Riding knobs to the MX park?

Sorry if this is already discussed - I had a few specific questions on the subject. I live 40 miles from the only official motocross park on Oahu. I don't have a truck and don't plan to any time soon. I have a set of laced offroad wheels with lightly worn Dunlop D756 and D739FA tires, no rotors or sprocket.

Right now I am just playing in the dirt for fun; no racing and I have only barely begun performance tuning. I've only been on three proper off-road sessions, two of which made it painfully clear that Distanzias are no good on actual trails (I still had a great time though). My question to you experienced folks is how you would approach my scenario:

A) I can ride there on the knobs. 82 miles round trip, mostly freeway @ about 65-70 mph (even that is considered speeding here). In Hawaii terms that is REALLY FAR - the park is literally on the opposite side of the island from where I live and it is something like a 45-60 minute trip one way. I am not sure what is considered too much freeway for knobs. If 82 miles is negligible then this choice is ideal.

B) I can build a small bracket and attempt to pack the wheels on my luggage rack. I have packed crazier things and am confident it can be done, but well aware that it would be a risky proposition followed by swapping the wheels, rotor and sprocket out, in the dirt, before and after the trails. Not difficult, but a hassle. I don't want to do this, but...

C) Driving there is even less appealing to me. I could borrow a truck from work, but not on a regular basis and with a lot of cons thrown in. I will have to wash and gas the truck afterwards, there will be some social ramifications of borrowing a work truck for pleasure, and most of all I really dislike driving. The only pro is that I can still get home if I break my bike.

So I guess it looks like option A, eh? I'm thinking the wear can't be THAT bad, but then any on-road use of the knobs is not great. Anyone have any advice? I could mind the 55 speed limit and take frequent breaks to let the tires rest, if that would accomplish anything. I can adjust air pressure on the go so that is not a problem. I was thinking mid 20's psi for the freeway? Or is even higher better?

I appreciate your input!

rocketjump wrote:

Sorry if this is already discussed - I had a few specific questions on the subject.  I live 40 miles from the only official motocross park on Oahu.  I don't have a truck and don't plan to any time soon.  I have a set of laced offroad wheels with lightly worn Dunlop D756 and D739FA tires, no rotors or sprocket.

Right now I am just playing in the dirt for fun; no racing and I have only barely begun performance tuning.  I've only been on three proper off-road sessions, two of which made it painfully clear that Distanzias are no good on actual trails (I still had a great time though).  My question to you experienced folks is how you would approach my scenario:

A) I can ride there on the knobs.  82 miles round trip, mostly freeway @ about 65-70 mph (even that is considered speeding here).  In Hawaii terms that is REALLY FAR - the park is literally on the opposite side of the island from where I live and it is something like a 45-60 minute trip one way.  I am not sure what is considered too much freeway for knobs.  If 82 miles is negligible then this choice is ideal.

B) I can build a small bracket and attempt to pack the wheels on my luggage rack.  I have packed crazier things and am confident it can be done, but well aware that it would be a risky proposition followed by swapping the wheels, rotor and sprocket out, in the dirt, before and after the trails.  Not difficult, but a hassle.  I don't want to do this, but...

C) Driving there is even less appealing to me.  I could borrow a truck from work, but not on a regular basis and with a lot of cons thrown in.  I will have to wash and gas the truck afterwards, there will be some social ramifications of borrowing a work truck for pleasure, and most of all I really dislike driving.  The only pro is that I can still get home if I break my bike.

So I guess it looks like option A, eh?  I'm thinking the wear can't be THAT bad, but then any on-road use of the knobs is not great.  Anyone have any advice?  I could mind the 55 speed limit and take frequent breaks to let the tires rest, if that would accomplish anything.  I can adjust air pressure on the go so that is not a problem.  I was thinking mid 20's psi for the freeway?  Or is even higher better?  

I appreciate your input!

I'd ride there.  We ride in the Pine Barrens and it's ~40 miles of highway/suburban sprawl away from me and it's less trouble for a day ride than loading the bike on the trailer.  I've been doing this since I mounted my rear D606 in June, maybe 8-10 times plus a few organized dual sport rides (that I trailer to) as well as light city commuting  and my rear D606 is holding up fine. I'm sure it will shorten its life but I'm probably only looking at replacing tires less than once a year at this rate.  I just mounted a MT21 front so we'll see how that holds up.

I stick with a dual sport tire before I would bother swapping wheels--that just doesn't seem worth the effort to save 90 miles of pavement on each ride.

-morgan

morgan9283 wrote:

I'd ride there.  We ride in the Pine Barrens and it's ~40 miles of highway/suburban sprawl away from me and it's less trouble for a day ride than loading the bike on the trailer.  I've been doing this since I mounted my rear D606 in June, maybe 8-10 times plus a few organized dual sport rides (that I trailer to) as well as light city commuting  and my rear D606 is holding up fine. I'm sure it will shorten its life but I'm probably only looking at replacing tires less than once a year at this rate.  I just mounted a MT21 front so we'll see how that holds up.

I stick with a dual sport tire before I would bother swapping wheels--that just doesn't seem worth the effort to save 90 miles of pavement on each ride.

-morgan

That's exactly what I wanted to hear  

Believe me I would stick with the Distanzias if they could handle the two major locations I know of. At the proper motocross park I did alright (will upload a video sooner or later) because the perimeter trail I rode was well worn and pretty mellow. However, I washed out a couple times on small puddles, had trouble turning in dirt, and even a gentle drizzle changed my traction considerably.

Not discouraged, a couple weeks later I ventured solo into an unofficial single track area. WAY more rugged and technical, more elevation changes, and much more "educational" than the perimeter trail. I ended up getting stuck on the side of a hill until I walked a ways and flagged down another group. They informed me that I was crazy to try that trail alone on dual sport tires. That group was really patient with me as I continued to get stuck, and four grueling hours later they led me to sweet, sweet pavement.

Both treks were tons of fun, so I can't wait to get out there with appropriate tires.

rocketjump wrote:

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They informed me that I was crazy to try that trail alone on dual sport tires.  That group was really patient with me as I continued to get stuck, and four grueling hours later they led me to sweet, sweet pavement.  

Both treks were tons of fun, so I can't wait to get out there with appropriate tires.

Oh and to be clear: D606s and arguably MT21s are dual sport tires.  They are just 90% dirt 10% road.  They're also real knobby tires that will handle basically any terrain.  You probably don't want to spend a day carving canyons on them with sport bikes but they do just fine on the road too.

If you really do use your bike 50/50 you might want to go back to the stock trail wings or try a pair of TKC80s.  I rode my first season and a half on the TWs and they did just fine.  One of the best off road (dual sport, not competition) riders I know rode on TKC80s exclusively until just last year as his dual sport is his only bike--he does just fine off road.

-morgan