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    doodon2whls

    @doodon2whls

    Enginerd. Tinkerer. Motorcyclist. USAF Veteran.
    Motorsports and Aviation Enthusiast. World Traveller.

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    Best posts made by doodon2whls

    • We've been outnumbered... Dood-Kittens !

      We took on a mission to rescue two very bonded kitten littermates from a friend that lives in the midwest that rescued the feral litter. We both drove halfway and met in the middle - about a 10 hour round trip for both of us, and a 10 hour one-way trip for the kittens.

      Dood Kittens in Carrier.jpg
      [Carrier Transport]

      Unfortunately, this mission had to take place on Saturday, June 26th, so I missed the Maryland-Area-Oppo meet, but there will be more Oppo-Meetups... There was just once chance to bring these two Dood-Kittens home...

      Sprawled Out.jpg
      [Sprawled Out]

      They are SO. STINKIN'. CUTE.

      Snuggled Up.jpg
      [Snuggled Up]

      They eat, sleep, play, and even use the litterbox together. If they lose sight of one another, they immediately get nervous and cry...

      Figuring out the Fountain.jpg
      {Figuring out the Water Fountain]

      They are typical Kittens, and focus on four tasks. Eat. Wrestle. Poop. Sleep. Repeat. Pretty much in that order, too.

      CopyCat.jpg
      [Copy-Cat!]

      Dood Kitten.jpg

      [Daaaawwwwwwww]

      So, as if we didnt have enough excitement in the Dood household, we now have two new kittens... DoodCat is 10 years old and putting up with them ... for now.

      DoodCat holds Kitten Court.jpg
      [DoodCat holds Kitten Court]

      Wish us luck...

      posted in Oppositelock
      doodon2whls
      doodon2whls
    • Update from DoodLand; COVID, Colorado, Vintage Cars, Cycling [LONG, Pics]

      It's been a few months since I have posted much, and the summer has blown by, but it is not over yet ! We're still partying this weekend down the shore.

      Here is a rundown of the DoodSommar:

      PHL-DFW-Texarkana and back....
      At the end of June, I headed to Texarkana by way of DFW for work. It was a productive trip to a new client site. On the way back to DFW, we even had time to Stop at Buc-ee's! My first ever Buc-ee's experience. Woah.

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      I didn't end up buying anything, and we skipped the "Brisket on the Booooard!", because I had plans for lunch.... Pecan Lodge BBQ. MMMMMmmmmm!

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      Three days after returning from DFW, (Friday before July 4th) I woke up feeling crappy, and tested positive for COVID. It was a strong and fast indication. Ugggh.

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      Yay. I traded emails with work and it turns out the colleague that travelled with me was also sick. We scrapped all of the plans for July 4th, I isolated so Mrs. Dood didn't get sick, and then I was concerned for scrapping or vacation to Colorado July 9th. I recovered and was 95% by Monday (Thanks, Moderna). Mrs. Dood never got sick - thank goodness. Unfortunately, in the two days that my colleague and I were back in the office, we infected two more colleagues. Dammit. Sigh.

      After my recovery, Mrs. Dood and I played it super safe so she didn't get sick, as I could still be contagious. I made Pizza (surprise surprise) and enjoyed the last few days of rest before flying to Colorado for vacation...

      I also made some amazing Garlic Knots ! I had some decent store-bought marinara pizza sauce which got the job done for dipping these little dough balls from heaven.

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      Colorado Trip! Lotsa pics!
      A dreary start to our trip in Philly....
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      But some beautiful skies in Denver when we landed ! We reserved and were fortunate to get our Land Rover Velar (Jaguar F-Type Cousin) at DEN. Smooth rental check out process at Budget (great rates thru COSTCO), and we were on our way!

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      The center stack on the Velar is neat, but it is all gloss surfaces which causes bad glare in bright sun.. 😕
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      Then we made an obligatroy stop at In-n-Out for lunch on our way to Colorado Springs... Delicious as always.
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      We stopped at the US Air Force Academy and didn't view the Chapel as it is under a tent for renovations until 2024...

      367eb52c-5f6d-4f34-99f6-7aa26871afd6-image.png

      Not a bad place to attend University....
      c3e8e72c-66be-4cdb-9011-a66da9eb9b48-image.png

      The Buff on display @ USAF Academy.
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      Next Stop: Garden of the Gods !
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      We headed west through some nasty storms and stayed in Salida. In the morning, I stocked up on windshield washer fluid, glass cleaner, and paper towels. We planned to drive more than 1600 miles over this week, and no one likes a dirty windshield on a road trip... We found this awesome little diner/breakfast Bistro place (Robin's in Salida) with a nice patio overlooking a creek. Breakfast was awesome.
      80bab82d-7b22-4842-8171-290615f1a182-image.png

      They had a hilarious sticker on the mirror in the restroom...
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      We hit the road bound for Ridgway...
      Lots of this...
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      Followed by this...
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      Some of this... (SUPER low water here)
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      Some construction... (One lane only, 30 minute cycles = 1 hour passage for 5 mile trip)
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      Lots of mountain passes and US National Parks
      5e5b1c30-a34e-4a9b-9752-adccaa58276b-image.png

      Finally made it to Ouray!
      d571179b-e039-458b-aeed-b4b36fb1bd09-image.png
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      We stayed in Ridgway, and then made a side trip to Telluride...
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      069faf57-fd1f-4d38-8c21-991bcac7fed1-image.png

      One of the motivations for the trip was a wedding in the mountains... A beautiful view !
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      An amazing sunset view on the San Juan mountains.
      ed18bf0b-e4eb-47c5-b259-66b07dc8eabe-image.png

      Next stop: Durango!
      We thought about riding the Durango-Silverton RR, but it eats up an entire day, so we enjoyed the drive down the Million Dollar Highway, and then scoped out the Durango station... Pretty cool !
      264d30b3-3031-4fcb-9bdf-c43bfc9602e9-image.png

      Here is the Old Steamer arriving in Durango in the evening... Super cool TrainFan Content.

