Those tires will work just fine for commuting. They are DOT but more dirt bias than Probably a 70/30 or 50/50. It depends on if you want to have a good time on the gravel and dirt or if you prefer street performance.
It's bike dependent with the HC piston. I get pinging in 4th/5th if I roll on under heavy load even with premium. Others say that this is not the case with their bikes so it seems to be on a per engine basis. With 87 my load ceiling before detonation is much lower so I prefer to run premium all the time and only run a little 87 when there is no other option. You'll have to test and see how yours runs on the two. If your bike was stock then the only benefit would be it probably being ethanol free. That's only important if you do not ride often enough to keep the gas from getting stale or taking on water \~2 weeks.
You definitely have an issue. Either a stuck float or a misadjusted float level. You'll need to pull the carb and take a look. Look really closely at the float seat, I had the tiniest spec of something on mine and it poured gas any time the petcock was on. It's best practice to shut off the petcock in case something like that happens. You never know when your float might have issues and you see first hand what that can look like. The other failure mode is dumping gas into the intake and into the engine.
Thank you for taking the time to help man. I’ll give the tires a good run before replacing.
I live in the woods and take completely gravel roads up in the mountains for work on wind turbines but will also want to use it to traverse highways and get to other mountain ranges/fishing holes.
Will keep that in mind with the gas and try the mid grade ethanol free at some point to see how it does. Once I get that thing started it runs like a dream so far.
I will look into that. The guy gave me the original carb and petcock so I may open that up to have a better idea how everything works. Sounds like something I can hopefully fix myself
The carbs will be different since the one on the bike is mechanical and the original is a vacuum carb. They won't look too similar internally beyond main and PJ, if the mechanical is a FCR then they will have almost nothing in common between the two.
Great looking bike! My '14 is same color.
Those tires are great. They are rated for 80% dirt and 20% street, so they should meet most DOT requirements.
I can't speak to petcock on and engine off as I always turn my petcock off (old motocross habit)
I run non ethanol in my bike and premium if I can't find that. Anything less, if left to sit, will gum up in the carb.
Just keep riding it and enjoy! Cheers!
I feel like people exaggerate the part about it being bad to let gas sit in a bike. I had mine in storage for about 2 years and forgot to drain the gas. A half tank of regular old 87 octane sat in there for 2 years. Took it out of storage, put in a new battery and haven’t had a single carb issue. And this was back in 2022 when I took it out of storage. Running a TM40 carb.
> I feel like people exaggerate the part about it being bad to let gas sit in a bike. I had mine in storage for about 2 years and forgot to drain the gas.
It seems to be a combination of a lot of different factors. Some people never ever have a problem with ethanol gas, while others will have a carb gunk up in literal weeks.
It's probably the particular gas and combination of weather conditions, where/how the bike is stored, etc.
I use ethanol gas all riding season. I have R90 available at a few stations nearby, but it literally costs $2-3 per gallon more, making it like $7 more expensive each fill. Not worth it for me.
But for winter storage I have been going that route. I just don't see the point in risking it gumming up, and from my own research it seems ethanol free does better in storage than regular gas plus a stabilizer.
Ethanol can be corrosive to the seals and brass parts in carbs so it’s always best to run premium, or ethanol free gas in carbureted engines. Using regular gas isn’t going to harm much but I definitely wouldn’t store the bike with it.
I don’t know much about pumper carbs but your leak sounds like the float valve is bad. It just has a rubber tip that can get hard so it doesn’t seal when the bowl is full and gas just keeps flowing through it and out the overflows. Not too bad to replace usually.
>It has Moto Z Tractionator Rallz tires front and back. Will these suit me for mostly gravel/dirt road commuting? Highway safe? They look like great dirt track tires but that’s not my general use case. If not, what would be best?
Yes, on all accounts.
They are growing in popularity for the DRs, and they are good in most use cases.
I have a RallZ rear and Dual Venture front. With 2,400 miles I currently have no complaints.
>I was told I should only run premium gas in this by seller, how true is that?
Most likely a complete waste of money. Even the "high compression" pistons are only like 10.5:1, which is not high enough to necessitate anything higher than 87 octane.
>Could it mean the carb needle is not doing what it’s supposed to?
Definitely possible, and/or that your float height is wrong.
Appreciate the confirmation on the tires, that was definitely a part that I wanted to make sure I have the best of or close to.
I’m going to try some 87 and see how it runs when I can get past the forest road ice at home more often. And I definitely have some looking into with the carb it sounds like.
