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tugrikCaffiene used to never affect me much. At the most, it actually made me sleepy when I'd have too much of it... some kind of 'go shut down now' reaction. I never really got addicted to the buzz; it was just that all the drinks/snacks I liked just happened to also have caffiene. After spending six months not touching anything caffienated as part of a acid-reflux treatment I was on (and being terribly annoyed at missing out on many of my favored treats), my responses must have changed.
I can now return to having my beloved Mountain Dews and similar caffiene-laced things. But as this entry during the wee hours of a pre-work morning show, it now actually keeps me awake. I had a generous portion of a 2-liter of coke that came with tonight's dinner and my nervous system is properly wired for sound as a result. This is an odd form of awake that I can't honestly say I'm familiar with. I guess this is the whole 'living on a coffee buzz' thing many of my friends talk about that I could never understand. It's a very odd feeling.
As long as I'm pounding keys under artifical stimulation, I might as well relate the Tale of Two Tires. Or four of them, now. I try not to journal about daily annoyances... but as long as it has me a bit grumpy I might as well give it a shot.
One of the reasons for ponying up the cash for a new vehicle as opposed to a used one is the expectation (hope?) that there will be fewer problems and what problems happen will be easier/cheaper/quicker to solve. This is also why I buy the extended warranties on vehicles I purchase. I'd rather 'fire and forget' things at the dealer and not have to worry about vehicular maintenances issues. Unfortunately this doesn't cover consumables, such as tires.
Most car drivers don't think much about their tires. They're just something you have to fix when flat, or replace at rare intervals. For those of you with more challenging climates, it may involve having a spare set that you swap out with the seasons. Tires have things like 20, 30, and even 50,000 miles of wear promised. Add in to this that they're mostly not all that expensive, excluding performance or speciality ones. Changing them isn't that pricey either. Car tires are easy to get on and off, and there's a lot of compeition between the folks who want to provide that service.
Tires on a motorbike are much more involved, however. If you're even a little more active than your average 'ride 5 miles to the bar on the weekend' Harley Showbike rider, you start realizing how fast rubber gets used up. My Goldwing gets about 8-10k out of a set of tires tops. I've been riding hard, so at 7k they were toast. The knobbies on my GS aren't expected to last past 2500, as their great dirt-performance costs in terms of asphalt wear. Motorcycles use more of their tires as they lean in the corners... and in general, it's more expensive to get them replaced (there are less shops and the work is more difficult). I'm just glad I'm not a sportbike-racer... those people can go through a set of tires in just one day at the track!
Anyways, the annoyance. I'd burned through my Goldwing tires... and a bit early at that. Near the end of their lifespan they were developing a nasty problem called 'cupping', which is where the front tire develops a bunch of little beveled flast spots that cause a washboard-like buzzing at certain speeds and unstable handling in corners. This happens to all tires to some degree; it's caused by the forces a bike exerts while breaking and turning. The Bridgestones that come on my GL1800 were doing it early and harshly, was all. I found out I wasn't the only one: mailing lists for GL1800 owners that I belong to showed early cupping was widespread, and people were angry. There were two replacements coming out: the Dunlop D250s and the Metzeler ME880s. They just weren't out _yet_. I didn't want more of the 'stones -- they suck. Luckily for me this is when I purchased my 1150GS as a second bike and I spent a month riding it waiting for the GL1800 tire alternatives to come out. (Sidenote: Even Honda hates the 'stones. They just changed all their new GL1800's to sell with the Dunlop D250s instead. Figures.)
So.. .the ME880s came out first. I wanted to get on the 'wing and ride; it'd been a while. A nice long weekend ride was in order, like maybe the 600 miles to see the parents up in Oregon. Much to my frustration, the dealers didn't have them in stock! The only ones who had them in the Bay were the folks at Road Rider, a nice little motorcycle shop in San Jose. Road Rider doesn't take tires on and off bikes: they just sell the tires and mount them on the wheels if you already have them removed. I do not have the Mad Skillz nor the tools to de-wheel the bikes yet, so this became a two-stage operation. With the help of a visting![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pointsdragon I picked up the tires at Road Rider, and got the big bluebike dropped off at Honda of Milpitas. Four hours and $495 later, I had new tires. I drove the bike home, and it was a little squirrelly. This is usually normal for the first 10-50 miles while the coatings on the tire wear off. I parked it in the garage and headed out for a week on a business trip to New Jersey.
