Learning how to ride a big-bore dual sport motorcycle...
Most of us learned how to ride from a friend or family member - I learned from my Dad. I was only 4 when he took me for my first ride aboard a "Tote-Goat". According to Mom I fell off the back but came up laughing and wanting more. Since then I've picked up a trick here and a technique there, and now I manage to wobble down the trail pretty well aboard my BMW F8GS and R12GS. Admittedly it was a seat-of-the-pants education when it came to riding off-road. I've since discovered there's an easier way to acquire those skills - get an expert to teach you in a few days what it took me years to figure out for myself. RawHyde Adventures is THE place to learn off-road skills on a big-bore adventure bike. They're an official BMW off-road training center.
People ask us about tires...
Because BestRest makes the CyclePump, the TireIron BeadBrakR, and other tire repair products, we're often asked for recommendations on tires. They want to know what tires we use on our own bikes (the BMW F800GS and R1200GS). Here's what we tell them... For years we used two brands: Metzler Tourance for road riding, and Continental TKC-80 for off-road applications. Tourances gave us good performance on the tarmac, but didn't grip very well off-road. TKC's were great off-road, but they easily wore out within a few thousand miles.
We've learned about a new tire that gives the best of both worlds - Heidenau. We've seen them in use both on and off road, and we like what we see. PS. We don't get paid to say this.
Type www.heidenauusa.com in your web browser for more info.
Winterizing your bike(s)
For most of us the riding season is coming to a close so it's time to think about "winterizing" our bike(s). Here's a few helpful tips (and some painful lessons) we've learned over the years:
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Washington Backcountry Discovery Route (WBDR)
and the TireIron BeadBrakR
Jim Decker came into our shop in late September 2011 to get a few things for an upcoming ride - the WBDR. Jim pilots a KTM 950, and with the stiff sidewalls on the KTM he needed a surefire method of breaking the tire beads so he could make emergency repairs in the field. He purchased a TireIron BeadBrakR and the Tire DVD, which shows how to use the BeadBrakR, how to change tires, and how to make tire repairs.
A week later Jim and 2 riding buddies were on the WBDR, 35 miles from the nearest town, when one of the riders had a puncture on his Suzuki DR650. A trailer hitch cotter pin somehow managed to imbed itself in the rear tire, ruining the tube. Jim pulled out his BeadBrakR, and in a few minutes the tire was off the rim, a new tube was installed, the tire was remounted, and the tire was inflated using Jim's CyclePump.
Jim wrote this, "The BeadBrakR worked perfectly; I simply pulled it out of the plastic wrapper and followed the instructions. Nice to have the connecting keys all strapped to the metal brace parts,…it made the assembly process easy and will ensure I don’t lose them in the future. We also used the mounting lubricant for placing the tire back on the wheel,…..then used the 3 tire irons to re-mount the tire. I only wish I’d had your tube of talc powder,…….but inserted without it, and the tire was back in action in no time!
Adventures in Chile
My name is Mick Høy. I’m a 32-year-old guy from Denmark. Back home I was as an aircraft mechanic, but in 2009 I quit my job, sold all my belongings, and left everything behind. It was the best decision of my life. I decided to ride the world on a ’96 Honda VFR 750 sports bike stored in my parent’s garage. Since I started my adventure I’ve traveled solo on 3 continents visiting more than 30 countries.
Now I’m a motorcycle overlander, photographer, motorcycle mechanic, webmaster, waiter, but most of all I’ve become a tyre repair man. You quickly learn how to fix a tire once you’ve repaired your second puncture… or your fourth in one day. Even changing radial tubeless tyres becomes easy. During my time on the road I’ve had 17 punctures. Luckily I had good equipment with me – the Cycle Pump tire inflator and gauge, and their tyre plugger kit. These tools are among the most important things I carry.
My CyclePump has journeyed with me through some of the most hostile environments on the earth - from tremendous heat of Western Sahara, to freezing cold of Patagonia. Those tyre tools have saved my bacon more than once, and I’ve also helped other people with my Cycle Pump tyre kit when they’ve been standing by the side of the road. "Bikers Help Other Bikers" is my motto.