      The next morning, we drove out to Mesa Verde and viewed the Puebla dwellings... Very cool!
      c3c6dee2-a2b1-41f5-98ba-665065c48cf5-image.png
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      We stopped in Cortez for lunch at The Farm Bistro which was super tasty.
      2128af4e-bc63-41d3-9e31-bfb210852090-image.png

      ... and then we headed west to the Four Corners Monument... It was hot..
      be5d9e0e-7795-44b9-b601-312ef1d8f645-image.png
      5cadcc55-5622-4fe7-8623-a1c8995d0ccd-image.png

      We paid our $8/person admission fee to the nice Native American person, and headed in. We took our obligatory photos and then got the heck out.
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      Obligatory Dinosaur photo at a Sinclair station...
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      We headed back to Durango, and the temps dropped 33°F in two hours drive. (!)
      06633974-242a-43f2-823d-2db8fc723502-image.png

      The next day we headed to Crested Butte and headed over the Wolf Creek Pass... Amazing views!
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      50c4fd7b-4cd7-4ccd-98c8-ad9554e8e604-image.png

      Cloud Dance over the mountains...

      Bachelor Loop Trail Drive! The Range Rover is a natural on soft roads.
      689b830d-6e0d-4f4a-9085-6c86ace8c6f5-image.png

      North Clear Creek Falls
      0ae9d11b-5aba-4e82-9c32-2048f4c7f32f-image.png

      317 north out of Crested Butte towards the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory.
      3b397ac7-c66f-43b1-856b-6f472d3aa62c-image.png

      Beautiful Aspen trees on the way...
      dd7c8363-4746-4e77-ac0c-90708bdc9abe-image.png

      We hiked up to Judd Falls and came across this Pygmy Owl that appeared injured in the middle of the trail.
      953c2f8c-ee6a-4415-964a-78943f5da535-image.png

      We walked past and left him alone, hoping other hikers would leave him alone or he would leave when startled. On our way back, he was still there! Since he was well camouflaged, we worried that someone would step on him, or a dog would attack him, so we picked him up and put him on a bowl-shaped stone that we hid off to the side of the trail.
      d3ab4ac2-28b9-46d3-816c-2eb147935848-image.png

      We poured some water onto the rock next to him, and he immediately started lapping it up... A few minutes later, he perked up and glanced back as if to say, 'Thanks!'...
      9edf8ad4-1d84-48b2-8147-6978a547cb17-image.png

      We hiked back down to the Range Rover and kept heading north to Emerald Lake. The road turned a bit more challenging, but nothing too nutty.
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      The next day, we travelled over the highest pass of the trip - the Cottonwood Pass over 12,000ft.
      4aeee934-c480-48ce-9a56-8d5784d71208-image.png

      We stopped in Denver the last night before our return trip and spent the last day in Denver visiting Red Rocks Park, Buffalo Bill Cody's Grave/Museum, and the Botanical Gardens.
      88dfd749-0427-4329-85c6-d774e652fd80-image.png
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      Annnnd, I stopped by my old stomping grounds - the former Lowry AFB where I did my Technical School Training more than 30 years ago... The main hangar has been turned into an aircraft museum and has some neat stuff !
      The Big Bone!
      IMG_20220715_161933418.jpg
      Tomcat!
      a226db74-95e7-4da6-9a2e-f21f359257eb-image.png
      Little Angel.
      76edfb8a-cb4d-4980-a706-7fabf51d4e43-image.png
      Phantom.
      ec3aa5e6-31ab-4952-94d8-5e54cada9b28-image.png

      We hit the Lowry Beer Garden for dinner and then headed to the airport for our Red-Eye Flight Home... Phew ! That was a great trip... 1600miles total with a good portion of it on trails. 🙂
      bc897fa4-14a6-4b57-9c2c-9abd57a768d8-image.png

      There is more, but The Hyphen server is telling me that's enough photos for now... More to come...

      Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix
      The wknd after I returned from CO, I headed out to Pittsburgh to the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix...
      3d546dfd-c07e-4d57-a881-04376bc169e9-image.png

      It was an amazing event with some amazing cars... Unfortunately, there was a Weather Cell that blew through Saturday evening which surprised a lot of exotic car owners.
      8d944433-4058-4594-a22c-3f12ac033657-image.png

      The Dodge crew brought some of their historic Vipers to show.
      2ad08999-bf64-4f8b-a93f-9d3fa1ce639b-image.png
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      There was a club in attendance from just about every brand. The Porsche owners had a nice collection.
      6948bcab-da53-4bfc-ac30-20a93125d50e-image.png

      Tour de Frederick
      I had a milestone birthday this year, and my older friend felt it necessary to rub it in by making be suffer through a Metric Century Bicycle Ride. We've done two MCR's before, but I had not been training on the bicycles this year because I have been riding the motorcycles every free minute... I paid the price. My buddy rode circles around me, but I made it. I was pretty beat at the halfway mark, and then slogged through the last 30 miles.. Phew. It was a good ride, though.
      d7e9fc52-bb5d-4f3b-8765-7727a3db1b92-image.png
      0cc7bf86-ef80-48d1-bf94-7c7557139ab1-image.png

      We spent the night in Frederick. After an amazing meal at JoJo's Taphouse, we walked around the canal and took in the concert at the Sky Stage from the top deck of the parking garage. 😉
      b2936325-03f5-4197-b34d-3605f280a4d0-image.png
      cedbc746-b512-4a6e-9813-10393d348c1a-image.png

      So that brings us pretty much up to date, Opponauts... I hope you all had a great summer, too !

      [[ I didn't upload the hi-res photos here because I am trying to be kind to the server, but I figure I'd tag the @Photography crew anyway. ]]

      posted in Oppositelock
      doodon2whls
      doodon2whls
    • Doodon2whls begins training to be Doodon2wings !

      Yep...

      c60cf124-02b5-43a9-ab52-8de4cec60645-image.png

      After 7 years in the USAF (not flying, but maintaining munitions to generate aircraft for wartime and peacetime sorties), and a lifetime of AviationGeekery, I have begun flight school to achieve my private pilot certification. Prior to this 'adventure', I'd venture a guess that I have about a dozen hours of 'stick-time' in various aircraft, Cessna 150's, 172's, 182's, a PT-17 Stearman and a P-51D Mustang, but that was all just for thrills and laughs.

      Now it is serious. I am 4.5 hours into training and it is amazing ! As an enginerd, I find myself overthinking things periodically, and whiteknuckling the yoke, but then my CFI reminds me to relax and fly the plane. I relax my death grip, and lo-and-behold... Smoothness.