Upon getting back, I started to commute on the 'wing again to get the tires scrubbed up in preparation for the weekend trip. The first few miles were no fun at all. The handling was just plain scary! Between 15 and 40mph, the handlebars would waggle to the point I had to wrestle with them to keep stable. I stopped, checked the pressure, checked the suspention; all was okay. Still, wagglewagglewaggle. Rideable, but a little annoying. I took it back to the dealer the first chance I got. They thought it was going to be something simple like they weren't balanced right, or maybe they were mismounted. They test-rode the bike and confirmed things were Just Not Right. Not completely unsafe... but Not Right. They took the tires off and re-checked the balance, rim-straightness, and other things... and everything was 100% okay. The bike still waggled when ridden, though. Grrrrr.
The Honda guys were convinced I just had a bad set of tires. They told me to get Road Rider to replace them, since that's where I bought them. I called Road Rider, and they said the Honda guys misbalanced things... and I had to get the two parties to talk to convince each other they knew what each other was doing. Road rider agreed that the tires *might* have something wrong with them, but they won't give any tire refunds unless the manufacturer of the tire says they can... so I need to bring the tires back to them. Again, I can't dismount/mount them myself, so it's time to shell out more $$ to Honda of Milpitas. Now, they don't charge to take tires off if you're putting more ones on... and low and behold, they just got the D250's in.
So... as soon as I can afford it (this next paycheck, probably) I'm going to be out another $500, and have the dealer put D250's on my bike, and hope it fixes the problem. If all is well then it's pretty darn guaranteed that it's the ME880's that are bad. I'll take them back to Road Rider and hope their Metzeler rep will give me my money back, or at least store credit. If the D250's still dont' solve it and the bike still wiggles its bum and handlebars like an epileptic cheerleader, then the bike has a serious suspention problem that's 100% covered by my warranty (7 years, no mileage limits, whole-bike... yeehaw!). This would also mean that the ME880's are just fine and I can't get a refund on them. If this is true... well, I guess I'l just hang them on the wall in the garage and use them as my next set when the D250's finish out their hopefully-10k+ miles.
So... $1000 spent on tires and labor. $340 of it I *might* get back, if the Metzeler folks don't throw a fit. A not-really-rideable Goldwing for over a month now, and two missed weekend long-trip opportunities.* All this just for another set of little rubber donuts that will have to be replaced in another few months, with how much I'm riding. Wheee!
Don't get me wrong... I love motorcycling. I just wish it was cheaper. :)
*(Before it's asked: A long road-trip is right now only really possible on the 'wing. The 1150GS has no luggage as yet so I can't travel distance on it with no way to carry things... and the van is in poor health and has been all but undriven since getting the bikes last year. I've got no real desire to fix the van either, though I'm sure I eventually will. It'll take about $1500 of exhaust-header work and such to fix right. For now, it's fine for around-town, but not for a long trip.)
I can now return to having my beloved Mountain Dews and similar caffiene-laced things. But as this entry during the wee hours of a pre-work morning show, it now actually keeps me awake. I had a generous portion of a 2-liter of coke that came with tonight's dinner and my nervous system is properly wired for sound as a result. This is an odd form of awake that I can't honestly say I'm familiar with. I guess this is the whole 'living on a coffee buzz' thing many of my friends talk about that I could never understand. It's a very odd feeling.
As long as I'm pounding keys under artifical stimulation, I might as well relate the Tale of Two Tires. Or four of them, now. I try not to journal about daily annoyances... but as long as it has me a bit grumpy I might as well give it a shot.
One of the reasons for ponying up the cash for a new vehicle as opposed to a used one is the expectation (hope?) that there will be fewer problems and what problems happen will be easier/cheaper/quicker to solve. This is also why I buy the extended warranties on vehicles I purchase. I'd rather 'fire and forget' things at the dealer and not have to worry about vehicular maintenances issues. Unfortunately this doesn't cover consumables, such as tires.
Most car drivers don't think much about their tires. They're just something you have to fix when flat, or replace at rare intervals. For those of you with more challenging climates, it may involve having a spare set that you swap out with the seasons. Tires have things like 20, 30, and even 50,000 miles of wear promised. Add in to this that they're mostly not all that expensive, excluding performance or speciality ones. Changing them isn't that pricey either. Car tires are easy to get on and off, and there's a lot of compeition between the folks who want to provide that service.
Tires on a motorbike are much more involved, however. If you're even a little more active than your average 'ride 5 miles to the bar on the weekend' Harley Showbike rider, you start realizing how fast rubber gets used up. My Goldwing gets about 8-10k out of a set of tires tops. I've been riding hard, so at 7k they were toast. The knobbies on my GS aren't expected to last past 2500, as their great dirt-performance costs in terms of asphalt wear. Motorcycles use more of their tires as they lean in the corners... and in general, it's more expensive to get them replaced (there are less shops and the work is more difficult). I'm just glad I'm not a sportbike-racer... those people can go through a set of tires in just one day at the track!
