Tyres - can this be TRUE??

[Lord Stig]

It sounds like you may well be close to the truth there Icenian. The logic behind what you were told by the Dunlop man makes sense, although it would be very difficult to prove that the tyre was unstable; if other components were worn (even though they were still withing normal working limits) it would be a lot easier to show they were to blame rather than a combination of those factors and the tyres. Most likely rider error would be the one. In any case, it doesn't quite explain why, for instance, an XTZ750 or a Elephant 900 i.e. of the same age as an XRV750 can wear MT60s, but the XRV cannot.

I do suspect a degree of 'newism' here - that phenomenon where a punter is more likely to part with his or her cash if the product is ostensibly 'new'. Most of the time it's a styling job. After all, there is a limit to how 'good' a product (be it a vehicle or a consumable like a tyre). Not that I'm saying it might not one day be possible to make a tyre that is cheap, lasts long and has fantastic grip in all conditions and on all surfaces, but it certainly isn't in the interest of the manufacturer to make one like that! As a palaeontologist I notice that the common conception of evolution is some kind of progression toward some kind of top species (traditionally regarded to be Homo sapiens sapiens of course!). But this is a load of tosh - evolution works only within the frame of what works best for the problems at hand. Specialists normally are the ones that get hit during extinction events because they don't have the capacity to adapt. That same misconception about evolution applies to a certain degree to products like bikes and tyres. Someone here said recently that we have to accept that our tyres are a compromise, and the same goes for a bike like the AT. That's what makes it such a great bike - it can do it all. A bike that can take on all roads has the capacity to carry on when sport bikes that need flat smooth race tracks to work (or keep their alloy frames intact) has to call it a day.

That begs the question, why did the Africa Twin become extinct when the GSXRRR survived....?

Stig

[icenian]

That begs the question, why did the Africa Twin become extinct

It's not a unique occurance by any means.

There was a Mass Extinction Event around the time, caused by the impact from a large object of extraterrestrial origin.

This particular object was a "Directive" that originated from the "European Commission". It has been disputed that this is an extraterrestrial origin. To me, it seems abundantly clear they're not on the same fscking planet as the rest of us

[Lord Stig]

Definitely aliens!! Deep down, I have the feeling David Icke was right...

Stig.

P.S., the KT bolide impact theory stinks, but if Brussels were to be hit, well.....

[Dilbert]

(when I discover what units 24,0000000000 is in...). Stig

2.4 bar? 35 psi?

[Lord Stig]

That's what I wondered - it seems very high! Other manufacturers that use bar units seem to recommend 2.0 for the front and 2.5 for the rear.

A propos the Great Holocene Trail Bike Extinction event, as I was riding in this morning it struck me that if emissions directives were the 'smoking gun', how was it the TA and Deauville survived and the Dominator engine returned as the (heavily detuned) FMX? Granted, the TA has a Cat, but surely the same could have been done to the AT. I think there is more to it than just the emissions. They said it was because development to make the engines meet the new regulations would be too expensive/time consuming, but it was done for others, why not the AT?

Stig

[icenian]

how was it the TA and Deauville survived

That may be the answer - two models use the 650 V twin engine, so (per model) the redevelopment cost was halved? The global sales of TAs and Dullvilles could be far hiogher than ATs too, I'm not sure...

[Lord Stig]

That makes sense. Well, it would have been nice to have had a 650 AT again then, though I suspect for most people that would be a retrograde step....?

Stig

[Muckybill]

how was it the TA and Deauville survived

That may be the answer - two models use the 650 V twin engine, so (per model) the redevelopment cost was halved? The global sales of TAs and Dullvilles could be far hiogher than ATs too, I'm not sure...

When new type approval laws came in a couple of years ago a few bikes disappeared. There are some funny laws for dual sport bikes, something to do with ground clearance and seat height and i heard something like this affected the @

[goldiefish]

So I am now wearing a 150/70 R69 m/c 17V Tourance on the back, and a 90/90 21 MC 54H Trailwing on the front.

Never realised tyres needed to be scrubbed in as much...