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Post by thatsawkward on Apr 29, 2012 17:20:58 GMT 1
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gills
Bad ass biker
Posts: 262
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Post by gills on Apr 29, 2012 19:39:07 GMT 1
Interesting looking rear tyre must help a lot. The biggest problem if using an NTV off-road is finding a suitable front tyre in 17" - plenty of choice of dual-purpose tyres for a 17" rear.
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norfolknchance
Sheene Gold rider. Nuff said
15967 mile & climbing
Posts: 783
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Post by norfolknchance on Apr 29, 2012 21:34:08 GMT 1
sorry to say............but thats nothing special
i dont change anything on "fingers"..........i just get on & ride
i take a tool kit, puncture kit & sometimes a garden hoe
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groovylee
Sheene Gold rider. Nuff said
Member of the QA team
Posts: 648
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Post by groovylee on Apr 29, 2012 22:34:31 GMT 1
i take a tool kit, puncture kit & sometimes a garden hoeLegend ;D  |
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gills
Bad ass biker
Posts: 262
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Post by gills on Apr 30, 2012 9:10:02 GMT 1
....sometimes a garden hoe I've now got this image of you riding along one handed, holding your hoe like a knight's lance in the other! Respect! How about making a holster for the hoe on the Rat-ville?  |
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Post by jax140 on May 3, 2012 18:55:11 GMT 1
Interesting looking rear tyre must help a lot. The biggest problem if using an NTV off-road is finding a suitable front tyre in 17" - plenty of choice of dual-purpose tyres for a 17" rear. I had the same problem finding a decent dual sport tyre. After long internet research I found some people are using different sizes front and rear. The closest to original is 120/70-17 front and 160/60-17 rear. I went for that set up and bought supermoto tyres k73 from German maker Heidenau. You can see how good they grip on sand in this video and on gravel and tarmac (dry or wet) they're a lot better ;D They're tough diagonal tyres with reinforced side walls, tubeless but suitable to run a tube if needed. With speed index H (up to 210 kmh - 125 mph). I tried many tyres in my 33 years of biking (used to be motorcycle courier in London for a few years as well) but these Heidenau Supermoto rubbers get amazing grip on anything but deep mud. And despite non standard dimensions handling is excellent perhaps even better than on stock rubber.  |
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76offset
Ahh! Just passed their bike test
Posts: 22
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Post by 76offset on May 3, 2012 20:40:54 GMT 1
Interesting posts and thanks gills for the tyre info - Heidenau k73. I wonder how they last on the highway? (not a name I would normally consider) Interesting movie jax140 seeing the NTV going fast on a loose sandy track ! For a tall person I found that lower footrests and raising the handlebars with wedge spacers made a big improvement to stability - I noticed the foot was down quite a bit in the movie! My theory is that the fork trail / steering head angle is a bit much for off road and makes them want to oversteer - noticeable at lower speeds - bigger dia. f.wheel would unfortunately increase trail further, regards - 76 offset
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Post by jax140 on May 3, 2012 23:03:45 GMT 1
Interesting posts and thanks gills for the tyre info - Heidenau k73. I wonder how they last on the highway? - 76 offset 76offest it's jax140 not gills for the record. And coming back to your question - I've had them for a week only but an American bloke from ADVRider forum who inspired me to go for Heidenau Supermoto put these tyres (sorry: tires ;D) on his Suzuki Bandit 600 and after 8000 km of predominantly highway use reported they were still quite good. He posted pictures of himself riding his Bandit in the middle of what looked like a desert or a huge sand pit with dunes ! I will be reporting on my experience with k73 as I go. Some more input on these tyres - max load front 236 kg rear 325 kg Heidenau does at least two types of k73, a pure race tyre for track use only and a road legal version called Heidenau Supermoto k73 Super Rain (I've got road version). As for the steering angle you're right it is a bit steep and controlling the inner life of the front wheel can be challenging at times. Luckily for me someone put longer forks on my NTV so the less steep steering angle as much as it can be annoying on tarmac actually helps matters off road. I'm considering raising the handlebars and lowering the footpegs and definitely putting a different seat much higher. I temporarily lifted the seat by 8 cm to see how it goes (I'm used to higher bikes) and miraculously I could feel a lot more in control of the bike especially off road. Don't ask me how it works but it does  |
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76offset
Ahh! Just passed their bike test
Posts: 22
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Post by 76offset on May 4, 2012 16:51:22 GMT 1
Ah yes jax, all good info. 8000 km on that chunky tyre seems quite hopeful ( - not sure I fancy it for road use really) The way I see it though steering angle too shallow means bigger dia. wheel or longer forks will make it worse (i.e. increase the trail) People say they drop the yokes down the forks by about 10mm below the scribed guide line to improve steering and handling this effectively shortens them and decreases trail ( by not a lot I'll guess) Maybe someone has experienced this ? I had some extra padding put in the rider part of my seat to raise the height by an inch or two - that together with lower(deauville) footrests and higher bars transformed the comfort and control feel. |
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