The elephant in the room

Well, it came sooner than expected but we've just addressed the elephant in the room.  Going back to late last year, I suffered a torn retina whilst riding the bike.  My eye filled with blood and riding home some 140 km was quite a challenge.  To fix it, I had a vitrectomy (watch it on YouTube if you're not squeamish)!  It was totally successful but the surgeon warned me that one side effect was a cataract which would form sooner or later.  In my case, it was sooner than expected. 

All was fine on the February bike tour then lockdown kicked in during March.  Stuck around home doing jobs, I didn't really notice anything but as soon as lockdown ended and driving/riding started up again, the partial loss of long sight in one eye became noticeable.  Not a good position to be in, especially when conducting advanced riding tests. A right royal pain in the arse to use a technical term.

A check with a local optometrist confirmed the onset of a cataract.  Still legal to drive and ride but it was pushing the envelope at the higher performance end of the spectrum.  So it was back to the surgeon.  Not bad enough to qualify for an operation on the public health system but going privately was fine as it was starting to drive me nuts.

Turned up for the procedure a week ago and Jennie and I were ushered into a lounge adjacent to the operating theatre.  Drops were put into the eye to dilate the pupil and the surgeon came in and drew an arrow over the appropriate eye.  Wives aren't noted for dishing out sympathy because they think that their husbands are big wusses. "Pain?  You want to try having 3 kids, blah, blah......".  In this case, the lack of sympathy manifested itself by her wanting to write something on my forehead above the arrow.  Those words were "Insert Coins Here".  Smartarse.  

"Insert coins here" in the fairground dummy

Anyway, cataract removal and replacing the lens only took a few minutes and was completely painless.  The only downside of being fully conscious was seeing instruments of torture hovering near my eye, albeit not in clear focus.  Whatever instruments the surgeon used made noises like something from an episode of Dr. Who when he was battling the Daleks.  In fairness though, I was warned so didn't panic when it started up.  Although I could talk during the op, the surgical team bizarrely gave me a small squeaky yellow rubber duck to hold during the procedure.  They said to give it a squeeze if I felt uncomfortable, wanted to sneeze or whatever and they'd stop.  Didn't actually need to put it to use although when they wheeled me back into the theatre lounge, I made good use of it to announce my arrival to all and sundry.  Jennie's eye-rolling suggested that she'd prefer to be someone else's wife at that point in time.  Sort of evened things up for her earlier smartarse remark.  

With vision having been restored, it actually felt a little odd, like I was slightly drunk.  Guess it takes the brain a little while to recalibrate.  With running a formal IAM assessment ride coming up (taking out a police officer, no less!), it was sensible to see what it was like back on the bike with no pressure.  A short trip to the local gas station went absolutely fine and put me at ease.

Setting off from home for the meet-up some 160 km away, it was an absolutely glorious day with spring only a few days away. We all need days like this after the trials of this year. The eye was fine, the sun was out and the prospect of meeting up with other riders that you know and trust was eagerly anticipated.

Getting ready for a full day in the saddle

Officer Andy and trainee Observer (mentor) Bruce had ridden over from the Bay of Plenty province to our meeting point where we had a mix of city, expressway and tight country lanes all within easy reach for an assessment ride.  As well as road riding, Andy takes part in competitive trials riding so balance and slow speed riding weren't going to be an issue.  With Andy and Bruce on adventure bikes, I felt like the runt of the litter - I'd need a stepladder to get on them! 

Some photos taken by Bruce's on-board camera during the ride - thanks Bruce!

Andy and yours truly in town

Lifesaver (shoulder check) before making the turn

Life at its best - a deserted back road

Tall timber - Honda Africa Twin (Andy) and Triumph Explorer 1200 (Bruce)

As you might expect, Andy was extremely professional in his riding but there was a complete absence of ego and very happy to receive suggestions for fine tuning.  It won't take long at all before he's ready to take his Advanced Roadcraft Test.  Bruce also did well in his observing capacity and will make a great Observer in the near future.

Aren't days like this what riding motorcycles are all about?  Great weather, riding partners who you trust implicitly and a great mix of road conditions over some 450 km  - nirvana!

