[Hemdawg]

greetings all!

Picked up my black manual 1 week ago out here on Vancouver Island, on the west coast of Canada, then managed a thousand km's off the beaten track in the mainland coastal mountains.

Besides a ripped rear inner tube, in the middle of the boonies, the ride on many types of terrain and surfaces was wonderful.

I'll pick up more aggressive tires at some point, but also need good contact on pavement, so I will have to research the tire market.

I had initially wanted a DCT, but as I read the ride reports, it seemed the DCT was favoured more in the off-road, which made sense. Considering I'm getting a little older, and not an aggressive off-roader, I chose the standard transmission, and I am very happy with my choice.

Looking forward to many km's of exploring on this bike.

 

[Elvisto]

Congrats and welcome Hem,:grin2: Don't know about the DCT off road , but it sure is great on road,:wink2:

 

[p2rider]

Greetings from the other side of the world!
Nice score to pick up a black one, Honda Australia doesn't import that one.

Oh, and you'll find no shortage of suggestions on tires. Best suggestion I can give is to be a bit sceptical about the road/offroad ratings quoted by the tire manufacturers. Some say (heh) if you ride 90% road & 10% off road then you should get tires rated at 90-10. To me that only makes sense if you can live with the compromises that brings - for the 10% of the time you are riding off road, your tires will be rubbish. I use the road-offroad ratings given by the manufacturers as a relative importance figure, not time spent on road and off road. As a result, I use big block tires that are rated as something like 20-80 even though the majority of the time I will be on road. The performance off road is important enough to me (even though it doesn't happen much) that I will live with the shorter life and lower road grip when I'm on a sealed road.

 

[Hemdawg]

Thanks for the tip P2,
Which tires have you been happy with?
Hemdawg

 

[superfunkomatic]

Congrats!

I've been using Michelin Pilot Trail tires for the roadability and it's a street tire. I ride gravel and occasionally tracks but need the street performance to go off on longer adventures.I've currently got them on my big pig Varadero and have got (17,000 + kilometres). I just take it easy and slow down.

I've also used Pirelli Scorpion Trail tires and they are a good street and light duty offroad/gravel tire (around 9-10,000 kilometres).

For more 50/50, I've used the Heidenau K60 Scout and TKC80 which leans to more offroad but are okay on pavement. Heidenau last a long time (12,000 kilometres), TKCs not so much (about 6,000).

 

[Hemdawg]

Thanks Superfunk,
I will research each of those recomendations.
I've heard the Heidenau K60 Scout rubber is very hard, affecting grip on pavement. Has that been your experience?

 

[superfunkomatic]

Yes. The Heidenau was very hard rubber. They were a bear to mount. I did a 80km/h powerslide once by accident and unexpectedly. I tend to go pretty slow off-road, not push my luck and not push the limits of the bike, thus the Pilot Road Trail 4. I'd rather have the road tire and sacrifice on the off-road. There's lot of choices. The other tire I'd like to try is the Mitas brand that makes all kind of 50/50, 60/40, 20/80 mixes for anything you want.