Rubber Maths

I've looked into the savage world of motorcycle tires before.  Way back in 2016 I got fixated on customizing the rims and putting new rubber on the Kawasaki Concours, and got introduced to the expensive nature of buying half as many tires that wear out way faster.  That first time left me with a $500 bill for getting 2 Michelin Commander sport touring tires installed and left me wary of the expense.

More frustratingly, I ended up using the Counteract balance beads anyway because the caveman weights used on a traditional balance machine still left the wheels with a wobble, so that $500 bill ended up being even higher, though it did make me feel way better about using those beads - they work better than weights and a technician half paying attention to the balancing machine.

In 2017 the Tiger's tires were getting tired, so I was once again at Two Wheel trying to get in for service (they suggested a one month wait was likely that time - local car tire places really need to look into this market).  At that time they were pricing Michelin Anakees at about $420 for both, with another $100 for installation which was only the tires because if I wanted service within a week instead of a month I had to remove the tires and bring them in myself.  With taxes and incidental costs that crept in on the bill, those two tires ended up costing me almost seven hundred bucks, and I had to take the damned rims off and put them on myself!

Fast forward to 2020 and supply chains are in tatters (not that they were that good a couple of years ago).  After trying to contact Two Wheel and getting no response to multiple attempts, I started looking elsewhere.  No local tire companies do motorcycles - you're missing a market there everyone.  Motorcycle tires wear out quickly, get replaced often and cost more!  The only motorcycle focused company that could be bothered to raise a response was Revco, who were responsive and delivered the tires quickly and efficiently, even beating expectations I'd have had pre-pandemic.  If you need motorcycle tires in Canada, Revco can and do deliver!

Where am I at with costs this time around during a pandemic?  Counteract Balance Beads were just under thirty bucks, the two tires were $126 & $155, so the whole bill came out to $310.  I'm at $360 including taxes and delivery.  Lloyd at my local independent motorcycle shop, Mostly Ironheads, installed them for $100, so now I'm at $460 for this round of motorcycle rubber.  That's 35% cheaper than my last pre-pandemic tire buying experience.

Just out of curiosity I looked up the same Michelin Anakee tires I put on the Tiger three years ago that ended up costing me $500 just for the rubber.  They're starting to square off and have a fair number of kilometres on them, so an over-winter tire change is likely this year.  On Revco three years later they're $382 delivered with taxes, or 24% less expensive.  Even Lloyd's newly updated shop costs for installation at Mostly Ironheads are less than dealer costs in 2017, and are done in a day with the same amount of fuss (I still have to remove the wheels).  I'd be at $482 ready to roll when it cost me $700 three years before.

I know where I'm going and how I'm getting tires fitted from now on - and I'm even supporting my small, locally owned shop in the process.  The only thing preferable would be my own tire installation machine, but I can barely fit in the garage as it is, so that'd only come after a house move.  With the deficit in service around here, maybe I should just be doing motorcycle tires out of my garage anyway.

Bike History, Ancient Rubber & COVID-proof Supply Chains

Ontario gets you to buy a vehicle history when you transfer ownership.  The main reason is to make sure you're not buying something with an existing debt on it, but I like it for the history lesson; you get a good sense of a bike's life from that list of dates and owners.  I'm the third owner of the Tiger.  The first one owned it for most of its life.  The guy I bought it from owned it for a short time (I think it was his first bike) before passing it along to me.

The Fireblade's history also tells a tale.  In July of 1996 it was sold to a guy in West Hill, Ontario (part of Scarborough in the east end of Toronto).  He sold it to McBride Cycle in Toronto (Percy's name is still down as the owner on bikes they brought in then) less than a year later in May of 1997.   McBride Cycle moved it on to a guy in Mississauga two months later in July of 1997.   The previous owner to me bought it in April of 1998 and owned it up until his divorce when he gave it to his ex as part of their separation.  It then sat with her through the divorce until her new boyfriend dropped it off for me last September, 2019.  Timeline wise, the owners of this bike have lasted:

• 10 months
• 2 months (dealer)
• 10 months
• and 21 years, though it looks like it was unused for most of the last decade of those.

I'm the 5th owner of the bike, and if I hold on to it for more than ten months I'll be the second longest owner it has had.  This 23 year old Japanese super model only has twenty-five thousand kilometres on her and sat unused for long enough that the petcock that metres fuel out of the tank failed and flooded the engine, then it sat broken in a garage.


This Honda is a 'supersport' bike with 'hypersport' tires, meaning they're soft, grippy and don't last long.  I once heard a story of a guy who used to drive his supersport bike to twisty roads in his van, ride it hard for a couple of days, and then open up his van and change to new tires using the tire mounting equipment he kept mounted in there.  Heavy handed riders can burn through a set of these types of tires after a single track day.

