I Love the UPS guy!!! Distanzias

If all goes as planned...they'll be mounted tomorrow.

Stay tuned for awesome X pic's with Distanzias.

Just got back from my first ride with my new Distanzias though I have the rear 150/60 SM compound. Pretty much what I read about them.........good traction but at the expense of slightly slower handling. I'm gonna give it some time before I drop the forks but so far I like them.

I ordered 150/70 for the rear....they sent 150/60.

I don't care at all. I want them mounted so I can ride.

I expect a slightly different feel to start. That's nothing new.
Even a new set of exact replacements is going to feel different for a few rides as the profile change from worn out to new is going to effect that "feel".

I'm giddy.

Step 1) get tires - check




Step 2) remove wheels with old tires - check




Step 3) go get new sneaks installed - on it boss....

So tell me, what you think about these prices?????

Front Tube: $16.99 (special for radial tires)
Rear Tube: $16.99 (special for radial tires)

Mounting and Balancing: $30.00 per tire = $60.00

(mind you - this is with wheels off bike)

Rubber valve stem long: $2.99 each = $5.98

Total cost: $99.96

(all amounts are US dollars)

What I get for that is an experienced tire mechanic not trashing my brand new tires (like I might by accident), not trashing my rims (like I might by accident) and if they screw up the tubes while mounting they replace at no charge to me.

I'll have some piece of mind that things are done properly.

Does that sound reasonable????

I was not thinking I'd be spending a hundred bucks for this shit.

Next time I definitely skip replacing tubes.
That would bring back closer to $50.00

I like the UPS also.

They should not be charging for valve stems since tubes come with them. Personally, I'm glad to have a local shop with good tire prices. They discount mount & balance with tire purchase. $20 per wheel.

My guy does my tires (mount and balance) for $20, but I do a lot of business with him.

The rest is moot if you are buying tubes (which is a fair price - but not sure why you're replace them).

Plenty of clearance for those of you questioning 150's on the rear.









Initial scrub ride report:

Holy crap!!! Did I make a big mistake? These things feel really odd. Totally different from stock tires.

Wait...the guy who mounted tires said he put 36 psi in both front & rear.

So after about 20 miles of pussyfootin' around I pulled into garage and checked air pressure.

42 front and 44 rear psi

Holy nutz!!!!! I never really checked my stock tires after 20 miles of riding on an 85 degree day, but I know with "cold" tires I started at 28 rear and 26 front.

So, I lowered the psi to 30 rear and 28 front.


Went back out and found my love again.

Bike felt like my old friend. Huge difference. Felt comfortable pretty quick and can't wait to start pushing the edges a bit more tomorrow.

I'll double check psi in the morning and see what it reads.

Anyone with Distanzia's: what psi you starting with front and rear when tires are "cold".

I got new tubes because I had no idea what the stock tubes were, or what condition they were in.

Now I know exactly what I have.

Plus, I kept the stock tubes for spares.

Hi Motokid:

Looks like a nice compromise for Adventure Touring with a little off-road thrown in for good measure! You would not happen to be taking them off-road anytime soon, would you? I would be very interested your comments as I am thinking about a set of 120/90x17 Rear and your 120/70x17 Fronts for a future WX.

While they will not match the 17” off-road knobs some X’s have been shod with, these appear to offer a little off-road capability which expands your X’s utility 2 fold.

Thanks in advance

Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG

Adventure touring???? Wha dat?

My riding is more sportbike style twisties and searching for off-road.

I live in a highly congested area so off roading isn't easy to come by.

I plan to hit some dirt roads and hopefully some muddy sections today as a matter of fact.

I also hope to scrub rear tire to the edge today.

(like to attempt my first set of stairs too)


A 120 on the rear seems silly (to me) and I'd question if it would even fit properly.

Why not stay with stock 140's on the rear? Why go thinner on rear like that?

ahhhh....wait.

Minimal contact patch, maximum psi in tires = best gas mileage possible?

Is that it?

Hi Motokid:

You got it plus the additional height helps with a taller gear configuration thus allowing an aftermarket rear sprocket to be sized closer to OEM. The Distanzia 120/90x17 fits the bill nicely for many of the right reasons vs. the on-road OEM BT90 or the 130/70x17's on the KLX250SF. Fit is another question altogether as similar height 130/80x17 or 140/80x17's are also available.

