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A little over a month ago, I bought a new commuter bike: I love this bike. It's super maneuverable, plenty quick, just the right height for me (I'm a short guy), terribly fuel efficient, has modern conveniences like fuel injection, etc. etc. On the highway and around the windy mountain and desert roads where I live, it is the perfect machine. HOWEVER. It's a bit scary on my commute. So about this commute, which I've posted about before I know, but it's a big deal. From my house to my place of work is 30 miles. The first 25 are 2 lane highway, 65-70 mph, lots of hills, literally in the middle of the Nevada desert with no towns or anything. Then I turn off the highway and do 5 miles of this:  That's actually the nice part of the road. It's very washboarded, and full of sand traps and big rocks when you get closer to the hills. When it rains (rare), it turns into a big slick soup of silty mud. I've only got 450 miles on the bike so far, still in the break in period, but I've discovered in yesterday's ride to work (the first for it) and today's that this bike, with it's 17 Pirelli Scorpions front and rear, is not happy on the dirt portion of my daily ride (Oh and I laid it down once already in a bowl of poof dust on Good Friday when I tried taking it out on a Vorra course.) The hard pack dirt isn't so bad, but it's pretty wobbly in the sand. So let's start modifying this machine! The one thing I've got for it so far is a skidplate to protect the very exposed headers and oil filter - that will go on this weekend if I get time. Next, I'm thinking tires, maybe wheels, maybe even forks, etc. But here's the thing - I don't want to ruin it's road manners more than necessary, though of course we're going to lose some capability in this project. So, adventure riders and dirtbike dudes, give me your advice. Help me take my bike from mild mannered cute-ute street bike to something more like this: 
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May 2, 2014 17:29
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 07:30 |
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I would go for Avon Distanzias, make sure the suspension front and rear is the appropriate weight for you, and that will get it about as good as it's going to get. True offroad tires are hard to find in the 120/160 17 sizes you have.
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May 2, 2014 17:38
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Yup, tires and a little protection for if and when you eat it is going to be it before you start getting into "just buy a different bike" money. Tires will make a huge difference, though.
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May 2, 2014 18:02
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Oh yeah, a proper set of barkbusters would be a really good idea, as well as some fork and axle sliders.
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May 2, 2014 18:11
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Tires are going to be a big thing, yeah. So there's the Avon suggestion above - I've also seen some suggestion for Pirelli MT60. I want the tire that will give me the maximum amount of offroad traction for those sand pits without making me eat poo poo on the highway. Also, there's a guy here at work who rides in a BMW every day who says a steering stabilizer is the best mod he ever did to his bike. Thoughts on that?
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May 2, 2014 18:25
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Steering stabilizers are great at high speeds off road, they can help stop you from getting into tank slappers or your bars reacting violently to hitting a rock or something off center. However, on your bike, I'd argue you probably don't need one at the speeds your doing on those roads. If you've been managing OK thus far, you're probably OK just adding some protection and some better suited tires and seeing if you need to go farther from there.
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May 2, 2014 19:36
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Go whole hog and get some Continental TKC80s.
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May 2, 2014 21:51
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Seconding the TKC's as long as you're okay with burning through tires kinda fast.
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May 2, 2014 21:55
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Money spent on tires is money well spent. I can find the 120/70 17 for the front, but nothing turns up anywhere for the 160/60 17 on the rear.
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May 2, 2014 22:37
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Go up a size and use the 170 on the rear. You might need to lift the fender to get the front to fit. The Distanzias are the more road oriented tire, the TKCs are the more offroad oriented ones. I recommended the distanzias as they're going to perform much better on road while only being mildly worse off road...the TKCs will wear quickly and be marginal on road but better offroad. For me, the tradeoffs don't make sense - I wouldn't want to have to potentially have compromised traction on the freeway where the consequences of an accident are high, vs. a bit less grip offroad where the consequences of a crash are lower. All bikes are going to be wobbly in the sand, you just have to learn to live with it and stay on the throttle. Z3n fucked around with this message at 00:31 on May 3, 2014 |
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May 3, 2014 00:27
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Z3n posted:All bikes are going to be wobbly in the sand, you just have to learn to live with it and stay on the throttle. Key point here. Stay on the throttle, as soon as you let off, you're going to start wobbling. A decade of dirt riding taught me that the most important thing is "when in doubt, give it more gas!"
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May 4, 2014 03:04
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I've heard good things about the Heidenau K60 as a dirt-focused tire that's also decent on-road.
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May 8, 2014 20:54
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KozmoNaut posted:I've heard good things about the Heidenau K60 as a dirt-focused tire that's also decent on-road. Well, I didn't see those in my sizes, but thanks for the suggestion anyway. I've ended up ordering a set of Distanzias. The bike is going in on Saturday for it's valve job/break in service business, so I'll have them put on then. Haven't gotten a chance to install my skid plate yet, but hopefully soon. The road has been groomed recently, so there's been a lot of extra soft sand mixed with big rocks just sitting in the middle of everything.