      It's fun, but it takes a TON more concentration (for now) than I am used to exerting on any one skill or activity... Any jamoke can fly a plane and goof off (this is how I would characterize most of my prior stick time), but try to maintain heading, altitude, speed, climb/decent rate, situational awareness for other A/C & B-1RD's, and it's nerve racking ! On my last flight, I took off, performed slow speed flight and stall recovery, a touch-and-go, and landing with minimal CFI input. I am going up tomorrow for more 😊... I am happy with my progress in the plane, but the ground-school/book learning will be another animal. All of the Federal Regulations and handbooks, and stuff - YIKES ! Principles and physics of flight are no problem, but following proper procedure for pattern entry, comms, and incursion deconfliction is like, WOAH.

      SO.... Where are the other OppoPilots ? I know @GrindIntoSecond is one of our resident fly-boi's... Who else ? Any recently certified Pilots out there with some tips and tricks ???

      posted in Oppositelock
      doodon2whls
      doodon2whls
    • N+1 motorcycle strategy is happening

      Two weeks ago, Mrs. Dood and I rode two bikes, made a choice, and plunked a down-payment on a 2021 BMW K1600GTL...
      bimmer-ride.jpg

      The sales team at the local BMW dealer did their mighty best to find the unicorn I am in search of (supply is tight, and I am looking for one in rare Mineral White)... I went to 'the online' and found that other dealers have their stock listed there. Interesting. I utilized the modern magical walkie talkie handset to call and speak with one of these dealers and wouldn't you know it - he has one for sale and it's available. I called the team at the local dealer to let them know I found one and see if they had any further luck on their end. They hadn't been able to secure one, and encouraged me to get a down payment on this one... I called the listing dealer and we chatted for a while. Then, I plunked the down payment on that one, and sealed the deal.

      Boom. Check it out:
      IMG_20210527_194241763_HDR.jpg

      Here is the catch... It is in Ohio, and I am not in Ohio... I am five states away. So, I moved some things around on my schedule next week and bought a ticket to ride on a flying machine out to Ohioland. I've got insurance lined up and a ride route planned to get home over two easy days. It is only 500 miles ride home which should be easy on the 'K16GTL' as it is known to the forum nerds...

      So... Stay tuned to my feed.... There will be more fun things happening!

      posted in Oppositelock
      doodon2whls
      doodon2whls
    • Today was a good day... [Flight School]

      1.2 hours on the Hobbs meter today
      Screenshot_20220916-134851-153~3.png

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      Slow speed flight (practice for landing approach)

      Stall recovery and go-around drills

      Steep banked turns

      Turns around a point

      Two touch and goes

      KISS landing full stop

      Grinning from ear to ear

      Follow your dreams, Opponauts

      Do what makes you happy

      Dood out

      posted in Oppositelock
      doodon2whls
      doodon2whls
    • Update: Your friendly Oppo-hood Dood-Pilot-In-Training

      22.7 hours in as of tonight...

      86 Take-Off and Landings...

      Student Pilot Cert. and Medical Cert. done. Solo imminent... 🙂

      A lifetime of memories already:

      • Greased landings
      • Negative 1800 ft Density Altitude take-offs
      • So many slips onto the runway
      • Crabbing in a crosswind forever
      • Pitch-for Airspeed; Power for Altitude
      • That feeling when your CFI pulls the throttle out and you have to simulate an engine-out landing.
        (What was that Acronym again? Oh yeah... A-B-C-D: Airspeed-BestLandingSpot-Checklist-DeclareEmergency)

      Views like these:
      IMG_20221109_164306442_HDR.jpg

      IMG_20221114_165752256_HDR_3.jpg

      Guys and Gals: If you have a dream, never stop chasing it.

      posted in Oppositelock
      doodon2whls
      doodon2whls
    • TFW you fly a Flight Demo with Two F-16's...

      After a Cross-Country Solo flight and Regular Flight lesson cancellation due to weather the past week, I hit the skies today with a third instructor to make up some time while my main instructor is in Florida attaining his Multi-Engine-Land rating and my second instructor was flying with another student pilot.

      Let me tell you folks, today's winds were pretty challenging and I had to execute four take-offs and four landings in gusty crosswind conditions. YEEHAAW! This was great practice...
      (FYI, it is important to land as many times as you take off...)

      Departure from my home airport was no biggie, and approach into the Class C air space tower controlled airport was no issue either. Once I reported "Midfield-Left-Downwind", I was instructed by the tower to extend my inbound downwind leg for inbound F-16 traffic in front of me... Uhhhh, whats that? Say again, Tower? Yep F-16 traffic. Then, I needed to hurry up with my Touch and Go for the other F-16 following me in!

      e54e83b9-45d1-453d-9307-05c3f884b46e-image.png

      So, basically, I flew an over-airport Flight Demonstration with two F-16's today. NBD.😏😂🤣

      Another 1.3 hours PIC time today...

      OPPO-mobile content: Then, I stopped on the way home to test drive something for @Poor_sh at a local dealer... No one likes buying something sight-unseen, so I was happy to take it for a spin for him. The dealer was pretty amazing about the whole thing, too! I'll let Poor_sh tell the story later... 😀

      posted in Oppositelock
      doodon2whls
      doodon2whls
    • This date in Doodon2whls Aviation History: Solo Flight!

      Solo Flight AC.pngFill 'er up with 100LL, please!

      I scheduled this morning's 8AM flight lesson a few weeks ago, and was looking forward to my first early morning flight - most of my flights to date have been in the afternoon.

      Weather this morning was COLD! -1°C (30°F) and the relatively high humidity resulted in a Density Altitude of -2000ft when I checked the AWOS. I dressed appropriately and completed preflight inspection and then went back inside to do a preflight brief with my CFI...

      We decided to fly some simulated engine out touch-and-go closed patterns at a nearby airport where the winds favored runway 31.

      After a full-stop and three touch-and-go landings, we headed back for home base. On the way, my instructor said he thought I was ready for solo. We did another two full-stop landings there, and then he hopped out and set me free to "Take off like a homesick angel!"

      Solo Flight Track.pngSo many TO and LDG's!

      Woo!

      The Solo flight was actually pretty ho-hum... Just a few more left-closed-traffic pattern exercises as I have flown dozens of times in the past month.

      After I landed, cleared the runway, and announced, it sunk in. I had just flown a plane on my own. What a rush ! I taxied back to the ramp and my instructors were waiting to high-five me... 1.4hrs on the Hobbs meter...

      What a way to start the day ! I have a lot to be thankful for this year...

