Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: AZRedhawk44 on January 22, 2014, 11:14:48 AM
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I've been wanting to learn to weld for a few years now.
I'm looking at equipping two bikes with tail racks and panniers.
My XR dirtbike has panniers, but they're pretty half-arse. I don't like them much at all. The bags have a tendency to slide and rotate around the fender, and better designed bag supports would eliminate that. And it has no tail rack. A tail rack runs about $150, and panniers are difficult to even find for this bike but tend to run $200 or more.
The Tiger 800XC needs it all. I do have a tail rack on order from a vendor, but he just emailed me today and told me his inventory system was incorrect and he can't fab me a tail rack until mid-February at the earliest. Another $150, and panniers are $250 to $400.
All told, for the two bikes to be fully outfitted with various twisted metal bits to my satisfaction it will cost me $700 to $1000. Before throwing any luggage at them.
In comparison, I can go to the hardware store and get 30-40 feet of 1/2" steel pipe and a pipe-bender for under $200. A bender like this one (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-1-2-in-Swivel-Handle-Tube-Bender-8900-1-2/100647696) will only give me a single radius to my bends, but allows up to 180 degrees. I don't envision a bend tighter than about 120 degrees (two acute angles for the tail rack).
I have a friend with an acetylene torch setup, stick welder setup, and wire welder setup. Former shop teacher, retired. He's offered several times in the past to teach me to weld, we just have lacked a project to apply it to.
Should I cancel the order for the Tiger tail rack and fab this stuff myself? Keep the order in place and fab the rest? Buy fancy stuff for the new bike and fab stuff for the old XR?
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if the luggage is designed to fit a certain frame, I would purchase it. you might open yourself to liability if something falls off.
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Do it!
I welded a rear bumper for my land cruiser to include swing outs for the spare tire and a ladder/triple gas can holder. It was my second ever welding project.
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if the luggage is designed to fit a certain frame, I would purchase it. you might open yourself to liability if something falls off.
If I were going to drink a particular brand of kool-aid with regards to luggage and panniers, that makes sense. But most people don't do that, and mix/match equipment on various brands of panniers.
I'll be adapting some Seahorse SE720 cases as hard luggage when I want lockable/weatherproof containers, and using some Wolfman soft bags when I want soft luggage (soft preferred for off-road use since it's less likely to contribute to leg injuries in a fall).
So, even if I get fancy panniers, I'll be improvising attachment points for either luggage set.
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AZ- make them- You have a great opportunity to learn a new skill to serve you for the rest of your life. What is the downside? You decide you don't like what you made the first time and make them over again? Your buddy is not going to let you ride off with something that is gonna fall apart. And you get to make exactly what you want, and won't have the slightest hesitation in altering them. And you will have a great sense of accomplishment.
Make sure you use good steel- get your friends advice. Maybe a chrome moly 5/8" thinwall? Or something like it.
Years ago I fabbed up a set of rearsets for a cafe racer out of 4130 and used an oxy-acet, torch to weld them- it was fun.
There is a book by Richard Finch,"welders handbook", that is a great overview.
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I say weld it,but skip the crap pipe from the hardware store, strong enough will likely be too big in lower grades of tube. I'm also all for skipping the stip welder and getting shop teacher to teach you to weld it with the torch.
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I say weld it,but skip the crap pipe from the hardware store, strong enough will likely be too big in lower grades of tube. I'm also all for skipping the stip welder and getting shop teacher to teach you to weld it with the torch.
You're the second person to point out quality of steel.
My thoughts are, if the bike is laid down either on or off road, I'd rather have the luggage rack bend or break, than the motorcycle frame. Using a lower grade of steel than the frame seems like a good idea to me. If it bends, I get to bend it back while on the side of the road, and/or fix it properly once back home.
The more resilient the steel, the more the impact energy is transferred to the bike's core frame.
No?
Then you also get into the question of whether you can bend it with the tool I linked, versus the multi-thousand dollar fancy bending rigs available for machine shops and "power users."
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Well, if you have access to the torch anyway, why not just do the old fill with sand and hand-bend? (With very heat resistant gloves, of course.) The sand keeps the tube from collapsing in the bend, and you're not constrained by the bender's limitations.
