TAT-2016 Post 40 - Monday 11 July 2016

21 days till launch of Leg-2 (OK to CO)

Leg-2 starts the evening of 2 August around 6 pm after everyone is off work. The bikes will have been loaded on the trailer the weekend before. We expect to complete Leg-2 on 12 August.

Rider details (repeat from last post)

Five riders (plus 1 support truck driver):

1.    Mike – 2015 Honda CRF250L

2.    Woodrow – 2015 Honda CRF250L

3.    Jeff – 2008 Yamaha WR250R

4.    Terry – 2016 KTM690

5.    Steve – Yamaha WR250R (2008 model I think)

6.    Marty – Driving our support truck with trailer

Tires

Time is getting short with some important things yet to get done. This past week-end several of us put new tires on our bikes; Mike, Steve and Woodrow. We wanted to do the tire change ourselves to get comfortable with fixing flats once we hit some of the rocky roads out west.

Disclaimer – We are not hard core dirt bike riders so our experience with fixing flats may seem ridicules for those more experienced dirt riders but the info below may be useful for those upper middle age adventure riders attempting the TAT.

The two CRF250Ls received new Dunlop D606 tires both front and rear. I had the same tires installed by Honda just before Leg-1 (SC to OK) last March and was very pleased with their performance. I have about 2500 miles on these tires and they would have lasted probably another couple thousand miles but I wanted fresh rubber for the mountain passes in CO. I did take a measurement of my front and rear tires compared to the new ones and found that the rear was about 1/3 worn but the front was ½ worn. I always expected the rear would wear more than the front but that was not the case. About 2/3 of the 2500 miles was dirt with the last 1/3 pavement. I’ll keep my old tires for now just in case I damage a tire in the future. Jeff is installing the same tires on his WR250R in Tulsa. Steve installed a more street worthy set of tires but not sure of the brand or model.

We changed 6 tires on 3 bikes in 4.5 hours. This won’t qualify for the pit crew at the Indy 500 I know but we were using only the tools we will be carrying on Leg-2 (except for my jack). Both Woodrow and I used my floor jack but Steve elected to go old school and just laid his bike on the grass for his change-out.

Front tire was pretty easy but that stiff back tire was a pain in the butt to get the tire on-off the rim. I found out quickly that the small tire irons are worthless. I used three tire irons; 1 small, 1 medium that also has a box end wrench for my rear axle nut and another medium that I bought from Cycle Gear that comes with a big red plastic handle. I had cut off the handle to save space in my tool tube but it still worked the best of the three irons. I am going to get another one from Cycle Gear and remove the handle to replace the small tool.

One of us and I won’t name the individual to save embarrassment, managed to pinch the tube while changing the rear tire; TWICE. Luckily I still had the 18” tube from my first tire change in March so this was used successfully on the third attempt to mount the rear tire. We are clearly taking spare tubes on Leg-2.

This was an excellent rehearsal for fixing flats and I learned several valuable lessons. I have fixed many flats on my mountain bike but the wheels are easy to get on/off the bike and tires are flexible enough to get off the wheel with minimal tools. Not so with a stiff knobby dual-sport tire. Lubrication is essential and we used a lot on 6 tire changes. I had watched a YouTube video on tire changing and he used Windex glass cleaner. That is what we used and it worked perfectly. A soapier product would probably work as well or better but it would also require water to get it off the wheel where the Windex evaporated for the most part.

Misc

Everyone is getting their last bit of gear together anticipating cool temperatures in the CO Mountains but hot riding through NM and OK. I had originally planned on using a modular Shoei helmet I used on the AK2 ride but after doing several short rides recently in 90-100 degree temps I decided to go back to using a dual-sport helmet. The modular helmet sets much closer to my face and it felt too hot and restrictive in the hotter temperatures. A dual-sport helmet has more space in front with more air flow. I have a cheap Bilt dual-sport helmet I used on Leg-1 but wanted better protection for Leg-2 so bought an Arai XD-4 dual-sport. I know it is pretty expensive but I found out when I bought the Shoei that you get what you pay for; the Shoei was so much better construction and operation than any of the cheaper helmets I have. It is also the only helmet I’ve owned that doesn’t fog up in rain!! I’m hoping I feel the same about the Arai after Leg-2.

To try and beat the heat I also got a Fox Titan upper body armor mesh shirt. I will wear this rather than the mesh jacket I normally wear in the summer. It is lighter and lets much more air flow than the jacket with more protection in critical areas. I also have a white jersey to wear over the black armor to help reflect some of the heat. Since we have a support truck for this leg, we can carry more gear than we could if we were riding all the way without support. I will have my heavy riding gear for the mountains and change to the lighter gear once we hit the flatlands.

Next week-end we will be getting Terry’s trailer ready to load 5 bikes. We need to fix his trailer lights that seem to have an intermittent short and also install tie down hardware down the centerline of the bed. This is a 16’ trailer and we should have no problem loading all 5 bikes but our experience using a trailer to haul 4 bikes out to Charleston, SC for Leg-1 was that finding suitable tie spots becomes an issue so we are making his trailer bike friendly.

I will be going to Tulsa in two weeks to visit family but will also pick up Jeff’s WR250R and bring it back to Little Rock so we can load all 5 bikes before we depart.

Next post will be a few days prior to our launch and I will include the link to my SPOT tracking map for those that want to follow our ride.