[enzed_viffer]

I finally got around to replacing the tyres (and the tires) on the VifFerraRi yesterday. The thing that finally tipped the balance is that on Monday I was testing out a new map for the PCII, and went on a bit of road I hadn't been on for a while. One corner was right-handed and off-camber, and it was very disconcerting when the front tyre got to the edge of the badly-flattened worn bit, and tipped over onto the last bit of tread between there and the edge. (Hard to explain, and I meant to take pictures afterwards). Because I hadn't done any track days or fast group rides, instead of being worn all the way to the edge, the front Azaro AV49-SP had worn flat (no tread left) to only an inch from the right-hand side, where there was still good tread. Also, the back had heaps of tread on both sides, but was bald in the middle. Not squared off, but the profile was terrible.

I dunno how long they'd been on there, but at a guess, I think they were spooned on in January 2006. They've been on longer than any tyres I've had in recent years, and the wear pattern was worse than any others as well, with almost all of my riding being just commuting.

So, I rang up my bike guy, he said to turn up any time, so I left work early and headed over there. When I turned up he handed me $20 and two envelopes and said "A coke and a peanut slab [a type of chocolate bar] and post these please!" So, I wandered around the corner to the local convenience store, posted his mail, and when I got back a few minutes later, he was wrestling with the rear tyre. "Uh... you'll need to take the pipe off to get the wheel off."
"No you don't."
I then realised he was putting the wheel back ON!
The front one was also on a few minutes later, so we just hung out, talked about bikes, I ogled some of the ones he had for sale (Benelli TnT, a trio of red Ducati 998s, a couple of 851s, some Aprilias, etc etc.)
Then I came to pay, and he said, "$480, Fine Sir!" [~US$363]
"Uh... what? That's not what you quoted me - it was $500!"
"Yeah, but you're a loyal customer."
I am - I try to buy everything there, even though it's now no longer a 5-minute ride from my work, but more like 30 minutes.
[FWIW, I was quoted NZ$569 for Michelin Pilot Roads, fitted and balanced]

Oh yeah - they're Avon Storms. So far, they feel really good, now that I'm not fighting against weirdly worn profiles, but they're not scrubbed in (just a ride down the motorway to home) and it was wet this morning, so I was being very careful...

This post has been edited by enzed_viffer: 23 October 2007 - 03:26 PM

[skuuter trash]

Ah, new tires.............. :thumbsup:

[BaileyRock]

New tires = new bike most of the time! :thumbsup: I recently installed two new tires for the first time in a long while as I have been burning off track tire left overs and the new set felt great! Forgot how good the bike could feel!

Congrats on the great relationship you have with your bike guy!!!

[enzed_viffer]

He always warns me to be careful (probably remembers years ago when he fitted new brake pads to my VTR1000 and I binned it 100 metres from his shop...)
I thought, "Psshaw!!!", but I was staggered at how different the handling was: just thought about turning and the bike did. And all that rubber made for a cushy ride. :thumbsup:

[VFreds315]

Have to agree with the ood new tire feel. I just replaced the rear work BT020 on my 2005 with a Metzler Sportec M1. Picked it up at the Honda dealer up in Georgia where I was working for the week. WEnt in at lunchtime and they had it done before I finished my happy meal across the street. Amazing how good the new round tire feels compared to the old squared off one.

[enzed_viffer]

The thing is, you always get guys reviewing a new tyre and saying how wonderful it is, but how can you tell how much is due to its newness, and how much because it is better than the old tyre?
In my case, the Storms replace an AV-49SP on the front, and AV46-ST rear. The AV49-SP isn't available now, but I decided after having three sets of sport front and sport-touring rear on different bikes that I'd go with matched tyres, as although I loved the last set when it was new, the wear pattern illustrates the lack of confidence I felt in the feel of the tyres when the bike was leaned right over. They were definitely better than the BT-020s on the bike when I bought it (and for what it's worth, even though I didn't like the front BT020, it was worn to the edges and had no tread when I replaced it.)

The tyres I'm replacing performed well, and the only time they misbehaved was when I inadvertently contaminated the rear tyre with wheel cleaner containing silicon or somesuch. A bit of a burnout and some brake cleaner and it was back to its old sticky self. The front tyre was a bit quirky in that being a sport tyre it had a really soft carcase, so it didn't like having less than 38psi on board.