Normally I sleep on the street, at gas stations, or sometimes people invite me to stay with them so I can save money, but I would never try to save money when it comes to tyre gear. I spent my money wisely on good gear that would see me safely on my journeys.
You’re welcome to follow my journey on www.mhoey.eu. I’m still on the road, and I’m now in Santiago de Chile. A big hello to fellow travelers and biker friends out there! - Mick Høy
Jan 2012 - Update on Mick. He's launched a new website Ride Chile
2011 Ride Planning
Plan Your Rides - Ride Your Plan
Two-thousand-twelve. 2012. Twenty-twelve...
There's a clean road ahead of us and we all have a chance to make 2012 a riding year to remember. That assumes, of course, that the world doesn't come to an end this year, which would make 2013 ride planning much more difficult. 8^)
Now's the time to plan your rides. (We've learned that if we don't plan them, they don't happen.) It's not that we don't take impromptu rides when the mood hits, or close the shop when the sun is shining, but a pre-planned "riding schedule" keeps us on track and helps us accomplish our riding goals.
Check your magazines and web forums for the dates of rallies and club events. Make a list of the rides you want to take, places you'd like to visit, things you'd like to see. Use your imagination. Be daring, be bold. Think of it as your motorcycle "bucket list". You won't get to ride them all this year, but who knows?
Go to an office supply store and buy the BIGGEST dry erase wall calendar you can find, one that shows all 12 months on the same page. Ours measures 3'x5' and sits above our desk.
Once you have your list, start filling in goals and dates on the calendar. Leave some blank spots for the necessities of life, like work and family. Or other non-motorcycle events. Yes, they do happen.
If you're like us, you'll quickly discover there's not enough time to take every ride, to attend every rally, to see it all or do it all. Prioritize, evaluate, and eventually you'll pare your schedule and come up with a realistic RIDING PLAN.
For us personally, the process of planning our rides is almost as much fun as the rides themselves. We can dream, we can imagine, we can see ourselves cresting that mountain pass, or camping along some winding river, enjoying the smell of the campfire and listening to the breeze blowing through the pines. Heavenly. Coming back to the task at hand...
Once you have your riding plan, plan your rides. Figure out your vacation time, your budget, your gear. Make motel reservations in advance. Call your dealer and schedule your bike for service long before it's needed. Start planning in January for the rides you'll be taking in April or August or October. You'll be glad you did, and you'll be money ahead (literally).
As the year unfolds things will change, a ride might change or be cancelled. No worries, just shift the dates accordingly. You've already done the hard work when you worked out the plan... the easy part is the ride itself.
When its time to twist the throttle, ride according to the plans you've already made. Allow for some flexibility, but take advantage of your careful planning and pre-season preparation. That way you won't be caught without a properly serviced bike, or a lack of accommodations, or riding gear in need of repair or replacement. There won't be any last-minute drama because you've planned ahead and solved most logistical issues and routing concerns before they became a problem. Sure, there's bound to be a few hiccups along the trail, but its supposed to be an ADVENTURE.
Jump ahead 12 months... at the end of the this year you can look back at your twenty-twelve calendar and see what rides you actually took and those you didn't. Using that info you can start making plans for next year. I wonder if those 2013 calendars are on sale yet?
David Petersen
Mr. BestRest
Do-It-Yourself Tire Changes
It Isn’t Rocket Science!
Summer’s Coming! Summer riding means you’ll be wearing out your tires quickly. For your own safety keep an eye on those baloney skins and replace them long before the tread’s wear-bars are showing. Plan ahead - don’t get caught with worn out set of tires the night before you leaving for your next big ride.
Getting a new set of tires used to be a time consuming and costly process. You had two choices: 1.) You could schedule an appointment with the dealer, ride your bike into the shop, and wait while they did the changes and balanced the tires, or 2.) You could remove the wheels, take them to the dealer, and wait while they did the changes and balanced the tires. Either way, you waited, and you paid dearly for that experience. In defense of the dealer, they have to make a living so they charge a fair (but sometimes painful) price for their services.