Back to the Future

Let's face it, 2020 has been a year that most of us would prefer to forget.  After more than 100 days of being C-19 free, it's reappeared in NZ again.  At the time of writing this, it's small and confined to the Auckland area but who knows what's going to happen next.  The one good thing is that the authorities are onto it with appropriate measures - no dicking about, locking down our biggest city and other measures within 24 hours of discovery.   At present, we're not locked down in our region so apart from reintroduction of social distancing measures and some other sensible precautions, we're pretty much unaffected.

Following the first lockdown in March, I was quietly concerned that my motorcycling days were coming to a close.  The lockdown itself was easy to deal with as there was always plenty to do.  However, when it ended, I wasn't jumping out of my skin to go for a ride which was a bit disconcerting.  I don't really know why this was unless the winter weather influenced my indifference.  I guess you can't predict psychological effects, even though I consider myself calm in unusual or difficult situations. However, I've recently had two cracking rides in brilliant weather which have thrown off any doubts about continuing riding - yippee for that!. 

The first outing was a trip to south Auckland to check out some new routes for putting IAM riders through their Police Roadcraft Advanced Tests.  That's well and truly stuffed now with the Auckland travel restrictions but it was a glorious day out with the discovery of some new, challenging routes.

A quick stop by the Waikato River

Great views over the countryside

One of my mates who lives in that area suggested that I check out a particular highly technical road on the way home which I duly did.  To my horror, there were extensive road works with wet clay, cement dust and lime over substantial stretches of the road and I had a recently-cleaned pristine bike, the bastard!  He claimed no knowledge so I might have been uncharitable with my initial thoughts.  It's the sort of thing which good mates would do to each other!  Guess how I spent a few hours the next day.

The second decent outing was at our monthly regional IAM ride last weekend.  The meeting point is at a cafe some 160 km away from home which means I leave home before dawn in single digit (C) temperatures.  As with the last early start, heated gloves were a godsend, with an ordinary pair being carried to use later on.  I must say that the Michelin Road 5's stick like glue in all conditions and I'm glad I returned to using them after all the punctures I had on the GSX-S 1000.

At the meeting point, we also had a potential new member turn up for an initial assessment.  An IA gives the rider a no cost, no obligation opportunity to see if they enjoy the process, as well as allowing the IAM mentor to check the general standard of riding as a start point for a personalised development plan.  On this occasion it was Libby on her Harley Davidson who thoroughly enjoyed her day and was itching to join at the end of it.

Libby with some of the IAM team

Libby's beautifully prepared Harley Davidson

Having Libby join has been great for several reasons.  Firstly, she's the first female IAM member in our region, even though we've existed for 4 years.  I hope we get lots more now as female riders I've helped to mentor in other regions have been a delight with their positive attitude to learning.  In Libby's case, she had already taken the government-sponsored Ride Forever courses (details HERE ) and wanted to keep upskilling.  Secondly, she's only the second H-D rider in our region and one of the few nationwide.  Good for you Libby!

Fellow IAM members Bruce and Neil with their adventure bikes - they dwarf my KTM!

Jennie has dibs on our single basement garage for her car and my 4x4 sits under the decking on the upper storey of our house.  The bike sits in a covered area just outside my workshop.  The only disadvantage is that to keep it hooked to a battery tender during periods of non-use, I have to run a power lead from inside the workshop.  Not a big hassle in the scheme of things but recently, part of an old solar-powered external sensor light failed, leaving me with a spare solar panel.  I already have an externally accessible battery connector on the bike for my heated gloves which tucks away neatly when not in use.  All I needed was a compatible connector for the solar panel and we were in business!  I've successfully used the same system for our boat for several years and it's worked a treat.  Marine batteries ain't cheap to replace!

Solar panels on shed roof

Solar panel connection to bike

The next challenge is C-19 permitting, having a cataract removed later in the month.  Everyone tells me that it's simple and fast these days but the thought of a scalpel hovering above my eyeball isn't exactly a comforting thought.  At least it shouldn't disrupt riding for more than a day or two.

Stay safe everyone!

A nice winter outing and other stuff

Yesterday was the first get-together for the Central North Island region of the Institute of Advanced Motorists since life returned to pretty much normal after lockdown ended a few weeks back.  It's mid-winter in NZ so we're always at the mercy of the elements.  The forecast said heavy showers with bright patches in between and single digit temperatures on the Celsius scale.  I live over 2 hours away from where we were due to meet and the prospect of leaving home before dawn in the cold and dark on wet roads wasn't too appealing!

