conti tkc80, galfer greens, and poseurs
Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2004 11:42 pm
Well, I spent most of the day yesterday (yes, I AM that slow) changing oil,
filter, tires, and front brake pads. I got over 3000 miles out of my Kenda
k270's, which is good for me since I'm rather rough on tires. The Kendas,
while a real bargain, are great dirt and mud tires but just flex way too
much to inspire any confidence on the street. I'm amazed at how well the
Continental TKC80's perform on pavement - I put about 150 miles on them
today, mostly backroad twisties, and a few trails. They don't seem to bite
quite as well as the Kenda's in the mud, but other than that they seem to be
a superior tire for me. It just felt so good to be able to bank the bike
over again without it squirming around like it did on the Kenda's. The
Conti's even took less weight to balance and seem silent on the road
compared to the Kenda's ever-present howl. I think some people had reported
a head-shaking tendancy with the TKC80's, but they seem very stable to me -
I even tried smacking the the bars at speed to make it shake, but it will
not. I'm not sure how well they'll wear, but we'll see.
My Galfer green front pads went on without a hitch - I know some folks have
reported problems with hole alignment. Maybe they're not completely bedded
in yet, but the truth is I can't tell any real difference from the stock
pads. I would think that they're about as good as they'll get too, since I
made a point to truly bake them down today, with several front tire
squalling panic stops thrown in for good measure.
I came up with a simple way to balance my tires that I thought I'd share. I
used 2 heavy plastic buckets (just like 5 gallon buckets, but these were a
little taller), stick the axle through the wheel and then let each end rest
on the rim of a bucket. Sounds silly, but it works well enough that I can
see the effect that a 1/4 oz. of weight has. Be sure to pay attention on
the TKC80's to the light side tire mark, which on mine was a hard-to-see
yellow stamped "3" or "30". Put the stamp at the valve stem. At first I
didn't see the mark and had it about 180 degrees from the valve stem,
causing it to take 1.5oz to balance the front tire. With the mark properly
aligned to the valve stem, it only required 1/2oz to balance. I'd bet this
could be part of cause for some of the head-shaking symptoms others have
seen.
One other thing, and this is a rather NKLR comment, but I just have to say
it. Is anyone else out there getting really tired of the whole Harley
explosion? I mean, I know those custom bike builder shows on cable have
really made the cruiser scene popular, but jeez. It seems like I can't
hardly ride an hour anymore without seeing yet another group of middle aged
biker wannabes all gussied up in their little bandanas, chaps, tassles, and
doo-rags, snorting their $30,000 penis extensions around like somebody
cares. Puleez. Watch them sometime: ride a mile, stop, check the mirror,
talk for half a friggin hour, snort snort snort, repeat. Most of those
posers I just know are wearing a necktie and sipping a $5 decaf mocca latte
on Monday morning. Assholes. I wish I had that kinda money to blow on a
bike.
OK, I'm done now. Sorry about that last part.
Jim Hubbard
A17