Lloyd at Mostly Ironheads measured the depth and determined that the 'Blade needed new tires to meet safety requirements.  I've got the 'Blade raised up in the garage at the moment and had a good look at the tires today, and found these:

But the numbers didn't make sense to me because I've never had a bike with tires made before 2000.  Tires after the year 2000 have a four digit code printed on them showing the date of manufacture, so you know if they're getting stale (rubber goes off over time).  If you see a 3507 stamped on your tire after the DOT designation it means they were manufactured on the 35th week of 2007.  But the 'Blade's tires show a 038 on the rear and a 395 on the front.

Pre-2000 tires only had a 3 digit code on them.  The first two are the week and the last one is the year, but you get to guess the decade, which is why they updated it in 2000.  If I'm reading the Fireblade's tires right, the rear was made in the 3rd week of 1998 and the front was made in the 39th week of 1995.  The tire model is a Bridgestone Battlax BT56F, and they were kicking around in the 90s.  It appears the "Blade's tires are well over 20 years old.

Sorting out tires during a pandemic should have been a real headache, but it was another COVID19 supply line success story.  I fired out requests to Two Wheel Motorsports, my local dealer, but they couldn't be bothered to respond.  I also tried to reach out to all the local tire stores and not one had the tech to do motorcycle tires.  I tried other local bike shops, but once again, radio silence.  It's like some people just don't want to make money during this situation.  Perhaps getting handouts from the government is all they need.

The only reply I got was from John at REVCO.CA, an online tire company out near Ottawa.  He was straight up with me, saying that they can usually turn around an order in a matter of hours, but it might take up to a week right now.  What convinced me to spend nearly four hundred bucks with him was his responsiveness and openness, so I ordered the tires.  REVCO outdid themselves, delivering the tires within 48 hours.  Fortunately Lloyd at Mostly Ironheads can install tires, but not balance newer rims (he focuses on heavy metal from the 20th Century with spoked rims, not racing alloy rims).  It wasn't a worry though because Revco also had Counteract balancing beads, which I'm a bid fan of.  I removed the old fashioned balancing weights, installed the beads on the new tires that Lloyd installed on Saturday morning, and the 'Blade feels like it's walking on air, wearing her first new pair of shoes in over two decades.

Dream Ride: help me by liking this post!

I applied to Motorcycle Diaries Dream Rides 2020 Contest based on the research I'd done around my Granddad's service in World War 2:

If you have a moment, like and share this post: https://www.facebook.com/MotoDiaries/posts/1676582355842212?__tn__=K-R

If I get enough votes I might actually get to ride through Northern France on a period, 1930s motorcycle and see the many places Bill passed through with his squadron as they were decimated escaping from the Nazi blitzkrieg before Europe fell.

Throttle Control Sensor System on 2003 Triumph Tiger 955i

The issue:  The Tiger stalls occasionally on idle.  Sometimes it seems to hold regular idle around 1000rpm, other times it drops down to 3-400 RPM on the verge of stalling and if I give it gas it cuts out.  It always restarts.

What I've done so far:  replaced the fuel filter and spark plugs.

Next target:  The idle stepper motor:

MOTOR, STEPPER, ISCV T1240888              $123.61
O-RING T3600037                                            $1.37
HOUSING,ISCV,3 CYL T1241064                  $42.79
GROMMET, ISCV T1241063                           $3.84
TUBE,CORRUGATED,200MM T1242502
2000MM                                                            $18.45
TUBE,CORRUGATED,145MM T1242501
145MM LONG                                                  $18.45

$208.51US = $281.34CAD
From Bikebandit's online parts diagrams: https://www.bikebandit.com/oem-parts/2003-triumph-tiger-955i/o/m121594#sch565827

http://www.adeptpowersports.com/oem-parts/2004-triumph-daytona-955i-idle-speed-control-assembly.html

Visual inspection: Gasket (#4 on diagram) is partially squashed, may not be sealing.  One of the pipes was loose going into the back of the unit.

Next step:  remove the gas tank (again) and remove the entire throttle control/idling system, including pipes, and inspect for breaks.  Replace pipes if damaged.  If no pipe damage evident, look into getting a new stepper motor from Inglis Cycle.



Other Possible issues:
throttle slides were out of balance?

After you get the tank off, you need to remove the airbox. This is easy, remove the two bolts on the back of the box and lift it off. You will need to disconnect the breather hose (bottom rear right), electrical connector (bottom front right) and pressure hose to the computer (right middle).