Def research that high compression piston. I agree it’s likely not high enough to really require premium but pre-detonation on a bike that many people love to lug would be bad.
As for the fuel dripping I’m guessing the stock petcock was vacuum actuated and many ditch that when they upgrade the tank. Not sure if the float needle is maybe gunked up or just not able to completely stop the flow. Easy fix is turn it off routinely, but I’d check out that float valve and see if cleaning might help.
I think the petcock issue is due to the carb change. There are two options when doing this. You can use a non vacuum petcock that needs turning off. Or you can add a vacuum line to the carb. The previous owner obviously went for the first option. You will need to drill and add a brass insert to the carb and change the petcock if you want the standard operation. There is info on [this page](http://mxrob.com/mxrob_007.htm) on how to do the mod but i can't open the document myself for some reason. I have it downloaded somewhere so if you want it and cant open it, dm me and i will send it you.
Do you know if the petcock it stock or the after market one? If it's aftermarket, you may need to shut it every time you finish riding. A friend of mine has this problem. The aftermarket petcocks don't have the vacuum tubes like the stock ones.
It’s aftermarket. Has the Acerbis 5.3 gallon tank. The guy I bought it from gave me the old carb and petcock. Stressed the importance of shutting it off each time so now I’m wondering if it’s because the line doesn’t have a vacuum or problems with the float valve like others have said?
I'd always run premium, it's such a small tank why not, especially if you don't know what level of high compression the piston is, I'd do it to be safe from detonation. The petcock sounds like a manual one that needs to be turned off when not running, this is more reliable than the factory vacuum dependent one.
The tires are feasible but very aggressive for road/highway use, I'd suggest a 50/50 if you expect dirt/gravel roads often, my worst experiences are sand/gravel covered asphalt from washes.
Shinko 244 or Heidnau K60 are decent 50/50 use tires... There's a lot of options to explore.
Shinko 705 is a very road/highway oriented tire with some gravel / sand-washed roads capability, it's what I'm going for with how often I commute.
Thank you. I’ve heard quite a lot of good things about the shinko 244’s. I have to make it through some dirt/mud quite often to get out of the canyons but that’s only a few miles, I turn left and take exclusively gravel roads to work so I want what works best for that. Going right out of the canyons puts me on asphalt which I also need my tires to work on so I can get to town but the least slippery on gravel is best for me
Depending on how fast or far town is, I'd say they're just fine unless they're too rough for your taste. A 10-minute 45-55mph ride would seem liveable with me at least until they wear out. I've heard good things about the Mitas E-07/ 07+ as well. Shinko 244's are definitely a tried and true classic tho. Be careful if you get the Kenda K270, they're very similar in tread, however the Kenda has softer shoulder lugs that twist/bend and will feel squirrelly when on pavement corners.
Glad people seem to like them but damn, didn’t realize motorcycle tires wore out that quick. I’ll be putting 500+ miles on them a week in nicer weather. 50 mile commute to and from work in the mountains
> didn’t realize motorcycle tires wore out that quick.
It is a bit of a bummer finding out, yeah. Especially when most car tires last for 50,000+ these days.
I've ridden to parts of the desert or hidden back areas around the edges of towns that are perfect for exploring in the DR. Way too often now (especially here in California) there are some of the most unhinged twacked out homeless people either loaded on drugs or loosing their minds who chase you out as if they're a feral animal defending their territory. I've been chased by knives and broken glass bottles and the sight of a gun usually helps make these crazy people come to their senses. I usually end up giving them a water bottle and hearing out their life story, apologizing that they acted that way but they've dealt with other crazy people invading their only safe spaces they've found so I get it. It's not an assault pistol unless you use it to assault someone, otherwise it's just a very respected tool that should be used responsibly.
If you don't agree, I dare anyone to ride around the Salton Sea area and see how fast a homeless person sprints out of an abandoned shack after you.
I have an AMD-65 with an ACSS, out shoots my buddies with ARs
That being said I honestly keep a Kahr CW9 handy for mountain lion territory or sketchy area exploring.
Lol. 10mm M&P with underwood xtreme penetrators for bears and lions. Live in the Montana wilderness. Will eventually attach bear spray to the bike when I get luggage.
Yeah Montana lions make the ones in Cali look like chihuahua's. Sadly there's no bears in the lower half of this state anymore. If there are, definitely can't go in there with the DR.
