dlama
Moped
Installed a pair of Shinko Verge 2X dual compound touring tires this week.
FR 120/70ZR17 58W load index
RR 200/50ZR17 75W load index
And then I did something I never thought I would do. I intentionally rode 100 miles in the rain.
I visited East Texas Motorsports (an independent Moto shop) who mounted and balanced the new Shinkos on my 2012 Connie. The tires balanced easily with 2.5 oz weight required on the rear and 3/4 oz required in the front.
This is the DLAMA version of a tire test. Very little science and lots of unnecessary rambling. Until this year I have been embarrasing most everyone around me in how much money I was willing to shell out to have all of my wrenching done by someone else. Anyone but me. For some unknown reason I had become allergic to anything time consuming, requiring thought or concentration and certainly would feign injury before I would volunteer to assist anyone in "hold this" while they cut, drill, torch, impact, rip or tear the offending part. I digress...
Coming off Michelin PR3 55 series with 7785 miles on them. The rear was way past due and the front had another 1500 miles (possibly) but the cupping and asymmetrical wear pattern was disturbing me in handling and safety concerns. These were hard and fast RURAL commuting miles with a dozen or so longer days of 200 -300 miles. Many quarter mile fun starts, lots of high speed curves but NOTHING like the blistering of tires shown by some ex-racers in this forum. I must admit I have ridden this C14 hard enough that the top speed limiter kicked in a couple times. But then I started turning it into more of a Metric Gold Wing (wait a minute.. the Gold Wing is Metric). Regardless, the guys that wear out two front tires for every rear tire are basically racing on public roads. I don't even know how to make a motorcycle do that to a tire so I'm not "on the cool". But my miles were hard enough that I decided to slow down ALL of my rides to be able to stay safe and make this a long, successful love affair with the road. I still love my wife and children but this bike is one of my key fobs to happiness. Better than any mood altering prescription I know of and only significantly more expensive. Hide the bank statement, the eBay invoices, the Amazon emails, the Revzilla boxes, and no one is the wiser. I did get a look from my college career son the other day when I was bolting on a new farkle. I had JUST told him we were broke and he was using too much DATA on his phone plan. Never mind that I have spent much of his college fund on a used Metric Sport Touring Machine.
That statement to the college career son went over like the proverbial lead balloon. He is also a motorcyclist and former licensed operator of an R6 that he totalled after the 3rd day. It was his birthday. That 6k down the tubes is what I use as motivator when I think I will wait until AFTER the weekend to insure my motorcycle purchase. OOPS. That's when I looked up insurance information and actuaries indicating the expected life of an R6 after purchase. Hold on to your checkbooks... 6 weeks. With my son's 3 day blissful crotch rocketing (rocketeering?) on city streets only lasting 3 days I believe 6 week average life of an R6 might actually be optimistic.
Back to the Shinkos...
I am checking out this new shop (for me) as well as the technicians with some friendly discussion before and after the tire mounting. The young man is a certified Ducati tech, very proud of his own experience as a "race mechanic" and had some interesting observations about the C14. I am not sure why I am impressed that a Ducati aficianado is a such a big fan of the Concours 14. At least he is making me feel confident in his skills at this first meeting. But then I heard him talking to the Vespa customer that came in after me, and the Harley guy that followed him. Then I realized... he is repeating the same shpiel for each person that comes in. At least the Scooter guy got some props. I did not know that Ducati built racing Scooters and have their own Superbowl of Scooter races. Apparently the upper end of Scooter Mania are almost as lively and purposeful as the Tifosi of Ferrari. Impressive... This looks promising for future tires at least.
My son (the R-6 pilot) thinks Ducatis are so fast they get speeding tickets sitting at the stoplight. And Aprilia, well if you point those just right before you hit the throttle you could possibly break the pull of gravity and enter deep space. But of course he is 20 and two years experience from the R-6 incident he now possesses the ultimate measuring device for speed - testosterone. He can sense it with his... well never mind.
Like many others on this website I have not been that impressed with technicians in my area, especially when I started working on my own motorcyle and discovered the shoddy work and low quality results from almost everything I ever hired done on this 2012 Connie. It was just 3 years ago I reentered the Motorcycle Owners Association of American Motorycle Operators or MOWAAMO for short. I invented the association 40 years ago when a friend of mine totaled his Kawasaki road/trail bike in front of the whole group that eventually joined my "Association". By joining I mean to say they would have joined if I had put it on paper and created a membership sheet and charged dues. Never the less, this was the first Association name that was created from the spelling of the sound of a motorcycle crash. MOWAAMO was the sound the Kawasaki made as it overshot the jump in entered Kawasaki afterlife so I just made up the rest to match the sound. It's actually pretty cool to get the sound first, then the Association comes later. A little like the Steve McQueen movie "BULLITT". First came the movie, then Ford decided to capitalize on the Mustang in the movie and invented a Mustang model BULLITT later to match the title of the movie. We are in rare air here... BULLITT/MOWAAMO very genius IMHO. But I digress...