On with the Gore-Tex and merino under layers plus heated gloves and away we went.  I put the Duke 790 traction control in rain mode and didn't have a single worrying moment in the dark.  The Michelin Road 5's behaved impeccably and I'm glad that I gave them a second chance after the string of punctures on my GSX-S 1000.  I'm now convinced that it was pure bad luck as opposed any tyre design weakness.  The soft compound out towards the edges of the tyre really work and even in the wet, a good pace and decent angles of lean could be safely maintained.  The photo below clearly shows the soft compound bands.

Darker soft compound on Road 5

I've had heated gloves for about 4 winters now and they really have added another dimension to my winter riding.  Heated grips on previous unfaired bikes still left me with cold fingers which were a distraction and the whole hand warmth from heated gloves leads to much better control and confidence in cold conditions. 

A few hardy souls met at a cafe in Hamilton and as is the normal way of things, a lot of the more local members elected to stay in bed!  Prize for biggest distance travelled to take part in the ride was Bruce on his Triumph Explorer 1200.  He left the family holiday home at 0600 and travelled over 3 hours to join everyone - that's dedication!  Can't really blame anyone for skipping the ride though but getting out in a mix of heavy showers, patches of sunshine and variable road conditions was good for keeping the skills tidy.

A nice mix of bikes

As only one trainee turned up, we turned it into a social outing with a mix of city, open highway and twisty country road riding to knock off any rust from lockdown and had a most enjoyable time.

 At the lunch stop - yours truly second from left

The biggest surprise was yet to come.  I retired as Chair of the Central North Island branch of IAM in February to help long-term continuity and let me concentrate on my other role as an Examiner.  The team presented me with a lovely KTM Race Team fleece and a snow dome with a photo of me and the KTM inside it.  It was an overwhelming moment but we've all built up strong friendships over the last few years and I've mentored most of them or taken them for their advanced riding and Observer (instructor) tests.  A wonderful conclusion to the ride and thanks a million guys, it says an awful lot about the bond we all have .

Seriously nice (and warm) KTM Race Team fleece

Trapped inside a snow dome!

Onto other stuff,  I'm still working my way through digitizing all our old slides, negatives and photos.  I came across a negative which I had no memory of but exceedingly pleased as it's the only photo I have of my Yamaha IT 175 Enduro bike taken in the early 1990's.  Our eldest son Lyndon wanted to learn to ride bikes and we thought the safest way was for him to initially learn on dirt away from traffic.  The company I worked for owned huge plantation forests near home and riding in the forests and fire breaks was perfect.

We bought him a Suzuki TS100 from a friend, the bike having a rather colourful history!  For a drunken bet, it had been ridden Evel Knievel-style by the previous owner at full tilt off a jetty into a harbour on the coast, then unceremoniously dumped in his shed.  I bought it for $50 with no great expectations but it only required a relatively small amount of tender loving care.  It was a lovely bike to ride with a surprisingly wide power band for a 2 stroke.  Perfect for riding in the forest or climbing steep banks etc.

The IT175 on the other hand was a complete bastard (a technical term) and tried to kill me on numerous occasions.  A motorcycle version of Stephen King's Christine!  I bought it from a company apprentice  and its real environment is where the throttle is pinned to the stop - a whole world away from pootling along in a forest environment.  With its narrow powerband, it would highside me if I was too ham-fisted with the throttle.  Lot's of eye-rolling from the CEO when I'd arrive home covered in crap and walking like an old man.  Nonetheless, it was also a lot of fun and I had it for about 3 years before deciding that middle-aged bodies didn't bounce too well.

The early 90's: off-roading with a Suzuki TS100 and a Yamaha IT175 Enduro

The final piece is really a shout-out to fellow blogger Warren Mallett of Motorcycle Paradise fame.  In a reply to a past post on scanning photos etc, Warren mentioned a piece of software called Gigapixel AI which he uses.  Essentially, it's used to enlarge photos without the normal blurring or pixellation you get from conventional optical enlarging.  There are a couple of algorithms in the program which allow you to choose whether to enhance the human form/nature or man-made objects with straight lines or predictable curves.  I like to crop irrelevant material from photos and enlarge the main subject matter so thought that Gigapixel might be of help.  Delighted to find that the website offered a 30 day free trial which was perfect to try it out on a few photos.  I was so impressed that I ended up buying it.  Thanks so much for the heads-up Warren!

