Gertrude Gets a New Rear Tire

[GrandpaDenny]

Finally got the new Shinko 777 installed today. 14,000 miles on the old Elite 4 and it was balder than I am. Immediate impressions:
1. The Shinko rides better
2. The Shinko is waaaaay quieter
3. The Shinko handles better. No longer does the bike get squirelly feeling in turns, nor does it feel like the rear is steering.
4. The Shinko is not affected AT ALL by tar snakes, road seams, cracks, etc.

Let's see how long it lasts. So far, at first hundred miles, I'm a convert. No mo' Dunlops. My only complaint is it cost more to get the tire mounted than the tire cost!

[Chris Cochran]

Just ordered my front and rear Shinko 777's yesterday! Glad to hear that you like it so far.

I'll swap my tires myself. This way I can do the driveshaft spline lube myself and change out the gear oil all at the same time.

Both of my tires have good tread on them, but the bike sat for five years so I'll do them both.

This is probably the last time that I will do it myself, though. I'm getting older and it hurts to get down on the concrete to do such stuff.

[GrandpaDenny]

I recently had the opportunity to get tire irons and bead breaker for a very good price, but I live in an apartment building with on-the-street parking, and am also getting a bit over the hill, so I paid to have the tire done. Cost me ten bucks more to have it installed than the tire itself cost.

Went riding with the Retreads today. A Ducati Multistrada and I were both itching to play, so we went ahead and chased each other around the hills. Here's the chicken strip on the right side. Not bad for an 800 pound bike with a 300 pound rider, I'd say. It is a wonderful feeling to have confidence in my rear tire again. The last one sucked.

[Chris Cochran]

I have had a set of irons or spoons or whatever those things are called, for quite a while. After changing the tires on my 750, I told myself that I would like to have additional ones because having a few more might make it a bit easier the next time I change tires again.

Well, that time is fast approaching so I pulled the trigger today and ordered some more even though they may get only a one-time use before I give in to age and let younger men at a shop change them out in the future.

I just got back inside from changing the oil and filter (And cleaning up the damn mess I made when I spilled a half quart. My fault.) I'm sure I'll feel it in the morning.

[Van Voyager]

I just put a new 777 on the rear of my ZN1300. There are about 10k miles on the old 777 and quite a bit of tread left but I'm going to go on a relatively long trip and didn't want to risk a tire change mid-trip. My guess is I could have got 15k miles out of that 777.

[GrandpaDenny]

Awesome, and the 1300 is, what, 100 pounds or more heavier than the VXII?

Now for the first rain report - the Shinko was flawless. BTW I can live with 15k - the last E4 only lasted 15k.

[Sidehopper]

Hey, I'm glad to see some love for the Shinko 777 HD, I have loved every mile I've put on mine. I can't even imagine what I'd have to do to lose traction under normal circumstances with them, and rain riding always feels solid too. They fixed my speedometer error and my front end feels rock solid now, whereas before I was still getting wobbles at low speeds. I'm still young enough that I can change the tires myself for a while, though a bigger air compressor might make seating the beads a little easier lol

I'm interested to see how many miles I get out of them, since that's the big question with a bike as heavy as the Voyager. If I was smart, I could have taken calliper depth readings at install and tracked it as I ride to extrapolate a possible lifespan...but I didn't. Maybe I can get the tread depth for the tires online and measure mine when I get home to see just how much I've lost.

The bike just feels great with Shinko shoes!

[Chris Cochran]

Well Sidehopper, I happen to have an as-yet-unmounted pair of 777HDs in my garage that will go on my '86 Voyager.

Tread depth on the front 3/8". Tread depth on the rear 9/32".

[Sidehopper]

Finally remembered to measure my tread depth. I put the new shoes on roughly 2100 miles ago and measured around 3/16 on the front and 1/4 on the rear. I can definitely see the rear being a bit flattened, and I haven't been the kindest on the tires either. If the wear continues at this pace it looks like they might be 6k tires. Kind of expected on a heavy bike like this, given the amount of grip the tires give me. This is OK for me because so far I have not gone on a long trip with the Voyager, but for someone who wants to go on longer trips they don't seem to hold up as well. I self mounted so I can afford to put tires on more often at the expense of my own labor