Car Tires

[ken]

Tires don't seem that expensive

I just replaced the tires on my VW. OEM Continentals are 1900.00 mounted and balanced and the first set lasted 24,000 miles. I opted for some far less sticky but less expensive Michelins (1500.00) which should last 40,000 miles. So I guess it's all relative.

Bike tires are not cheep, but they are high performance when compared to what Les Schwab or Manny, Moe, and Jack sell for the family four door. I remember how Dunlop K70's handled grooved highways and rainy weather, and I believe contemporary tires are a bargain by comparison. And I am under no illusion that riding a motorcycle makes pecuniary sense.

On the other hand, a set of new tires may be the best possible farkel--they make a bike more attractive, faster, more comfortable, and safer for a couple of hundred dollars. Sounds like a great deal to me.

Ken

 

[ARKNT]

I have run some $$ estimates on if my bikes save me any money. I have had a lot of people (non-riders) say "you sure save a lot by riding that bike".
By the time you pay for tires, insurance, maint costs, and license, you have to ride an awful lot to actually save money unless you replace a 4 wheeled vehicle with 2.
But of course most if not all of us here are not riding to save money. It is about the ride, enjoyment, and freedom it brings.

By the way, I had not ever heard of the dark side (other than Star Wars) when I started this post. I have seen car tires on bikes but never witnessed one in motion before.

Brad

 

[ken]

By the time you pay for tires, insurance, maint costs, and license,

Don't forget essential riding gear: helmets, gloves, jackets, boots, as well as the constant stream of "got-to-have" accessories. I did tell my wife that the NT was to replace my daily driver, but if saving money on transportation was my goal, I would have bought the cheapest Volvo 240 I could find, and looked for some way to spend the extra money.

Ken

 

[Herb]

The only way to truly save money with a bike, is if you can reduce the number of cars your household has to own. OTOH, if you have a bike for pleasure, anyway, you can certainly save money if you can switch some trips to from a car to a bike. Especially since most motorcyclists I know, are not driving Priuses or Fiestas - they tend to have pickups or sports cars.

We got rid of our second car about a year and a half ago and our remaining car is a VW TDI disel that gets close to 40 mpg with major torque! Saving bucks and being green. And of course having fun,

 

[elizilla]

I've been remarkably successful at grocery shopping on the motorcycle too. It has required different planning than I did when I had the truck. I used to take the bike for 90 percent of my grocery store trips, but almost all those trips were small. Now and then I'd take the truck, and I'd fill it up both going out and coming back. I would drop things off at the MRF (Material Recovery Facility - it's a combination recycle center and dump) return a huge number of bottles (we have ten cent bottle deposits here) and get enough of bulky items like toilet paper and laundry detergent and paper towels to last for months. Now I do more medium sized trips - I return bottles on almost every trip, before they have time to pile up, and if my shopping list leaves room in the bike, I add enough TP or laundry detergent to fill that space.

My de-cluttering campaign has been somewhat slowed by the lack of a four wheel vehicle. I haven't taken the bike to the MRF and I don't want to. It's a mud pit full of rusty nails and broken glass. So getting rid of things requires creativity. Fortunately, Purple Heart will pick up reusable items, guys driving around in rattling pickups on the night before trash day will take anything metal that I put on the curb, and the cardboard boxes can be broken down smaller and stuffed in the curbside recycle bins, it's just a little more work. I put the bins out more often. I have a pile of dead computer stuff that will sit until I get another car.

 

[Phil Tarman]

With the Connie, I once managed to buy $270 worth of groceries and get it home in one trip. That included a 25# bag of cat food and a 20# bag of ice. Those were on the pillion being held down by Chase & Harper's handy little cargo net. I had the rest of the groceries in the left bag (I did some unpacking) and the 46-liter Givi trunk. My right-side bag is always full of tools, first-aid kits, extra gloves, etc.

I think with the NT, my record is something like $170, but I don't actually try to set records. Plus if I buy the groceries, I have to pay for them. I usually let Joanne do the shopping.

Please, please don't rat me out!

 

[Phil Tarman]

I sure hope not!

 

[EX Winger]

I must confess; I am a ex darksider as well as a ex winger, I ran the last 5000 miles on my GL1800 on a Pirellie Eufori ROF that was siped before instalation. As some one posted earlier it did handle a bit different, but was not bad. Yes it was interesting on a uneven section with cracked road surfaces. On corners it was fully capable of staying with other bikes of similar configuration. One major plus factor was that it was a RUN FLAT tire, if out in the middle of nowhere if you picked up a nail you could normally continue your ride/trip with out worry. Also when pulling a tent trailer it worked very well. I have friends in S. Dakota that do big miles on basicly straight roads that have had very good success with the CT. I also know a fellow that rides a FJR with a CT very successfully and he definatley rides it extreamly spirited at times and has probably 100,000 miles of CT under him.

All in All until you try it for yourselfe I would encourage you to keep a open mind. I will be the first to say it is not for everyone. I do not know if the NT is adaptable to a CT or if there is a CT out there that will match up to tire height and width for the NT. This I will be courious to find out, not saying whether I would go that way again as there is a lot more work involved in changing NT rear than there is with a wing.

As Mellow has most graciously said, there is no need for flames, we can all learn something from each other. Just as there is no perfect oil, tire, or motorcycle for that matter in todays world, Some work great for one person and not at all for another person.