Noob on board, kinda......

[sploogemonkey]

I'm a relative noob to my XR600, but I've been riding for 30 years.

I'm gonna do my best to use the search function for all my questions, and I have a boatload of questions!

I know damn well that I've got the usual noob questions, so I guess I might as well start researching now...... but in the mean time.....

I like the board so far, are there many SoCal riders here? I don't mean the fast guys, I mean the average, middle aged, overweight guys like me. I need to try to get some practicing in, I haven't done much dirt riding in the last few years.

My preference is trail riding paced desert riding. Not balls out craziness, just decent paced flat land desert cruising. I need to build up my confidence to attack those steep rock and rut covered 1/4 mile uphills/downhills.

jeez.... I sound like a vagina already......

[martinfan30]

welcome to the TT family! there is SOOOOO much info and good guys here that will help.

[Owyhee]

Welcome to the 600/650 forum.

Love the name.

"O"

[Denn10]

AMEN someone who came in FIRST POST and knows about the search HELL YEA you will find alot as i hope you have good eyes sounds like youll be doing some research for quite a few days.

High Desert here Victorville area Where you at? I ride in the desert some but i do go through the mountains also,not now its all burnded up,

Welcome!!

[Denn10]

LOOK hes got more gas in 1 post than i had in 750 when i had my week suspension LMAO

[sploogemonkey]

AMEN someone who came in FIRST POST and knows about the search HELL YEA you will find alot as i hope you have good eyes sounds like youll be doing some research for quite a few days.

High Desert here Victorville area Where you at? I ride in the desert some but i do go through the mountains also,not now its all burnded up,

Welcome!!

Ahhh begorah!!!! Your avatar.... it's meeee!

I'm in the crotchpit of Kali.... the IE.

I try to get up to El Mirage or Calico for riding when I can. I know there are better spots, but I don't have any riding buds. It's not like I have a third arm growing out of the side of my head or anything, most people just avoid interacting with me. I do bathe, you know.

I'm probably going up to Fremont Peak in a few weeks for some weekend camping/riding/shooting. But I gots to replace the water pump on my gas sucking Ford first.

I'll be working on that this Saturday.

[martinfan30]

LOOK hes got more gas in 1 post than i had in 750 when i had my week suspension LMAO

cause he is not a D***! lOl:busted:

[Beyond The Pale]

There are plenty of riders in this part of California. Down near the bottom of the forum list is the California section. There are lots of people that will take on another rider.

Watch out though just because a guy is in his 40's hardly means that they are slow, but they will not leave you behind. I tend to push my XR600 to it's limits.

I take my bike everywhere from insane singletrack to WFO dry lake runs. compared to a lot of guys I'm not that fast, but I'll try most anything. I hate crashing.

Ask your questions and you should be able to get some answers. You will not find a better source of knowledge than here.

[sploogemonkey]

Watch out though just because a guy is in his 40's hardly means that they are slow, but they will not leave you behind. I tend to push my XR600 to it's limits.

Oh, I know there are plenty of fast Vet and Senior riders out there, I'm just hoping to pair up with the average experienced rider who won't have to stop and wait every five miles for me to catch up. I've done that for others, and whereas I don't mind it, I know it makes the person doing the catching up feel kind of weird for holding everyone up.

As far as pushing my pig to the limit, that hasn't happened engine-wise yet, though I already know that I need to do some serious tweaking to my suspension.

I already have a list of mods I intend to implement over the next couple of months to my bike. All of them will be gleaned from the fertile minds of you ThumperTalk forum members, so don't be stingy with the go-fast tricks.

My first order of business ought to be decent tires 'cause my last ride almost high sided me due to the rear end sliding out so bad under hard acceleration.

There's still plenty of life left on the rear meat, so I'll prob' just keep it a little longer and be a little more judicious in my application of the pucker tube on my handlebar.

Thanks for the welcome.

[martinfan30]

you want good meat???? pirelli mt-21's.