      Never stop chasing your dreams, y'all.

      posted in Oppositelock
      doodon2whls
      doodon2whls
    • Tires 201: Tires aren't just round and black.

      thebestofoppo.png

      Welcome to Tires 201!

      As everyone is coming here from @Peter_Black 's first lesson, I think we can jump right into it, yes? For our first deep-dive into the world of rubber (back row, stop giggling), we will be looking into the construction of tires…

      Peter and I conspired to bring you this content, based largely on my experience as an enginerd in 'the industry' in a previous life. We’ll both be commenting throughout the article(s) in this format, so it’s quasi-conversational.

      In this particular lesson, we'll be looking more at what makes a tire a... well... a tire. We went over the basics of different types of tires before in Tires 101, and now we will dig a little deeper into tire science. This is a for-credit Opponaut course, right? Let us begin...

      Disclaimer: We’re just two regular doods… or, I guess Peter and Dood… There are a ton of resources out in the world to get smart on tires, but be careful and consider the source. We’ve just taken the time and interest to share some of our extensive knowledge with you here in the Opponaut-verse.

      We’re going to talk about the Black Art of Tire Design (pun intended), Construction, and how tires influence Vehicle Dynamics. Unless you are a tire engineer or vehicle dynamicist, these phrases don’t mean what you think they do… Stick around and find out.

      Tire Design involves a whole lot more than what the tread pattern looks like and those pretty molded-in graphics on the sidewall, although both of those - unfortunately - might be the primary selection criteria for a tire purchase by a non-tire-nerd - humans tend to judge a book by it’s cover, right ? While tread design is a critical factor in water evacuation, wet/snow/dirt traction, noise, ride comfort, and steering feel (among other things), it is important to know that everything (in tire construction) counts in large amounts.
      (Any other Depeche Mode fans here ? <crickets> Damn. Tough crowd.)
      The design of the tire as a system in itself is critical to its success.

      Peter: Come on, Dood… Aren’t tires really just round and black ? Tires can’t be that complicated, right ?

      Dood: They’re complicated - trust me. There are lots of crappy ‘round and black’ tires out there.

      I’m going to hit you with the heavy stuff - design element by design element, then you’ll have a better appreciation for how complicated tires can be on your motorcycle, car, truck, or flying thing.

      Tire Construction goes well beyond bias-ply versus radial construction - although they are popular descriptors of two basic tire construction casing ply configurations - more on that later. Between the wheel and the contact patch, there are six primary areas in tire design: Bead Area, Sidewall, Inner Tire Liner, Casing Plies, Crown Plies, UnderTread, and Tread.

      Peter: blinks You wanna run that again by me, maybe a bit slower?

      Dood: ‘S okay… I got you, man… Pitter-patter; Let’s get at ‘er.

      The bead area of the tire is the critical interface between the tire ‘system’ and a vehicle’s wheel. This ends up being a structural interface between the relatively (very) rigid wheel and the purposely compliant-by-design tire system. This portion of the tire incorporates the tire bead rubber which is molded over the bead cables as well as the bias or radial plies which wrap around the bead cables. The bead rubber not only seals the tire to the wheel to allow the tire to hold air pressure, but it also forms a semi-rigid interface between the tire carcass and wheel which can influence both vertical and lateral stiffness of the tire

      Peter: Stiffness that influences ride comfort and steering feel respectively.

      I say ‘semi-rigid’ because there is some flex here, but it is very limited as the force to maintain the integrity of the tire-wheel interface is critical for safety. The results of de-beading a tire at speed during high g-force and/or evasive maneuvers are less than desirable.

      Peter: He means you could likely crash, and in the case of an SUV, your wheel might dig into the pavement and flip your vehicle. Bad News Bears.

      For a motorcycle, the contact patch loads are such that you’re less likely to debead a tire on the street, but dirt riders with lower tire pressure beware on the trails - that’s why you’ve got rim locks. Rapid deflation of a tire on a motorcycle at speed is no picnic, either.
      4c67367f-314d-451b-9270-447b1f38c3c8-image.png (Figure 1: Motorcycle Tire and Wheel Cross Section)

      9031d78c-326e-4e74-afeb-ab2dfb5d6948-image.png (Figure 2: Figure depicting the importance of tire & wheel bead seat matching appropriately.)

      Because of the critical nature of the tire/wheel interface, the tightness of this bead fit to the wheel is very closely controlled in design and manufacturing. The European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation (ETRTO) standardizes wheel and tire geometry in this area (and elsewhere in the tire construction, BTW) which ensures that every wheel design has a tight manufacturing tolerance on the bead seat geometry (there are multiple profiles), and every tire has a tight manufacturing tolerance on the mating bead seat geometry (again, several bead profiles). This means that every brand and style of tire meant for a specific wheel size should fit properly and the bead should seat precisely and tightly. The bead cables are sized precisely circumferentially, and the amount of bead rubber and ply material between them and the wheel (radially) is tightly controlled such that the tire will literally snap or pop into place during the initial inflation after tire fitment to the wheel as the tire bead stretches momentarily over the bead hump before snapping into the bead seat. The bead is mostly seated at this point, but several rotations of the wheel under load and subsequent temperature cycling will fully seat the bead. Some tire balancing machines actually have a bead seating sequence during the balancing process to aid in bead seating before measuring road force variation (and residual self aligning torque to properly pair car/truck tires on the front and rear axles) then the tire is spun at higher speed to measure the imbalance. (We’re not going to debate the use of car tires on touring/cruiser motorcycles here. Do that on your favorite owner’s forum.)

      Peter: So, basically, the bead / seat area is more or less a standardized item, yes? NEATO.… Can we debate spinnerz on motorcycles ?

      Dood: Yes, the bead and bead seat areas are standardized. No... No spinnerz talk..

      Peter: Rude! Anyways, the only part of the tire that touches the bead is the sidewall, so lets chat about that next!

      Anyhoo...

      The tire sidewall is a simple looking portion of the tire, but as you are probably realizing at this point, tires are more complex than them ‘round and black things’... The sidewall has to

      1. transmit drive/brake torque,
      2. withstand lateral cornering forces,
      3. serve as a vertical ‘spring’ to cushion sharp impacts (hello toronto potholes),
      4. the rubber protects the tire carcass plies from curbs and debris,
        and...
      5. serve as a prime location for tire branding.