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I'm just wary of unknown mild steel falling apart in service, especially with vibration and shock coming from riding. Some decent 1/2" tube isn't going to damage your bike in a crash. It will be lighter than whatever size of glorified water pipe that would be strong enough. As for the bender I've bent a lot of hydraulic line with those type of things, not sure but you may be a bit outmatched already. I'd certainly test the bender with a little piece of the tube before I spent the money on it.
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You're the second person to point out quality of steel.
My thoughts are, if the bike is laid down either on or off road, I'd rather have the luggage rack bend or break, than the motorcycle frame. Using a lower grade of steel than the frame seems like a good idea to me. If it bends, I get to bend it back while on the side of the road, and/or fix it properly once back home.
The more resilient the steel, the more the impact energy is transferred to the bike's core frame.
No?
Then you also get into the question of whether you can bend it with the tool I linked, versus the multi-thousand dollar fancy bending rigs available for machine shops and "power users."
No. a decent bender will bend it fine- the difference in stiffness of nearly anything is far more dependent on section size than material- buy good steel. It will weld better, bend better, take stress better, etc. Use what size the other accessory rack builders use, as a guide.
I do not know about the Harbor freight bender you listed- when I was looking into bending 1" chrome moly for handlebars I was looking for a mandrel bender like this http://www.jd2.com/p-32-model-3-bender.aspx don't worry too much about the bending- either your friend is gonna know some one with a bender, or you can find a local shop to do them for you, or find a tool.
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I do not know about the Harbor freight bender you listed- when I was looking into bending 1" chrome moly for handlebars I was looking for a mandrel bender like this http://www.jd2.com/p-32-model-3-bender.aspx don't worry too much about the bending- either your friend is gonna know some one with a bender, or you can find a local shop to do them for you, or find a tool.
For 1" and larger, find the dirtiest, most redneck muffler shop around. That guy knows how to bend pipe, and can also weld it up for you better than pretty much anybody else.
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Remember if you make booger welds, you will have to look at them every day for the life of the object.
Thin metal takes some skill to weld and so does tubing/pipe.
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Remember if you make booger welds, you will have to look at them every day for the life of the object.
Thin metal takes some skill to weld and so does tubing/pipe.
Yeah, a motorcycle rack is actually a lot harder to build than a bumper for a big 4x4.
My big question is how are you going to finish it? Welding is going to burn off any existing finish and add more bare metal. Are you going to just paint it, or have it professionally coated somewhere? Need to factor in that cost if the latter.
Also what is your time worth? Do you want to be welding or riding ???
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Build your own.
I mig welded my own saddlebag racks before my trip last year from 1/2" square tubing and 1/8" flat stock for the tabs. After comparing it to a friends bike last fall, the one I built was stronger and lighter than the one he bought from Twisted Throttle. Total investment: $20 in steel, $10 can of spray on bedliner.
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My big question is how are you going to finish it? Welding is going to burn off any existing finish and add more bare metal. Are you going to just paint it, or have it professionally coated somewhere? Need to factor in that cost if the latter.
GunKote is extremely tough once it's properly baked. I've heard the same about the bake-on DuraCoat.
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too bad you don't have the means to do aluminum. maybe a light guage stainless?
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A bender like this one (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-1-2-in-Swivel-Handle-Tube-Bender-8900-1-2/100647696) will only give me a single radius to my bends, but allows up to 180 degrees. I don't envision a bend tighter than about 120 degrees (two acute angles for the tail rack).
That bender is designed for thin walled electrical conduit.
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Here is a source for small quantities of steel. They seem to be reliable and prompt.
this is 5/8" x .083 wall 4130. It should weld like a dream with a torch and good quality rod.
Or you could go with 3/4"x 095 wall. See what the rack bag mount folks use.
http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?pid=21424&step=4&showunits=inches&id=250&top_cat=197
A long time ago I made an aluminum rack for my Yankee 500z- cut all the pieces, and brought it to a welding shop- they tigged it together while I waited.
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Tok, that source demonstrates to me that the project becomes much more expensive if I shouldn't use pipe at the hardware store price point. I'd be looking at $250 for pipe, rather than about $50.