After the Shinkos were mounted I looked at the radar and the rain was everywhere around me so I headed North on Hwy 259 to Daingerfield to visit my Father at Windsor Place Nursing Home, about 40 miles away. The roads were very wet and I had never scrubbed in new tires in the wet so caution was the word for the afternoon. I never get tired of the feeling of new shoes for the Moto. It's like getting a new bike again. Every bump feels better and the tires immediately impressed me with the familiar comfort of brand new rubber.
They were warming up nicely and after 20 miles the road dried out briefly so I gently scrubbed them in with some weaving at speed and some nice curves when the traffic was clear. The vibration of the tires was minimal, and reminded me of the PR3's after they replaced the OEM Bridgestones. I always dig in my fingernails through the glove touching the brake lever or other spot that could measure potential vibration. If it doesn't cause pain through the gloved end of my fingernail, it probably won't make my fingers go to sleep. I used this test when I mounted a set of Avons on a 2013 Yamaha Supertenere and rode two times to work and then immediately took them back and had them install the OEM Battlewings and sold the Motorcycle. It was almost like electric shock the pain was so bad on the fingernail and the whole buzzing front end horrified me that I decided there were two things at play: The SUCKY tires and the 2 cyclinder gigantic pistons thumping in a parallel something or other that Yamaha tried to convince me was awesome. I loved the rider position, hate hate hated the buzzfest at any speed over 65 mph. I could have slowed down and enjoyed the bike but DLAMA just ain't wired for slow unless it has to do with work. Then I am the slowest moving creature on earth. The"fingernail test" was passed with flying colors on the SHINKOS mounted on the 2012 Connie.
After the rain rides the C14 needed a good bath. I have always considered myself the best "wash tech" in the world. I take my time and I get in ALL the crevices. No need for high pressure water or anything else that might blow into the seals of valuable moving parts. I scrubbed this baby down with the most gentle of all blends of Automotive Car Wash lotion/bubbles and then I saw it... Mr Ducati scratched the paint of my rims installing the SHINKOS. If I was to put this in my high school daughter's words (or emoticons) FROWNY FACE to the MAX. But these wheels need powdercoating anyway. I read it here in these pages by one of the great contributors. The OEM paint is POROUS. But I digress...
I have ridden two more times in the dry to complete the scrub-in of the tires. They are so comfortable over the small ridges and cracks that I am having a hard time believing these SHINKO tires will last as long as the PR3's that they replaced. The comfort factor is one notch above what I remember the PR3's were and they were actually better when I aired them up to 42/42 for the 2nd and 3rd ride. For some odd reason the "Ducati" tech aired them up 36/38 and that's what I rode on during the rain test.
I know guys don't sound credible when they say "these new tires are WAY better than the last set" because the "last set" was worn slap out when they changed them and any Sears and Roebuck tire would feel good when you are riding on a slab of uneven rubber that is about to explode or separate at any minute. I know it's usually not THAT bad but most of us need to feel the need to spend money on new tires. Explosions or delaminating treads from steel belts are usually enough to convince the wifey that the cash will be spent on something "life sparing".
So this next part is for the moderators, the leaders, the big guys who keep us herded into manageable bunches on the COG. I am sorry. Yes, I am a wordy person who likes to fart around and write stuff that nobody really cares about. But I am a sincere C14 owner who recognizes a Ducati Mechanic when I see one. And my Ducati man said my bike is AWESOME... So that makes me awesome because I own it. But I digress...
If I am not blown out of this forum level membership before I purchase a full membership, please tell my children that I tried... Big Daddy (that's my real name to my children and grandchildren) gave it his best shot.
If allowed, I will bring updates with (or without) the miscellaneous ramblings in a few thousand miles. Next up: PR4 GT comparision with the SHINKOS and the Ducati Mechanic's take on life in the "fast lane". And I might bring to his attention that Ducatis must be impervious to paint scratches on the rims when they get tires mounted... MAYBE NOT.
http://s1065.photobucket.com/user/dlama0514/media/0103186365b0180f8199f6920f967f5ba1e20b445c_zpsnic8paud.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0
http://s1065.photobucket.com/user/dlama0514/media/Shinko%20Tire%20Test%202015%20021_zpsyhp8oni7.jpg.html?sort=3&o=5
http://s1065.photobucket.com/user/dlama0514/media/Shinko%20Tire%20Test%202015%20024_zpsfnhpdsbb.jpg.html?sort=3&o=2
FR 120/70ZR17 58W load index
RR 200/50ZR17 75W load index
And then I did something I never thought I would do. I intentionally rode 100 miles in the rain.
