In personal news, I recently published my trilogy of fantasy novels in a single paperback volume. It is entitled The Taesian Chronicles and is available for sale from Amazon.com or directly from me if you want an autographed copy.
In other news, I just put a new set of Shinko 011-Verge tires on my 2012 Suzuki GSX-R750. I got a little over 6,000 miles on the previous set. Their chicken strips were less than 1/4″ wide and the wear pattern was very uniform and round; no squared-off center strip at all. I am very impressed with the Shinko’s.
As the previous set lost tread, their traction degraded gradually. I backed it into a few corners and was impressed with how gracefully it happened. There were no sudden losses of traction or pucker moments.
When I got the new set put on, and properly broken in, I was amazed at how much grip the new tires have. I’ve been focusing on building up my skills in fast cornering situations, and despite increasing my cornering speed, the tires have responded reliably and with great confidence. It’s as if the Shinkos are saying, “Is that all you got? Bring it, Rossi-wannabe! We can handle a lot more!”
I’ve had several fast runs to Detroit lately, and have really upped my riding game. I still have a ways to go, however, and am always working to improve my skills.
UPDATE 9-18-2013: After purchasing a front and rear Shinko 011 ‘Verge’ tire for my 2012 Suzuki GSX-R750, I’ve since put 5,000 miles on them and absolutely love them. They show hardly any wear, my chicken strips are only 1/4″ wide and I’ve never had any loss or reduction of grip in the corners. I’ve ridden with them in the rain a couple of times now and they have felt planted and solid.
I paid $221 for the set from Motorcycle-Superstore.com, using a 10% coupon from a previous purchase and free shipping. I paid my local motorcycle shop, Yamaha Sports Plaza in Fairview, Oregon, $100 in labor to remove the factory Bridgestones and put on the Shinko’s.
The reviews state that the 011’s are a high mileage tire and I hope to get 8,000 miles from the rear, more from the front. I’ll post again when the tires get within 80% of their tread life, so stay tuned.
Meanwhile, the Shinko’s provide excellent grip with a completely neutral feel. When riding, I’m unaware of the tire, I simply ride as modestly or as assertively as I wish. They present no wobbles or vibration at any speed (I’ve had them up to 130 mph). Keep in mind these are not Z-rated tires, so it’s not a good idea to take them over 150 mph. I’ve ridden on moderately damp pavement and they performed very well.
My chicken strips are only 1/4″ wide at this point. Keep in mind I’m new to sport bike riding and only have 4,000 miles under my belt on my GSX-R. On every turn, these Shinkos have inspired confidence to this relatively newbie rider (as of this riding I’ve ridden 60,000 miles total, most of it on my 2007 Suzuki V-Strom 650).
I’m a huge fan of the Shinko brand of tires, feeling they are an outstanding value. They provide a lot of tire for relatively little money. The 011 Verge make a great tire for sport bikes, and unless they wear out after just a few thousand miles, I anticipate mounting them on my GSX-R750 for the foreseeable future.
I took my 2007 Suzuki V-Strom DL650 to the shop this week for some mid-life maintenance. It now has 53,000 miles and other than a faulty TPS sensor, it’s never had a thing go wrong with it. Think about that for a second. That’s the equivalent distance of riding twice around the planet with only a single electronic sensor going bad.
I’m having the coolant flushed and the radiator, hoses and clamps inspected. It’s getting some new shoes, another pair of Metzeler Tourance tires. I prefer Shinko 705s, as they have quite a bit more grip, especially on wet pavement, and a bit more off-road traction. However, I can only get about 5,000 miles out of a rear Shinko; the Metzelers give me 10,000 miles, which will last me all season.
I’m also getting the battery replaced, not because of age but because I ran the current unit down by leaving my Garmin Zumo 220 GPS plugged in over night. It draws current even when powered off. Speaking of which, I’m having the shop re-route the GPS’ power cord to a switched circuit. This will prevent power from going to the GPS when the ignition is off.
Finally, I’m having braided stainless steel brake lines installed, replacing the factor rubber hoses.
I have put close to 7,000 miles on my set of Shinko 705 tires. The front looks damn near new but the rear has very little tread left down the center stripe and about 50% tread remaining on the sides. For an $83 tire, that’s a very low cost-per-mile. The Shinko’s have been outstanding tires, providing excellent grip in cornering and especially on wet roads.
