Tires! Yes, tires, the bottomless rabbit hole. My anticipated use: Mostly dirt, but I will have to ride Wyoming top to bottom mostly on road on my return leg of WY BDR to return to my truck. Just going to keep these as standard tubes with Quadboss sealer inside.
TKC-80s have proven mediocre and inadequate for off road.
First consideration: Dunlop 908 Rally Raid. Out of stock.
Second consideration: Goldentyre Rally tires. Good reputation, life, but tread blocks look a little close together.
Third consideration: Motoz Rallz, currently in #1 place due to greater tread depth and the nice blocks spacing.
Other considerations: Put a more knobby tire on the front? Like 140/80-18 Motoz Rallz on rear and 90/90-21 Goldentyre 216AA on front? Mmmaybe not, as the Ralz front looks decently aggressive.
What y'all think?
I know you don't like carrying the weight but I always carry extra tubes, sometimes multiples, if on a big trip. It seems like that whatever tubes are made out of now patches don't stick to them worth a darn anymore.TIRES & TIRE TOOLS
The goal of the tools module of this bike is the most capability with the least weight. I'm working from a list, doing mockups of having to work this and that and what tools do I need? All of it shallow work of course. No major work is assumed and that has proven out over the decades as my machines are always exceptionally well looked out for and modified, and importantly, I'm super anal about line selection so I statistically do less bashing into stuff and crashing. I will have a varied-supplies stash that can, make up for things like coolant leaks, etc. Zip ties, stainless steel wire, various adhesives like JB Weld. And an assortment of fasteners. Traditionally the latter have been used to hold parts on other's bikes when fasteners are lost due to dry assembly and not checking things before rides.
THE DREADED FLATS
I hate working flats of any kind in the field! In 52 years I have had two slower leaking pinch-type flats that could get me back to the shop. And one that pinched out and had a slow leak (with Quadboss sealer) that let me put in 2 ride days but finally failed on the highway going home. That one was on the rear and had to be fixed by the highway side :-( One flat was on a newly mounted Michelin X-Lite rear trials tire (tubeless). A simple well duh. I had aired up in the shop to ~4 psi, then forgot to add air after descending thousands of feet for the ride, then maybe I had 2 psi. I nailed a step edge straight away and the tire. which had set to seat in glue like on the bead, de beaded instantly. A 1 mile slow ride back to parking and Carl thankfully had a beading-aid donut in his truck.
The worst tire incident was during a 2018 ride in remote in Utah. My riding partner has FOUR front flats on his 690 over about three hours. Short spoons, a tiny can of WD40 for mounting lube, an electric air pump, and the problem: super cheap patches that kept letting go. Note to self, "Buy the best damned patches and glue!"
Anyway, back to TOOLS
I'm very pleased with the Tusk aluminum axle nut and spoon combo tools, 27mm (front), and 32mm (rear), each wide spooned and 10" long. I wish they were 14" long, but I'll take what I can get. I dud order a couple of steel Tusk versions, here seen in the center, but may not take one as each one is heavier than both aluminum tools and the spoon is less wide.
I can't tell how the aluminum tools are made. They are either machined from wrought and polished, or the are forgings and the die flash lines on the sides have been machined off.
Regardless, they are thick and look like they will be strong enough to do a rear tire.
On the 701, I will keep it simple, and stick with the no-rim-lock tube type arrangement. Quadboss sealer in each tube. Watch the valve stems for angling from tire creep.
I'm a big fan of the Tubliss system for ridiculous bead retention while being able to air down the tire to 5 psi for specially instances, though I'd probably never go below 12 front and rear on a 701.
My standard do-all air pressure is 18 psi on a 701. I wonder if I'd get bead creep at 15 psi, either from power or braking? I should do a test on the TKC 80s before I de-mount them.
WHAT'S THE LOWEST AIR PRESSURE ANY OF YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE RUNNING IN A NO RIM LOCK TUBE-TYPE SETUP ON A BIKE OF THIS WEIGHT AND POWER? I know that's terrain dependent. Sharp rocks and ledges could use a bit higher psi, but so would slimy mud with water pools, as slime and water are both lubricants and can reduce the bead grip.
I do both of these as well. Have had bad luck using patches on tubes in recent years so usually carry front and rear tubes as well as patches for long trips. I also run about 20 psi (sometimes 22 depending on bike and expected terrain) on most trips because of my dislike of pinch flats.I know you don't like carrying the weight but I always carry extra tubes, sometimes multiples, if on a big trip. It seems like that whatever tubes are made out of now patches don't stick to them worth a darn anymore.
I hate pinch flats so I run a lot higher pressures than a lot of people would and deal with the loss of traction.
I do both of these as well. Have had bad luck using patches on tubes in recent years so usually carry front and rear tubes as well as patches for long trips. I also run about 20 psi (sometimes 22 depending on bike and expected terrain) on most trips because of my dislike of pinch flats.
TIRE TUBES - SPARES & OTHER DETAILS Thanks for that feedback, guys. I carried a set of tubes with the KLR for years and never once used even one. But what can be worse than an unrecoverable flat way out there? One tactic is you carry a front tube and your riding partner carries a rear tube.I know you don't like carrying the weight but I always carry extra tubes, sometimes multiples, if on a big trip. It seems like that whatever tubes are made out of now patches don't stick to them worth a darn anymore.
I hate pinch flats so I run a lot higher pressures than a lot of people would and deal with the loss of traction.
TIRE TUBES - SPARES & OTHER DETAILS Thanks for that feedback, guys. I carried a set of tubes with the KLR for years and never once used even one. But what can be worse than an unrecoverable flat way out there? One tactic is you carry a front tube and your riding partner carries a rear tube.
The single most helpful video I found about tubes was the below Motoz video, as it actually had some detail and numbers to it. There is TESTED in the title, but I so no actual engineering level testing for pinch flat resistance. The overriding assumption is thicker is better, but is that really true? Another assumption is that natural versus butyl synthetic tubes are better, but are they? Does natural rubber provide better patch adhesion? Possibly. Without engineering level testing and peer review it's all just hearsay and assumptions.
A more expensive and perhaps 'safer' bet is fitting the Motoz 3mm tubes (4mm seems a bit over the top), and carrying their 1.6mm spares, as suggested.
Remember me going on about how smart the Tusk aluminum tire spoon/axle nut tools are? I found a serious flaw, however, caught when watching the following excellent Motion Pro tire mounting/demounting technique video.
The serious flaw? The lack of the reverse curve (yellow), relative to the long axis of the tool (blue), to go with the front curve of the tool (red), as found on the more evolved steel tire spoons:
The aluminum tools compared to a 10" Tusk and 16" and no-brand spoons I have in the shop:
Solution? Carry one steel tire spoon for the primary, high-force spooning work.
RIM LOCKS
The 701 lacks them, and that could end up a problem when running the pressures lower?
It's a classic problem, but there could be assumptions that rim locks are more effective than assumed. How to know without actual testing. I have had several tube-type bikes with no rim locks and no problems. KLR 250s and 650s. The 250s we used in the high mountains, at 15 psi front and rear, pounding the poop out of the tires on rocky terrain. No problems. How would the 701 do in the same circumstances, being heavier, more powerful, and having quite powerful brakes? Your opinions please.
It's easy enough to drill a hole and add rim locks, but why do that if they aren't really needed?