And charby's assertion that the $120 bender won't do the trick, makes the next grade of bender available that mandrel bender you linked earlier, at $300 (probably more after shipping and dies/bits/pieces).
That makes the project cost significantly more than my first estimate.
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It would be unusual to save money by building something yourself- applies to most things if labor cost is counted. The reward the product plus skill, tools, and the ability to build exactly what you want.
Your friend the shop teacher probably has connections for tubing, bender, etc- what you need is someone in the loop in your area. The local EAA guys may know someone too, or maybe try the custom bike places.
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It would be unusual to save money by building something yourself- applies to most things if labor cost is counted. The reward the product plus skill, tools, and the ability to build exactly what you want.
that's why I built the bumper myself. Once labor was accounted for (spent a lot of nights and weekends on it) it would have definitely been cheaper to buy the bumper pre-built. What I learned in the process was worth it. I did have an advantage in that I had inherited the necessary tools and supplies (other than the metal).
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Tok, that source demonstrates to me that the project becomes much more expensive if I shouldn't use pipe at the hardware store price point. I'd be looking at $250 for pipe, rather than about $50.
And charby's assertion that the $120 bender won't do the trick, makes the next grade of bender available that mandrel bender you linked earlier, at $300 (probably more after shipping and dies/bits/pieces).
That makes the project cost significantly more than my first estimate.
You want something like this. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_630_630?cm_mmc=Google-pla-_-Metal%20Fabrication-_-Pipe%20%2B%20Bar%20Fabrication-_-144207&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=144207&gclid=CMHjxsnnlLwCFaZAMgodogMAYw
As said earlier, fill the tube with sand before you bend. Make sure you have a outlet for sand to leak out when bending our you might get a blowout in the tube. Like duct tape the ends shut.
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You want to build something like this right?
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rockymountainatvmc.com%2Fimages%2Fprod%2F400%2Fm%2Fmoo_10_exp_lug_rac_sys.jpg&hash=d3bb81f8a3bd546e0e5f15c8081a3fbd9516abd3)
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You want to build something like this right?
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rockymountainatvmc.com%2Fimages%2Fprod%2F400%2Fm%2Fmoo_10_exp_lug_rac_sys.jpg&hash=d3bb81f8a3bd546e0e5f15c8081a3fbd9516abd3)
That's one giant piece... but yeah. I want each side pannier and the top to be separate units. But you get the idea.
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I'm not saying don't try, but that's an ambitious first project. And that's from me heading off to weld crap all night. Not really stick welder territory either.
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I'm not saying don't try, but that's an ambitious first project. And that's from me heading off to weld crap all night. Not really stick welder territory either.
More TIG weld territory.
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I'm not saying don't try, but that's an ambitious first project. And that's from me heading off to weld crap all night. Not really stick welder territory either.
Im a fan of gas welding for tubing like that. Maybe mig weld it but it might be harder to try to get the gun around that small of tubing quickly enough. The stick welder could drive a simple tig rig though if shop teacher has a tig torch and argon bottle for it.
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it's a shame you can't get 1/2" emt conduit without it being galvanized. here's some stainless thickwall tubing http://www.ebay.com/itm/316-Stainless-Steel-Round-Tube-3-8-OD-x-035-W-x-48-SMLS-/141100499695?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20da3ec2ef
if you have access to a drill press you can make very neat joints by using a hole saw with the same external dimension as the pipe to cut the ends to length. then they make a perfect fit, although you will be grinding a 45 for a bevel to fill.
i'm lucky to have a local fabrication shop that lets me peruse their scrap bins, and pay scrap prices for metals! :-*
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AZ, we need ride reports on the new bike!
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I freakin' love this bike.
I finally got it over the 300 mile hump today, so now I'm "allowed" to hit 6000 RPM rather than 5000. Truth be told, I'd been nibbling at 5500 for awhile, and today I hit probably 6200-6500. >:D Accelerating on the highway on-ramp, I'm at 65mph before I'm halfway down the ramp, and the slowest part of the equation is my constant need to shift to keep the revs down. Just another 300 miles until I'm allowed to knock at 7000 RPM's.