Normally I replace both tires at the same time. With previous brands, including Bridgestone Battle Wings and Metzeler Tourances, the front wore down enough to justify replacing it at the same time as the rear. With this set of Shinko’s, however, the front will last another 5,000 miles or so. As a result, I’m only changing out the rear tire.
This is how I rode to work this morning. I will swing over to Yamaha Sports Plaza after work to have the new rear tire mounted.
On the third try in a month, the NF46 road from Ripplebrook to Breitenbush / Detroit is finally clear of snow. They even swept the tree debris! On Sunday I had a fantastic ride to Detroit and back, scraping my left peg on a hard hairpin just below the pass. My new Shinko 705 radial tires are fantastic, providing excellent grip on wet pavement and confidence-inspiring cornering with increased lean angles.
They posted speed limit signs from the pass south to Detroit varying between 40 and 45 mph, which is ridiculous. Those twisties are excellent and the road surface is in great shape.
We left the house Friday afternoon and rode back into town before crossing the swollen Columbia River via the I-205 bridge and catching SR14 eastbound. My wife, Corina, hadn’t been on my bike since last summer and our planned overnight trip to my sister’s house outside Goldendale, Washington was a great way to get back into it.
The sun was shining and it was forecasted to be the warmest day of the year so far after what has been an unusually wet and cold Spring. We stopped at a gas station/market in North Bonneville for a snack break, then continued to Lyle where we turned north onto highway 142. Riding through the small community of Klickitat, we continued up out of the river valley and onto the breezy plain west of Goldendale.
We stopped at the 76 station in Goldendale for fuel and were joined by 10 guys on BMW and KTM adventure bikes. Fueled, we continued east on Bickelton Highway another 30 minutes before arriving at my sister’s house.
The next morning, after a relaxing but far too short visit, we backtracked to Goldendale before heading south on 97 for ten miles, then SR14 west to Dallesport where we crossed back over the mighty Columbia. The water was roiling and turbulent in the spillway under The Dallesport Dam, letting out a massive volume of water every second.
We rode south on 197 into the tiny town of Tygh Valley before heading west toward another tiny town, Wamic. The only store and gas station in town was abuzz with locals celebrating the store’s 25th anniversary as well as a large group of off-road motorcyclists. They were fueling up during a large rally organized out of Hood River.
Rolling through town, we cut off into the woods at Rock Creek Reservoir. Our destination was an unmarked campsight used during deer hunting. The rough gravel road was rutted and washed out in several places and interspersed with many large mud puddles. After a little slipping and sliding, we made it to the campsite. Off the bike, we explored the trees surrounding the camp, looking for a cross we mounted to memorialize Corina’s father who had passed away two years prior. We were pleased to see the cross was still there, no worse off despite the passage of both time and weather.
We mounted up and headed back up the gnarly road and made our way back to the highway westbound. Our intention was to ride NF48 to where it linked up with Highway 35 next to White River. About a mile shy of the junction we came to a large patch of snow across the road.
There were tire tracks and ruts crossing it and the snow didn’t look overly deep, so Corina dismounted and let me ride forward. Within 30 feet into the snow the bike stopped. The snow was nearly 2 feet deep and the bike high-centered on the skid plate, reducing weight and therefore traction on the rear tire.
We rocked the bike side to side to create more space, then dug at the snow with sticks and our hands. The temperature was easily into the 70’s and combined with the elevation we were both sweating and breathing hard, seemingly without progress despite the intense effort.
Corina got behind the bike and pushed while I worked the throttle and pushed with both my legs. After a great amount of effort and straining, the bike inched forward about 4 feet before getting stuck again. We had at least another fifty feet of snow drift to cross and we began to wonder of it would be possible. We could see another snow drift just like this one waiting for us 100 yards ahead.
With more digging, pushing, heaving, grunting, and groaning, the bike moved slowly forward. We made it through and parked the bike on bare pavement, then took a break to catch our breath. After a brief respite, we rode on to the next drift. Approaching it, our hearts sank. We could see that this drift was even deeper and had no tire tracks through it. Whoever had driven their four-wheel drive vehicle through the first drift had turned around and gone back before attempting to cross the next. Within a mile of a snow-free highway 35, we knew we had to go back across the snow drift that took us an hour to cross the first time.