[Beyond The Pale]

you want good meat???? pirelli mt-21's.

MT-21's are a good tire if you require DOT tires for the street. I have a plate, but I only occasionally hit the pavement. I run non-DOT tires. I've settled on the Maxxis Desert IT for good traction and awesome tire life. I've never tried a front though, only the read. I may give one a try when my Dunlop is done.

[martinfan30]

the front mt21 is good too, it just cups badly if used mostly on the street.

[sploogemonkey]

My XR600 is dirt only. I wish I could plate it, but alas, I'm in commiefornia.

It has a Dunlop D739 Desert AT on the rear, but since it's still in decent shape, I can't bring myself to take it off. I've only put about 50 miles on the bike since I bought it, and the bike feels squirrely on hard pack with about 15psi. The two riding areas closest to my home is mostly rock and hard pack clay, so I'm not too happy with the performance, but it seems to work better when I go up to the high desert.

I've been researching previous posts on recommended tires here, and it seems like the general consensus is the Maxxis Desert IT. Now I'm just debating whether to go with the 110/100 or the 120/100, I'm assuming the 120 will fit in the swingarm without rubbing, but I'm not sure.

My front tire is mis-matched. I think it's a Bridgestone? I don't remember, and I don't feel like wandering out in the backyard in my barefeet with a flashlight to look. I seem to recall seeing the word "Vulcanduro" on it.

I'll give both tires till the new year before I change 'em.

[Beyond The Pale]

I run my tires way down before replacing them. As long as they still work I keep running them. Actually I usually go a little past that. The 739 is a decent tire. I think that the Maxxis IT or desert IT has similar traction, but last 2 or 3 times longer. The Vulcanduro is an IRC tire. They are also decent. I used to run them all the time on my 81 XR500R.

[martinfan30]

size wise, i run a 130 rear. i beleive i could get away with a 140 even. if i rode dirt only i would run the 140. plenty of room on the L, on the R should be similar.

[Big Red Paul]

Welcome to the forum.

Hope they have put out those fires there in Cali.

[sploogemonkey]

Welcome to the forum.

Hope they have put out those fires there in Cali.

Thanks for the welcome, Big Red Paul.

Our fire crews are doing their best to deal with the fires, they're a hard working bunch and deserve a lot of credit for their efforts. It must be getting some coverage world wide if you're hearing about it in the UK.

I wouldn't mind trading some desert riding for some "green laning" right about now.

[nukinfutz]

Splooge:

I just put a Kenda K270 in the 510 size on the rear....that is close to a 140. I see DOT is not your weapon of choice, but an excellent tire none the less. From reading the forums here I learned that 140 is the upper end of tire size before you put a serious arch in the tire, and lose traction, and durability etc. they fit justly between the arms, so this may give you an idea of knob size (dirt only, may be a little fatter). I rode in a REALLY rocky area in southern WV recently. It didn't clip knobs off like the Maxxis I had before. BTW, I read somewhere a while back that drilling a 1/8inch hole CAREFULLY into the knob center will give it some play and decrease breakage. Anyone heard of that before?

Welcome to the knowledge base man.........there is a lot here. Enjoy!!!!

[martinfan30]

Splooge:

I just put a Kenda K270 in the 510 size on the rear....that is close to a 140. I see DOT is not your weapon of choice, but an excellent tire none the less. From reading the forums here I learned that 140 is the upper end of tire size before you put a serious arch in the tire, and lose traction, and durability etc. they fit justly between the arms, so this may give you an idea of knob size (dirt only, may be a little fatter). I rode in a REALLY rocky area in southern WV recently. It didn't clip knobs off like the Maxxis I had before. BTW, I read somewhere a while back that drilling a 1/8inch hole CAREFULLY into the knob center will give it some play and decrease breakage. Anyone heard of that before?

Welcome to the knowledge base man.........there is a lot here. Enjoy!!!!

drilling a hole like that sounds like it could help. never heard of that yet. might be worth a shot.