The photo below is a screen shot of Gigapixel with the left hand photo being an optical enlargement of the original.  In real terms, it represents an area of about 3.5 cm square on the original photo.  On the right is the same area after it has been processed.  Look how much sharper the engine detail is, meaning it can be enlarged or printed even bigger.

Fantastic clarity on the right hand photo

It also does a remarkable job on the human form.  I used it to enlarge one of those school photos where all the students are photographed at the same time and every head is about 5mm square.  I was able to enlarge it to the point where everyone was instantly recognisable without any effort at all - tremendous.  Obviously, the better quality of photo, the better the result but the face recognition algorithm does a pretty good job.  Some black and white photos from the late 1800's belonging to the local mining museum came up a treat.  For anyone who is interested, this is the link to the vendor's website: https://topazlabs.com/gigapixel-ai/ .  There are lots of examples on the site and it is exceedingly easy to use.

Odds and ends

NZ is now at Level 1 in the fight against Covid -19.  22 days since the last reported new case and no active cases.  What this effectively means is that life is pretty close to pre-Covid days for us locals apart from contact tracing controls still being in place.  Now we have to get the economy moving again.  There are strict border controls and entering NZ requires high level approval.  Overseas film personnel associated with the new Avatar movie have arrived and are in quarantine and the same will apply to the United States Americas Cup Team  next week.  Both of course have strong economic benefits for the country.

I celebrated Level 1 by going for a decent ride on my home turf, the Coromandel Peninsula.  It felt a bit odd because although all travel restrictions have been removed, there was almost no traffic on the open roads.  Most people seemed to be congregating in the small towns, doing a bit of shopping and enjoying company over coffee.  Suited me!

The largely deserted Coromandel Peninsula

Coromandel Harbour wharf - we live on the ridge in the background

It's now winter in NZ and although there are rarely frosts in our area, there is less food around for the native birds and it's noticeable that more are coming into the garden to drink nectar from some of our flowering succulents. 

 The Waxeye

We also get native pigeon, the Keruru; coming into the garden and eating leaves from the Kowhai trees and the small buds from our ornamental cherry.  About half as big again as a European pigeon with spectacular plumage, they're amazingly indifferent to human presence.  The one in the photo below let me get really close and didn't seem at all perturbed.

A fat Keruru

We've made good progress scanning our old 35mm negatives and slides although there's a long way to go yet.  Apart from the time it takes, it's been a joy to jog forgotten memories and in some cases, having no memory of the circumstances the photo was taken in.  It's actually good for the soul!  I thought I'd share a few of the diverse discoveries.

On one of our holidays in Australia about 10 years or more ago, we discovered an aircraft museum inland between Cairns and Port Douglas.  It was a bit run down but had an amazing collection of aircraft.  One of them (haven't found the photo yet) Was a WW2 Bell Airacobra fighter with a contra-rotating propeller setup.  The owner said there were only 2 known examples left in the world and he had been offered a couple of million bucks by an American who just happened by.  He turned down the offer at that time.

De Havilland naval Sea Vixen (I think)

Sticking with the aeronautical theme, the next picture was taken in 1996 when I was working in the southern US.  There was an open air museum attached to the SAC base at Barksdale, Louisiana with an amazing array of aircraft.  The photo is of a rocket sled which was fired down the test track at Holloman AFB.  It's the shell of the supersonic Hustler bomber from the 1960's - one of my favourite aircraft.  Behind it is the business end of a nuclear missile - a Minuteman if I remember correctly.

Cold war weaponry

In 1985, we were on holiday in the UK and a mate and I took our boys to the Duxford museum.  Another fantastic place for aircraft enthusiasts.  I still have to find more film from the visit but the next photo is of a Gloster Javelin all-weather fighter,  It served with the RAF from the mid-50's to the late 60's.  I saw them flying at air shows as a kid but had forgotten how big they were for a fighter.

The Gloster Javelin

Back onto bikes, I attended a classic bike race meeting in south Auckland in the early 90's and there were some beautiful bikes there, both racing and in the spectator park.