      The transmission of drive/brake torque seems simple enough, but the truth is that extremely high torque drivetrains (Peter: Uhhhh, he means Top Fuel, Funny Car, ProStock dragsters. No your boosted K20 civic isnt a high torque application) challenge the very limits of sidewall resistance to these forces, so they select bias-ply construction for the rear (drive) tires… Drag racers are more concerned with literally ‘not tearing the tire apart’ than ride comfort or steering feel in a 4 second squirt of a race. Sure, we’re not all Larry McBride on our rides, but the truth is the sidewalls are important. A motorcycle tire - owing to it’s curved tread profile necessitated by motorcycle kinematics - generates less lateral force (relatively) than a car tire does from the perspective of the tire bead (the place through which the tire forces are reacted through into the wheel to the axles, and into the chassis). Cornering forces on a car/truck tire application can be approximated by forces orthogonal to one another and reacted through an axle that is essentially parallel with the ground at all times. In the car/truck example, the rotational (drive/brake direction; accel/decel traction/slip), lateral (cornering load direction; steering feel), and vertical (road impact direction; ride comfort) can be tuned quasi-independently with creative carcass ply arrangements and fiber bundle sizes & densities. Let’s take a look:
      6ca65ae8-502c-4a67-aa26-24c5a7a353b3-image.png(Figure 3: Car/Tire Force/Moment axes diagram)

      Not that complicated, right ?

      Peter: Uhhhhh...

      On a motorcycle, the wheel axle is not parallel with the ground during cornering because motorcycles must lean into the corners to generate centripetal force to keep from falling to the outside of a corner.

      a45d771c-9688-42a5-8420-56e5398a15f5-image.png (Figure 4: Motorcycle cornering forces diagram)

      Simple, right ? What that means is that motorcycle tire sidewall construction is even more critical to the three important tasks of torque delivery, lateral compliance, and vertical compliance as the lateral and vertical compliances influence cornering stability which imparts confidence on the part of the rider that they won’t have a bad day.

      Peter: They won’t crash.

      Right ! Not crashing is good. The relative stiffness of the sidewall area of a motorcycle tire carcass (Peter: and tire inflation pressure) can influence the size and uniformity of the relatively small tire contact patch on the ground, too. Remember that a motorcycle only has two contact patches, leans during turns, and has an inherently unstable static stability factor (SSF) - they are great fun ! Anyway…. Sidewalls: also important.

      Dood: Hey. Peter - you OK, man?

      Peter: <blinks>

      Dood: He’s still breathing. We're good. On to the NEXT...

      The inner tire liner is probably the simplest tire construction component that we’ll discuss here, but it is important nonetheless. The inner tire liner is exactly what it sounds like, too ! It’s job is to primarily act as an air-tight membrane to maintain inflation pressure. Air pressure is good in a tire because the air inside the tire gives it strength to support the weight of your vehicle and payload.

      Peter: Flat tire = bad.

      Yes, Peter. Flat = tire bad.

      The inner tire liner seals from bead to bead and circumferentially around the tire carcass in an often seamless, but not always smooth surface. Why not smooth, you ask ? Good question ! Firstly, during the ‘lay-up’ of the tire in manufacturing, the inner tire liner material requires some compliance to allow it to exactly fit - without folds or wrinkles - the inside of the tire carcass casing plies. A dimpled or surface texture on the material aids in this fitment. Secondly, a textured surface allows for better heat transfer between the tire and the air inside. Thirdly, a textured inner liner could identify the liner for specific tire constructions in a tire factory along with colored stripes added to the material. Fourthly, (OK this is getting more complicated than I thought) a textured inner liner can attenuate or reduce shell ring or cavity resonance - a noise produced by the excitation of the ‘doughnut’ (Peter: Bagel?; Dood: I’ll allow it.) of air by the act of rolling the tire at a critical speed. This noise - produced by a standing sound wave inside the tire and transmitted through the air and chassis components into the cabin - can be objectionable in some vehicles with certain tire fitments.

      ALSO… Some ‘puncture-resistant’ tires will have a rubber-cement-like material applied to the inside of the inner tire liner from the factory. In the event that a nail or other sharp object punctures through the tread and casing/body plies of the tire, the compliant sealant material will conform to the object and (ostensibly) seal it to minimize air leakage. The drawbacks of these puncture-resistant tires is they are heavier than non-puncture- resistance tires, and they also run hotter due to the increased thermal mass relative to the surface area through which heat can be rejected. Tires get hot while rolling down the highway, let alone on track under heavy cornering forces (with more tire slip). Did you know tires don’t generate grip without some percentage of slip ? More on that later….. Like in Tire Tread Compounds in Tires 203… 🙂

      Peter: How are they supposed to know that ?

      Dood: I dunno, but they’ll know soon enough.

      Sidebar / Teaser: Tire Slip vs. Grip is a critical relationship for racing vehicle dynamicists and chassis tuners. The grip/slip relationship is so critical, even the powertrain developers/engineers get in on the action to maximize grip. In the mid-2000’s, the WSBK bikes were pumping out over 200 HP. That’s a huge amount of power to put down through a contact patch area smaller than the base of your coffee cup. So, you can imagine how difficult it is for a Pro WSBK rider to modulate the throttle so as not to overcook the rear tire and lose grip under power. The tire guys were all out of black-magic (Peter: Was that a pun?), so the team race engineers turned to the engine developers for help. Not to reduce power, but to change the firing order of their inline four engines. You see, the inline-four engines put down sewing-machine smooth power at 19,000RPM, and the V-twins had the advantage of putting power down in pulses. (Peter: Yeah, so?) Well, the smooth 200HP power delivery of the inline-fours was causing the tires to break traction and slip too much causing reduced power transmission at the contact patch, and tire temperatures to skyrocket. The V-twin powered superbikes realized an unexpected benefit of pulsing power to the contact patch, which allowed the tire to grip, slip-a-smidge and propel the bike forward, then relax and ‘re-grab’ the track surface before the next power-pulse. Solution for the inline-fours to remain competitive: Change the firing order of the cylinders such that power output is pulsed - not smooth. Some of these I4’s - it is rumored - had firing orders which had all four cylinders firing within 90⁰ of crankshaft rotation. This bra-a-a-ap - pause - bra-a-a-ap - pause - bra-a-a-ap power output was such an advantage that the WSBK outlawed the big-bang engines in 2005. Cool beans, right ?

      Peter: So cool.

