I'm fitting my bike out for a pan Africa trip and asked the dealer about rim locks (will be riding tarmac, mud and sand). His advice was:

"It is not really necessary to fit rim locks to the KLR but saying that I have done it before as an extra safeguard. The KLR rims do not have an extra hole in the rim so we will have to drill it out. If you feel that you would prefer having them fitted we can do it."

What are your views on whether this is needed or not and also on whether you see any potential issues with having the rims drilled? Riding with a mate a while back he had his tyres low and ripped the value out of the tube braking sharply for a turn - keen to avoid this in the middle of Africa. I don't really understand why it might not be needed.

Cheers
Andy

If you guys are riding FAST and HARD then I would fit rim locks. Drilling the wheel does no harm.

The real down side is the pain in the ass you face when fixing a flat or changing tires. Rim Locks are a real pain in the Pric k to deal with. I Ran them for over 10 years on races bikes (enduro).

BUT ... I've ridden off road on my DR650 for 60,000 miles, 4 major trips through Baja and Mexico, plenty of rugged off road ... all over UsA too, NEVER pulled out a valve stem yet. NO RIM LOCKS ON MY DR650!

If you're constantly spinning up the rear, ... especially in rocks where traction is loose, then suddenly there ... then you could spin a rim and ruin your tube. Also panic stops can move the front, but very RARE in my experience.

On a 17" rear wheel that is a Street type wheel, it's hard to do ... you really have to work at it. Some of this depends which tires you're running. Dirt bike knobbies may spin easier than more street oriented tires which have a more pronounced safety bead on the tire that dirt bike tires don't have. The safety bead "Grabs" hold of the rim, keeping it from spinning and is the reason the BEAD is such a bitch to break.

Be sure to leave your valve stem nut loose so valve stem can move fore and aft without pulling out.

AFRICA? Serious stuff ... be sure to bring plenty of extra tubes ... I carry 3 extras in Mexico. One front, two rears. Always have them patched professionally using Vulcanizing technique, not some crap bicycle rubber cement patch which won't hold! Take care your tubes ... they are gold!

If you're running high, road type pressures all the time then I probably wouldn't bother but if you ever run soft then I would say they are a must. OK, it's five seconds of finger bending pain to fit the bloody things sometimes but in the big scheme of things, no real hassle.

Re wheel balancing; I have eight wheels for trail-bikes and the rimloc holes are all in different positions. Logic would say it should be opposite the valve hole ???

I wouldn't bother.


Eighteen months ago I was silly enough to run very low tyre pressures (<10psi) on my KLR when crossing the Simpson desert and managed to tear the valve stem out of the front tube. I didn't actually realise I had a flat, I only stopped because of the front end squeaking noises, believing I had done a wheel bearing.


I then decided to continue riding with a completely flat front tyre and completed the remaining 300km of desert sand (up and down a thousand sand dunes then a high speed gravel road) without problem, and with no damage to tyre or rim.


The reality is that if you run a tyre with a stiff enough sidewall (e.g. Dunlop D606) there is minimal effect on handling/steering when deflated.

__________________
Garry from Oz - powered by Burgman

I've drilled rims out to fit rim locks in the past without any problems. Opposite the valve is the easiest for wheel balance but makes getting the tyre into the well for removal harder. Just pick a spot where the spokes diverge as it gives you more room.

Whether you need to fit them is another matter as they are a pain to deal with when changing tyres / tubes. You might want to consider the poor man's version which is a couple of self tappers through the edge of the rim and just biting into the tyre edge. Not as good as internal rim locks but better than nothing and easy to remove.

If you do go down the rim lock route you will need to add some serious balance weights (from memory the last one I fitted was around 110gms) - you'll probably not notice much under 50 /60mph but over that it'll drive you mad, especially if you've fitted them front and rear.

Good point regards running low tire pressures. Tire pressures DO make a difference here. Low pressures can make it easier for rim to spin, pulling out valve stem. Low pressure is nice in deep sand but just take care to ride smooth to not spin wheel too much.

Off road in deep sand in Baja I run about 15 PSI front, 17 PSI rear on my DR650. I did DENT a rear rim on my most recent trip last November riding too fast in nasty rocky section, but no pulled out stems.

I would not go below 14 PSI. I was running 22 front, 27 rear in the rocks. The Kenda 270 I ran has soft side walls, hence the dented rim. First and last time for the Kenda. Good off road traction but way too
soft side wall for rocks.

The Shinko 244 has stronger side walls, performs just as well, wears out a bit sooner on highway. At $60 USD each, worth it.

For Africa you guys will probably be going with German/Euro tires: Heidenau, Mefo or Mitas. All are tough, last long time, good in rocks, not so much in deep sand.

Thanks all - really appreciate your thoughts. Going to reflect on what you have all said and decide over the weekend.

Cheers
Andy


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