  250cc Ariel Arrow - incredibly loud

Beautiful Ducati desmo single - 350cc I think

Ducati Mike Hailwood replica - worth a fortune now

The next two photos which were taken by a mate have an amusing tale to go with them.  I got back into bikes in 1987.  It was only after its purchase that I discovered that I was riding illegally as my UK bike licence had expired.  A check with the then Ministry of Transport confirmed that I did indeed have to re-sit both the theory and practical tests.  The theory presented no problem but I could hardly turn up on an over-capacity bike to take my basic skills riding test, even if that first part was done in a car park.  The only bike I could borrow was a 50cc Yamaha step-through from a mate's wife.  As all good mates do,  he turned up to take the piss and photograph the occasion.  As an aside, the full on-road test which followed the car park component was an anticlimax.  I knew the cop who took me for the test and he knew the circumstances of the re-take.  He sent me all of 50 metres to go round a roundabout and return to where he was standing, then wrote me the pass.  Reckoned it would be wasting everyone's time to take it further. The rest is history!

Setting off for the test

Cone slalom on a Yamaha 50!

The following photo of my Blackbird was taken the day after I rode it home from the dealer in 2001.  My previous bike was a BMW K100 RS which was no slug.  However, it didn't prepare me for the outrageous performance of the 'bird.  I think that it was so quiet and effortless made it even more scary (and impressive).  Owned it for 8 years.  Totally bulletproof apart from the original stator which was a weak point on them.

One of the original superbikes

Still on things automotive, Jennie had a sports hatch in the mid-90's called a Mazda Astina GT.  It went pretty well and the roadholding was fantastic.  We gave it to our younger son for his 21st birthday present .  Good thinking by Jennie as it was a good opportunity for her to get the first of her MX-5's.

Mazda Astina GT

The next photo was taken in the central north island of NZ among the active volcanoes.

MX-5 amongst the volcanoes

Going on annual school camp with the kids is a rite of passage in NZ and normally involves camping in the bush and long hikes.  They were great fun.  Here's me in the 1980's in the native forest near Rotorua.

Definitely not Crocodile Dundee!

Cataloguing all the negatives and slides has been great for the wetter and cooler days and there's a fair way to go yet.  It's evoking some great memories and is something to pass onto our adult children.

Pulling finger at last

Earlier this month, I made a post about scanning old photos we had stored everywhere round the house in boxes.  Some of them were beyond salvage (a flooded basement garage a couple of years back didn't exactly help) but most of the important ones were ok so a start was made on digitising them.  A bigger issue was the mountain of 35mm negatives without corresponding prints, plus 35mm colour slides.  I suspect that most householders of errr....  a "certain age" will be in a similar position!

It's bothered Jennie and I for some time as these form a treasure trove of memories, both remembered and forgotten.  They would also be a legacy to pass on to our children.  Some of them go back to the late 60's but many are also a record of our children growing up.  Even though the subject matter would be relatively mundane in most cases, that's what family history is all about and still gives a sense of identity and place.  The lockdown presented an ideal opportunity to do something about it after years of procrastination.  We had decent experience scanning old prints with our Canon printer scanner.  However, we were starting from absolute ground zero as far as negatives and slides went.

We knew that there were some cheap, crappy scanners on the market as well as eye-wateringly expensive professional ones.  What was the right balance between price and quality for what you might call family use? We wanted something which we could mainly view as computer images with perhaps a print of the odd one which had special meaning.  That triggered a whole lot of research, followed by crossed fingers that our intended purchase didn't involve us buying a lemon.  Fortunately, our choice was absolutely "fit for purpose" so I thought we'd share our learnings and a few examples in case it's of background use to anyone in a similar position.

The scanner we ended up with is the Epson V600 flatbed.  We purchased it in NZ for a shade under NZ$600 (USD 365, AUD 559, CDN 511, GBP 300).  Easy to set up and this is a photo with the lid open, showing the holder for 35mm slides and negatives.