It's going to be interesting comparing things once I have my new shock fitted and do some work on the front end. First I'm going to have to de-radicalize the suspension setup, as I have a 5-6mm shim under the rear shock top mount, and the front end has been lowered somewhat (14mm, from memory) :eek:
So, I guess I need to set it back to stock, set up the sag and damping, then go from there.

[TimC]

Congrats on the new skins, enzed! I replaced my front and rear tires at different times last spring, but could not believe the difference when the new front was installed. Wow. I had never felt a bike turn in that easily and quickly. It was actually a little scary!

I just ordered a Conti Sport Attack rear to replace my very worn Road Attack. I'm hoping to wear out the remaining tread on the front tire in the time it takes to wear out the softer new rear (sportbike) tire. I expect the Sport Attack to warm up more quickly during my fall/winter/early spring riding, too, which is good.

I've loved my Road Attacks, but I'm looking forward to trying another tire next time. At least one friend here on VFRD highly recommends the Avon Storms, and that's probably what I'll go with next spring or summer, whenever my existing tires are ready to be scrapped.

[enzed_viffer]

I asked my "bike guy" (who sells all tyre brands, but specialises in Avons) if he'd had many problems with having to replace the Storm front tyres due to handling problems, being out of balance, etc. and he said he'd had none. Apparently, there are "noises" on the Interdweeb about how problematic the Storms can be, but this is largely due to Blackbird owners having some issues, because the Blackbirds are very front-heavy and finding just the right tyres is tricky. You'll see for some brands that they list a special model specifically for Blackbirds, BMWs and whatnot that have a stronger/thicker carcase.

[seamus]

enzed_viffer, on Oct 23 2007, 02:03 PM, said:

...One corner was right-handed and off-camber, and it was very disconcerting when the front tyre got to the edge of the badly-flattened worn bit, and tipped over onto the last bit of tread between there and the edge. (Hard to explain, and I meant to take pictures afterwards)...

I know exactly what you're talking about. I was away from home for a while and my wife rode her SV650 for several thousand miles in my absence. She had been complaining of it's weird handling characteristics for a few weeks so when I got home (after dark), I just jumped on it and took it for a troubleshooting spin around the block.

The sudden tipping as I rolled over the flattened edge was disconcerting to say the least. Pulled in the driveway and installed a new set of tires the next morning.

Whole new bike.

[enzed_viffer]

seamus, on Oct 24 2007, 10:56 AM, said:

The sudden tipping as I rolled over the flattened edge was disconcerting to say the least.

Yeah - that's it. Lean...lean...lean....TIP!!
It's like the bike has decided to fall over all of a sudden.
Anyway - enough blathering. It's luncheontime, so I'm off to find some curves to scrub my tyres in (better now than when it's raining).
EDIT: Gaaahh!! An hour of riding around, and despite going around off-camber roundabouts (both ways ), riding tight circles leaning the bike in and me out, and finding the twistiest local highways to tackle some corners at nearly twice the posted speed, the back tyre's still got just under a half inch each side that's not scuffed, and the front has about 2 inches.
At least I know there's still lots of lean before I fall off the edge.

This post has been edited by enzed_viffer: 28 October 2007 - 04:05 PM

[enzed_viffer]

UPDATE

So far, so great! :thumbsup:
I don't know how much of the improved feel and handling is down to just having new tyres, and how much is due to them being Storms, but they've given me a LOT more confidence in the corners.

Yesterday, I raised the front end a wee bit - it was 53 mm from the top face of the upper triple clamp to the top of the fork caps, but is now 48mm IIRC.
I can't honestly say it made a noticeable difference. Perhaps if I'd ridden the bike, changed the suspension and ridden it again I may have noticed, but the "new tyre feel" still dominates the riding experience.

Both the new shock and springs are now "in transit", and as you can understand, I'm getting pretty impatient for them to arrive. It's better'n Christmas (not that that's hard, as I haven't had any Christmas/Birthday presents for the last few years...)

By the way: how come there's been so few reports about the new Elka shocks? Is that because most of them were despatched to 6th Gen VFRowners in Canadia, or what? I was kinda jazzed up about reading stories of them being fitted, and seeing the pix, but there's been very little...