In these tough economic times we all have to watch our wallets. What if you could get a fresh set of tires at HALF the price you pay the dealer? What if you were able to purchase tires at a discount, then mount and balance them yourself, on your own schedule, and save a substantial amount of coin? Interested? Wanna play?
Of course you’d have to do the work yourself… and there’s the problem. Most riders are leery of changing tires because they think it’s something magical, or mysterious, or somehow dangerous. Well the truth about tire changing is this: it’s not rocket science, anybody can do it, it’s fairly simple, it’s fairly quick, and the satisfaction of doing the job (yourself) is priceless. Did we mention that you’ll save money?
When we say tire changing is “quick”, here’s what one rider wrote, “I have a BMW R1150GS. After the first time I changed my own tires I thought… why haven’t I been doing this all along? Now I can change BOTH tires in under an hour.”
So how do you go about changing your own tires? We’ve put together some suggestions to take the anxiety out of the process, to inform, to educate, and to help you save money.
What will you need to do the job?
A good place to start is to get BestRest's Motorcycle Tire Changes and Repair DVD
After you've viewed the DVD you'll also need these things:
- A good source for tires at a discount price. Do some websurfing and find one of the companies that ships the tires for FREE when you order two tires at the same time. They're in Arizona.
- A BestRest Tire Iron BeadBrakR Kit (or other bead breaking device)
- A set of tire irons (the BeadBrakR comes with tire irons)
- A CyclePump (or a source of compressed air)
- An EZ-Air Gauge (or another quality tire pressure gauge)
- Dyna Beads to balance the tires (or another balancing device)
- A few wrenches to match your bike’s axles, pinch bolts, and other
- A torque wrench (or good judgment about how much to tighten the bolts)
- A willingness to read directions and try new things
- And couple hours of your time
- Some mechanical abilities and aptitudes
Tire changing is a bit of an art, with a few tricks thrown in along the way. You’ll get dirty, but you’ll be smiling when you’re done. The following pointers are not the entire story, but they give you an idea of what’s ahead. More information is available from BestRest, and we also have reference materials and instructional DVD’s for sale.
Here’s the Basic Steps for a rear wheel tire change:
- Order the proper size and type of tire, per your owner’s manual
- Put the bike on the center stand
- Place a strap from the center stand through the front tire (to keep the bike from rolling off the center stand)
- Follow motorcycle manual recommendations
- With the bike in gear, remove the bolts that hold the rear wheel
- Remove the wheel
- Remove the valve stem and deflate the tire
- Break the tire bead using the BeadBrakR
- Using the tire irons in the BeadBrakR kit, remove the old tire
- Using the tire irons in the BeadBrakR kit, put on the new tire
- Note: Removing or installing the tire on the rim is a perfect example of technique over brute force
- Attach a CyclePump to the valve stem, and let it run until you hear both beads POP! This tells you that the sidewalls are properly seated
- Deflate the tire and remove the valve stem
- Attach the BestRest DynaHose and trickle 2 oz of Dyna Beads thru the valve stem to balance the tire
- Replace the valve stem core and re-inflate the tire
- Reinstall the rear tire and tighten the axle bolts to the proper torque specs per your owners manual
Here’s the Basic Steps for a front wheel change:
- Order the proper size and type of tire, per your owner’s manual
- Put the bike on the centerstand
- Strap the centerstand to the front frame to keep the bike from rolling off the centerstand
- Depending on the bike’s front end weight bias, you may need to place blocking under the engine to keep the front from diving when you remove the wheel
- Remove the axle bolts and brake caliper bolts
- Repeat steps 6-16 (above)
Once you’ve done your first set of tires your learning curve has leveled out and the next set will practically install themselves. Well, almost. We still can’t do it in our sleep, but we’ve learned to do it quickly and easily. YOU CAN DO IT TOO.
You’ll feel great about doing your own work and you’ll have more dough in your wallet to pay for gas, or for that next motorcycle vacation.
We’ll see you on the road!
A Day In The Life of a CyclePump...
What’s it like to be a CyclePump? Where do they go? How long do they live? Here’s one story.
