A Ride up North - James Bay | Page 16 | GTAMotorcycle.com

A Ride up North - James Bay

June 29.I was relegated to being in the back seat of the chase truck for the rest of the journey.We left for The Mirage at 358km of the Trans Tiaga rd.The road was quite good for the 1st bit then we ran into the graders and soft gravel several times on the way to the Mirage which made it somewhat challenging for the remaining riders.
Arrived at the Mirage and as we were all double vaccinated,No masks required.For $205 /night all your meals are included which all quite good.Beer was $5.55 per bottle!
June 30.We got a very early start to go the end of the TT as is at least a 10 hour ride.The road conditions were good to Brisay were we stopped for our lunch which was provided in a cooler by the Mirage.After Brisay the road was narrower and strewn with rocks all over.Even so we had an 18 wheel tanker meet us in a narrow section.We made it to the end with no drama but on the way out!
We lost 2 more front wheels on the way back to Brisay.The forementioned k1200 Gt banged a wheel with no hope of repair was loaded in the truck.The other 1200 GS with cast wheels had a few good hits and was leaking.We used to compressor in the truck to limp it in to Brisay.We decided to leave the bike at the Hydro compound and try to fix the wheel back at the Mirage.We got back to Mirage after a 13 hour day.
 
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I bought an F700GS with cast rims in Africa. It dented big-time on the potholed roads in Zambia and I was out of commission for three weeks waiting for a rim to be shipped from Germany -> South Africa -> Zambia.

It's been spoked wheels ever since, if I'm venturing off the pavement.

As for tires, we've always switched out street rubber for 70/30s, at the very least. I might have missed it, but what tires were you riding with, @BMW Rider ?
 
BMW Rider said:
My rim after the impact.

893c04d5-e615-43cd-95e2-8abdb60310b5-jpeg.49883
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Oh, those look like Tourances.
 
June 30.We left the Mirage for the Relais 381 where we were staying for the night.No great dramas on the way out.The KLR at this point was running poorly and it was discovered the air filter was choked with dust.All the bikeswere getting tired with loose fasteners and worn tires.A couple of riders kissed the BDH as it was the 1st pavement touched in 3 days and over 1300 kms of riding.
The rooms at the 381 were quite basic but clean.They were only built in the last year and as usual the food at the 381 was ok.
 
Lightcycle said:
I bought an F700GS with cast rims in Africa. It dented big-time on the potholed roads in Zambia and I was out of commission for three weeks waiting for a rim to be shipped from Germany -> South Africa -> Zambia.

It's been spoked wheels ever since, if I'm venturing off the pavement.

As for tires, we've always switched out street rubber for 70/30s, at the very least. I might have missed it, but what tires were you riding with, @BMW Rider ?
Click to expand...
I ended up on Michelin Ankee Adventure but I had ordered the Wilds but the Adventures arrived instead.Apparently they were backordered.
 
July 1st A 1000 kms to North Bay to the Terrace Bay Inn which a superb place to stay.We had our end of ride dinner at Churchill’s in Calendar which was superb!A great ride with a bunch of great people.I will be back to complete my ride but with the knowledge gained ,preparation will be much improved or on a dedicated dirt bike.
July 2.Just an easy ride to home.
 
Lightcycle said:
I bought an F700GS with cast rims in Africa. It dented big-time on the potholed roads in Zambia and I was out of commission for three weeks waiting for a rim to be shipped from Germany -> South Africa -> Zambia.

It's been spoked wheels ever since, if I'm venturing off the pavement.

As for tires, we've always switched out street rubber for 70/30s, at the very least. I might have missed it, but what tires were you riding with, @BMW Rider ?
Click to expand...
Just been on the phone with Woody’s Wheel works and discussed doing some proper Lace wheels with Excel rims in stock sizes.We are intending to go back up when my buddy gets his new KTM 1290 Adventure R.We are going to finish my shortened ride.
 
BMW Rider said:
Just been on the phone with Woody’s Wheel works and discussed doing some proper Lace wheels with Excel rims in stock sizes.We are intending to go back up when my buddy gets his new KTM 1290 Adventure R.We are going to finish my shortened ride.
Click to expand...

I don't know if Woody's has a rim with spokes that terminate outside the wheel like the OEM BMW Adventure spoked wheels do. But if they don't you might want to consider something like the OEM so you can run tubeless tires and not have to worry about removing, replacing/patching tubes on the road.

Doesn't have to be OEM either, lots of aftermarket suppliers offer them as well:

VMX-Racing-3-0-19-Tubeless-Front-Wheels-Set-for-BMW-R1200GS-R1200GS-Adventure-2013-2020.jpg
 
Lightcycle said:
I don't know if Woody's has a rim with spokes that terminate outside the wheel like the OEM BMW Adventure spoked wheels do. But if they don't you might want to consider something like the OEM so you can run tubeless tires and not have to worry about removing, replacing/patching tubes on the road.

Doesn't have to be OEM either, lots of aftermarket suppliers offer them as well:

VMX-Racing-3-0-19-Tubeless-Front-Wheels-Set-for-BMW-R1200GS-R1200GS-Adventure-2013-2020.jpg
Click to expand...
Good point because I do want to stay with tubeless.Any Idea of who else does wheels like this?Woody’s does offer them tubeless by taping the rim but in my opinion that is less than ideal.
 
BMW Rider said:
Good point because I do want to stay with tubeless.Any Idea of who else does wheels like this?Woody’s does offer them tubeless by taping the rim but in my opinion that is less than ideal.
Click to expand...

Truthfully, I only have experience with the OEM and they are fantastic. I've heard these names mentioned but no direct experience:

VMX
Kineo
KKE (pictured above from AliExpress *shudder*)

Again, zero experience with any of the above. Caveat Emptor!
 
BMW Rider said:
My rim after the impact.
Click to expand...

Just wondering, did you lower your tire pressure at all before this happened? I know it's what you do with spokes, but I would be leery of doing it with cast rims. I have been told to carry a pair of inner-tubes when doing long trips with cast rims. This way you just insert the tube and go, depending on how bad the damage is.
 
Roadghost said:
Just wondering, did you lower your tire pressure at all before this happened? I know it's what you do with spokes, but I would be leery of doing it with cast rims. I have been told to carry a pair of inner-tubes when doing long trips with cast rims. This way you just insert the tube and go, depending on how bad the damage is.
Click to expand...
My pressure was set at the normal settings of 2.5 and 2.9 bar.Inner tubes do not work with these wheels due the valves being in the spokes ,not in the rims.
 
BMW Rider said:
My pressure was set at the normal settings of 2.5 and 2.9 bar.Inner tubes do not work with these wheels due the valves being in the spokes ,not in the rims.
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BMW, always going complicated. I suppose in the middle of nowhere nobody is going to have a drill with a 7/16" bit to make a hole for the valve. Mine are in the rim, an easy swap, but I'm glad I saw this and checked, because I wouldn't until too late.
 
Lightcycle said:
I don't know if Woody's has a rim with spokes that terminate outside the wheel like the OEM BMW Adventure spoked wheels do. But if they don't you might want to consider something like the OEM so you can run tubeless tires and not have to worry about removing, replacing/patching tubes on the road.

Doesn't have to be OEM either, lots of aftermarket suppliers offer them as well:

VMX-Racing-3-0-19-Tubeless-Front-Wheels-Set-for-BMW-R1200GS-R1200GS-Adventure-2013-2020.jpg
Click to expand...
Well I decided to get the BMW standard spoke wheels.
They will be attached to a 2002 GSA that I committed to on Friday!LOL
 
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