      Yep! Anyway, grip/slip curves, and lateral compliance, vertical spring rate, Residual Self Aligning Torque (RSAT), and more are very important tire data for racing chassis tuners. When consulted about chassis setup by fellow F1 chassis setup engineers, French vehicle dynamicist, Claude Rouelle, often famously replied, “Where are your tire curves?”. Funny guy. Like I said. More on that later… In Tires 203… 🙂

      Back to Tires 201...

      The Casing/Body Plies of a tire really define its behavior and suitability for different load conditions and usages. Yes, we finally get to talk about Bias-Ply and Radial-Ply tire construction. WOOOOOooooo.. hoo.. <cough> Still not feelin’ it? OK.. on with the nerd-babble. Casing plies run from the outside of the sidewall, under the first bead wire, up the inside of the sidewall, around the tire profile under the tread, down the opposite sidewall, under the opposite bead wire, and up the outside of the opposite sidewall. Phew ! Check out the (radial) casing plies in Figure 5 below. You can trace the casing/body ply path exactly as I described.

      1f97c20d-a54c-47ac-b3d8-3ac06e87d230-image.png (Figure 5: Tire Construction Cross-Section)

      This ply arrangement ensures the structural integrity of the tire for what could be thousands of miles on a motorcycle (I have gotten 6,000 to 9,000 miles out of sport and Sport-Touring Tires on my VFR800), or hundreds of thousands of miles(!) on an over-the-road truck tire. Bias-ply tire construction is usually employed on taller sidewall tire sizes and special purpose applications (Like the aforementioned drag racing and agricultural uses).

      The Crown Plies are laid down on top of the aforementioned Casing/Body Plies and form the underlying tread area shape/profile (reference Figure 5 above). The Crown Plies (including belt, edge cover, and cap plies) wrap around the tire circumferentially and influence the ride comfort, steering feel, and Residual Self Aligning Torque (RSAT). Without crown plies, your tires would look like olde tyme pneumatic tyres with nearly circular cross section. To make the contact patch much larger, and improve steering feel (lateral Stiffness), these crown plies act as a structural (but compliant) hoop to contain the tire shape when inflated. The steel belts and aramid fibers in this area of the tire have a huge influence on ride comfort and steering feel. The number of plies, material type, fiber density, and the belt/fiber angle are carefully selected (and tuned during tire development) to produce a tire that matches with the vehicle chassis kinematics and compliance. (Peter: He means that the OEM car manufacturer engineers work closely with the tire manufacturer engineers to test multiple constructions of a tire brand/model and select the best tire suited to the vehicle.) Right-o, good chap!

      Residual Self Aligning Torque (RSAT) has been mentioned a few times, so let’s talk about that for a quick minute. This RSAT is mostly applicable to car/truck tires, but it’s an important part of tire science. After tuning the tire construction, (Peter: If you haven’t caught on yet, ‘Tire Construction’ is an industry phrase to describe all of the design elements of a tire.) the resulting ply arrangement/recipe will undoubtedly result in some amount of residual self aligning torque. Many times, RSAT can be tuned - especially on directional performance tires - to improve on-center feel and initial turn-in performance of a tire. The RSAT is the tire’s tendency to steer itself about the Z-axis (see ‘aligning torque’ in Figure 3 above) while it is rolled across the ground. If the left-side tires (front and back) are trying to steer to the right, and the right-side tires are trying to steer to the left, then the car will have some inherent stability due to the RSAT and toe-in geometry in the chassis. The RSAT also keeps the tire carcass ‘pre-loaded’ such that when the tire is steered in that preloaded direction, turn-in is nearly immediate. Of course, you shouldn’t run directional tires on your vehicle in the wrong orientation, or the vehicle will feel slow on turnin, or down-right unstable. Neat, huh ?

      Peter: So, the tires on Moms Volvo weren’t likely high performance tires?

      Dood: Right you are! And the ride-comfort focused tire construction meant that the steering feel of dad’s Buick was akin to a big boat with a small rudder - vague and slow.

      That doesn’t mean that non-directional non-performance tires don’t have RSAT. RSAT helps a car/truck track straight down a crowned road. That’s right - car/truck tires (and vehicle alignments via slightly asymmetric camber) are tuned such that left-hand-drive vehicles steer left up the road crown, and right-hand-drive vehicles steer right up the road crown. If manufacturers didn’t do this, then there would be thousands of warranty claims for vehicle alignments because “CS: vehicle pulls right/left” complaints. I have seen it happen.

      On the other hand, Motorcycle tire crown ply constructions are almost always symmetric, such that steering feel, turn-in, and grip are predictable and progressive throughout the vehicle performance envelope. As such, the RSAT is almost always minimized on motorcycle tires. I say almost always, because I wouldn’t put it past the motorcycle tire manufacturers to bake a special batch of tires that might optimize left or right cornering performance and/or endurance on a particular track with more left or right turns or mother speed sweepers. *wink wink

      Peter: Which they do actually. Watch MOTOGP, and you will notice they have asymmetric tires with SLIGHTLY different compounds left/right for the track.

      Imagine riding a motorcycle that always wants to turn and fall over… at 200mph.

      Peter: Cool.

      Yeah, and it’s a well known fact that some of the superbike race slicks were extremely optimized for cornering grip and stability - so much so that the motorcycles were down-right scary unstable on the straights as the tires squirmed under acceleration loads and caused the tire carcass to do all kinds of interesting things. You can see this as the superbikes launch out of the corners and down the straights twitching around with each shift and ripple in the track surface.

      Well, folks... We’re finally getting to the sexy part of the tire.