[SEBSPEED]

Congrats on the new rubber, Ian. It always makes for a great ride.

I went from worn Azaros to a set of Diablos about 1000 miles ago, and what a nice difference! I lean the bike just as far, but it feels better when it's down there. I'm going back to the Avons though, they have plenty of stick, and because the Diablos are more than halfway gone at 1000 miles already!!


You think the tires are nice, wait till you get the suspension done... VifFerrari will have a new meaning for you! :thumbsup:

[enzed_viffer]

UPDATE:

Just a quick update - while the Storms are not yet much more than scrubbed in, I've ridden in the rain a few times, and I'm very impressed by the level of grip they offer, the feel/feedback I get from them, and the confidence they've inspired in my riding.

I *LOVE* these tyres! :thumbsup:

I have one 'strange' thing that I've noticed, and I have no idea what it relates to. When riding on the motorway at ~100km/h (61mph), the bike feels sort of "vague", and fidgety. Instead of holding a straight line, it wanders very slightly. Like I said, I have no idea what this relates to, and it WAS there before I had the Storms fitted. In fact, the day I rode "the long way round" to visit my bike guy and have the Storms fitted, the bike felt so unstable I was worried that if I went over 110km/h I was going to crash. (I even worried that the back wheel was falling off, as I'd recently removed/replaced it, and wasn't sure the nuts were tight enough!)
It's much better with the Storms than it was on the old Avons, but there are so many things I've feeeedled lately, I'm not sure what it is, or whether it's been there for a long time and I just haven't done enough motorway miles recently to notice.
Possibilities:
I raised the front end (forks were dropped 14mm, are now dropped 6mm). There's now a bit less weight on the front wheel.
The suspension is a bit toast (heh - new springs arrived today, and shock should be here any day).
The suspension's just set up all wrong.
The Dumbo Ears acted like stabilising winglets, and now they're gone, the bike's aerodynamically unstable.
It's all in my head, and I just need to put more highway miles on the bike than I do.

[SEBSPEED]

enzed_viffer, on Nov 5 2007, 08:04 PM, said:

The Dumbo Ears acted like stabilising winglets, and now they're gone, the bike's aerodynamically unstable.

:lol:

enzed_viffer, on Nov 5 2007, 08:04 PM, said:

It's all in my head, and I just need to put more highway miles on the bike than I do.

Absolutely not!!

[VFR4Lee]

Quote

hen I came to pay, and he said, "$480, Fine Sir!" [~US$363]
"Uh... what? That's not what you quoted me - it was $500!"
"Yeah, but you're a loyal customer."

Nothing like new tires. And nothing like a good loyal shop that treats you right. :thumbsup:

[fuldogg]

+1 on loving new tires. Nothing else makes the bike feel and handle so much better. The only downside being the cost, plus I wonder where do all those used tires end up ???

[enzed_viffer]

Whelp, I got that "new tire feeling" back again on Saturday. Took the VFR for its 6-monthly Warrant of Fitness check, and it failed!
Say what?!?
"Uh... I had to rotate the front wheel several times, trying to find a place with enough tread depth.."
"Looked OK to me...."
So, I trundled a few doors down to Cycletreads, and had them fit another Storm. (Asked about a Viper, but the guy reckoned it wouldn't be as good as a winter tire - would take longer to heat up.) Then while they were fitting the tire, they told me the front brake pads were toast!
All up, it was NZ$340 ($250 for the Storm, and $90 for the pads).
The handling is back to being wonderful! (But the front brakes suck...)
I hope they bed in OK. The SBS pads that were in there were great, but the replacements (Ferodo) seem a bit lacking in bite. ON the way home from the shop, I nearly ran up the back of a car that stopped without warning. Oops....

Yesterday, I changed the oil and filter, and was pleased that the new oil quietened the engine noise quite noticeably. The strange thing was, it had Motul 3100 15W50 semi-synth in there, and I mistakenly grabbed some Motul 20W50 V-twin mineral oil. I can't find it on their catalogue, so maybe it's an old product. When I discovered my mistake, I decided I couldn't be bothered taking it back, so just poured the last 1 litre of the 3100 in first, then topped it up with the V-twin oil.