It's so damned fast, torquey and fun!
The brakes are amazing. I love ABS and dual front discs.
I'm taking it out for a light dirt spin tomorrow, in the foothills of the Sierra Ancha mountains. There's snow up higher, but it should be nice weather as long as I stay out of the high passes. Gonna go see some very remote indian ruins, where Geronimo used to hide from the US Cavalry. Probably be about 50-60 miles of dirt and 150 miles of highway to get there and back.
I am starting to hear a hint of some valve lash now that the engine is breaking in, and I'm looking forward to the 600 mile service as an opportunity to learn how to remove the gas tank and necessary bits to get to the valve covers. I have a service manual for it and I'm ready to do the valve clearancing, having done it for my XR and Shadow in the past. Slowly and steadily, I'll learn this bike's innards. I should have the XR back together after its tear-down for different service issues after this weekend, so it'll be the Tiger's turn to be down for a couple days or a week and I'll ride the XR around for a bit.
I'll enroll to re-take the MSF confident rider course and intermediate rider course once I'm done with the 600 mile service. Then it'll be time to really play with this bike.
I can feel EXACTLY how it can kill me. It's a FUN bike. Think "hooligan" with a big front wheel.
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I'm taking it out for a light dirt spin tomorrow, in the foothills of the Sierra Ancha mountains. There's snow up higher, but it should be nice weather as long as I stay out of the high passes. Gonna go see some very remote indian ruins, where Geronimo used to hide from the US Cavalry. Probably be about 50-60 miles of dirt and 150 miles of highway to get there and back.
Man- that sounds like a LOT of fun!
"I can feel EXACTLY how it can kill me. It's a FUN bike. Think "hooligan" with a big front wheel."
some advice from an old guy- yeah, you can get killed being a hooligan- but far more likely is that something happens when there is no reason at all for you to be especially alert- light traffic, sunny day, no particular rush and BAM- out of the blue something happens- complacency is a bigger hazard than speed- see, when you are running it hard, all your senses are focused razor sharp and you are ready for anything- - it is in moments of relaxation that some Buick comes out of the sun and completes a firing pass on your ass. So to speak.
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it is in moments of relaxation that some Buick comes out of the sun and completes a firing pass on your ass. So to speak.
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.theiapolis.com%2Fb000000%2Fd4%2FhLC%2Fi1PZK%2Fk4%2Fl1QEH%2Fs6%2Ft3%2FwSG%2Fy04%2Fthe-millennium-falcon-from-star-wars-episode.jpg%3Fcdn%3D1390624416&hash=62931cbb81a9bf5b4060f6c135df9d33c9648bd2)
[Vader] Effing cages. [/Vader] :laugh:
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I'd look at making the parts out of square tube instead of round. The corners would be more square, but you won't have to be concerned about coving the pipe ends at every joint. A "close enough" miter cut is just fine on square tube.
Lining up the two ends of the round tube after making 4 corner bends *and* keeping the whole she-bang flat might be "troublesome".
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I'd look at making the parts out of square tube instead of round. The corners would be more square, but you won't have to be concerned about coving the pipe ends at every joint. A "close enough" miter cut is just fine on square tube.
Lining up the two ends of the round tube after making 4 corner bends *and* keeping the whole she-bang flat might be "troublesome".
Yeah, it's not so much the actual welding on that mini jungle gym that would give you fits, it's keeping everything lined up. The folks turning those out have jigs for everything.
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Well, I have already bought a tail rack for the Tiger, and I already have half-arse panniers for the XR.
I am going to buy a tail rack for the XR, rather than make it. Then I'll have commercially manufactured tail racks. I really have a pressing need for tail racks on both bikes ASAP.
I will then experiment with making from scratch or modifying the panniers on the XR. If that goes well, I'll apply the same skills to the Tiger.
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For full disclosure, I laid down the new Tiger a couple times yesterday while offroad. I chose a road for my first dirt ride that I had been halfway down in my truck before and it was well graded and not very technical at all.
I got down that part just fine with no issues. Started getting into new area.