On October 10, 2002 Mike Paull of Seattle bought one of our first BestRest CyclePumps. He paid $50. As it turns out, his investment returned a few dividends... you might say he got his money’s worth.
Back in those days the CyclePump’s aluminum case was folded by hand, using a laser-scored aluminum blank. The air hose was only 6” long, the power plug was only designed to fit BMW sockets, and the pouch was barely big enough to fit. The finished product was primitive to the eye, but the engineering was sound and the components were reliable.
These days the CyclePump’s aluminum case is formed with a computerized hydraulic press. The switch is armored, there’s folding legs to keep the unit out of the dirt, the air hose is 18” long, the power cord has BMW/SAE/cigarette lighter/battery clip options, there’s an 8-ft cord extension, and the pouch is larger to hold everything plus there’s extra room for a few tire repair necessities. The price is now $100, the result of inflation and product improvements. But it’s still money well spent.
But let’s get back to Mike and his CyclePump. Retired, intrepid, and always curious, Mike’s fortunate to have visited some interesting places both on 2 and 3 wheels. Here’s the list:
Albania • Austria • Azerbaijan • Bosnia and Herzegovina • Botswana • Bulgaria
Canada • China • Croatia • Czech Republic • Georgia • Germany • Greece
Hungary • Inner Mongolia • Italy • Japan • Kazakhstan • Kyrgyzstan • Liechtenstein
Macedonia • Mexico • Montenegro • Namibia • Poland • Romania • Russia • Slovakia
South Africa • Swaziland • Switzerland • Turkey • Turkmenistan • Ukraine • USA
Uzbekistan • Yugoslavia • Zambia
Mike reckons he’s used his CyclePump on every continent except Antarctica. He’s circled the globe a couple times. He’s filled his own tires countless times, and the tires of other bikes countless more. Of all the gear Mike carries in his travels, the one thing he always takes along is a CyclePump. Mike’s not been gentle with his CyclePump; it shows clear evidence of years of hard use. Scratches, dents, dings, and healthy layer of road grime all testify that the “Old Girl” had seen a lot of use. But never in all those years, in all those countries, did She fail to perform.
Nearly seven years later, in January ’09, Mike brought his CyclePump into our shop. The Old Girl was showing her age and slowing down a bit (like we all do). She was still able to inflate a tire, but not at the rate She did when shiny and new. We considered a rebuild but after hearing where She’d gone, what She’d done, how She’d served, we decided Her time had come. With appropriate ceremony She was retired to a place of honor at BestRest World Headquarters. She now sits on a shelf with CyclePump Production Unit #10,000 and Unit #20,000. Yes, we’ve made that many over the years. FYI - Mike’s CyclePump was Unit #27.
Last we saw of Mike he was headed out the door with his new CyclePump, planning for a journey into South America. We reckon we’ll see him again in about a decade, when he’s ready for another CyclePump.
When not exploring the world on his own, Mike’s also a Guide and Partner for GlobeRiders®. Mike’s been with the “Old Girl” on two GlobeRiders® World Tours, a Silk Road Adventure, two Africa Adventures, the Japan Hanami Tour, and a Copper Canyon Expedition with Moto Discovery. You can catch Mike’s adventures at www.GlobeRiders.com
2009 BestRest CDR Trip
(aka... The Short Way Down)
David is on his way to do the CDR (Continental Divide Ride) all on his lonesome as of today 06/10/09. This time he is riding the F800GS, and is doing the trip in reverse from north to south. If you would like to monitor his exploits and progress... please click on the photo below to get posts, photos and updates.
Update June 23 '09. Heavy snowpack in the mountains and a weather pattern that turned the trails into gumbo mud caused me to (wisely) cancel this adventure. Much of the route thru Montana was closed by Mother Nature or by Father Forest Service. At Lima, Montana the weather prevented further passage along the route. I could've diverted via highway to northern Wyoming, but then the journey would've turned into a road trip, instead of an off-road adventure. So I threw in the towel. A June 10 departure date was just too early for the route to be passable. Perhaps I'll do it later this year, or save it for next season.
I did take some photos of my CDR trip - click this link and scroll down to the bottom of the page
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