Since I sort of buried my initial first ride report amongst a bunch of pics in another thread I thought I'd post an easier to find version for those who are interested.
As soon as I got the wheels and tires put back on I headed out for a ride to see how they handled and to get a start on scuffin' 'em in. It didn't take long to see that the POWER's were better in at least one way than the stockers. When I leave my house the first corner I come to is a nice little 70-80 degree left hander. It's so close that the tires have not had a chance to warm up at all before I get to it. With the stockers, if I carried much speed at all into that corner I could feel the rear slidin' on me a little when I rolled on the gas in the corner. It always felt sort of like when you're leaned over and you get on the painted center line.
Well, I took that corner yesterday at a speed that always slid the rear stocker and the POWER's stuck even cold and with mold release still on 'em. Michelin's claims that the compound used for the POWER's is sticky even when cold seems to be true. I'll continue to test that claim and take this corner a little faster each time while the tires are cold just to see if it keeps grippin', but if it held yesterday with mold release still on it, it should hold ANYTIME.
Since the tires weren't properly scuffed yet I didn't really push 'er too hard on my ride yesterday, but I played around a little on certain corners as I became more comfortable that the tires were becomin' scuffed in. Never once had the POWER's to slide or slip in any way. Only bobble I had was in a parking lot when I thought I had 'er in first but actually she was in second gear and I almost stalled 'er in a tight left hand u-turn. Had nothin' to do with the tires, though. It was the dumb ass rider's fault.
As for handling differences between the stockers and the new tires, the busa now feels a little more sensitive and responsive to my inputs as far as bar movement and lean. At first I thought maybe she lost a little stability, but I realized that what was really happenin' was she was tellin' on me for unsmooth ridin' and improper inputs with the new tires. With the stockers she was more forgiving of these little things. What I mean is, if I stiff arm 'er and accidentally input ANY countersteer at all, this beeyotch wants to change directions. I have to consciously force myself to keep my arms and hands relaxed to avoid accidental improper input.
She's still VERY stable, she just does what I tell 'er whether I meant to tell 'er or not. I think this must be somethin' like what some of you were tellin' me about the litre bikes when I talked about sellin' Da' Train and gettin' one. It was said that the litre bikes were ultra sensitive and unforgiving to rider input. That statement now makes better sense for me. That's exactly how I would describe Da' Train's new manners, albeit maybe not to the same degree as it would be if I went from the busa to a litre bike. She definitely took a shift in that direction though.
Before the new rubber she seemed "aloof" for lack of a better term. She seemed to want a conscious effort to change directions. In fact I had a tendency to run a little wide in certain corners if I didn't put a little effort into gettin' 'er leaned over far enough and/or quick enough. Now, with the POWER's I am having to refine and reduce my inputs to keep 'er from turnin' in too quickly and clippin' the apex (road edge).
I'm also havin' to identify and eliminate bad riding habits and bad input to avoid havin' goofy little bobbles on a straight line. Bascially, I'm havin' to learn to ride 'er smoothly all over again. It's just a matter of gettin' used to the new handling though. When I first got 'er I had to learn what kind of input she liked to learn to ride 'er smooth. It's just a matter of learnin' her new manners and fine tunin' my riding skills to suit 'er.
In several corners yesterday I had to change my line mid (actually pre-mid) corner to avoid runnin' off of the inside edge of the roadway. As I approached the corners I was leanin' and steerin' out of habit like I did with the stockers and that was simply too much input. It's a GOOD thing that I knew to expect differences and was takin' it easy to avoid surprises. This could have been a VERY unpleasant surprise if I had carried a lot of speed into any of those corners and had a bobble.
I'll post more about grip after I get 'em scuffed in good and get used to her new cornering characteristics so I can push 'er a little harder. Overall, I'm very happy with the tires at this point. What little pushin' I actually done yesterday has already given me more confidence in the POWER's than I ever had in the stockers. I also think that her newly found responsiveness is a good thing. It will force me to refine my smoothness and skills in order to ride 'er smoothly. Since that has become my ultimate goal in sport riding, it is a welcome challenge.
Now, if this martherfarkin' rain would clear out I'd climb my arse on and RIDE! I gotta finish scuffin' these babies in!
Here's a couple pics after my initial ride and scuff in. I leaned 'er further to the left than I've ever leaned 'er before. I fully expected to feel the peg scrape one time. Virtually no chicken strip on the left side...
After I bobbled it in the parking lot I sort of lost my nutz and didn't get over quite as far to the right on this ride, but I'll fix that next time I roll out.