A word about AZ forest roads in low country: They are basically hard-pack coliche, with a loose scattering of very hard, spherical sand on top of it. Think of riding a bike on a concrete street that is littered with a bunch of BB's scattered on top of it.
As long as the road is straight, you can get up to 40+mph with no problem. Some insane guys even get up to 80+mph while offroad. But turning, you need to be down somewhere around 20-25mph.
I was riding with a bunch of buys on KTM 990's and Yamaha Super Teneres. They like doing 60+ on these straight-aways, and I was doing 40-ish. As a result, they'd stop every 3-5 miles and wait for me on a rise until I caught up.
I started feeling bad for holding them up (mistake #1: Ride your own ride!) and picked up the pace on a straight-away to about 50mph. This one I hadn't been on before and it was deceptively hiding a hard right turn due to subtle elevation changes. I laid on the rear brake (ABS disabled like it is supposed to be when on dirt) but there was a cliff coming at me way too fast and it overrode my brain logic and told me to lean away from it. Had I kept skidding straight, I probably would have stopped while still upright before hitting the cliff edge. But, I leaned away from the cliff edge and into the turn. This resulted in the beginnings of a low side that then morphed into a high side, throwing me forward from the bike and slamming it down hard on its side.
I took the throw on my right shoulder and hip which are sore today, but I rolled a couple times end over end and was fine. I sat in the dirt for a few seconds just to make sure I could feel all my extremities and whatnot, then examined my bike.
I shattered the OEM Triumph handguards. They're 100% plastic with no metal reinforcement bars on them and were on my replacement list anyways. The failed handguard exposed the clutch lever to crash abuse, and it sheared off part of the lever. The left turn signal lost its clear cover and part of its reflector, though the bulb was intact and functioning. No other damage to the bike.
This allowed me to have an opportunity to find out if I can pick up my 800XC on my own while off-road. Yep, I can.
I met up with the rest of my group after a creek crossing and we all gave the bike a look-over. It's definitely no longer "new." =| =D First scratches out of the way, it's a christened adventure bike.
We kept going to our final destination. I dumped it one more time at about 3-4mph in an uphill turn with lots of loose rock scree. No damage.
We hiked a bit in an area called Devil's Chasm and saw an amazing cliff dwelling in one of the most remote places I've ever been. Climbing ropes were necessary in several points of the trail, and other places it was so steep that you had to crawl on all fours to climb.
Coming back home, I dumped it at low speed one more time on that same low speed rocky scree turn. Front tire wouldn't bite on the bottom of the turn and it just kept shoveling rock. This last time down was also very slow, but a rock was in just the right place to tag one of the plastic mounts that holds the windshield to the front assembly. I had to take the windshield off for the rest of the ride home.
This wouldn't have happened on my XR. I would have taken the XR on this trip rather than the Tiger, but the XR is in pieces in the middle of a series of maintenance and upgrade tasks.
Ultimately: It's an adventure bike. A large format dirt bike. These things were gonna happen. Bike runs great after all this. Last night I ordered better handguards with metal reinforced barriers to protect the clutch and brake levers. These ones have LED turn signals integrated into the handguards, which will eliminate the dependency on the fragile front turn signals. The handguards and turn signals were on my to-do list anyways. I also found a new clutch lever identical to the old one. All together, $140.
Today I need to inventory and cross-reference the various broken bits that hold the windshield on and get replacements for them (or research better windshield solutions). And get everything done on the XR that I can... I can't 100% finish it because the oil cooler kit I got has some incorrect spacer-washers and I'm going to the vendor to get the correct ones for my bike on Monday. But I should have the XR online by Tuesday, and the Tiger online again after next weekend.
My offroad confidence was hurt by this trip. I had gotten to the point on the smaller XR that I could do a little bit of brake-sliding and throttling through corners, and the first 10 miles of the trip on the part of the road I had been on before, I was getting a feel for that same skill on the Tiger. With nearly 100hp it is VERY twitchy and eager with low speed throttle response and easy to break loose, and the Tiger comes with horrible tires from the dealership. I think the front is way too narrow, and neither tire is knobby enough. Three out of four of us laid our bikes down on that rock scree turn so I don't feel too bad about that, and I violated my own #1 rule on the dirt (Ride your own ride!) on the big crash.
