Short ADV ride next week
Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2020 10:19 am
A friend and I have decided to break away for a 3 - 4 day ADV type ride next week. We're going to meet up near Harpers Ferry and hook on to the Mid-Atlantic BDR track going north; ride it for a few days while most likely camping; and then when the kitchen pass expires, hit the back roads back home to DC and Annapolis. I'm mulling over the choice of which bike to take on this ride.
It's a very easy ADV ride which seems about 50/50 paved vs. unpaved and the dirt bits are all groomed forest roads - all very big bike friendly. My 1200GS is perfectly set up for this and would be the easy choice that would be especially welcome when riding the 250+ miles home on the road. But here's the thing - I've set my WR250R up for ADV riding thinking it would see some time in the Rockies and Southwest but haven't done it yet. I've got the 4.7 gallon IMS tank on it, bag racks, and tail rack but because I've been riding it exclusively as a trail bike so far, I've got really short gearing on it and coverted to Tubliss.
I have a countershaft sprocket that will resolve the gearing problem so I can run 60-70 mph but I'm wondering if I should be concerned about putting several hundred miles on the Tubliss system at high speeds. I'm running it inside the trusty Dunlop D606 rear and Pirelli MT-21 front tires that only have about 500 almost all dirt miles on them so I don't think the tires will be a problem for this ride. I've also got the wheels balanced pretty well using my Parnes balancer. It took a lot of weight but they're smooth as a set of off road tires can be.
Do any of you guys have any experience, particularly bad experience, running Tubliss inside what will essentially be a higher speed road trip? I'd kind of like to test myself to see if I can tolerate my little ADV bike for a long days in the saddle but wondering how safe the Tubliss is for that? It's a high pressure tube blow out that gives me nightmares.
It's a very easy ADV ride which seems about 50/50 paved vs. unpaved and the dirt bits are all groomed forest roads - all very big bike friendly. My 1200GS is perfectly set up for this and would be the easy choice that would be especially welcome when riding the 250+ miles home on the road. But here's the thing - I've set my WR250R up for ADV riding thinking it would see some time in the Rockies and Southwest but haven't done it yet. I've got the 4.7 gallon IMS tank on it, bag racks, and tail rack but because I've been riding it exclusively as a trail bike so far, I've got really short gearing on it and coverted to Tubliss.
I have a countershaft sprocket that will resolve the gearing problem so I can run 60-70 mph but I'm wondering if I should be concerned about putting several hundred miles on the Tubliss system at high speeds. I'm running it inside the trusty Dunlop D606 rear and Pirelli MT-21 front tires that only have about 500 almost all dirt miles on them so I don't think the tires will be a problem for this ride. I've also got the wheels balanced pretty well using my Parnes balancer. It took a lot of weight but they're smooth as a set of off road tires can be.
Do any of you guys have any experience, particularly bad experience, running Tubliss inside what will essentially be a higher speed road trip? I'd kind of like to test myself to see if I can tolerate my little ADV bike for a long days in the saddle but wondering how safe the Tubliss is for that? It's a high pressure tube blow out that gives me nightmares.