New shoes

So prep for Moto2our continues. Today was new tires and a valve adjustment. Now for those of you who don't ride motorcycles, I should explain tires to you...

Motorcycle tires are, in a word, insane. Let's compare them to an average set of car tires. A car has 4 tires that will last 40-60,000 miles, depending on the level of performance you want. Ultra long-life car tires will last almost 80,000 miles. A pair of motorcycle tires will last about 10,000 miles. (Performance tires about 6000, long-life tires about 12,000.) So for our purposes, we'll say motorcycle tires last about 20% as long as car tires.

Car tires can be had pretty cheap. 4-500$ will get you 4 decent enough tires, installed. Motorcycle tires, on the other hand will cost you the same 500$, for a pair. So we'll say roughly twice as much money per tire.

So if you're following along, motorcycle tires cost twice as much, but last 1/5 as long. It's painful. Considering I've done 4000 miles since April 17, and plan on having 8000 by early August, this probably isn't the only set I have to buy this year.

Now that I have the complaining out of my system, I am actually excited by these tires.

I had been running Metzeler Tourances, which are built as an all-around tire. On road, off road, anywhere you want to go as long as it's not too extreme. As it turns out, though, I never take my bike off road. In two years, I've ridden on one gravel road. And only out of necessity. The Tourances were perfect for the job. But I have no intention of doing it again.

This time I got pure street tires. Michelins. These things would mean an instant crash if you took them off-road, but they're terrific on road. They have much more grip, a better shape for road riding, are quieter and smoother. They give you much more confidence in cornering. I've only put 50 miles on them, and can already tell they're light years better for the way I ride. Wish I had done this sooner.