After you get the airbox off, you will see the air idle hoses and valve. Unbolt the valve from its mount and move it out of the way, and disconnect the hoses. Connect the hoses from your gauges (I used a Motion Pro mercury gauge) to the ports and start the bike. You will have to hold the throttle slightly open to keep it running, but it will start with all those wires disconnected. Kinda makes you wonder if you need 'em in the first place!

To sync the throttles, remember that the #1 cylinder (left side) is non-adjustable. Sync the #2 throttle to #1 by adjusting the screw between these cylinders. Once those match, sync #3 to #1 with the other adjusting screw. You might have to repeat the process a couple of times and don't forget to blip the throttle between adjustments to let the linkage settle.


Once the gauges are matched, put it back together, you're done! Check carefully that all the connectors are married up as the tank is a bit of a PITA to pull off again. My EFI light came on for a few starts probably due to readings out of range from the disconnected sensors, but it will reset itself.

***CHECK THE POWER COMMANDER***

I had the CO level reset. I was at .9 and that's very low. They reset to around 2.1.
http://www.perfectpower.com/technical_info/afr.asp
The stoichiometric ratio for gasoline is 14.7:1. This ratio is when both air and fuel are completely consumed.

https://www.therevcounter.co.uk/threads/80797-Daytona-955i-stalling-at-lights

Finding Parts & Service in a Pandemic

They ain't kidding, but setting up online ordering without
actually setting up online ordering isn't great business.

Trying to get parts in is never easy in Canada where no one likes to get their hands dirty.  It's even harder during a pandemic.  The worst I've seen so far is Canadian Tire, who are a complete wreck.  Their web-page barely works and their online ordering system is in shambles.  It turns out aiming for the lowest prices on the cheapest Chinese made goods in the stingiest way possible doesn't make for a resilient response in an emergency situation.  I've yet to pass by the local store without a massive row of annoyed customers standing in line out front of it (I've yet to bother going in), and the one attempt at ordering a simple, in-stock item has resulted in weeks waiting.  Don't go to Canadian tire virtually or in person, they can't handle it.

Amazon was also a mess early on in this with orders sometimes taking up to three weeks to arrive.  They seemed to improve recently when I actually got an order the same week I made it, but they still aren't anything like as efficient as they once were.  I just ordered some spark plugs for the Triumph on Amazon (once you've got the tank off you want to do all the servicing because it's a bit of a faff to get in there).  Canadian Tire didn't have them or won't let me in to find them.  That Amazon order sat there unresponsive for 3 days before it shifted to 'shipping', but in the 24 hours since there are no shipping updates and the shipment is still untrackable.

Meanwhile, the rear brake pads I thought I'd put in the Fireblade have disappeared into a Francophone ether.  Fortnine is usually prompt and transparent with their deliveries, but this time around it took them over a week to get the bits out of their warehouse and the order has been in transit in an apparently very broken Canada Post for over three weeks.  I contacted Fortnine to find out if things have improved.  Their warehouse is now down to a 3-4 day turnover from the eight days I experienced, and Erin, who promptly replied to my inquiry over the weekend, suggested not selecting Canada Post (they have courier options) since they are still dysfunctional.  Unfortunately, Fortnine didn't have any of the tires I was looking for, so they're trying to limp forward with a half empty, slow moving warehouse and a delivery system that doesn't.

So, trying to get parts during this slow-burn pandemic sucks right?  Not always!  The other day the trusty Triumph Tiger actually stalled on me at a light.  I looked over every I've done on it (which is a lot) and realized I've never done the fuel filter, and I've put over 25k on it since I've had it.  If the Tiger is idling low and stalling on idle fuel starvation from a way-past-due fuel filter is a likely culprit.  But oh no, it's a pandemic, I'll never find parts!

The trickiest part was actually finding the fuel filter.  After searching around fuel lines under the tank I ended up looking in the Haynes manual only to discover that the fuel filter on a 955i Tiger is *in* the fuel tank.  This fully submerged fuel filter sits behind a panel on the side of the gas tank.

Finding a fuel filter for a 17 year old European motorcycle during a pandemic should have been a nightmare, but it turned out to be the easiest thing I've done parts wise, maybe ever.

Inglis Cycle in London is 140kms away, but they're still my local Triumph dealer, so I fired them an email asking if they had what I was looking for.  For over ten years from the late '90s to the mid zeroes Triumph used the 955i engine in the majority of their models, and they all used the submerged fuel filter in the gas tank, so they aren't uncommon.