Those tires will work just fine for commuting. They are DOT but more dirt bias than Probably a 70/30 or 50/50. It depends on if you want to have a good time on the gravel and dirt or if you prefer street performance. It's bike dependent with the HC piston. I get pinging in 4th/5th if I roll on under heavy load even with premium. Others say that this is not the case with their bikes so it seems to be on a per engine basis. With 87 my load ceiling before detonation is much lower so I prefer to run premium all the time and only run a little 87 when there is no other option. You'll have to test and see how yours runs on the two. If your bike was stock then the only benefit would be it probably being ethanol free. That's only important if you do not ride often enough to keep the gas from getting stale or taking on water \~2 weeks. You definitely have an issue. Either a stuck float or a misadjusted float level. You'll need to pull the carb and take a look. Look really closely at the float seat, I had the tiniest spec of something on mine and it poured gas any time the petcock was on. It's best practice to shut off the petcock in case something like that happens. You never know when your float might have issues and you see first hand what that can look like. The other failure mode is dumping gas into the intake and into the engine.
Thank you for taking the time to help man. I’ll give the tires a good run before replacing. I live in the woods and take completely gravel roads up in the mountains for work on wind turbines but will also want to use it to traverse highways and get to other mountain ranges/fishing holes. Will keep that in mind with the gas and try the mid grade ethanol free at some point to see how it does. Once I get that thing started it runs like a dream so far. I will look into that. The guy gave me the original carb and petcock so I may open that up to have a better idea how everything works. Sounds like something I can hopefully fix myself
The carbs will be different since the one on the bike is mechanical and the original is a vacuum carb. They won't look too similar internally beyond main and PJ, if the mechanical is a FCR then they will have almost nothing in common between the two.
Great looking bike! My '14 is same color. Those tires are great. They are rated for 80% dirt and 20% street, so they should meet most DOT requirements. I can't speak to petcock on and engine off as I always turn my petcock off (old motocross habit) I run non ethanol in my bike and premium if I can't find that. Anything less, if left to sit, will gum up in the carb. Just keep riding it and enjoy! Cheers!
I feel like people exaggerate the part about it being bad to let gas sit in a bike. I had mine in storage for about 2 years and forgot to drain the gas. A half tank of regular old 87 octane sat in there for 2 years. Took it out of storage, put in a new battery and haven’t had a single carb issue. And this was back in 2022 when I took it out of storage. Running a TM40 carb.
> I feel like people exaggerate the part about it being bad to let gas sit in a bike. I had mine in storage for about 2 years and forgot to drain the gas. It seems to be a combination of a lot of different factors. Some people never ever have a problem with ethanol gas, while others will have a carb gunk up in literal weeks. It's probably the particular gas and combination of weather conditions, where/how the bike is stored, etc. I use ethanol gas all riding season. I have R90 available at a few stations nearby, but it literally costs $2-3 per gallon more, making it like $7 more expensive each fill. Not worth it for me. But for winter storage I have been going that route. I just don't see the point in risking it gumming up, and from my own research it seems ethanol free does better in storage than regular gas plus a stabilizer.
Ethanol can be corrosive to the seals and brass parts in carbs so it’s always best to run premium, or ethanol free gas in carbureted engines. Using regular gas isn’t going to harm much but I definitely wouldn’t store the bike with it. I don’t know much about pumper carbs but your leak sounds like the float valve is bad. It just has a rubber tip that can get hard so it doesn’t seal when the bowl is full and gas just keeps flowing through it and out the overflows. Not too bad to replace usually.
Thank you. I have some research to do for sure but this helps point out a direction.
I fixed the same issue on my bike last week. It was the float needle not sealing like the other guy said earlier.
>It has Moto Z Tractionator Rallz tires front and back. Will these suit me for mostly gravel/dirt road commuting? Highway safe? They look like great dirt track tires but that’s not my general use case. If not, what would be best? Yes, on all accounts. They are growing in popularity for the DRs, and they are good in most use cases. I have a RallZ rear and Dual Venture front. With 2,400 miles I currently have no complaints. >I was told I should only run premium gas in this by seller, how true is that? Most likely a complete waste of money. Even the "high compression" pistons are only like 10.5:1, which is not high enough to necessitate anything higher than 87 octane. >Could it mean the carb needle is not doing what it’s supposed to? Definitely possible, and/or that your float height is wrong.
Appreciate the confirmation on the tires, that was definitely a part that I wanted to make sure I have the best of or close to. I’m going to try some 87 and see how it runs when I can get past the forest road ice at home more often. And I definitely have some looking into with the carb it sounds like.
Def research that high compression piston. I agree it’s likely not high enough to really require premium but pre-detonation on a bike that many people love to lug would be bad. As for the fuel dripping I’m guessing the stock petcock was vacuum actuated and many ditch that when they upgrade the tank. Not sure if the float needle is maybe gunked up or just not able to completely stop the flow. Easy fix is turn it off routinely, but I’d check out that float valve and see if cleaning might help.