As soon as I got the wheels and tires put back on I headed out for a ride to see how they handled and to get a start on scuffin' 'em in. It didn't take long to see that the POWER's were better in at least one way than the stockers. When I leave my house the first corner I come to is a nice little 70-80 degree left hander. It's so close that the tires have not had a chance to warm up at all before I get to it. With the stockers, if I carried much speed at all into that corner I could feel the rear slidin' on me a little when I rolled on the gas in the corner. It always felt sort of like when you're leaned over and you get on the painted center line.
Well, I took that corner yesterday at a speed that always slid the rear stocker and the POWER's stuck even cold and with mold release still on 'em. Michelin's claims that the compound used for the POWER's is sticky even when cold seems to be true. I'll continue to test that claim and take this corner a little faster each time while the tires are cold just to see if it keeps grippin', but if it held yesterday with mold release still on it, it should hold ANYTIME.
Since the tires weren't properly scuffed yet I didn't really push 'er too hard on my ride yesterday, but I played around a little on certain corners as I became more comfortable that the tires were becomin' scuffed in. Never once had the POWER's to slide or slip in any way. Only bobble I had was in a parking lot when I thought I had 'er in first but actually she was in second gear and I almost stalled 'er in a tight left hand u-turn. Had nothin' to do with the tires, though. It was the dumb ass rider's fault.
As for handling differences between the stockers and the new tires, the busa now feels a little more sensitive and responsive to my inputs as far as bar movement and lean. At first I thought maybe she lost a little stability, but I realized that what was really happenin' was she was tellin' on me for unsmooth ridin' and improper inputs with the new tires. With the stockers she was more forgiving of these little things. What I mean is, if I stiff arm 'er and accidentally input ANY countersteer at all, this beeyotch wants to change directions. I have to consciously force myself to keep my arms and hands relaxed to avoid accidental improper input.
She's still VERY stable, she just does what I tell 'er whether I meant to tell 'er or not. I think this must be somethin' like what some of you were tellin' me about the litre bikes when I talked about sellin' Da' Train and gettin' one. It was said that the litre bikes were ultra sensitive and unforgiving to rider input. That statement now makes better sense for me. That's exactly how I would describe Da' Train's new manners, albeit maybe not to the same degree as it would be if I went from the busa to a litre bike. She definitely took a shift in that direction though.
Before the new rubber she seemed "aloof" for lack of a better term. She seemed to want a conscious effort to change directions. In fact I had a tendency to run a little wide in certain corners if I didn't put a little effort into gettin' 'er leaned over far enough and/or quick enough. Now, with the POWER's I am having to refine and reduce my inputs to keep 'er from turnin' in too quickly and clippin' the apex (road edge).
I'm also havin' to identify and eliminate bad riding habits and bad input to avoid havin' goofy little bobbles on a straight line. Bascially, I'm havin' to learn to ride 'er smoothly all over again. It's just a matter of gettin' used to the new handling though. When I first got 'er I had to learn what kind of input she liked to learn to ride 'er smooth. It's just a matter of learnin' her new manners and fine tunin' my riding skills to suit 'er.
In several corners yesterday I had to change my line mid (actually pre-mid) corner to avoid runnin' off of the inside edge of the roadway. As I approached the corners I was leanin' and steerin' out of habit like I did with the stockers and that was simply too much input. It's a GOOD thing that I knew to expect differences and was takin' it easy to avoid surprises. This could have been a VERY unpleasant surprise if I had carried a lot of speed into any of those corners and had a bobble.
I'll post more about grip after I get 'em scuffed in good and get used to her new cornering characteristics so I can push 'er a little harder. Overall, I'm very happy with the tires at this point. What little pushin' I actually done yesterday has already given me more confidence in the POWER's than I ever had in the stockers. I also think that her newly found responsiveness is a good thing. It will force me to refine my smoothness and skills in order to ride 'er smoothly. Since that has become my ultimate goal in sport riding, it is a welcome challenge.
Now, if this martherfarkin' rain would clear out I'd climb my arse on and RIDE! I gotta finish scuffin' these babies in!
Here's a couple pics after my initial ride and scuff in. I leaned 'er further to the left than I've ever leaned 'er before. I fully expected to feel the peg scrape one time. Virtually no chicken strip on the left side...
After I bobbled it in the parking lot I sort of lost my nutz and didn't get over quite as far to the right on this ride, but I'll fix that next time I roll out.