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May 8, 2014 22:34
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Yay, a 500X thread! I just got one of these last month as well, so this thread is interesting for me as well. Great little bike, as the OP says - very light and flickable, quick enough to get in trouble and pretensions of going off road. After the winter I fancied getting a 'New' new bike as my other ones are a bit older, so I booked a test ride. I was pleasantly surprised - I started thinking it would be an all round compromise and ended up thinking it was a good, fun all rounder. The dealer offered a great trade in on my TDM850 (what I paid for it 2 years ago!) so I ordered one. So far Ive mainly been riding on normal roads but I did take it on a little trail/track, with what for me is fairly challenging off road conditions, and it handled better than I thought it would. Could definitely do with better tyres for mud and I think the skidplate is a good idea for sure. Ive put Givi engine bars on, they were easy to install and do the trick (as I found when I put it down in some bushes..). Barkbusters would be good, Ive had trouble finding some in the UK that wont interfere with the screen, would be interested to see if you come across any in the states. Edit - Footpegs could do with replacing as well, they're very comfy with a big fat rubber rest, but as soon as theres a bit of mud on them they're slippery as anything. grunthaas fucked around with this message at 17:39 on May 12, 2014 |
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May 12, 2014 17:28
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That looks really good in red. They only offered black here until just this model year, and now they're offering white as well. How many miles do you have so far?
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May 13, 2014 22:59
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Mr. Wiggles posted:That looks really good in red. They only offered black here until just this model year, and now they're offering white as well. quote:How many miles do you have so far?
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May 15, 2014 21:44
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So I put on those Avon Distanzias... IT IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BIKE IN THE DIRT NOW. Like oh my goodness how could they even sell the thing with any pretensions of trail riding with the Scorpions on there I have no idea. What's better, the Avons feel about the same on the road as the others did, so there is no downside at all.
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May 19, 2014 23:44
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Thats useful to know, Ill keep it in mind when tyres are required..
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May 20, 2014 09:51
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I was surprised by how solid the Distanzias felt on the road when I ran them on the 690. Good tyre.
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May 22, 2014 16:25
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I had them on my not-so-super-light Kawi ZR-7S for a good 8000km at least, and there was still life left in them, doing probably 90% of that on road. They were decent on fire roads, not particularly confidence inspiring on sand, not terribly useful in the mud, but loving awesome for lovely pavement or dealing with roads where they hadn't gotten around to clearing the gravel off after the winter. In all I was quite happy with them, and it seems like you're enjoying them so far. Just make sure if you're planning on doing a bunch of offroading (especially with washboards) that you locktite the poo poo out of anything you don't want falling off. Like a shift lever. 
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May 24, 2014 09:57
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Simkin posted:locktite the poo poo out of anything you don't want falling off. Like a shift lever. Hahaha, that sounds like fun. I had one fall off my 690 when I was out on a ride once, only noticed when I was coming back off the freeway and I couldn't shift out of 6th. City traffic and lots of lights was great fun.
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May 26, 2014 04:01
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Am I a bad person for wanting a 690 with two wheelsets, so I can do sumo and offroad riding? Is it approximately 100% more fun than a DR or XR650?
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May 26, 2014 22:17
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Simkin posted:Am I a bad person for wanting a 690 with two wheelsets, so I can do sumo and offroad riding? Is it approximately 100% more fun than a DR or XR650? There's plenty of people who sm convert the Enduro R.
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May 26, 2014 23:56
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Yeah you wanna sm the enduro model, not the other way around. And yeah, it's way less of a compromise than a drz. If I wanted a RTW bike, it'd be a 690 enduro no question.
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May 27, 2014 01:17
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Except for when you have to replace the pistons and cylinder sleeves half way there.
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May 27, 2014 03:16
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I don't think I've ever heard of someone doing an engine rebuild on a 690 ever. Minus the early teething issues of the cam rockers.
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May 27, 2014 03:41
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Gotcha, so buy a 690 Enduro R (not a 640 or a 990 enduro) and wheelie myself into an early grave. Welp, now I just need to find one that' inexplicably under $6k. OP: Go wear off those chicken strips. The distanzias were sticky enough I could drag my knee on a  like my ZR-7S, so you should have no trouble on the CB500.
Simkin fucked around with this message at 04:30 on May 27, 2014 |
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May 27, 2014 04:28
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Simkin posted:Gotcha, so buy a 690 Enduro R (not a 640 or a 990 enduro) and wheelie myself into an early grave. Welp, now I just need to find one that' inexplicably under $6k. If you're lazy and rich, the KTM Twins 690E to SM kit looks dead easy. I was wanting to hit dirt roads with more frequency, and considered selling my 2007SM/buying a 690E-R/doing all this/having an easily swappable bike. Then, in a moment of grim sobriety, I realized I do not make that much money and instead bought an entire Jeep for the price of the conversion kit.
