Let's see those bikes

We stayed in a small cabin on Moonshiner. The LEO's didn't show up till friday, then I only saw them sitting at the end of the Dragon, down by the lake. Sat on our last pass they were all over (129). Cherohala, 28 and the Blue Ridge Parkway were barron. I ran at whatever pace I chose, and it was not slow. For hours and hours I did a good 60ish on BRP. Make sure you run Cherohala at least once. It is heaven on 2 wheels.

 

I'm going to be checking in on a Tuesday and heading back towards home Friday morning. I saw zero LEOs on last trip (arrived on a Tues, left Thurs morning). I purposely book weekdays to avoid the crowds and events. Bonus seems to be very light speed enforcement. Yep, I need to run the BRP the low speed limit has been a thorn in my side about getting it done. It's basically all marked 35, correct?

 

It's 45. I ran it as fast as being 2 up would allow! Encountered a few obstacles (slower moving vehicles) but there is plenty of room to pass. Weekdays are the best down there, as you've found out.
We rode over to Tellico Plains to meet a guy I know from the Superhawk forum. He led us all over the local area, then we blasted back down Cherohala seeing very minimum traffic going either way.
Check out this aerial shot:

 

I'm hoping to take a road trip to the Black Hills next week. We'll see if that works out... Before the possible trip, the bike needed some TLC. This weekend, I changed both tires, the chain and sprockets and changed the oil.

This is the second chain-sprocket replacement, and the 6th set tires in 53,600 miles

 

Looks great ErikR those bikes are wicked fast!

 

And 6th set of tires in 53k (+) doesn't sound too bad...some people are happy getting 5k or less on a rear tire.

 

I'm 57 years old, so I don't drive as aggressively as a much younger person might. I've never intentionally lifted the front tire off the ground or purposely spun the rear tire. I guess I drive it like an old man.... I still lean it over in the corners and enjoy a spirited, but sane ride. Healing up after a crash would take a lot longer since I'm not 20 years old anymore.

I'm very happy with the Michelin Pilot Road series tires. I think 10 to 15K out of a set is pretty good. The original tires didn't last long, but the ones since them have..

My buddy and I went "halves" on a tire changing set-up, so we've done all our own tires for several years.

 

They are capable of some insane speeds! It all depends on your ability to control your right wrist...

 

I've learned over the years age has zero relation to a riders ability/speed. I hooked up with a CBR1000RR guy a few years ago and rode for a few hours, hauling azz (he was leading). When we finally stopped, he took his helmet off and his hair was white... I'll never forget it.

That's awesome. I spooned on my own before I started working on bikes full time.
I just looked back @ my records. I mounted a new set of PR4's on the Multi 3/24 this year @ 23,160mi. After that 2k vaca I'm very very close to the wear bars on the rear and the odo is @ 28,5ish. So @ 5,300 miles in, I'm a bit unsure. They were supposed to last 10k! And earlier in their life, the front washed out on me twice while hot-shoeing it, which really turned me off on 'em.

EDIT: and for the obligatory bike pic...

 

The latest pic with the new windshield and bags .

 

Seriously? IDK, I've always gotten 10k+ on my rear and ~20k on the front. Doesn't matter which bike; Suzuki or either Street Glide. I've put 16k on my current bike and it still has the tires I bought it with (and I don't recall them being brand new at the time, but who knows). But, I'm not an aggressive rider either.

 

"Crotch rockets" tend to eat tires for lunch if ridden aggressively at all...especially the rear...3k miles on the rear is not rare.

 

I couldn't afford to stay in tires at that rate - some years I would have put on 3 or more rear tires alone. Course the fact that I would have to have the dealer install said tires wouldn't help out any. Glad I like to be sedate and comfy on my rolling couch

 

Hi folks.
Been riding the R12 as a daily driver all summer and feeling much better. Have logged near 1500 miles with only a couple 150 mile (plus) trips.
The wind buffeting I had posted about earlier,,,which was keeping me nervous can be attributed to inexperience, the bike is solid and handles well for what it is.
The "sweepers" south of me in hill country are great fun, although I need to get down there more and work on confidence levels "at speed".
Been cought in the rain a couple times, good gear lends it'self to comfort.
Knowing I've posted most of this prior, just checking in to say "Hey"...it's good to be riding after being stuck in a cage these past 16 years.
Peace.

 

Average tire life on my FJR is around 6000 miles, I only ride about 3000 miles a year.....I sold my NO-MAR tire changer a few years back, I've been thinking of getting a new one because the shops around here SUCK!

 

I was getting about 3500 miles from rear Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsas (very soft tires, but grip is outstanding). Changed to Rosso II's and am seeing around 5500 miles from them. I ride fairly aggressively for street.

 

Almost all my riding this year has been commuting and I have just over 3k miles for this season so far. This week I didn't get to ride at all, but last week was a 4 out of 5 dayer .

I disliked the wind on my C50, which is a 550# bike. A short windscreen helped as did the back rest but I still got blown around on surface roads from trucks or just winding around to spots where the wind was suddenly from the side - highways were a nightmare (to me - plenty of people use the C50 for a touring bike) so I basically only used it for commuting, no joy riding. That was one of the reasons I went bigger, heavier, more comfortable and with a fairing (no full length shield - still just a short screen) - now I laugh at wind. Confidence can make all the difference in the world.

 

I have the lower cost version.... Cycle Hill. CH100 Cycle Hill Tire Changer | No-Mar Tire Changer

Mine's older, from the days when they were blue....






It is handy to be able to mount my own tires. I can buy them so much cheaper from places like DennisKirk than I could from the local dealers. Around me, dealers won't mount tires you don't buy from them, and they charge way too much $$$ to mount the ones you buy from them! I figured that if they can train a high school student to mount them, then I could do it too. I went "halves" on the set up with my buddy. I figured that if we each mounted 3 sets, then we'd have paid for it in savings. I've mounted more than 6 of my own sets. I used to own a 2006 FJR, but I sold it to my brother-in-law.

 

Took the day off and went on a little 300 mile ride in the mountains.

 

Beautiful!!!