[tfactor]

My wife has been enjoying her TW200, a 2003 with stock tires, but the rear tire just seems "slippy". It fishtails a bit on gravel roads, and I'm not as comfortable leaning the bike over (e.g. a downhill off-camber gravel road turn) -- in many places where I feel very comfortable all on my WR250R. The big back tire seemed like a stability advantage when we started, but now I'm beginning to question that assumption. We ride little asphalt, mostly just to get to the many gravel/dirt roads around where we live -- central Colorado Rockies.



A friend who is hugely into the trials world strongly recommended the Pirelli MT 43 rear tire. He said it would be a huge improvement for grip, for turning, all in general. My motorcycle experience is very limited -- and I wasn't able to find any info about anyone running that tire on the TW. I'd appreciate any thoughts and opinions.



The motorcycle-usa.com review makes the tire sound great.



If I went this way, I presume I'd have to buy a new wheel and move the sprocket from the current one?



Thanks in advance,



tom.

 

[lizrdbrth]

It's not that simple.



The TW has a wide axle and an offset output shaft to clear the wide tire. No other wheel will directly fit without major surgery. A taller rim and tire will limit suspension travel.



You could have a`new rim laced to your rear hub, but the TW has an odd spoke count on the rear, so this will be an expensive custom option, as well.



The TW is NOT a WR250R. It has a much shorter (by 6") wheelbase and limited suspension travel, a steel swingarm and rim, a 16 pound rear tire, and nearly twice the unsprung weight for the shock to control in the rear alone. It requires a different riding philosophy.



Most of what your wife is experiencing can probably be cured through tire pressure and rear suspension preload. The TW is oversprung in the rear for lighter persons, and tends to pogo causing the fishtailing. My wife weighs 110 pounds after a rainstorm and I'm working on a shock, but she's learned to compensate, meanwhile.



It ain't the tires. The TW can be ridden at nearly zero mph, and unless you're an expert level rider your WR...can't. The TW doesn't like going fast, and yours doesn't like going slow.



The good news is that considerable improvement can be had for the front end by changing to one of several dualsport tires. There are buckets of threads on many of them, and your Pirelli may be a candidate for the front, as-is.



Pirellis ain't all that, these days. I think IRC and others make a trials pattern in an 18 that are` equal and cost less.

 

[retmotor]

I'm still experimenting, searching for the "perfect" tire pressure, but can say I do feel like I get more traction with even just a few psi less in the tires (18 to 16, for example).

 

[lizrdbrth]

We run 10 PSI in hers offroad, front and rear. We ride with The Ronnydog through boulder piles and up trees. At her body weight she's never so much as dinged a rim. I think most folks could safely run 10-15 offroad on the stock tires, depending on load, body weight and terrain.



Most of my own TW riding has been on an ATV rear/ dirtbike rear on the front, so I don't have a real feel for the stocker anymore.

 

[tfactor]

Thanks for the info. I didn't realize that putting on a new wheel/tire would be so complicated... My wife is probably closer to 125 lb, and we've been running 15F/15R psi. I read somewhere to never ever go below 13psi, but I'm guessing that had to do with that particular rider's weight. We'll try 12F/12R, then 10F/10R next time we're on gravel, and see if that works out better.



I looked in the manual and on the web but didn't see a way to adjust the rear shock. I thought I'd see a threaded ring that I could move up/down to loosen/compress the shock spring. Is there a way to adjust that somehow? Or a I limited to tweaking the tire pressure?



Thanks again,



tom.

 

[lizrdbrth]

The preload adjustment is a circlip under the bottom collar. Reaching it requires shock removal and a means of compressing the spring. It sucks.



There are 3 settings. Most are factory set at the middle setting. Don't expect much, but the bottom setting will lighten things up a bit. Ignore the numbers and arrows, they relate to some travel mods, but you can see the location of the 3 grooves:

 

[Rainman]

I've been running 12F/12R on sand and its amazing. It really wakes up the back tire.

 

[admiral]

I'm with Rainman, off-road I'm usually running 12 psi front and rear also. Usually, the only time I fall is when I don't lift my leg high enough getting on or off! Oofta!

 

[qwerty]

If agjusting preload doesn't do the trick you can soften the spring by heat treating it to reduce temper.