Sorry to hear how little off-road there is near you. I have a similar problem in my locale just North of Chicago. If there is any off-road, the Distanzia’s F&R appear capable of filling in for non-technical trail riding.

Something else I forgot to ask earlier this morning. Do the Distanzia’s have a significant weight gain by comparison to the BT90’s or were they close to equal?

Thanks in advance

Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG

Good gawd....what awesome tires....








Did not quite get the entire tire scrubbed in....but never felt like I was losing grip either.
Certainly ran these tires as hard, if not harder than I ran the stock pos's.

Hey motokid, where'd you order the white front fender? is it a stock from a '10 wrx just trimmed down?

So I'm in the market for distanzias. I'm getting the 120/70 for the
front. I understand that I may get more mileage out of the 150/70
distanzia for the rear bc they have the dual sport compound. However,
I'm not sure about fitment issues on the rim of my 08 X.

I've read that 150/60 works well on the bike, but it only comes in the softer SM compound and that results in less mileage.

Anyone running a 150/70 on the rear without issues? Also, the best
price I could find was $255 for the set at motostrano? Anyone find
anything cheaper? Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Hi Yaozer:

While this is not what you are looking for, others may in the future?

Avon past this note on to me a few weeks back as I had no idea the two differnt sizes were bias ply and radial.

Quote :

Hi Wayne,


It would have to be the 130/80R17 on the rear as the front 120/70R17 is a radial and you can’t put a radial front and bias rear (120/90-17) as it can cause an instability situation.

I have a pair of 130/80R17 rear and 120/70R17 front Distnazia's ready to install later next week but that is about all I can add for now.

Motokid, thanks for posting your experiences.

Wayne

So how come nobody puts the 140 r 17 Distanzia on the rear ? Seems like everyone use's the 150 60 17. I would think the 140 would work better off road.

mordicai wrote:

So how come nobody puts the 140 r 17 Distanzia on the rear ? Seems like everyone use's the 150 60 17. I would think the 140 would work better off road.

Compound choice. Narrower tire, I believe, is a harder compound. Less sticky on street.

The wider tire fits just fine.

So it seems that running a softer SM compound tire on the back and a harder compound on the front works well, other than the fact that the SM tire will wear much faster. Is the harder compound 140r that bad, or is the 150 just so much better. Any idea how much different they are in wear. SM half the miles of the the 140? Off road wide tires suck.

Do you have an X or an R?

Do you want a dirt bike you can ride on the road, or a road bike you can ride in the dirt?


Find me a better tire for peg dragging on asphalt, then getting quite dirty on the off-road sections and I'll look into it seriously.


I can't remember the specifics with the compounds and sizes as I ordered mine over a year ago.


I don't think tread life on an SM compound for a weak-motored bike like the wr is that much of an issue.

If you have 50hp where the tire met the road that might be different.


I think you're way over-thinking 5 mm's wider on each side.

motokid wrote:

Do you have an X or an R?

Do you want a dirt bike you can ride on the road, or a road bike you can ride in the dirt?


Find me a better tire for peg dragging on asphalt, then getting quite dirty on the off-road sections and I'll look into it seriously.


I can't remember the specifics with the compounds and sizes as I ordered mine over a year ago.


I don't think tread life on an SM compound for a weak-motored bike like the wr is that much of an issue.

If you have 50hp where the tire met the road that might be different.


I think you're way over-thinking 5 mm's wider on each side.

Still on the same tires? How are they holding up after a year? How many miles? Thanks!

Yes. Still have same set. They are fabulous. Love them. Still have plenty of tread left.
Not sure how many miles....2000 maybe.

Would not hesitate to buy again.

Will probably have more than enough front left to only have to replace rear once that's shot.

motokid wrote:

Yes. Still have same set. They are fabulous. Love them. Still have plenty of tread left.
Not sure how many miles....2000 maybe.

Would not hesitate to buy again.

Will probably have more than enough front left to only have to replace rear once that's shot.

Definitely what I like to hear. I am curious how the 150/70 would hold up compared to the SM compound 150/60. Being that my WR is now my daily "rider" I may just opt for the stiffer compound on the rear. By my calculations, both front and rear should be 1/2" taller than stock with the 150/70 in the rear, which in itself, may assist in getting more miles out of the rear.