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[mart]

i should have said some 'trials tyres' have a very soft compound and are v unpredictable on the road.

[stinkwheel]

Well, like Wheters, I've gone for a cheng-shin 300x19 front and a
Heidenau 350x19 rear.

Should be hard enough for the road but compliant with long distanc etrials regs.

Got an ensign universal on my spare rear for road riding any distance.

[Wheaters]

Well, like Wheters, I've gone for a cheng-shin 300x19 front and a
Heidenau 350x19 rear.

Should be hard enough for the road but compliant with long distanc etrials regs.

Got an ensign universal on my spare rear for road riding any distance.

I think you will be pleased with these tyres, the bike handles really well on them and they inspire confidence.
I went out on mine today to blow away the cobwebs and leaned over as far as scraping the footpegs on quite a few corners. I also rode from J29 to J30 on the M1 so I had to "nip on a bit" at times, especially when an HGV joined at J29 alongside and forced me over in to lane 2, where I didn't really want to be, so I had to "mix it" with faster cars coming up behind.

[stinkwheel]

Put 100 miles on it today and yes, the tyres work. Went up a VERY rough green lane with irregular broken slabs of road surface and ankle-deep running water coming down the hill which was a long way out of my comfort zone and the bike soaked it up, even with the tyres on road pressures. "Cleaned" it too, more from fear of what the hell I'd do if I stopped (ie fall off then roll back down the hill with an enfield on top of me) than skill. The road riding adages apply here too it seems: "Can't lose the front under power" and "If it's all going wrong, shut your eyes and gas-it".

Also went through a couple of axle-deep floods. Wiring works then. The ossa replica front mudguard with built-in mudflap payed for itself by curling the bow wave outside my boots.

The "vintage" 1st gen renthal desert bars I fitted also play well. Huge amount of flex in them which seems horrible until you ask a 19" wheel to climb a series of uneven 8" tramac steps.

My thighs hurt.

[Wheaters]

Well done, SW but do be careful off-roading by yourself!

I can tell you from personal experience that a Royal Enfield is a very heavy bike once you are lying down-slope underneath it! The centre stand on my bike caught a rock at a critical moment on a byway track that turned out to be much rougher than it used to be because the landowner had narrowed the track so you had to go straight up. The bike stopped dead and slipped back. I put my left foot down, only to find nothing but fresh air and over I went, the long way down onto the bike's left side. The front wheel was now pointing in the air. Took me a good few minutes to get out from under the bike and even longer to find enough strength to get it back on its wheels because it was lying high side downhill, well below horizontal. It had a broken windscreen with very jagged edges and no left foot rest; the threads on the cross-frame support bar had snapped.

I decided it was too dangerous to try going back down the hill without a footrest on the rear brake side so I had to carry on up the hill. Overheated the clutch in the process and couldn't use it - so that was "interesting".

Took me about forty five minutes to get to the top and in that time no-one else passed by. I later gave myself a good telling off; if I had had injured myself it could have been a lot more serious.

In other words, think twice before off-roading in remote areas alone!

[stinkwheel]

Probably worth mentioning my "comfort zone" at the moment consists of clean, preferrably dry tarmac. One of the reasons I fancy trialling, if the rear slides even a little on my road bike, I'm no good for a good half hour.

It's actually techincally a "road" I went on, not even a byway. It's just totally banjaxed. I've been along it before in a 4x4 so I knew what it was like. Pretty much at the upper limit of what you can take a standard Suzuki Jimny along in low range though, any rougher and you'd need coil springs and a skid bumper. The bike had it easier because you can dodge most of the more major potholes.

A friend who does six day trials on a B40e gave me a good piece of advice which I've taken to heart: You can ride up anything as long as you're happy you can reach the next place to get off. He describes a trials stage as a series of short hops between places you could safely dismount. Link them all together and you're completed the stage.