But after the 3rd dump and seeing all the broken parts on my new bike, I was exhausted from the very strenuous hike/climb, on an ornery 500 pound dirt bike, jacked up on adrenaline and frustrated. I didn't go over about 35mph on the way out, and mostly it was 20-25mph. I was very sore from the hike and the crash earlier in the day, and that also encouraged me to ride slow. Took a little over an hour and a half to get back out at that speed.
Tiger's not going out on dirt again until it's all fixed up, and has knobbies. I need to be able to ride this bike in dirt competently.
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Yikes! Glad you were not hurt- And you are smart thinking over what went wrong and possible solutions-
I take it the cliff was on the outside of the corner and a drop off, not a wall? Sorta makes you pucker a bit.... That hard pack with ball bearings on top is a feature of many graded gravel roads - I sympathize- hard scary stuff to corner on. Not predictable. Sometimes is is a thin coating, and other times the scree piles up like a pillow. Do you think the high side was when your rear tire finally bit? Does the Triumph have a steering damper?
Anytime there are a bunch of guys on bikes, there is gonna be some pushing in the speed department. Been sucked in myself a few times, till a "this is nuts" noise went off in the brain.
Was the clutch lever useable, or did you have to improvise a fix?
Is the gearing ok on that really slow stuff? Some of these " dual-sports" seem to be geared high for tight dirt riding- I dropped a tooth on the front on both our bikes and it made a world of difference in control at walking speed. got rid of the need to work the clutch so hard, and kept the revs up enough so when some power was needed, stalling was less of an issue.
There are a few places that offer training on riding the big adv bikes- being able to do repetitions of exercises with demo's and instruction is useful - We took one in Cal. some years ago and it was helpful to my riding.
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I just went apeshit on buying stuff today.
Centerstand for the Tiger.
2 x IRC TR8 tires. One for the Tiger to replace the Pirelli Scorpion "Trail" on it, one for the XR to replace the dual sport Pirelli Scorpion AT on it.
1 x Full Bore M40 tire, for the Tiger to replace its rear.
A couple of little plastic bits for the Tiger windscreen that weren't too expensive.
A rear rack for the XR.
Between that and the handguards/clutch lever, I've spent a little more than $700 in the last 24 hours.
The new front tires should help stability off-road on both bikes, quite a bit. They should also handle quite similarly, with a 75/25 street/dirt rear on both and a dirt front.
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oooh, that first scratch is always painful! that's a lot of bike for canyon riding. are you happy with the balance?
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oooh, that first scratch is always painful! that's a lot of bike for canyon riding. are you happy with the balance?
I'm the weak link in the balance equation.
One of the guys explained to me what I did wrong coming down the scree filled turn. I had too much weight forward. Yeah, a better tire would have certainly helped, but I was standing and leaning forward, when I should have been standing and moving my arse as far rear on the bike as I could to put more weight on the rear.
I forded three streams, twice, on it. One of them was probably 18" deep. I felt it squirrel a little on me, but again... tires.
I definitely balance better on the XR than this. Much easier to counterbalance a misbehaving 300lb bike than a misbehaving 500lb bike. But, the Tiger is far superior on the road. Obviously.
I was absolutely exhausted when I got home yesterday. It was like I spent the whole day wrestling.
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One of the guys explained to me what I did wrong coming down the scree filled turn. I had too much weight forward. Yeah, a better tire would have certainly helped, but I was standing and leaning forward, when I should have been standing and moving my arse as far rear on the bike as I could to put more weight on the rear.
=D then you could have had a front wheel washout and lowside...just sayin......
Come to think off it, I am not sure IF YOU ARE STANDING if it makes any difference at all to weight distribution as your weight is being transmitted through the pegs, which obviously have not moved, to prevent a front wheel washout, I was taught to slide my ass as far forward on the seat/tank as possible.
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=D then you could have had a front wheel washout and lowside...just sayin......
Come to think off it, I am not sure IF YOU ARE STANDING if it makes any difference at all to weight distribution as your weight is being transmitted through the pegs, which obviously have not moved, to prevent a front wheel washout, I was taught to slide my ass as far forward on the seat/tank as possible.
