A visit with Cowpuc

[T.J.]

It worked out today that I was able to ride over to visit with Cowpuc. I live in Lake Orion and Cowpuc in Muskegon Mi. Total round trip for me was 440 miles. What a beautiful day and visit with puc. I tool the 2003 Honda ST1300 I picked up two weeks ago. Fun bike for sure. Has a lot of good features. I will still take the Venture on the long hauls but the ST is a fun bike.

 

Sure was nice to meet puc, his wife and soon to be married daughter. Some very nice roads around Muskegon that puc lead me on when it was time to head home[ATTACH=CONFIG]99067[/ATTACH]

 

Anyway on the way home after really cruising on the freeway and getting off on a 45 MPH road three miles from home coming up to a stop sign. I feel the bike thumping. At first I thought the brakes were grabbing or something. I took it easy the last three miles home and got off the bike and looked at the front tire. The guy I bought it from put it on 5 years ago and it only had about 8,000. miles.

 

I am glad I made it home in one piece. Notice the raised ridge in the picture. That goes all the way around. The tire seemed in very good shape before this happened.

[BlueSky]

It's probably a dual compound tire with that ridge being the harder, longer lasting rubber. The softer compound tire wears away on the edges faster than the ridge. I bought a used 2004 Kawasaki Concours that had a dual compound tire that was worn on the sides worse than yours. That narrow ridge made the bike even easier to tip over in the parking lots and the Concours with its 7.5 gallon gas tank on top of the bike is maybe the most tippy bike ever made. Bottom line, I will not buy a dual compound tire for the front of a bike because of this wear pattern.

[cowpuc]

INDEED,, WOW what a blast!! Thanks again for giving your day to come visit and show off that GORGEOUS ST @T.J.!!

WOW, and DOUBLE WOW on the front tire brother!! I am SOOOOOO thankful that nothing bad happened - THANK GOD!! That is UGLY!! Any chance its a Metzler? Gotta ask cause Tweeks rear tire did some delam one time with a Metz.. Man,, I am SOOOOO glad your alright!! Wait a minute here,, also glad I am ok too (guys wanna here the story? Ok, I will tell it like it is).

 

First watch this. Ohhhhh, but before you click on play, be warned about a naked Puc face - dont let it scare ya (my daughter almost started crying with fear when she first seen me)

 

Edited May 2, 2015 by cowpuc

[cowpuc]

Thats right, even people like me have friends like T.J. who are crazy enough to take of their precious time, ride all the way across Michigan just to show me his new (I kept saying that and he kept correcting me by saying it is an 03 - LOOKED LIKE BRAND NEW TO ME!!)..

So after a very quick introduction, hug and hand shake and all that,, Teej got right down to business and started showing me all the really neat things about the ST.. I never seen such a really neat set up for seat adjustment as this. (PLAY VID)

 

[SilvrT]

First watch this. Ohhhhh, but before you click on play, be warned about a naked Puc face - dont let it scare ya (my daughter almost started crying with fear when she first seen me)

 

 

says ... "this video is private" ... hmmmmmm ......

[bikerjohn]

puc Like the clean shaven look thought someone else stole your voice!!

[Yammer Dan]

Say it ain't so!! I just put a Mettzer or whatever on the rear of "Silver" and been hearing nothing but bad since I got it on. I cain't afford to do another New one this year.

[ricksbike]

Yeah but no kick-starter--LMAO.

[cowpuc]

says ... "this video is private" ... hmmmmmm ......

 

Sorry about that Silv, I just went back and checked and for some strange reason that vid had a "not published" by it - OOPPPPSSSS.. I think I got it under control now brother.. THANKS for letting me know!!

[cowpuc]

After showing me the seat, T.J. and I got on a roll of him showing me all the really neat things that he had learned about the ST in the short time he had owned it.. AMAZING scoot!! The rear bags pop off with a click and the lift of a lever - very well done (Honda perfection). I noticed that it appeared the rear wheel axle could be pulled and rear tire removed without pulling mufflers (Tweeks right side Muff is a swinging pendulum because I have removed it a few thousand times and never bothered buy new gaskets). The throttle has a twist end on it to control the tension and can be used as a "cruise" control. On and on we went.. Then Teej hit on MY favorite part - he smacked the left side mirror assembly and IT FELL OFF and was hanging there - WAYYYYY COOOOLLL!! (oh please Lord,, help me to refrain from going around smacking mirrors in bike shops to see if anyone else has this).

I looked inside (flaw in my charactor) to see what made it so. Honda had developed these really really neat little keepers that had wire springs imbedded in a post that perfectly align with matching posts on the assemble (these are NOT the normal rubber grommet devices that have caused me to loose COUNTLESS side covers off previous Honda's I have owned going all the way back to my 69 SL350 - TOTALLY FIRST CLASS STUFF!!).

After thinking about this design, I have decided that I want a motorcycle made entirely of this method - a "snap back together" motorcycle as it were,, kinda like those cool model airplanes we had as kids that when you flew and they crashed - they exploded and ya snapped em back together..

Time went by way to fast and my buddy had to leave . We had a quick sandwich together (Ham), walked out the door to say goodbye and then Teej made the mistake of offering a chance to ride that GORGEOUS bike!!

 

Being a man of few words,, I didnt say anything, I just headed towards the ST.. As I was climbing on Teej's bike, it suddenly dawned on me how much fun it would be to have him along to compete with.. I asked Teej if he had ever ridden a Honda Helix scooter and he said no.. I walked back into the garage, rolled out our Helix, looked him over carefully to try and determine whether or not my new friend could handle it,, yea,, why not..

 

[cowpuc]

Say it ain't so!! I just put a Mettzer or whatever on the rear of "Silver" and been hearing nothing but bad since I got it on. I cain't afford to do another New one this year.

 

You gotta pay better attention champ.. Dont feel bad,, I didnt know either, then it happened and after it happened I find out from Squid that he and Lonna had some issues too - its was after all that that I found out that Squid had mentioned it years before.. I felt then like you might feel now - like we are related or something:big-grin-emoticon:

 

Just keep an eye on it Dan, check it for delam on occasion.. My Metz actually got the highest mileage (Mich to the Texas/Mex border, across to the west coast, up to Washington and back to Sac) before it came unglued.

[T.J.]

Well this morning I mowed and weed wacked for the first time this season before going into the garage to take the front wheel off the ST and get the tire changed out. The tire a "Dunlop" was flat as a flat tire can get. After getting it off the bike and taking a closer look, I might just have hit something in the road that caused the injury to the tire. I don't blame the brand for any of that.

 

What timing for all this to happen. Could have been on the way, could have been when puc was riding, could have been so many different scenarios and none very good at all. I am very thankful I made it home.

 

Puc, thanks again for a good time and the "Ham" sandwich":p I will remember it always. Not the sandwich, but the visit with you.

[Sylvester]

I have often posted about the Metzler 880's that I had two of on my 02 RSMV. The first set did great and stuck to pavement like on a roller coaster, then it started cupping on front. Hey they were great so I replaced the front. Less than two thousand miles later I thought a rotor was going bad on the front. Looked close at the reason with my tire problem and all those things one would suspect. No problem. Rode to Valparaizo, NC with buds and sitting around eating ice cream (yea I love it), one fellow asked what was going on with my front tire. Big bulge on it. Limped it to my dealer and it had two broken belts in the tire. End of the Metzlers for me.

 

[videoarizona]

I liked the Metzlers on the first gen. They stuck like glue. I didn't like the cupping and tread separation that came later..