t tried them in wet weather conditions, however I was able to take them on some fine gravel roads which was a bit iffy, but nothing they are not capable of handling. As far as dirt and mud goes, I’m not sure I would venture too far off into the woods with these.

I probably won’t write a whole lot since I’m getting ready for China and work is busy as usual. However I can say that I’ve already begun planning my next trip after China, which will be San Fransisco in late October! Anyways, hopefully NWA figures out their pitot tube issues before I leave, since I’ll be on an A330 the entire way over and back!