      The Tread Area of a tire is designed for all manner of road and track conditions. Tires can be focused on only one terrain / condition, or designed for multi-condition use. Dirt, mud, asphalt terrain with dry, wet, snow, or ice conditions cover most of the scenarios. The two major features of the treat area are 1) the tread design, and 2) the tread compound. Let’s start with the latter: Tread Compound. All of the rubber built onto the tire up to this point is not optimized for traction - it’s more structural and durable. The tread rubber on the other hand is critical to dry, wet, snow grip and influences treadwear and rolling resistance. In fact, multiple compounds are routinely tested and evaluated with the same tread block design to tune the balance of all season performance and durability. Tire compounds that are great in the dry (summer tires) are ‘OK’ in the wet (and terrible in the snow). Conversely, tire compounds that are great in the wet are ‘OK’ in the dry (and not great in the snow). All season tires have a tread compound (or compounds) that attempts to strike a decent balance of performance in all conditions, but it means that their performance in each of these conditions is not as good as a tire with a compound more appropriate to each of those conditions. Several top-tier tire manufacturers employ multiple compounds in their tire constructions to improve all-season performance. In the motorcycle tire world, multi-compound tires have gotten pretty amazing with two (or more) compounds across the tread area. The compound in the center is the hardest for long distance tire endurance (treadlife). The compound(s) towards the side-wall are softer and optimized for cornering grip. Tread design certainly influences tire performance in these different scenarios, but the ultimate grip is dominated by the tread compound. The difference in performance can be stunning on two wheels or four. In one winter tire test, I was sliding all over the place trying to gather the composure of a 4500lb RWD car on the ‘rally-track’ loop in the snow on “Tire construction A”. The ESP and Traction Control were going bonkers, too, reacting to my ham-fisted inputs to test traction limits. On the other hand, 20 minutes later - after swapping on “Tire construction B” - I was giving the 400+HP V8 all of the beans in 3rd gear down the straights. The only difference between the two tire constructions was the tread compound. The carcass and tread block were identical. Yep. Full-chat at 80mph on the snow is fun, and an important part of vehicle testing. Very important. 🙂

      Peter: I bet. LOL.

      Tire Tread Block design is a critical design element as it influences water evacuation, dirt/mud/snow self cleaning, noise, and comfort and handling to some extent. No doubt, if you have shopped for tires, you have seen the myriad of tread designs from the manufacturers. Tread design has become one means of instantly identifying a particular brand/model of tire. Motorcycle tire nerds will be able to instantly identify Michelin Pilot Sports or Pilot Road, Bridgestone Battlax, Conti *-Attack, and Dunlop Sportmax tires by their tread design. Similarly, Car/Truck Tire nerds can likely ID several brand/models by their tread also.

      Motorcycle tire offerings from the top-tier manufacturers are dizzying… Michelin has twelve different tire categories. TWELVE ! And then there are several individual models within each of those categories - each with unique tread area designs - block design and compounds…

      Peter: Wow.

      Yeah, Wow. The other manufacturers aren’t much different - choices abound. Lucky - as you mentioned in Tires101 - motorcycle and scooter tires have fewer size variations than car/truck tires.
      23aeea00-5d73-4c89-a36d-cd66f492b7e0-image.png
      eae53aa2-1a2b-41e3-8319-420632977a36-image.png (Figure 6: The twelve product categories for Michelin Motorcycle Tires)

      And just for street-bikes, Michelin has a huge range of tires with unique tread designs.
      For example:
      00 tireCapture.JPG (Figure 7: Several Michelin multi-compound street-bike tires from the mid-2010’s)

      So there you have it… The six main tire construction design elements, outlined for you to digest here. We’ve got a few more Tires20X classes up our sleeves, so stay tuned for more in the coming weeks. We’ll dive deeper into Tire Geometry, Compounds, Mud/SnowWater Evacuation, and Performance Measurement.

      Peter: 100%. Tires, much like the cars and bikes that use them, have a LOT of different parts and they all work as a cohesive system. We will be looking into each of these later, as my brain right now is mush.

      If you have some suggestions or corrections, please be sure to message one of us and we’ll try to accommodate them in our mini-series. If you have some first-hand experience that you’d like to share in a mini-series writeup, please contact us as well so we can incorporate it into Tires 20X series...

      -Dood & Peter

      posted in Best of Oppo
      doodon2whls
      doodon2whls
    • The Blackbird was a bitch to refuel, y'all...

      More stories from Blackbird driver Brian Shul....

      Boeing_KC-135Q_refueling_SR-71.jpg

      "...at 100% thrust the SR-71’s J58 turbo-ramjets could not produce enough thrust to stay with the tanker once the fuel load became too heavy. To allow it to stay connected and receive all 80,000 lbs of fuel, the pilot had to light one afterburner, the asymmetric thrust of which made the plane fly slightly sideways..."

      Dood's take: Considering that the Blackbird had a marginal MTOW and could not take off with a full fuel load, it had to hit the tanker right away once airborne, so these refueling evolutions happened for almost every single Blackbird sortie. F me. Going bingo fuel in any aircraft is not a great experience, and usually results in some soiled flight suits. So considering the knife edge that pilots had to fly just to remain airborne they had to have had some 'Titanium Attachments'...

      Full story on the AviationGeekClub...

      Some video of this madness. I love it.

      posted in Oppositelock
      doodon2whls
      doodon2whls

    Latest posts made by doodon2whls

    • RE: Oppos are awesome!

      @Poor_sh

      It was great to meet you and your female accomplice as well. The Macan GTS is a baller sport SUV, and even though your left foot will get bored, I know the acceleration will keep you smiling. You might be the 3rd Opponaut I have met in person.... I hope we get to meet again in the future. Next time you blast thru my neighborhood, shoot me a text. At least it seems like you made good time getting home. 😉

      The battery in the VFR800 was 5 years old and just plum tuckered out. Each time we removed the jump box leads from the battery, the engine died. A new battery is on the way already...

      IMG_20230128_142628136_HDR.jpg Rescue Operation thanks to Mrs. Dood

      My night VFR flight went awesome! Three greasy full-stop landings, 140NM flight, 2 hours on the Hobbs meter.

      IMG_20230128_194241983.jpg Glass Flightdeck of the C172SP

      IMG_20230128_191730227.jpg Somewhere over the Delaware River

      IMG_20230128_221425083_HDR.jpg Mrs. dood had dessert ready for this hungry pilot when he got home.

      posted in Oppositelock
      doodon2whls
      doodon2whls
    • RE: who do we have in Ruckersville, Virgina?

      @Peter_Black

      Not close enough, bud, sorry.

      Ruckersville looks like a sleepy backwoods town... 1236 population... What is down there?

      posted in Oppositelock
      doodon2whls
      doodon2whls
    • RE: new mini series: The motorcycles you must ride

      @Peter_Black

      250 class Trail/Dirt bike
      250 class Trials Bike
      250 class Su-Mo

      SV650

      VFR800

      RC51

      RAD-ERA 600 class sportbike (analog experience)

      Try various engine configurations!
      Single Thumper
      Parallel Twin
      I3
      I4
      V2
      V4 (Longitudinal and Transverse)
      V5 if you have the $$$ 😉
      I6
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      H6

      posted in Oppositelock
      doodon2whls
      doodon2whls
    • RE: What was the Last Version of MS Word/Office that Didn't Require a Subscription?