I visited East Texas Motorsports (an independent Moto shop) who mounted and balanced the new Shinkos on my 2012 Connie. The tires balanced easily with 2.5 oz weight required on the rear and 3/4 oz required in the front.
This is the DLAMA version of a tire test. Very little science and lots of unnecessary rambling. Until this year I have been embarrasing most everyone around me in how much money I was willing to shell out to have all of my wrenching done by someone else. Anyone but me. For some unknown reason I had become allergic to anything time consuming, requiring thought or concentration and certainly would feign injury before I would volunteer to assist anyone in "hold this" while they cut, drill, torch, impact, rip or tear the offending part. I digress...
Coming off Michelin PR3 55 series with 7785 miles on them. The rear was way past due and the front had another 1500 miles (possibly) but the cupping and asymmetrical wear pattern was disturbing me in handling and safety concerns. These were hard and fast RURAL commuting miles with a dozen or so longer days of 200 -300 miles. Many quarter mile fun starts, lots of high speed curves but NOTHING like the blistering of tires shown by some ex-racers in this forum. I must admit I have ridden this C14 hard enough that the top speed limiter kicked in a couple times. But then I started turning it into more of a Metric Gold Wing (wait a minute.. the Gold Wing is Metric). Regardless, the guys that wear out two front tires for every rear tire are basically racing on public roads. I don't even know how to make a motorcycle do that to a tire so I'm not "on the cool". But my miles were hard enough that I decided to slow down ALL of my rides to be able to stay safe and make this a long, successful love affair with the road. I still love my wife and children but this bike is one of my key fobs to happiness. Better than any mood altering prescription I know of and only significantly more expensive. Hide the bank statement, the eBay invoices, the Amazon emails, the Revzilla boxes, and no one is the wiser. I did get a look from my college career son the other day when I was bolting on a new farkle. I had JUST told him we were broke and he was using too much DATA on his phone plan. Never mind that I have spent much of his college fund on a used Metric Sport Touring Machine.
That statement to the college career son went over like the proverbial lead balloon. He is also a motorcyclist and former licensed operator of an R6 that he totalled after the 3rd day. It was his birthday. That 6k down the tubes is what I use as motivator when I think I will wait until AFTER the weekend to insure my motorcycle purchase. OOPS. That's when I looked up insurance information and actuaries indicating the expected life of an R6 after purchase. Hold on to your checkbooks... 6 weeks. With my son's 3 day blissful crotch rocketing (rocketeering?) on city streets only lasting 3 days I believe 6 week average life of an R6 might actually be optimistic.
Back to the Shinkos...
I am checking out this new shop (for me) as well as the technicians with some friendly discussion before and after the tire mounting. The young man is a certified Ducati tech, very proud of his own experience as a "race mechanic" and had some interesting observations about the C14. I am not sure why I am impressed that a Ducati aficianado is a such a big fan of the Concours 14. At least he is making me feel confident in his skills at this first meeting. But then I heard him talking to the Vespa customer that came in after me, and the Harley guy that followed him. Then I realized... he is repeating the same shpiel for each person that comes in. At least the Scooter guy got some props. I did not know that Ducati built racing Scooters and have their own Superbowl of Scooter races. Apparently the upper end of Scooter Mania are almost as lively and purposeful as the Tifosi of Ferrari. Impressive... This looks promising for future tires at least.
My son (the R-6 pilot) thinks Ducatis are so fast they get speeding tickets sitting at the stoplight. And Aprilia, well if you point those just right before you hit the throttle you could possibly break the pull of gravity and enter deep space. But of course he is 20 and two years experience from the R-6 incident he now possesses the ultimate measuring device for speed - testosterone. He can sense it with his... well never mind.
Like many others on this website I have not been that impressed with technicians in my area, especially when I started working on my own motorcyle and discovered the shoddy work and low quality results from almost everything I ever hired done on this 2012 Connie. It was just 3 years ago I reentered the Motorcycle Owners Association of American Motorycle Operators or MOWAAMO for short. I invented the association 40 years ago when a friend of mine totaled his Kawasaki road/trail bike in front of the whole group that eventually joined my "Association". By joining I mean to say they would have joined if I had put it on paper and created a membership sheet and charged dues. Never the less, this was the first Association name that was created from the spelling of the sound of a motorcycle crash. MOWAAMO was the sound the Kawasaki made as it overshot the jump in entered Kawasaki afterlife so I just made up the rest to match the sound. It's actually pretty cool to get the sound first, then the Association comes later. A little like the Steve McQueen movie "BULLITT". First came the movie, then Ford decided to capitalize on the Mustang in the movie and invented a Mustang model BULLITT later to match the title of the movie. We are in rare air here... BULLITT/MOWAAMO very genius IMHO. But I digress...
