TCK-80 tire wear update - again

A little over 4,000 Kms on the Continental Twinduro TCK-80 tires and I must say these have been great tires.  Again, most of my daily riding is pure abuse, accelerating hard and wheelie-ing all the way to the office and home again, with some weekend rides to fire roads and trails through the woods. They're a very competent performer off-pavement, not the greatest in mud (but decent), perfect for gravel roads, quiet on the asphalt and very good grip in the rain.

A few weeks ago I had been riding offroad all afternoon with 15 psi in the tires, and forgot to pump them back up before getting on th highway for the hour-long ride home at 120 Km/hr. This stupid move on my part probably cost 20 % of the tire's entire life.

Rear tire - new

Rear tire after 1,000 Kms

Rear tire after 2,000 Kms

Rear tire after 4,000Kms

Front tire - new

Front tire after 1,000 Kms

Front tire after 2,000 Kms

Front tire after 4,000 Kms -- still looks almost new.

Conclusion: Well, the rear tire is definitely nearing the end of its life. If I hadn't ridden that hour or so on the highway with 15 psi it might look a little different. The front is still looking great, though. I'm definintely impressed with it. And considering how much I abuse these tires on the street, all the wheelies and hard acceleration, I'm quite suprised the rear has held up this well.

I've just ordered a new set of rubber -- this time, a pair of Michelin T63 knobbies. They're supposed to be similiar to the Continentals, but cheaper: the pair was $109 US shipped (from MotorcycyleSuperstore.com). That's nearly 1/2 the price of the Continentals.

Odometer: 17,401 Km

CBF1000 windscreen modification

My long-time buddy Sean replaced the OEM windscreen on his 2008 Honda CBF1000 with a larger aftermarket unit made by Givi. His bike was just a few weeks old at the time, and he gave me the OEM screen because he knows I'm a cheapskate, and also that I'd probably try to find some crazy way to make it fit my bike using duct tape, JB Weld, and bailing wire.

Here's what I came up with: I had been using a universal handlebar mounted windscreen made by Spitfire, and I drilled holes in that one in my lame attempt to fit it onto the TurboCity windscreen brackets I purchased last summer. I didn't like the laid back, slanted angle of that setup, so I eventually removed it. But the handlebar-mount brackets supplied with the Spitfire looked suitable for a customized adapation of the CBF's windscreen. Here we go:

Honda CBF1000 - the donor windscreen

CBF1000 OEM screen 

& Spitfire mounting hardware

A little cutting with a jigsaw

more cutting

mounted

The angle is more upright that the TurboCity system, and I'm able to adjust the placement the windscreen far enough forward that it shouldn't pose any great danger for off-roading. When I go for some serious trail riding, it can be removed in just a few minutes.

The wind is kept off my chest at highway cruising speeds and my helmet gets almost no buffetting if I slouch... and I am a sloucher. This should make those 600-700 Km days less tiring. I may try to fashion a silly home-made $5 knock-off of a Laminar Lip to eliminate the small amount of buffetting I feel at 120 Km/h when I sit up straight.

Sean and I are planning a summer roadtrip in a few weeks and I want to have at least a little wind protection. I expect we'll rack up ~4,000 Kms in the 8 or 9 days we plan to be away so this should help.

Now I just need to order a Scala Rider G4 headset so Sean and I can talk during our ride (he's already got one), and I need to sort out my luggage situation -- my 39 Litre Givi box probably won't be enough since we'll be hauling some camping gear.

Odometer: 16,9000 Kms