Paddle Tire Riding

[BDI]

The very first time I ever road In the sand was on a kx500 with a 10 cup. I drug the rear fender twice In 50 feet and I have been hooked every sense.

[Arigato]

Maddoggy--How was St. A anyway?  If you're getting too much hookup with a paddle, Pirelli makes a pretty gnarly sand knobby.

[maddoggy]

Arigato, the paddle was great on the rear. the knobbie on the front was not so great. seems like it wanted to grab the ruts and dive around alot. next time ill go with a cut knobbie front or that 3 rib kings tire. we rode monday am. and it was blistering hot 105 temp. clouded over and was great riding that evening. tues. morn was cloudy and awesome riding, rained all afternoon and as you can imagine the riding was amazing tues. eve. tons of traction everywhere and the wind before the storm smoothed it out like glass. all the speed you would ever want to run. had a blast. you and sly are going there pretty soon arent you. ill give you some route tips if you guys want. i found that i could save fuel that way for more riding on the "BIG HILLS". you know what im talkin' about. MADDOGGY

[stock500]

I know that I am jumping in late.  For a stock 2004 KX500 is a 10 paddle to much? 

[alan]

No! a 10 isn't to much I run a 12 560X18 and it's a monster!

[stock500]

I have noticed that several people have switched to an 18'' rim.  What are the pro and cons to the 19'' vs the 18''.

[alan]

The only reason to go to an 18 is so you can run the monster 560!

[crusty]

just aim and shoot. the closest similarity i can think of is water skiing once you break the plane and get on top shes smooth sailing remember accelerate going down the dune if not your in for a long day. speed is the key and as everyone knows thats no problem for a five hundy

[FuriouSly]

you and sly are going there pretty soon arent you....

Hey Dog, been looking through old posts and seen this one.  We couldn't get a run back up to St.A. this year due to schedules and $$$..  700 dollars just in diesel fuel to get the toy hauler up there and back     To many other commitments to justify a couple thousand for a sand trip.  Love those dunes.  Arigato, 1alldave, and myself were just talking about St.A. over Turkey at my house this year.  We were laughing about how we wished we had a 6th gear...  WOT too fun but a bit fast for our first time at those dunes   

Sly

[KXer]

I know this is an old topic but I'm new.

About 85% of my riding is in Sand (most of which being Glamis).  Reading through this thread I wanted to add my 2 cents.

-  I do not recommend a stock chain at all in sand, I've seen stock chains stretch instantly and break quite often.  Seen them enough to talk everyone in my riding group into DID O ring chains.  Sand has not worn out my chain in 3 years of HARD riding.

-  The 3 rib razor from tire is one of my favorite additions to the bike when riding in sand.  For carving, top speed, picking lines whatever.  It did however give me more head shake, which I fixed with a steering damper. . . 5th pinned has never been so smooth.

-  Any engine bigger then a 250 needs a 10 cup paddle minimum. 

-  The Skat trak paddles with the glued on cups are by far the best paddles I've come across.  I've run a kings, chen shin, and the skat trak.  The added benefit of the skat trak is that it is considerably lighter then ALL of the other paddle tires.

-  As for riding in sand, never use your front brake (unless digging in the rear wheel to take a break) and as mentioned before stay on the gas up and down hills.  Approach the top of a hill at an angle so you don't end up going straight over a razor back. 

-  Also while running in 5th gear WOT hit your kill switch for a second or 2 and then release it.  This will save your top end on long runs @ high speeds.

-  Lastly use spotters on your jumps, I can't tell you how many accidents have been avoided in doing so.

There are just a few riding tips/ tricks etc that I have used over the years. 

Hope it helps