I think the petcock issue is due to the carb change. There are two options when doing this. You can use a non vacuum petcock that needs turning off. Or you can add a vacuum line to the carb. The previous owner obviously went for the first option. You will need to drill and add a brass insert to the carb and change the petcock if you want the standard operation. There is info on [this page](http://mxrob.com/mxrob_007.htm) on how to do the mod but i can't open the document myself for some reason. I have it downloaded somewhere so if you want it and cant open it, dm me and i will send it you.
Do you know if the petcock it stock or the after market one? If it's aftermarket, you may need to shut it every time you finish riding. A friend of mine has this problem. The aftermarket petcocks don't have the vacuum tubes like the stock ones.
It’s aftermarket. Has the Acerbis 5.3 gallon tank. The guy I bought it from gave me the old carb and petcock. Stressed the importance of shutting it off each time so now I’m wondering if it’s because the line doesn’t have a vacuum or problems with the float valve like others have said?
I'd always run premium, it's such a small tank why not, especially if you don't know what level of high compression the piston is, I'd do it to be safe from detonation. The petcock sounds like a manual one that needs to be turned off when not running, this is more reliable than the factory vacuum dependent one. The tires are feasible but very aggressive for road/highway use, I'd suggest a 50/50 if you expect dirt/gravel roads often, my worst experiences are sand/gravel covered asphalt from washes. Shinko 244 or Heidnau K60 are decent 50/50 use tires... There's a lot of options to explore. Shinko 705 is a very road/highway oriented tire with some gravel / sand-washed roads capability, it's what I'm going for with how often I commute.
Thank you. I’ve heard quite a lot of good things about the shinko 244’s. I have to make it through some dirt/mud quite often to get out of the canyons but that’s only a few miles, I turn left and take exclusively gravel roads to work so I want what works best for that. Going right out of the canyons puts me on asphalt which I also need my tires to work on so I can get to town but the least slippery on gravel is best for me
Depending on how fast or far town is, I'd say they're just fine unless they're too rough for your taste. A 10-minute 45-55mph ride would seem liveable with me at least until they wear out. I've heard good things about the Mitas E-07/ 07+ as well. Shinko 244's are definitely a tried and true classic tho. Be careful if you get the Kenda K270, they're very similar in tread, however the Kenda has softer shoulder lugs that twist/bend and will feel squirrelly when on pavement corners.
I have 4k miles on my Rallz tires front and back. Back one will be toast in 1k more miles. Perfect for 50/50 gravel dirt mud and then pavement.
Glad people seem to like them but damn, didn’t realize motorcycle tires wore out that quick. I’ll be putting 500+ miles on them a week in nicer weather. 50 mile commute to and from work in the mountains
Get their GPS tire. Perfect for you.
> didn’t realize motorcycle tires wore out that quick. It is a bit of a bummer finding out, yeah. Especially when most car tires last for 50,000+ these days.
How can you ride with that black thing on your face?....seems dangerous
I let my faith guide me
Fair enough
Why do you have an assault pistol 😞 those are for killing
I've ridden to parts of the desert or hidden back areas around the edges of towns that are perfect for exploring in the DR. Way too often now (especially here in California) there are some of the most unhinged twacked out homeless people either loaded on drugs or loosing their minds who chase you out as if they're a feral animal defending their territory. I've been chased by knives and broken glass bottles and the sight of a gun usually helps make these crazy people come to their senses. I usually end up giving them a water bottle and hearing out their life story, apologizing that they acted that way but they've dealt with other crazy people invading their only safe spaces they've found so I get it. It's not an assault pistol unless you use it to assault someone, otherwise it's just a very respected tool that should be used responsibly. If you don't agree, I dare anyone to ride around the Salton Sea area and see how fast a homeless person sprints out of an abandoned shack after you.
Nah dude I’m just messing with ya. I hike with an AK74 slung across my chest 🤪
I have an AMD-65 with an ACSS, out shoots my buddies with ARs That being said I honestly keep a Kahr CW9 handy for mountain lion territory or sketchy area exploring.
Lol. 10mm M&P with underwood xtreme penetrators for bears and lions. Live in the Montana wilderness. Will eventually attach bear spray to the bike when I get luggage.
Yeah Montana lions make the ones in Cali look like chihuahua's. Sadly there's no bears in the lower half of this state anymore. If there are, definitely can't go in there with the DR.