It’s What We Do

This entry is part 1 of 19 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #30

When I moved to adventure riding on DR650s early this century there were bugger-all tyres available for a 17-inch rear rim. I remember my choices were pretty much a Pirelli MT21 or a Bridgestone Trail Wing. Those tyres had their limitations, but that’s all there was and I made do.

Now there’s a huge range of tyres available for 17-inch rear rims, and they seem to be incredibly specialised. We can even pick and choose between tyres rated for a given percentage of road/off-road use.

It’s wonderful, and as the bikes have increased in weight and horsepower, tyre selection has become a critical – and expensive – facet of performance.

But I’ve been having a lot trouble with tyres recently. At first I wondered if it may have been bad luck – even though I’m very reluctant to accept coincidence or luck exists when it comes to riding.

But the incidents mounted up to where they couldn’t be dismissed any more.

There’s clearly something not right.

I thought the problems may stem from my insistence on fitting the tyres myself.

I need to be able to fit and remove the tyres so I can do repairs away from the shed. I fit the tyres with the equipment in my bike’s tool roll to be sure of that.

It’s the way I’ve always done it.

“As the bikes have increased in weight and horsepower, tyre selection has become a critical – and expensive – facet of performance.”

Like all of us, I’m keen to try new things and enjoy the improved performance the latest tyres offer. But damn these adventure tyres are getting hard to handle.

And they’re near impossible to get off the rim to repair, which is where my problems invariably end up.

Lately I’ve been having trouble simply getting the beads to set. A couple of times I’ve ended up at the mechanic’s and I’ve watched him have trouble too, even with his workshop equipment.

That’s no good to me when I’m in a desert somewhere, hundreds of kilo-metres from a big compressor and a tech with a swag of sneaky tricks.

And a little while ago I had the embarrassment of not being able to break a bead – let alone get the tyre off the rim – when I was caught with a puncture. Fortunately, I was near enough to civilization that I could stop and pump up the tyre every few minutes until I made it to a bike shop.

I think it’s time I went back to basics.

I don’t own any big-horsepower bikes, and I’m riding a whole lot slower than I used to. Maybe I should be looking at tyre choice differently. Instead of ferreting out the ultimate in longevity or performance in a specific situation, maybe I should be rating being able to do a repair myself as more important. I remember repairing plenty of punctures when I had little choice in tyres, and I remember sliding all over wet roads and muddy trails, but I don’t remember ever being stuck because of a flat.

And I remember really enjoying myself.

That’s why we ride, after all.

It’s back to basics for me.

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