Sunday, July 28, 2013

The end of a riddle and some new shoes

Winter here is finally coming to an end (Woo Hoo!) with only one month of winter left one can't wish hard enough that the spring will come early. I haven't really had much chance to get out on the bike at all, partly due to the crap weather coupled with the fact I needed new tyres which is now rectified also I have been away the last couple of weekends visiting my mum who was in hospital due to a hip replacement.

I finally got the bike in to the shop for new hoops this week. We can't all be as lucky as Eric and have our own tyre changing machine. While the bike was at the shop I also asked them to check the steering head bearings. When I had washed the bike a couple of weeks ago I went up to get some fuel. I wasn't wearing ear plugs for such a short journey like I do if I'm on a long trip and when I applied the front brake I could hear a clunking sound coming from the front end. The end result was that, as I had suspected the steering head bearing were shot.I took the bike for a short run down some hills nearby and lent back and took my hands off the bars. No tank slapping occurring now. Great now the handling is sorted its time for a ride next weekend.

Incidentally I was going to put on another set of Michelin Pilot Power Pure's but when I spoke to the guy at the shop he said they didn't have any and that a lot of riders were reporting that they were wearing funny on the front causing handling problems. I just had a set of those on my R1 and had no sort of drama's as he described. Tarsnakes recently told me he had a similar issue with them on his VFR. I wonder if these so called wear/handling issues come about due to heavy bikes. The VFR is 34Kg heavier than my R1. This could cause excessive wear on the front tyre possibly. It could be that the lighter the bike the better those tyres perform.

Anyway I decided I would try Michelins new Pilot Power 3. Hopefully I will get roughly the same amount of Km's  out of these as I did with the power pure although I don't think I will. I had 58804 km on the bike when I got them put on.
Pilot Power 3

There's very little tread on the sides of these tyres so it doesn't look like they will be great wet weather tyres but they do look like they will be great tyres for spirited riding in the twisties. Time will tell.


Once I'd got the bike home on Sunday I also did an oil and filter change on the bike. Now all is in readiness for next weeks ride, as long as it not 6°C and raining.

Bring on the summer!

9 comments:

  1. Hey, you copied my post!!
    Did they replace the steering head bearings or did you manage to get away with a tighten?

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    1. Ctrl-C then Ctrl-v.

      Yep stearing head bearing were shot, so got new one's.

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  2. I've noticed that with heavy bikes, like my zx-14 and the Goldwing I used to own, that keeping an eye on the air pressure is very important. It seems like if it's too low, the tires(tyres)start to "cup" or get a uneven wear pattern, and the problem increases with mileage.

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    1. You could well be onto something, most of the bikes I've owned have been fairly light with the ZX-9 being the heaviest of them. They must be very hard on the front tyre.

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  3. I personally found the PR3's excellent, so will be interested in how those 'powers" go. The PR3's are sublime in the wet.

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    1. I know geoff highly rates them as well. For sure the Pilot Power won't last anywhere near as long asthe PR3's. Be interesting trying them though.

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  4. Hey Steve...... isn't talking about tyre life longevity expectations when riding an R1 with SPORTS tyres a bit weird??? Especially when you ride it like you stole it ;-)

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    1. You are right Geoff, what the hell have I been thinkin......

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  5. You are heading into summer - perfect time for new tyres.

    Now to take the bike out and scrub them in. I am still impressed with the mileage you get out of your tyres over there. You must have a better road surface than we do.

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