Anyways, the annoyance. I'd burned through my Goldwing tires... and a bit early at that. Near the end of their lifespan they were developing a nasty problem called 'cupping', which is where the front tire develops a bunch of little beveled flast spots that cause a washboard-like buzzing at certain speeds and unstable handling in corners. This happens to all tires to some degree; it's caused by the forces a bike exerts while breaking and turning. The Bridgestones that come on my GL1800 were doing it early and harshly, was all. I found out I wasn't the only one: mailing lists for GL1800 owners that I belong to showed early cupping was widespread, and people were angry. There were two replacements coming out: the Dunlop D250s and the Metzeler ME880s. They just weren't out _yet_. I didn't want more of the 'stones -- they suck. Luckily for me this is when I purchased my 1150GS as a second bike and I spent a month riding it waiting for the GL1800 tire alternatives to come out. (Sidenote: Even Honda hates the 'stones. They just changed all their new GL1800's to sell with the Dunlop D250s instead. Figures.)
So.. .the ME880s came out first. I wanted to get on the 'wing and ride; it'd been a while. A nice long weekend ride was in order, like maybe the 600 miles to see the parents up in Oregon. Much to my frustration, the dealers didn't have them in stock! The only ones who had them in the Bay were the folks at Road Rider, a nice little motorcycle shop in San Jose. Road Rider doesn't take tires on and off bikes: they just sell the tires and mount them on the wheels if you already have them removed. I do not have the Mad Skillz nor the tools to de-wheel the bikes yet, so this became a two-stage operation. With the help of a visting
pointsdragon I picked up the tires at Road Rider, and got the big bluebike dropped off at Honda of Milpitas. Four hours and $495 later, I had new tires. I drove the bike home, and it was a little squirrelly. This is usually normal for the first 10-50 miles while the coatings on the tire wear off. I parked it in the garage and headed out for a week on a business trip to New Jersey.Upon getting back, I started to commute on the 'wing again to get the tires scrubbed up in preparation for the weekend trip. The first few miles were no fun at all. The handling was just plain scary! Between 15 and 40mph, the handlebars would waggle to the point I had to wrestle with them to keep stable. I stopped, checked the pressure, checked the suspention; all was okay. Still, wagglewagglewaggle. Rideable, but a little annoying. I took it back to the dealer the first chance I got. They thought it was going to be something simple like they weren't balanced right, or maybe they were mismounted. They test-rode the bike and confirmed things were Just Not Right. Not completely unsafe... but Not Right. They took the tires off and re-checked the balance, rim-straightness, and other things... and everything was 100% okay. The bike still waggled when ridden, though. Grrrrr.
The Honda guys were convinced I just had a bad set of tires. They told me to get Road Rider to replace them, since that's where I bought them. I called Road Rider, and they said the Honda guys misbalanced things... and I had to get the two parties to talk to convince each other they knew what each other was doing. Road rider agreed that the tires *might* have something wrong with them, but they won't give any tire refunds unless the manufacturer of the tire says they can... so I need to bring the tires back to them. Again, I can't dismount/mount them myself, so it's time to shell out more $$ to Honda of Milpitas. Now, they don't charge to take tires off if you're putting more ones on... and low and behold, they just got the D250's in.
So... as soon as I can afford it (this next paycheck, probably) I'm going to be out another $500, and have the dealer put D250's on my bike, and hope it fixes the problem. If all is well then it's pretty darn guaranteed that it's the ME880's that are bad. I'll take them back to Road Rider and hope their Metzeler rep will give me my money back, or at least store credit. If the D250's still dont' solve it and the bike still wiggles its bum and handlebars like an epileptic cheerleader, then the bike has a serious suspention problem that's 100% covered by my warranty (7 years, no mileage limits, whole-bike... yeehaw!). This would also mean that the ME880's are just fine and I can't get a refund on them. If this is true... well, I guess I'l just hang them on the wall in the garage and use them as my next set when the D250's finish out their hopefully-10k+ miles.
So... $1000 spent on tires and labor. $340 of it I *might* get back, if the Metzeler folks don't throw a fit. A not-really-rideable Goldwing for over a month now, and two missed weekend long-trip opportunities.* All this just for another set of little rubber donuts that will have to be replaced in another few months, with how much I'm riding. Wheee!
Don't get me wrong... I love motorcycling. I just wish it was cheaper. :)
*(Before it's asked: A long road-trip is right now only really possible on the 'wing. The 1150GS has no luggage as yet so I can't travel distance on it with no way to carry things... and the van is in poor health and has been all but undriven since getting the bikes last year. I've got no real desire to fix the van either, though I'm sure I eventually will. It'll take about $1500 of exhaust-header work and such to fix right. For now, it's fine for around-town, but not for a long trip.)
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Re: long road trip
Date: 2002-04-29 08:36 am (UTC)Re: long road trip
Date: 2002-05-23 06:45 am (UTC)