Epson V600 scanner

With respect to the driver software, it caters for both home and "professional" use. What this means is you can do scans in a full automatic mode for sheer convenience or you can play about with colour balances and other factors in a full advanced mode.  I've done both and must say that for most of what we require, full auto is absolutely fine.  You can also select a whole load of different resolutions and choice is very much dependent on how you want to view them.  If you want to actually print a scan to a large size, then you'll want a higher resolution.  I have used 800 dpi for most of our scans of both slides and negatives. It's a pragmatic compromise partially based on end use and also scanning time.  We have at best guess 2 or 3 thousand negatives and slides to work through.  At 300 dpi, each slide/negative takes about 45 seconds to scan.  At 800 dpi, it's 1 minute 45 seconds.  Haven't bothered to time a 1200 dpi scan but you get the picture!

Our personal experience is that scanning negatives often produces a higher quality image than with slides.  This is a reflection of how our originals have been stored.  There's no such thing as a climate-controlled environment where our scattered collection of originals are stored.  Some of the slides have scratches or dirt on them.  The latter can often be cleaned with a soft brush, cotton bud or slightly damp cloth.  Aftermarket software also helps to clean up blemishes but I'll come back to that.  Although our negatives and slides are stored in similar locations, the negatives have remained untouched in their tight-fitting plastic wallets so have stayed in pristine condition.  That's why scan quality tends to be a wee bit better than our slides.  The aftermarket software we've used is Picasa (are we the only people in the world who still have this on their PC's?) and the free Gimp.  Both are excellent for removing small blemishes, particularly in light areas such as the sky.

On this blog, it won't be possible to replicate the real life quality we're getting but the V600 has exceeded our expectations in terms of quality for a home user.  We could still use a professional service for something really special but so far, we haven't found a need with the results we're getting.  Quality is also dependent on the quality of the camera used and the person behind the lens!  However, here are some examples from the first few days of scanning.  All of them were scanned at 800 dpi but that won't show on the blog.

This was taken in 1975 just after arriving in NZ (oh, the clothes and hair!) with our Ford Escort Mk1.  It's a slide and some dirt and scratches can be seen in the sky - yet to be attacked with clean-up software.

The swinging 70's - Waiotapu geothermal mud pools

My Honda GB400 TT around 1990.  This was from a negative and needs no retouching.  Easy to play with brightness and colour if I want to at some stage.

I wish I still owned it as a second bike!

This is our younger son on graduation day pulling a pint in a student pub.  Originally taken (I think) in 2001 and is a negative.

Capping day

Me in the mid-80's having just been hurled out through the rigging when my catamaran nose-dived  on a broad reach!  Trust Jennie to have a camera handy.  This was a slide.

Oops!

In 1985, we took the children back to the UK for a holiday to meet their grandparents and our friends.  Whilst there, I took our boys to the Duxford aircraft museum.  This is a negative of TSR 2 supersonic low level nuclear bomber.  There's a strong family connection with it.  My Dad was an engineer/physicist involved with wind tunnel testing the models before the actual aircraft was built.  Before being moved to Duxford, it was housed at the aeronautical faculty at Cranfield University whilst I was there.  Quite often strolled across the campus to see it and other exotic aircraft in one of the hangars. 

The wicked-looking TSR2

Our kids in the mid-80's.  We'd been given the use of a lakeside holiday home and boat by our next door neighbour who happened to be a government minister at that time.  Living next door had both its perks and downsides!  This is a slide and you can see a white blemish that I need to fix near the cloud.

Real water babies

This is a slide which was scanned at 1200 dpi then cropped to bring the subject matter closer.  It was taken (I think) in 1971 and features UK rider Ray Pickrell on a factory-prepared BSA Rocket 3 production racer.

A wonderful howl from these bikes

This scan was taken in the early 80's from a negative in the far north of NZ. Victoria wasn't even a gleam in her parent's eyes!  Short shorts on guys were clearly still socially acceptable then.

The old Stone Store, Kerikeri  - built between 1832 and 1836

So many more scans to do and I'm learning more all the time but of the ones done so far, the next slide is my personal favourite.  It was taken in 1972 whilst on honeymoon in the then Yugoslavia at a Lipizzaner horse stud.  Jennie was blissfully unaware that I was taking the photo whilst she was making a fuss of one of the stallions.  Makes it absolutely natural and 48 years later, still makes me wonder what she saw in me :-)

Sigh......

