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storm
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Sometime you just have to say "what the heck"
In two weeks we leave on a 4-5k trip and I finally broke down and said "what the heck" and replaced the CT.
Back about 4 years ago I purchased a pair of Kumho Solis K21 205x60 tires from the local salvage yard. $130 for the pair. I don't think they had more than a couple hundred miles on them, maybe a thousand at most.
This morning on the way back from Sportwheels I noticed the mileage hit 39,999 so I put the bike on the center stand and idled it in high gear just to get the mileage to 40K - or on the speedo 110k (40k on the tire)
Here is the old next to the new - they were a matched pair.
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As you can see there is still some life left, maybe 5k but no use taking any chances. It's just about to the wear bars.
As far as the first test ride on a new tire? Well it was just like changing oil - no different. I had expected a slight squeak or chirping while backing out of the garage as these tires tend to rub just a bit at first. No chirp or squeak. Down the road I took it up to 85 and not a hint of vibration. As expected the tire was perfectly balanced just like the last eight I installed. However at that speed I did notice a hint of rubber smell so I know the right corner was indeed rubbing. I kept on it for 5 miles just to make sure. Once back in the shop I checked it our and the right corner looks like it had a 3/4" wide area where it was rubbing slightly. This is normal for this size tire and will stop in the next 500 miles or so. I'll just have to make a lot of right hand turns I guess.
For 35 of the 40K I ran a consistent unmentioned pressure,and after studying the wear it appears the outside edges did wear just a tiny bit more than the center. I decided on this new tire I will run 1lb more pressure just to even it out.
To be realistic the only way to really determine what is optimum is to do this kind of test. pick a setup as stay consistent good or bad. If the results are poor or off a bit make a small adjustment and then again be consistently the same. It pretty much eliminates all the guess work.
Just for giggles here is one of my old choppers with a 4x4 bias car tire - 15psi was what we ran in these mainly for suspension purposes.
![]()
In two weeks we leave on a 4-5k trip and I finally broke down and said "what the heck" and replaced the CT.
Back about 4 years ago I purchased a pair of Kumho Solis K21 205x60 tires from the local salvage yard. $130 for the pair. I don't think they had more than a couple hundred miles on them, maybe a thousand at most.
This morning on the way back from Sportwheels I noticed the mileage hit 39,999 so I put the bike on the center stand and idled it in high gear just to get the mileage to 40K - or on the speedo 110k (40k on the tire)
Here is the old next to the new - they were a matched pair.
As you can see there is still some life left, maybe 5k but no use taking any chances. It's just about to the wear bars.
As far as the first test ride on a new tire? Well it was just like changing oil - no different. I had expected a slight squeak or chirping while backing out of the garage as these tires tend to rub just a bit at first. No chirp or squeak. Down the road I took it up to 85 and not a hint of vibration. As expected the tire was perfectly balanced just like the last eight I installed. However at that speed I did notice a hint of rubber smell so I know the right corner was indeed rubbing. I kept on it for 5 miles just to make sure. Once back in the shop I checked it our and the right corner looks like it had a 3/4" wide area where it was rubbing slightly. This is normal for this size tire and will stop in the next 500 miles or so. I'll just have to make a lot of right hand turns I guess.
For 35 of the 40K I ran a consistent unmentioned pressure,and after studying the wear it appears the outside edges did wear just a tiny bit more than the center. I decided on this new tire I will run 1lb more pressure just to even it out.
To be realistic the only way to really determine what is optimum is to do this kind of test. pick a setup as stay consistent good or bad. If the results are poor or off a bit make a small adjustment and then again be consistently the same. It pretty much eliminates all the guess work.
Just for giggles here is one of my old choppers with a 4x4 bias car tire - 15psi was what we ran in these mainly for suspension purposes.
