VTR1000.ORG

Evenin'

Well today was the day of VTR adventure - a 12 hour marathon but like L'oreal, she was worth it

Up about 5, set off from Stockport at 6am, train to London, tube, train to Essex. Met Phil and his lovely wife who I was buying the bike off, had a coffee and a chat, set off for home about 12.30. Sorry Jonesey, I had to make tracks....

Got rained on within 5 miles and was wet and cold pretty much all the way home. With stops for warm ups (and inevitable fuel - thirsty ain't she ), I got home bang on 6pm. 270 miles, I added 6% of her mileage in one day (yep, she's only done 4k, on a 99)

She's a credit to Phil, the bike is mint and feels and looks great. It felt like she needed the blast - engine sluggish at first and felt much more zippy on the last leg. I even did the local twisties on the last 30 miles instead of motorway. This was a really good test compared to my sp2. Not quite as much oomph, brakes not as good but more comfy.

It's on good condition dunlop d204 tyre on front and d207 (new) on the rear and I thought the grip was bad, especially when really wet. They were unpredictable on full lean as well, I had to pull out of a knee down cos the bike nearly flopped over. Slow steering too but maybe that's against my sp2 / cbr6.

Presume this was the tyres - anyone know anything about them? I'm going to track the bike in June - anyone recommend better ones - Roadsmarts maybe? Michelin Pilot Road 2s?

Buckers wrote: I thought the grip was bad, especially when really wet. They were unpredictable on full lean as well, I had to pull out of a knee down cos the bike nearly flopped over.

Kneedown in the wet?

Roadsmarts a great, IMHO, got them on at present, good wet performance without losing anything in the dry.
But if you're doing trackdays the Sportsmarts might be better.

Mich's same thing, really, consider Pilot Races.

But I know what you mean about the Bridgestones, the two you mention are much better by comparison (IMHO again) based on my seat-of-the pants impressions.
I was doing high mileages for a couple of years and so tried all of these over a year, daily commuting and business travel, all weathers.

Hope you enjoy the VTR FS. I would also add that a 3.5mm spacer under the upper rear shock mount (see previous threads on site) can help as a cheap handling upgrade!!!