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May 27, 2014 05:23
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Simkin posted:Gotcha, so buy a 690 Enduro R (not a 640 or a 990 enduro) and wheelie myself into an early grave. Welp, now I just need to find one that' inexplicably under $6k. Correctomundo. You could cheap out and do the swap on warp 9 wheels, I think, for around 900 bucks.
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May 27, 2014 06:04
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Some updates. Up to just over 1600 on the bike, and it's really settled into itself. I think that this weekend I might finally be able to put the skidplate on. A couple of small issues have cropped up. 1. The right mirror will not stay straight on rocks and washboard no matter what. No problems on the highway and no problems with the left mirror, but as soon as I'm offroading (which is every day) it points directly at the ground. 2. It has developed an annoying squeak from about 25 mph on under throttle. Let off the throttle or clutch in, sound goes away. I'm pretty sure it's there at high speed, but there's too much wind noise above 50 to hear it. No performance effects noticed yet. Thoughts? Also, I'm wondering about tire pressures. The pressures on the stock tires were 42/38, so that's what's on the avons now. I think I might enjoy lower pressures for the dirt, but I'm concerned about this having too much of an effect on highway performance. Has anyone run these tires at different pressures?
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Jun 20, 2014 16:17
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There will be some screws that you can tighten to get the mirror less loose - don't overdo it, they don't require a lot of torques. Have you cleaned and lubed the chain lately? You could run down to 32/32 for pressures and be totally fine, but in order to really get the pressures reasonable for offroad you need them down around 15-20, which I wouldn't want to do with any sort of highway use. I'd set them to 34/36 front/rear and call it good. The pressures you listed sound like max load pressures, not normal single rider pressures.
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Jun 20, 2014 17:21
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Z3n posted:There will be some screws that you can tighten to get the mirror less loose - don't overdo it, they don't require a lot of torques. Yeah, will dick with that later. quote:Have you cleaned and lubed the chain lately? Do you think that's the noise? I've never had a chain drive bike before  . The manual says every thousand miles, so it's due. Maybe more often since I'm in the dirt all the time, though? quote:You could run down to 32/32 for pressures and be totally fine, but in order to really get the pressures reasonable for offroad you need them down around 15-20, which I wouldn't want to do with any sort of highway use. I'd set them to 34/36 front/rear and call it good. The pressures you listed sound like max load pressures, not normal single rider pressures. On the swingarm it legit says recommended pressures 42/38 which is high, I know. I'll try 34/36 and see how it goes. Thanks for that.
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Jun 20, 2014 18:06
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Swingarm pressures are usually max pressures for liability purposes. You should be lubing your chain every 500 miles, probably sooner because of the dirt. Or you can ignore that entirely, have to adjust it regularly, and replace it every approximately 10k. A clean, well lubed chain will get like, 30-40k out of it with minimal adjustment.
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Jun 20, 2014 18:26
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Z3n posted:Swingarm pressures are usually max pressures for liability purposes. Thanks, Z3n! All of those smooth years on shafties never prepared me for the travails of chain drive! 
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Jun 20, 2014 18:28
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 I've been running this skidplate for a few hundred miles now. Which is good because the plastic fairing the bike came with was already getting a bit chewed up. It's smaller than I would have liked ideally, but it's doing the trick. 8/10 would buy again. Now I need to get some barkbusters and then find a place to get some great big saddlebags that will fit it. So far I've only found small expandable cloth ones, which aren't really what I want.
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Jul 3, 2014 16:32
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Nice, is that the SW motech one? Just got back from a little trip, 900 miles and a few days in europe. Comparing the CB to other bikes Ive ridden on similar routes, Ive got to say it comes out pretty well. Definitely enough go to sit at 130kmh on the autoroutes all day - but that is a bit boring, out on the back roads and around towns its still fun as well. I got the eurotunnel back this morning and the bike does look teeny compared to the other tourers that were on the train. I was travelling light but it was half the width of the triumph that I was parked next to!
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Jul 4, 2014 17:41
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Mr. Wiggles posted:
I'm not sure if these will help, but I just had the honda panniers fitted to mine for a 12 day trip. 24l each, and they're an inch or two wider than the bars and approximately level with the seat. 
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Jul 5, 2014 14:46
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Those are great, but where did you get them? The dealer here has zero accessories available, so it's only SW Motech stuff (like my skidplate) that I can find for the bike right now.
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Jul 5, 2014 16:48
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Through my local honda dealer, unfortunately. Edit: SW motech has a rack for the X that can be adapted to most luggage brands. What about that rack and some boxes? It'll be cheaper than the Honda system. Snapshot fucked around with this message at 02:29 on Jul 6, 2014 |
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Jul 5, 2014 17:47
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 07:30 |
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I've been out of motorbikes for a few years and this is the first I've heard of the CB500X. Congratulations on a super sweet bike. If I were buying new it would be high on my list.
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Jul 6, 2014 02:37
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