Within a couple of hours Ken at Inglis had emailed me back.  After removing the filter assembly from the tank I discovered a pretty beaten up gasket with multiple rips, so I asked if they could add that in with the filter.  Ken had both the filter and gasket in stock and said he could ship it out to me for $15.  Considering it's a 280km round trip that would have taken me most of a day, fifteen bucks didn't seem bad.  I thought that meant postal service and a week long wait.  The box showed up the next morning via a courier.  If you're looking for quick, capable service during a pandemic, Inglis Cycle has their act together.


So the fancy gasket and new filter all went in flawlessly within 24 hours of ordering the parts, but I'm still stuck without a bike because I can't seem to find anyone to safety the Honda and the spark-plugs I'd ordered from Amazon two days before I even began emailing Inglis are still in the ether.  The moral of this is I should have just ordered the spark plugs from them too and cancelled Amazon and their inconsistent service.  The other lesson learned is that once you find dependable service during a social distancing slow down, make sure you reward it with your spending power.

The trusty Tiger is in pieces instead of putting on miles thanks to Amazon's hit and miss service.

UPDATE:  While some places are struggling with operations, others are able to reorganize around
things, so when you find a functional motorcycle parts supplier make a note of it and use them as much as you can.  The days of picking the lowest price from a group of competing companies are not these days.  As I write this a Roof Helmet is arriving from The Netherlands.  I ordered it only 4 days ago from Chromeburner.  Like Inglis, Chromeburner seems to have adapted to this crisis well.

UPDATE II:  I watched the Chromeburner order leave The Netherlands within a day on FedEx, pass through Memphis over the weekend and arrive in Ontario Sunday night.  Monday morning the driver from the Cambridge, ON managed to screw up the delivery (saying it was delivered when it wasn't), and I'm now four phone calls in trying to sort it out.  FedEx looks like they're working well everywhere except in Ontario.

UPDATE III:  The Fortnine order from May 6th is now almost a month old.  My rear brake pads landed in Stony Creek 6 days ago and haven't moved since.  Quebec might as well be on the moon.

The moral of all this?  Ordering parts seldom works like normal these days.  Few places are able to reorganize themselves to provide dependable logistics and most delivery companies seem to be struggling with even simple delivery options.

Unfortunately, I'm working with two old bikes that need parts, so I'll be leaping into this breach once again, or I can't ride.  The good news is that if the Triumph needs parts, I've got the most capable parts contact (Inglis Cycle) with the best delivery system (I think they used UPS, but I can't remember clearly).

I'm trying to figure out how to get tires for the 'Blade now.  Revco actually replied with an honest and detailed response when I asked about how delayed things would be (instead of 2-3 days expect it to take a week).  Two Wheel Motorsport and West End Cycle have both been radio silent for several days.  Trying to find parts during this social distancing slow down has two downsides:  some companies can't get their acts together and find a way to proceed effectively, and some delivery companies are in the same boat.  When you find a dependable one, make a note of them.  I think Revco's about to get a three hundred dollar tire order.

Athletic Intent

Coming to terms with the Fireblade...

The first couple of times I rode the Honda I found the riding position hanging over the gas tank somewhat extreme.  The bike was astonishingly light compared to others I've ridden (dirt bikes excepted), and changes directions like it's telepathic, though the clip on handlebars mean you don't get a lot of leverage when turning.

While the riding position is pretty extreme compared to the adventure and sports touring bikes I've ridden recently, it's the bike's geometry that really surprises.  The rake on the front wheel is nearly vertical, and feels like it's right under your hands rather than stretched out in front of you.  This results in those telepathic direction changes.

I've actually jumped on the Fireblade and had my groin seize and had to stop to stretch.  I've taken to doing some limbering up, Zombieland style, before I get moving on the Honda.  It's nothing that a bit of yoga doesn't address in my 50 year old self, but the 'Blade is an extreme thing that demands physical interaction; it reminds you that it's a SPORTS bike.

So, why be uncomfortable?  It might be argued that the CBR900RR is an appearance bike; something you put on to get attention, but that isn't why it's the way it is.  The 'Blade is built to explore the physical limits of what a motorcycle can do - it's the opposite of a cruiser, it's about the sport of motorcycling, not the appearance.  Every choice on the bike, including the riding position, is designed to maximize speed and agility.  The 'Blade is more of a boxing boot than a high heel.

1997 Honda Fireblade CBR900RR

by timking17

on Sketchfab

One of the most shocking things about riding the Fireblade is its acceleration.  I've yet to own a bike where I can't turn the throttle to the stop opening it up... until the 'Blade.  It's so light it pulls strong through the first sixty-five hundred RPMs, but then it lunges to the redline in a startling manner.  Even in higher gears I haven't turned the throttle to the stop yet.