I hope that our positive experiences so far might strike a chord with others who have hordes of slides and negatives.  There's only been one slight downside (apart from the time it takes).  The Epson software is a tad flaky and in certain circumstances, it will freeze.  A mate suggested a simple solution to this which works perfectly.  Right clicking on the Epson desktop icon brings up a menu.  Click on Troubleshoot Compatability, then Try Recommended Settings (Windows Vista Service Pack 2) and you're away!

New tyres - again!

I bought the KTM in March last year, a replacement for the Suzuki GSX-S 1000 which I'd owned for the previous 3 years.  Regular readers may remember that the last tyres I had on the Suzuki were Michelin Road 5's. I loved their wet and dry weather performance and "feel".  What I didn't love was getting 3 punctures in 4 months, including one rear tyre which was beyond repair.  I live a long way from tyre dealers and it's a good job that I carry enough repair options to not get stranded.  The whole saga was listed in THIS POST .   Naturally, I became a bit gun-shy of the Road 5, not knowing whether they were susceptible to punctures in the conditions I normally ride in or whether it was sheer bad luck.

The problem sort of solved itself with the sale of the Gixxer and the purchase of the KTM.  The birds sang in the trees, the sun shone and all was well with the world - until winter came.  The KTM came equipped with Maxxis pure sport tyres.  They gripped well in the warmer weather but as soon as the cold and wet arrived, they became unpredictable, even with the benefit of lean-sensitive traction control.  I guess the problem was exacerbated by the roads in our area.  Some of the best technical twisty roads for bikes anywhere but challenging when it's cold and wet.  Simply couldn't get enough heat into the tyres in those conditions and on one occasion, I lost the front end in a fairly big way but managed to stay on.  It wasn't as if  I was "pressing on" excessively either.  I didn't trust the bloody things after that and within a few days and only 3500 km from new, they were ditched and a set of Bridgestone T31 sport touring tyres had been fitted.

Recovering from eye surgery and Covid-19 lockdown excepted, I cover a fair bit of ground annually and in all weathers so fitting sport touring tyres made sense.  On the bikes I've owned over the last few years, a life of a bit better than 10,000 km was achieved from any of the main brands and this sort of life was acceptable.  I chose the T31 based on a series of positive reviews in the motorcycling press and a fellow Institute of Advanced Motorists friend had recently fitted them to his Hayabusa and was impressed with them in all conditions.  My experience was the same as his.  Nice, progressive turn-in to corners although not quite as fast as the Road 5's.  Grip in both wet and dry was excellent and on our  North Island Green Badge Tour in late Feb/early March, they were great.

The only downside was that at 6000 km, the front hoop had started developing a slight wedge shape in section, i.e, flats on the soft compound out towards the edge of the tyre.  The rear tyre was still in good shape.  This wasn't anything particularly new as my previous 3 bikes had all shown similar traits.  The twisty roads that I mainly inhabit coupled with fairly aggressive countersteering to maintain progress are the main contributors.  Where the T31 differed however was that by 8500 km, the front tyre had reached the wear bars on the right hand side (the effect of road camber, driving on the left) and the left hand side wasn't far behind.  The handling had become noticeably heavier on the turn-in too.

Front T31 @8500 km

Arrow showing the extent of "flattening" @ 8500 km

The same characteristics also manifested themselves on my mate's Hayabusa, junking it at 7000 km and at 6000 km, another friend with a Yamaha MT10 SP is showing the beginnings of the same problem.  Time for a replacement set!

Apart from the punctures on the GSX-S 1000, the Road 5's were the best all-round tyres I've had for the type of riding I do so the decision was to go for them on the KTM and put the past experience with punctures down to sheer bad luck.

A quick trip to Drury in South Auckland yesterday and a new set were fitted in 3/4 hour.  Service from Aida and Des is outstanding.

Des from the Drury Motorcycle Performance Centre fitting the Rear Road 5

New front Road 5 away being balanced

New tyres always feel "flighty" compared with worn ones and leaving Drury, only a light touch on the bars was required for directional changes compared with the worn T31's.  Most of the 130 km trip home was at a cautious pace and angle of lean, not wanting to skate along on my arse due to new tyres. No anxious moments at all and the handling of the bike has been totally transformed.  With the higher crown profile on the Road 5's, turn-in is really quick too and requires much less countersteering.  Really looking forward to seeing how they go compared to the T31's in terms of performance and life.

Rear Road 5 profile

Front Road 5 profile