After the Shinkos were mounted I looked at the radar and the rain was everywhere around me so I headed North on Hwy 259 to Daingerfield to visit my Father at Windsor Place Nursing Home, about 40 miles away. The roads were very wet and I had never scrubbed in new tires in the wet so caution was the word for the afternoon. I never get tired of the feeling of new shoes for the Moto. It's like getting a new bike again. Every bump feels better and the tires immediately impressed me with the familiar comfort of brand new rubber.
They were warming up nicely and after 20 miles the road dried out briefly so I gently scrubbed them in with some weaving at speed and some nice curves when the traffic was clear. The vibration of the tires was minimal, and reminded me of the PR3's after they replaced the OEM Bridgestones. I always dig in my fingernails through the glove touching the brake lever or other spot that could measure potential vibration. If it doesn't cause pain through the gloved end of my fingernail, it probably won't make my fingers go to sleep. I used this test when I mounted a set of Avons on a 2013 Yamaha Supertenere and rode two times to work and then immediately took them back and had them install the OEM Battlewings and sold the Motorcycle. It was almost like electric shock the pain was so bad on the fingernail and the whole buzzing front end horrified me that I decided there were two things at play: The SUCKY tires and the 2 cyclinder gigantic pistons thumping in a parallel something or other that Yamaha tried to convince me was awesome. I loved the rider position, hate hate hated the buzzfest at any speed over 65 mph. I could have slowed down and enjoyed the bike but DLAMA just ain't wired for slow unless it has to do with work. Then I am the slowest moving creature on earth. The"fingernail test" was passed with flying colors on the SHINKOS mounted on the 2012 Connie.
After the rain rides the C14 needed a good bath. I have always considered myself the best "wash tech" in the world. I take my time and I get in ALL the crevices. No need for high pressure water or anything else that might blow into the seals of valuable moving parts. I scrubbed this baby down with the most gentle of all blends of Automotive Car Wash lotion/bubbles and then I saw it... Mr Ducati scratched the paint of my rims installing the SHINKOS. If I was to put this in my high school daughter's words (or emoticons) FROWNY FACE to the MAX. But these wheels need powdercoating anyway. I read it here in these pages by one of the great contributors. The OEM paint is POROUS. But I digress...
I have ridden two more times in the dry to complete the scrub-in of the tires. They are so comfortable over the small ridges and cracks that I am having a hard time believing these SHINKO tires will last as long as the PR3's that they replaced. The comfort factor is one notch above what I remember the PR3's were and they were actually better when I aired them up to 42/42 for the 2nd and 3rd ride. For some odd reason the "Ducati" tech aired them up 36/38 and that's what I rode on during the rain test.
I know guys don't sound credible when they say "these new tires are WAY better than the last set" because the "last set" was worn slap out when they changed them and any Sears and Roebuck tire would feel good when you are riding on a slab of uneven rubber that is about to explode or separate at any minute. I know it's usually not THAT bad but most of us need to feel the need to spend money on new tires. Explosions or delaminating treads from steel belts are usually enough to convince the wifey that the cash will be spent on something "life sparing".
So this next part is for the moderators, the leaders, the big guys who keep us herded into manageable bunches on the COG. I am sorry. Yes, I am a wordy person who likes to fart around and write stuff that nobody really cares about. But I am a sincere C14 owner who recognizes a Ducati Mechanic when I see one. And my Ducati man said my bike is AWESOME... So that makes me awesome because I own it. But I digress...
If I am not blown out of this forum level membership before I purchase a full membership, please tell my children that I tried... Big Daddy (that's my real name to my children and grandchildren) gave it his best shot.
If allowed, I will bring updates with (or without) the miscellaneous ramblings in a few thousand miles. Next up: PR4 GT comparision with the SHINKOS and the Ducati Mechanic's take on life in the "fast lane". And I might bring to his attention that Ducatis must be impervious to paint scratches on the rims when they get tires mounted... MAYBE NOT.
http://s1065.photobucket.com/user/dlama0514/media/0103186365b0180f8199f6920f967f5ba1e20b445c_zpsnic8paud.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0
http://s1065.photobucket.com/user/dlama0514/media/Shinko%20Tire%20Test%202015%20021_zpsyhp8oni7.jpg.html?sort=3&o=5
http://s1065.photobucket.com/user/dlama0514/media/Shinko%20Tire%20Test%202015%20024_zpsfnhpdsbb.jpg.html?sort=3&o=2