      @vdubyajohn
      @DSM_OR_DIE is right... You can still buy standalone office licenses... They don't make it easy, but you can get 'em...

      I have bought standalone office products from these guys (MSProject)

      https://www.directdeals.com/software/microsoft-office

      posted in Oppositelock
      doodon2whls
      doodon2whls
    • RE: TFW you fly a Flight Demo with Two F-16's...

      @ForSweden

      The C172SP is wicked Stealthy! Cut the engine at 1000' and glide home for a KISS landing.... Let's see them do that in their fancy lawn dart !

      (Full Disclosure: I am old enough to love the Viper and Mud Hen. It was super fun to fly in the pattern with these doods that are clearly younger than I am.)

      posted in Oppositelock
      doodon2whls
      doodon2whls
    • RE: TFW you fly a Flight Demo with Two F-16's...

      @Darkbrador

      Working towards that... I need to prepare for and take the written... Oral and check-ride to follow that.

      I still have 3 hours of Night VFR and 2.7 hours of simulated IFR to complete in addition to solo CC.

      Tally as of today:

      42.6 hours total; 2.6 hrs solo

      152 TO & LDG

      24K gusts today !

      posted in Oppositelock
      doodon2whls
      doodon2whls
    • TFW you fly a Flight Demo with Two F-16's...

      After a Cross-Country Solo flight and Regular Flight lesson cancellation due to weather the past week, I hit the skies today with a third instructor to make up some time while my main instructor is in Florida attaining his Multi-Engine-Land rating and my second instructor was flying with another student pilot.

      Let me tell you folks, today's winds were pretty challenging and I had to execute four take-offs and four landings in gusty crosswind conditions. YEEHAAW! This was great practice...
      (FYI, it is important to land as many times as you take off...)

      Departure from my home airport was no biggie, and approach into the Class C air space tower controlled airport was no issue either. Once I reported "Midfield-Left-Downwind", I was instructed by the tower to extend my inbound downwind leg for inbound F-16 traffic in front of me... Uhhhh, whats that? Say again, Tower? Yep F-16 traffic. Then, I needed to hurry up with my Touch and Go for the other F-16 following me in!

      e54e83b9-45d1-453d-9307-05c3f884b46e-image.png

      So, basically, I flew an over-airport Flight Demonstration with two F-16's today. NBD.😏😂🤣

      Another 1.3 hours PIC time today...

      OPPO-mobile content: Then, I stopped on the way home to test drive something for @Poor_sh at a local dealer... No one likes buying something sight-unseen, so I was happy to take it for a spin for him. The dealer was pretty amazing about the whole thing, too! I'll let Poor_sh tell the story later... 😀

      posted in Oppositelock
      doodon2whls
      doodon2whls
    • RE: K1600GTL Maintenance Day... New sneakers!

      @Exage03040

      I can't trust many of the local Moto-dealers not to F up my stuff. So I would rather do it on my own....

      It was a workout, but the rims are still pristine, and the work was done to my standards.

      Michelin has been on their game with the Pilot Road product line. I have been riding on them for years now on the VFR.... The PR5GT apparently rubbed on the K16 rear swingarm due to tight clearances. The PR6GT has been corrected to eliminate this interference.

      posted in Oppositelock
      doodon2whls
      doodon2whls
    • K1600GTL Maintenance Day... New sneakers!

      Well, after a 100 mile ride on Friday with an olde friend, I decided it was time to spoon on the new tires for the K1600GTL. After 5829 miles, the tires were done. Toast. Kaput. Fini. Garbage.

      IMG_20230122_151329335.jpg

      I bought the new Michelin Pilot Road 6 GT tires on Cyber Monday in anticipation of this day. Honestly, I thought I would get 6000 miles out of them, but after riding the twisties on Friday and assessing the difficult turn-in and non-linear response of the tires while transitioning in and out of corners, I decided to do it.

      IMG_20230122_151626798.jpg

      IMG_20230122_151143774_HDR.jpg The Beemer makes a decent hover bike...

      I spooned on the tires the hard way - manually. I would definitely not suggest this for someone that has not mounted tires before. I know a few tricks and it is still a royal PITA, but the nearest BMW dealer is 75 miles away, and I would have to get on their busy service schedule, get there, wait, spend a bunch of cash, and then get home... I have a bead beaker which consists of a carefully trimmed pair of 2x4's that I lever under the i-beam in my basement. I have three tire levers and rim savers and lots of tire lube in a tub. That last one is a life saver. Working the old tires off, and the new ones on took me about 1 hour - that'd be about 15 minutes with a proper tire changing machine...

      I have a static balancer with which I can balance the front wheel & tire assembly within 5 grams balance - not too shabby. I need to make a rear wheel adapter to do the rear, but for now, I will drop by my buddy's place who has a nice Hunter GSP9700 balancer in his pole barn...'

      IMG_20230122_183210455.jpg

      Anyway, while I had the rear tire off, I decided to change the rear drive unit oil. The shaft-drive BMW Motorrad have a unique drive system with the front right-angle drive getting lubrication along with the transmission and engine, but the rear pinion and ring gear requires it's own 180-200ml 75W90 Gear Oil fill. It's a little tricky, but all in all, the GTL has been a dream to work on. Their design for manufacturing and service is pretty good on their Motorrad... I cant speak for their late model automobiles, though...

      Other Dood Updates:

      I am progressing more slowly than I'd like with flying, but I am up to about 36 hours... I was supposed to do my solo cross country last week, but the weather had other ideas. I was scheduled to fly Monday morning, and again, weather. Grrr... I had a great run up to January with weather with only one or two flights cancelled for weather before then...

      I still have the VFR800, and have been alternating riding he GTL and VFR. It's been good fun... The VFR is a mild sport bike, but it has such a superb engine - I love that V4 idle chop and the exhaust note at full-chat.

      posted in Oppositelock
      doodon2whls
      doodon2whls
    • RE: Flexin on 4x4 Theme Day

      @Brickman

      'Sup, bruh?

      IMG_20181013_205455_810.jpg

      I have a vintage RC10T with a 7 cell, hot motor, and fresh f150 body... I dread the day I taco that...

      posted in Oppositelock
      doodon2whls
      doodon2whls