"Sleepy today, Jim?" No, but thanks for asking. Also, I'm not completely ignorant with the English language. That title was "two," not "too." The CTX was in need of new tires. Oh, they weren't completely worn out, but they were getting a bit firm. As in: not as "sticky" in the curves. It is time.
The local Honda dealer had Dunlop tires in stock in the size I need (not a typical profile). I prefer Michelin, but the reviews were good on the Dunlops: similar to the Michelins in wear and grip. And a bit less money. No downside to that. The downside would have been having to wait for the Michelins to get shipped in. They were able to get me in today (I had their Parts Department hold me a set on Monday).
I had the bike there just before they opened at 9:00 this morning. It was a chilly ride: 49º when I got up this morning and only 56º at 8:30. I geared up with a jacket with a liner (that I don't have much opportunity to wear), riding jeans, and boots. And a sweatshirt under the jacket. Joan followed me there, so we could go out for breakfast after dropping off the bike.
An hour and a half later, the Service Department guy called and said the bike was ready. The bill was exactly what they quoted. I didn't have to wait for the "paperwork to get to the cashier," because you pay for it right in the Service Department. Fast and easy.
When I went out to the bike, there was a guy just getting on a scooter next to me. He told me, "These guys are great - I came in this morning without an appointment to get a rear tire put on and they got me right in." Come to find out, he was in the Scooter Cannonball that I had been following (west coast to east coast on scooters, in 8 days)... he told me what his name for that event was... "Hey, I was following along! Very cool!" We talked about it for a while. It was his first Cannonball and he said, "You should do the next one - it was a lot of fun!"
My response: "I'm a couple months older than you - I think that would be a bit too much for this old body to handle."
He said, "There were guys in their 70s, and even a guy in his 80s doing the run."
I said, "It isn't the years, it is the miles, and I have a LOT of miles on this chassis." (Referring to my body, not the bike.) Still, it was a lot of fun hearing about it from someone who did it. He said the run was good, but he left from Washington State to go to California to start, then across the country, and was now on his way home to Washington. He said, "The run was fun, this ride home has been exhausting." I get that.
I did take the bike out for some running through the twisties: it is important that you "scrub-in" the tires before doing any serious riding. So, it was "maintenance," not for the fun of it. That's what I'm going with. ;-) The new tires are confidence inspiring.
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Sitting out on the patio this afternoon, between the occasional light sprinkles. Once again, Rufus was sitting Joan's lap. Once again, I could resist taking photos of the big furry boy...
And most importantly: he's a good boy. (drink) ;-)
2 comments:
[drink] Rufus IS a good boy.
I always liked Dunlops on my Gold Wing. Michelins were very disappointing, so never again. They supposedly had harder tiles of rubber in the center for better wear resistance, and softer sidewalls for grip in the turns. Makes sense, but they wore out unevenly in under 5,000 miles instead of the 15,000 promised. That was a problem for us as we rode 10-13,000 miles every summer in Alaska. (We were pretty hard core back in the day). There was a Michelin recall and we gladly went straight back to Dunlop.
Hi Earl. Hope I am not creating a drinking problem for you! ;-)
We'll see how these Dunlops work out. I looked at a couple BMW riders' forums to get some comparisons. Seems that both brands have their fans and detractors. This boy just wants to ride.
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