The CBR900RR is described as a bike that is engineered to exceed your abilities but is accessible enough to show you how to improve them, and that's just how it feels.  As someone who has gone out of his way to explore motorcycling, it checks a box for yet another aspect of the sport to discover.  I won't be putting big miles on the CBR, but they'll be highly intentional and informative ones.

Motorcycle Diaries: Win Your 2020 Dream Ride

Motorcycle Diaries is a website that shares rides from people from around the world.  I've posted a number of Ontario specific rides on there.  They currently have a 2020 Dream Ride contest going on until April 30th, so here's my pitch.

My Moto-Bio:

I didn't come to motorcycling until later in life. When I was very young, maybe six years old?  I was at my grandparent's house in Sheringham, Norfolk in England one spring Saturday morning in 1975 when a group of vintage vehicles passed by on what was probably a rally.  I was the little blond kid standing on the railings by the side of the road waving at them as they thundered by, and many of them made a point of smiling and waving back, including a guy on a Triumph Speed Twin.  It was one of those flashbulb moments you never forget.  Nothing looked cooler than that bike and rider thrumming through the receding sea mist in the cool morning air.

Years later after immigrating to Canada, I was finally old enough to start considering driving and I immediately gravitated towards motorcycles, but my mother was strangely insistent that I not do that.   Even though we weren't well off my parents dug deep to help get me a car instead.  I got deep into cars owning a wide variety of vehicles, learning how to repair them and even pursuing performance driving courses and cart racing while living in Japan, but that bike itch was always there.

After my mum's suicide I discovered that my great aunt, with whom she shared a name, was an avid rider who was killed in a motorcycle accident a few years before I was born.  I also discovered that my mum's dad, who I was very close with growing up in Norfolk, was also an avid motorcyclist up until the death of his sister, which must have rocked the family since no one had even mentioned her to me.  I've never understood how an accident like that (an army truck accidentally pulled out into her, killing her instantly) warranted this kind of silence, but my mum's side of the family has always been... interesting.

Despite being a major part of the previous generation's lives, motorcycling had evidently became a taboo subject that left me ignorant to a deleted great aunt who I now feel a great affinity for and a love of my granddad's, who I thought I knew well.

I've been riding now since 2014 and I'm on my seventh bike.  I've taken multiple advanced off road training courses and done some long, international trips, including a trip to the last MotoGP race at Indianapolis that had us ripping down the back straight of the historic Brick Yard on our own bikes - mine being an $800 field find I'd restored in my garage.

I've made a point of expanding my familiarity with different bikes by renting them and riding in places ranging from Pacific tsunami zones to the Superstition Mountains in Arizona, usually with my son on the back.  We've had some great adventures.  I've also made a point of becoming mechanically proficient with motorcycles, having just finished my latest restoration.

That's my bio.  Here's the dream ride:

In discovering my family history around motorcycling I also connected my grandfather's rather incredible Second World War tour of duty to riding where, among other things, he served in the RAF's motorbike stunt team.

Bill served as an MP in the RAF and travelled with the British Expeditionary Force to France in 1939 in order to repel the oncoming Nazi war machine.  When it all went wrong, Bill ended up trapped in occupied France for a number of weeks after Dunkirk before eventually finding his way back to the UK just in time to catch planes that fell out of the sky during the Battle of Britain.  He then went on to fight in Africa for several years, but it's his time in France during the 'Phoney War' and once the disastrous Battle of France began with the allied retreat that is the basis for my dream ride.

After some exhaustive research I discovered Bill's path through France from the autumn of 1939 to the spring of 1940.  My dream ride would be to follow in my granddad's footsteps on a period motorcycle through Northern France in the springtime, just as Bill did.




From letters to my grandmother and military records, I discovered that Bill was attached to RAF Squadron 73 who operated across Normandy and up to near the Belgian border over the winter of the Phoney War before being chased south under fire around Paris and through Ruaudin and Saint Nazaire before he finally found a boat back to Plymouth out of Brest, nearly two months after Dunkirk.  In the process he failed to get to the Lancastria with the rest of his squadron, the majority of whom died on it as it was sunk by dive bombers in Saint-Nazaire.

Being able to follow Bill's chaotic retreat with his squadron through France while finding evidence of the great conflict and seeing things he saw between moments of terror and heartache, and doing it on an RAF Norton H16 or a period Triumph Speed Twin would be a heart wrenching and mind blowing experience that would connect me back to a forgotten piece of family history on a number of levels.

What a dream ride that would be.