Sure it does... think about standing and leaning forward on the handlebars, versus standing and pushing back from the handlebars. Weidht isn't on the footpegs. It's balanced between the front tires. Just like cornering, you can put your weight off the centerline of the bike and trick it into different behaviors... but your feet are still on the pegs and your arse is in the seat. Works the same forwards/back. It's all about that load triangle they showed you in BRC.
I was deliberately over the handlebars because I had heard from other riders that putting weight over the front tire helps it gain traction in difficult turns. Evidently that's the wrong tactic when the turn is loose rock and downhill, or something. I'm not sure.
I've got a friend up north of Phoenix, partway to Prescott, that I'm going to go on a ride with on the XR, hopefully in February. He's a very old hand with dirtbikes. Gonna have him really school me on aggressive turns in dirt with proper tires. We'll go hit Crown King and some of the remote trails, maybe all the way to Yarnell or Skull Valley.
Regardless, I need more time being agressive on the saddle of the XR.
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Sure it does... think about standing and leaning forward on the handlebars, versus standing and pushing back from the handlebars. Weidht isn't on the footpegs. It's balanced between the front tires. Just like cornering, you can put your weight off the centerline of the bike and trick it into different behaviors... but your feet are still on the pegs and your arse is in the seat. Works the same forwards/back.
That makes sense.
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When you're up around Prescott, try Old Senator Hiway. Not a road for a Towncar, but it'd be fun on a bike.
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When you're up around Prescott, try Old Senator Hiway. Not a road for a Towncar, but it'd be fun on a bike.
Ooh, that does look fun! Nice little link from Prescott to Crown King. I love Crown King. Great Mardis Gras festival, and excellent chili cookoff each year. I've got plans to go throw some dirt around on my XR up in the Bradshaws in February. I'll have to check that out, as well as the deserted "Bradshaw City."
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It was a pretty drive, until it started raining just before we came to a turn with a protruding boulder where there was ~6" clearance on the drivers side of the car and ~18" on the passenger side, with a few hundred foot drop-off.... We turned around at the first opportunity.
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Well, Amazon Prime has certainly spoiled me in regards to expectations for package delivery times. =D
I'm still down 2 bikes, still waiting on parts to arrive to be able to put one or the other back on the road.
It doesn't help though when I'm changing the front sprocket from 15T to 14T on the XR and discover that the sprocket cover is cracked and broken. Or that the handguards with integrated turn signals I ordered for the Tiger don't fit the OEM configuration with the large sized clutch and brake levers.
So the fancy handguards are going onto the XR, and the LED conventional stalk turn signals that are currently on the XR are going onto the Tiger. They're the same general triangle shape as the Tiger OEM ones, but smaller and LED illuminated. Less likely to get bopped in a lay down since they're smaller, and once I get my bars on the engine and tank they'll be better protected anyways.
I should have the Tiger road-worthy, sans handguards, by Saturday afternoon.
I still haven't received the earliest components I ordered, though: The engine bars for the Tiger and the tail rack for the XR. I hate it when places list something "in stock" and all they do is drop-ship and have no idea what their vendor's stock level is.
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Those large levers are gonna go anyway......might as well cut them off clean =D
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Those large levers are gonna go anyway......might as well cut them off clean =D
Nah, I'm going premium on the Tiger. Getting Barkbusters for it, which are evidently all The RaveTM for the cool kids to have on dual sports and adventure tourers.
I did briefly look into getting truncated size brake and clutch levers, but decided against it for now.
She's back up and running and happy. Er, mostly. Prior to the crash I was planning on spending today learning to do the valve clearancing and oil change process on the Tiger. Instead I spent all day installing a new windshield and messing with turn signal relays and sanding scratches out of plastic and making wiring harness adapters for the signals I installed. But, at least it's two-wheeled transportation.
So, that stuff will end up being 150-200 miles late, next weekend instead.
Hoping to fire up the XR tonight before going to bed. Just gotta wire in the new rear light array while also splicing in the front banjo bolt brake sensor, install the Tusk LED handguards as front signals, and put the chain back on and fill it with oil.