Well, just put a new set of tires on (Had the dealer do it. Roseville Yamaha. Zac Mickel is the Service Manager and he is great!. He did the 17 mpg fix and put a new Yamaha Top box mount on. Will be a while till the new Yamaha Top Box will be in, mine was cracked and will be replaced with a new one.) But I digress.
The head shake which has plagued me since new and became much worse with the Avon Storms, is GONE. I had a very mild head shake with the OEM tires (Z-6's?). Much more pronounced with the FIRST set of Avon Storms. Oddly enough in the last 1,000 miles of wear the head shake actually lessened. Worst at exactly 50 mph, to the point that you wouldn't want to take both hands off the bars.
Well, put a NEW set of Avons Storms on (I bought them long ago, just in case.) and there is absolutely NO head shake. Bike is stable as a rock, any speed accelerating or decelerating. :clapping:
I got 7,000 miles on the rear. The front still had a lot of tread left, but was developing "weird" wear patterns (Kind of like "troughs" on either side of the center strip and some cupping. The cupping only occurred at one location and resulted in a wobble or bump, noticeable at walking speeds. I assume that was part of my 'head shake'.)
Bottom line; what was/is the difference? It could be the tires, but I'm kinda leaning toward the the theory the technician that installed this set of Avon's tires did a "better" job of it. The first time they (a Honda dealer) installed the first set of Avon Storms did so "on the ground" on the center stand. He didn't follow any particular "formula" when remounting the tire and rim. Perhaps the Yamaha tech (a five star) followed an approved sequence of remounting wheels. I noticed he did use a torque wrench while doing the warranty work.
One comment regarding RideOn TPS (tire protection system). I got a nail in the rear Avon Storm in the first 1,000-2,000 miles. I plugged and patched it from the inside and ran it all the way out. I was through the center wear bar, but no cord showing yet. At any rate, when I plugged it I decided to put RideON in. I sprayed the rim with an anti corrosive spray (Honda brand) put the TPS in and replaced the air with helium. I get the helium free and use a little tank which I get filled free at Costco. The tank allows me to maintain my tires with helium. One tank full has been enough to fill and maintain my tires through the last 5-6000 miles of use. I was curious as to whether there would be any corrosion and asked Zac to let me examine the wheel. I even offered to clean the wheel off to save his technician the headache (if any).
Well, unfortunately by the time Zac got to his technician he had already replaced the tires. I did get a chance to talk to the technician and ask him if there was any sign of corrosion. The technician said the wheel looked like "new" and it was no problem washing the RideOn off the rim. Someday I will get a chance to look for myself. Based on these results, I'm going to put RideOn in both front and rear. It has saved my a%# 3 times so far and I am sold on it. :clapping: YMMV Since I can see I'll be replacing tires 2-3 times a year I don't think corrosion will be a problem.
Bottom line the Storms are better than the OEM Z whatever's that came with the bike. However, I kinda like the the idea of a ME880 rear with a softer front tire. I think I will try that combination next. Perhaps I'll even try the latest greatest "Cheapo" milage tire. I'm constantly watching the tire threads. One thing for sure, with this bike I'll get plenty of chances to "test" different tires.
LC
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