Corina got off and walked while I slowly rolled ahead to the snow drift. I hoped that the rut we worked so hard to cross would be easier to traverse. With a lump in my throat, I gave the bike some gas and entered the snow drift. Halfway across the bike stopped. I killed the engine, then began rocking the bike side to side. The rut was deep enough that the bike was being pinched on the sides, effectively reducing the weight on the back tire and therefore reducing traction. I wondered if attempting to ride across a section without ruts would have been more effective, but the bike probably would have just sunk into the deep snow and stopped.
As Corina approached the back of the drift, my effort to clear lateral space around the bike and my pushing forward with my legs while working the throttle was just effective enough to help me inch forward. With a loud “Whoo hoo!” I got purchase on the widened rut we dug out on our way through the first time and emerged triumphantly onto bare pavement.
Stopping, I put the bike on it’s side stand and located a small stick to scrape off the snow embedded into every cavity on the bike’s underside. Corina caught up to me and we smiled, still out of breath. We chugged some water, then noticed three off-road bikes from the rally group riding up the road toward us. We waved them to a stop and warned them of the struggle we had just gone through. Even though their tall bikes with aggressive knobby tires would have no doubt had better luck crossing the snow, they decided caution was the better approach and turned around and headed back the way they came.
The guys said they would try to ride NF43 and connect with Highway 26. Corina and I discussed that route, but I had run into snow on that route in previous years so we decided we would ride all the way back to Wamic, gas up the bike and grab a snack, then backtrack to Tygh Valley where we would continue south on 197 to highway 216. It was a longer way home but we knew that the entire route would be plowed and snow free.
I had just switched from a set of Bridgestone Battle Wing 90/10 tires over to a more 75/25 oriented tire, the Shinko 705. Considering the depth of the snow and the mud and gravel I had ridden so far, the Shinko’s had done a decent job. They also perform great on the pavement, cornering very capably.
Back in Wamic, the gas station/store was hopping with off-road rally riders and anniversary celebrants. We struck up a conversation with Sam Cobb, the owner of a small tavern in Tygh Valley, who was present to celebrate the store’s anniversary. Fed and fueled, we said our goodbyes, then worked our way back home.
The original route should have been about 160 miles and lasted only four hours. Instead, we rode well over 250 miles and got home four hours later than intended. It was an adventure and we pulled through it together, no worse for the experience. Having a folding shovel on board would have been helpful, but using the most important tool of all – our brains – would have been far more effective. Even if you can see the other side of a snow drift, it can easily be too deep for a motorcycle to cross. Mud puddles are the same way; you can’t tell how deep they are just by looking at them.
The funny thing is, when I woke up the next morning, I felt like getting back on the bike and heading right back up into the mountains for another go.
Back in September of 2010 when I was in Frenchglen, Oregon I picked up a fencing nail in my rear tire. I was able to fix the flat using a plugged tool and my DC powered air compressor. The tire — a Bridgestone Battle Wing — held air until today.
When I went into the garage to ride to work, the tire was flat. I fired up my air compressor, added some air, and headed into work. The day before I had dropped off a new set of Shinko 705 tires at Yamaha Sports Plaza in Fairview — my go-to service shop. All I had to do was ride there after work to get the new tires mounted. Except my rear tire had no air in it, again.
I pulled out my 12v DC air compressor and began filling the tire up. It took a while, mostly because the leak was still active. Hsssssss. I acted quick, suiting up and jetting over to the shop. I made it safely and an hour later my bike had new shoes.
The Shinko 705’s are more of a 75/25 tire whereas up to now I have been running tires biased more toward street riding — 90/10’s. My first impression was dramatic. The Shinko’s feel slippery and squirrely on pavement and I notice a distinct tread vibration at slower speeds. Everything I read about them says I’ll get used to their behavior, but initially there will no doubt be an adjustment period. I’ll post a formal review after I’ve got some miles clocked on them.
[Update 6/7/2011] I’ve put several hundred miles on the Shinko 705’s and really like them. They provide better grip on non-paved surfaces and corner very well in both wet and dry conditions. They are a great value.
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About Steve
Like many fantasy authors, Steve Williamson was introduced to the genre when he played his first game of Dungeons & Dragons. It was during a family camping trip in May, 1980, and as he and two friends sat inside a travel trailer rolling dice and fighting orcs, the air outside became gritty and hard to breath. It was permeated with the fine gray ash spewing out of Mount St. Helens which was erupting just sixty miles away.
Steve now lives in Western Oregon in the shadow of another active volcano, Mount Hood.
