Re-Installed Anakee 3 tires. The front TKC-80 was fine, but the center tread of the rear was almost gone after the Moab trip. That means the rear lasted about 4k miles with most of that carrying a full load of camping gear. The Anakee’s have about 3k miles on them already, but have plenty of tread.
I can’t get the bike out if the door won’t open! While there’s lot’s of info on how to install garage door openers on the web, there’s a lot less info on how shorten a garage door opener, especially a belt-drive model, to make it fit in a smaller space. I’ve documented my installation of a Chamberlain opener for those of you who might have similar constraints.
Installed new TKC 80 tires front and rear. The removed TKC80’s have about about 2k/1k f/r miles tread remaining. Changed because there’s just not enough tread left for an upcoming 3k ride.
Added a few drops of DOT-4 Synthetic brake fluid to rear.
Cleaned air filter
Adjusted clutch to 5mm play
Checked coolant levels — OK
Check brake pads — OK
Deep clean chain and sprockets
Checked for error codes (None found)
Note: Glad I bought TKC 80’s! Bike ran great on trip to Bella Coola, BC
In preparation for a likely 2000 mile trip that will probably involve more off-road travel than on, I’ve swapped out the Anakee 3’s tires for some TKC 80’s. The Anikee’s probably would have been OK, unless there was going to be mud or sand. I’m expecting both.
I had one small problem when I first reinstalled the front wheel — the caliper was dragging. I removed the wheel and discovered that the inside pad had come loose from the top clip. I couldn’t get it back in without removing the rod at the bottom. That done I could slide the pads vertically back into the clips and reinstall the rod and retaining clip. Everything was fine after that.
For the trip, I’ve also installed a cheap headlight guard bought off eBay. If you look carefully in the next picture you can see the freshly painted radiator guard made from a kitchen cooling rack. (click to enlarge)
I’m not expecting these to be good highway tires, but they should add a large margin of safety on the more slippery off-road bits.
The Anakee 3’s will go back on the bike at some point. They still have a lot of wear left in them. I don’t know how many miles are on the rear, it looked pretty new when I bought the bike. As you can see it has a lot of tread. The rear has started to square off a bit. The front tire as almost exactly 3000 miles on it. I have no complains about these tires so far.
I’ve installed a homemade radiator guard in preparation for an upcoming trip that will likely involve several hundred miles of off-pavement riding. I didn’t like the commercial offerings — too pricey — and most of the DIY guard designs looked like they’d restrict the air flow too much.
This is what I came up with. The guard is made from a $13 stainless steel kitchen cooling rack and a bit of aluminum scrap that I had in the garage. I’ll eventually paint it black, but I thought you’d be able to see the design better before painting. The mounting hardware did add a few dollars to the cost of the project, so it’s not really a $13 guard, but it’s close.
I’ve created a separate page with more detail on this guard as well as another design that I decided not to use: DIY $13 Radiator Guard
After riding more than 2200 miles in 10 days, the verdict is in on the new Sargent seat. It’s good! The first day was the longest — 430 miles. Sure I needed to move around a bit on the seat to keep from getting stiff but, at the end of the trip I can honestly say that the seat is up to the task in terms of comfort; I was never sore. Cold, yes, but a new sleeping bag should solve that problem.
California coast north of Bodega Bay
The seat does have one cosmetic problem. The fabric developed diagonal, crease marks on both sides of the seat. I’m guessing this must be where two pieces of foam are joined. What’s interesting is that these showed up as sharp creases in the first 100 miles. They’re actually less pronounced now. I might give Sargent a call and see what they have to say about this.
Crease mark. Similar crease on the opposite side of the seat
I had zero problems with the new wiring. There were several places where heated clothing came in handy, particularly around Mt. Bachelor in Oregon where snow was piled up on both sides of the road and it was a rather chilly 43 degF.
I couldn’t have done the trip without the Kaoko throttle lock. It not only gives me the ability to take the pressure off my wrist on the open road, but on the bumpy bits I used it to smooth out the otherwise twitchy throttle. I was also using a CrampBuster, but ended up taking it off the throttle grip about half way through the trip.
The bike ran great, averaging 52 mpg. I didn’t have to add any oil. Both tires were losing about 0.5 PSI/day at the beginning of the trip, but were stable by the end. The only problem on the trip was a burned out low-beam headlight, which was quickly fixed after quick stop at NAPA Auto. Now it’s time to do the 12k mile service and get the bike ready for the next 2000 mile trip into British Columbia.
In preparation for a couple of longer trips planned for this summer which won’t always involve pavement, I’ve installed an upper crash bar. It wasn’t cheap, but it’s probably cheap insurance against having to repair/replace body panels. It also strengthens the lower crash bars. Of course it will be in the way when I need to remove body panels, but with the cooling system serviced, that shouldn’t be any time soon. I used Blue Loctite on the four screws and tightened to 9NM
The fender extender is something I decided to try after a recommendation from a friend with more extensive riding experience. I’m a little concerned that it’s going to catch on something and destroy the front fender — time will tell. This particular brand was on closeout at AltRider. It seems to be a discontinued product for this bike.
Here’s the before picture, taken last week. The new bash plate did its job; I could hear it ping when it was struck with rocks and branches.
(Update 5/4/18) Here’s the bike with the upper crash bar and fender extender installed. It’s all fueled up and ready to go on what will probably be a 2000 mile trip.
