[Jeffrey SmithMember]

Ready for launch on Day 3

[attachment=4380]image_2014-05-04.jpg[/attachment]

[Jeffrey SmithMember]

Day 2 complete. We rode through snow and rain but everyone has arrived safe.

Only issues for the day were Fuchsy’s flat tyre before he even got off the tar, Mooses bike stopped so he jumped on the pre run bike and Leo went bush but luckily no injuries. Other than that we had a section cancelled due to conditions and a couple people charged off down a wrong track following bike tracks instead of the GPS tracks.

[Jeffrey SmithMember]

mt Hotham

[attachment=4378]image_2014-05-03.jpg[/attachment]

[Jeffrey SmithMember]

Good on ya Puddles, have a good ride mate

[Jeffrey SmithMember]

A little cool overnight
[attachment=4377]image_2014-05-02.jpg[/attachment]

[Jeffrey SmithMember]

Plenty here already but still some yet to turn up. Weather today was fine, hopefully tomorrow will be too. Saturday and Sunday lookalike being the coldest days.

The brains trust hard at it loading GPS’s
[attachment=4375]image_2014-05-01.jpg[/attachment]

[Jeffrey SmithMember]

I am all ready to go as well. Panniers are packed and strapped on the bike, fitted a tap between the front and rear tanks to make filling them easier and filled them. Just need to gear up and ride to OFBM’S in the morning.

The forecast for Omeo and Ensay is rain. Day 1 might be dry at least.

[Jeffrey SmithMember]

The newcastle and central coast areas have a bit to offer as well. Reasonably large engineering companies as wee as the mines and power stations for work. Good riding areas as well as beaches, vineyards and ports.

[Jeffrey SmithMember]

Yeah it was a pretty good test today, as Al said we had some pretty slippery conditions at time (extremely slippery at times) but the bike handled well. The D908 tyres don’t like sand and throttle control is important on wet tar but were generally not bad. The front felt more stable than the old Tenere even with the standard springs and being lowered.
The bash plate fell off on the way back due to the mounting bracket breaking and the throttle is a bit touchy, especially on slippery down hills but other than that I was very happy with the bike

[Jeffrey SmithMember]

Thanks mate but I have the manual with the settings.

[Jeffrey SmithMember]

The wheels are balanced Lefty. It is not so much a vibration type shake it is where the bars wobble back and forth sort of like a high speed wobble.

You coming out tomorrow Al? If not I will give you a call and we can sort out what we are doing next week for the trip dpwn

[Jeffrey SmithMember]

The wheels are balanced Lefty. It is not so much a vibration type shake it is where the bars wobble back and forth sort of like a high speed wobble.

[Jeffrey SmithMember]

Lefty wrote:

Jeffro wrote:

Anyone had experience with Rally Raid D908 tyres?

Hey there Jeffro,

Nice 690 there mate!

As for the 908’s I have been using them of late on my KTM 640. The fronts are quite soft in their knobs and tent to squirm under the front and give you a little un settled feel until you get used to it, however the wear rat is not too bad. if I can get hold of a MX-71 Dunlop before the High Country I will change it as I used one during a recent ride with TB and loved it.

As for the rear they seem to wear ok, however once you get to around 30 to 40% worn and lose the radial grooves in the blocks they become a bit of a paddle tyre where braking and drive is still ok, however there is very little lateral grip. The last one I used I grooved the blocks and it was heaps better, however the wear rate went through the roof. Using a Michelin UHD tube you can run low pressures as they have quite a stiff side wall and good puncture resistance.

I hope this helps as they are quite expensive. Best value for money is a Dunlop 606 Rear IMO.

Cheers, Lefty

Thanks Lefty,

I will give them a test run tomorrow if the weather is ok. I have only done a little bit of dirt so far and wasn’t really impressed but the pressures were around 25psi so not a fair test I don’t think. On the road once you get over 100kph the front is all over the place shaking the whole bike. I have experienced it before on other bikes and tyres but nowhere near as bad as this was.
If I am not happy with them I will throw a set of the 606’s at it. Will need to get the suspension done as well the guy that had it had tekniks set it up for h and he is apparently much smaller than me, probably won’t get time before the high country thouhh

[Jeffrey SmithMember]

Anyone had experience with Rally Raid D908 tyres?

[Jeffrey SmithMember]

Happy birthday Al and Mrs Al. All the best to you both

[Author]

Posts