cowpuc

May not be the feedback your looking for but what the heck,, I am in to deep around here anyway from all my so here goes. I always run max on my tires (side wall specs), just how I am.. Didnt help with my Metz 880 rear tire delam (see pic).. I happen to have some really really close riding buddies who also experienced some same issues with Metz.. While I admired the mileage and ride I got out of the 880's, I will steer clear of em just for the thought of delam issues.. Now that said, I do run a fair amount of HOT tarmac and it is entirely possible that the heat had something to do with the delam BUT - never had an issue with this even from cheap tires (like shinko).. Just some thoughts..

I tend to go thru tires like a baby thru diapers.. Last did rear install last fall was/is a Mich Commander 11. Tire is doing great! I was concerned when installing cause it appeared to be a little harder rubber compound and Tweeks seems to attract rain at the worst times.. I am not one to slow down or stop for rain and I was worried about hard rubber mixed with rain.. Had a good chance to ride some pretty wet pavement on the way home from MD recently.. That Mich sliced thru and shedded water holes like it was made purposely for high speed rain riding.. At this point, Mich is looking like a good tire!! Kind of anxious to see how it does in the 110 degree desert tarmac twisty riding!! By the way, I also did a new Conti Tour on the front last spring before chasing a few miles headed west.. Tire still looks new and it is AWESOME in rain - heat - snow - sleet and in the twisties.. The Mich and the Conti seem to get along fairly well!! On another note,, I wanna add that for cheaper tires - Full Bore tires proved AWESOME!! Wayyyy above a 404 in mileage and GREAT handling tire.. Just putting a plug in for something I happen to discover!!

You are probably just hearing normal gear lash noises.. Gears gotta have a small amount of lash set in them or really bad things will happen, key is to have them set up correctly.. If they didnt have that space (lash) for movement and were to tight, even helical gear sets that should run fairly quite will howl like crazy (sign that someone didnt know what they were doing when setting up the gears).. Also keep in mind that even a couple thou of lash set up in multiple gears will equal a fair amount of play in the system and that the forward bevel gear is right out in the open where you can hear the noise of the system - just a back woods idea but may (or may not) be applicable to your question.. IMHO, if want some other opinions from some very qualified folks around here (trust me, there are some AMAZING gear heads around this joint) - you might wanna take a short video clip - post it on you tube and then post the link here so these guys can hear what your hearing.. Just a thought..

WOW COFF!! THAT is awesome my friend!! I deeply appreciate the inspiring thoughts enveloped inside your comments and also know first hand at how invaluable this site is to my way of life too!! The freedom that comes from knowing that when out enjoying life and having people here on VR having our backs when things go south (ol Murphy never sleeps does he) truly is priceless isnt it!! At any rate, THANK YOU for the kind words Tech Sargent - I cannot wait till we have a chance to experience more highway together out CTFWing (remember Mt. St. Helens - what a BLAST we had!!)... Love ya Sonshine! Puc

That Warden, she is a wise one bro!!!!! I think I got a heapin helpin of hillbilly blood in me - love my fried chicken and have always been more of a southern hospitality type.. Hillbilly stubborness too! Hey,, tell that Warden that the Puc has been eyeballing that backwoods shack back in the stillen woods down da road from your house,, thats right - thinkin of moving down yonder to bring a positive influence in your life and help ya with your memory Dan.. See iffen that dont cheer up her day Soooooooo glad to have you back around Dan - you skeerd me!! I dont like when my close friends do that brother:8:

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy,, what a GREAT idea Joe!! You and Bobbie should come up and claim it!! Tell ya what brother, if you do I will set up one of my infamous Greet - Meet and eat Meat outings somewhere in Michigan. You two can stay with us at the house here and then we can ride out to a place unspecified at this time and I will buy everyone who shows up to meet you folks the most bestest Hot Dog EVER!! Matter of fact bro, I have a whole BOX of old phone chargers I will even give ya'll!! COME TO MICHIGAN!!!!! probably oughta wait till I hear from Steve though before I actually give away what may be his charger..

Now hold on here a minute ya wild eyed loped eared wisconsin trouble maker,, I take offense to that post!! There are no where near enough of us old coots around this place!!

Tip hands me what appears to be a phone charger.. Asked if its mine and I says nope but I will gladly toss it into my junk yard scrap pile if it dont belong to you either - she laughed.. Then it dawned on me that afore I do that I probably oughta check with you guys @eagleeye and @Squidley just to find out if its one of yourn.. Iffen it is, pm me an address and I will get her in the mail asap - nooooooooooooooooooo ya varmints, I DONT MEAN TIPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Goofy bunch of !!! Second thought, whoever it belongs to can come get it and stay with us again!!

What dork wad, he totally missed saying where he was from:178:!!! Dan, I am from Muskegon Mi,,,, I think!! THANKS JOE!! I really appreciate the chance to well wish my brother - you da man bro!!

:clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2: NOW WE ARE TALKING!!!!! Very very well put Fool!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A man is no fool when he evaluates his mistakes and adjusts accordingly!!

Actually, I use the front brake A LOT more than the rear (probably 85/15 percent) for stopping, may come from years of dirt biking - tenderly (usually one finger) on the front brake lever - like using a good set of micrometers. Normally that is all I use, and use the rear brake mainly for slow speed riding control - amazing how slow you can go by working your clutch against your rear brake.. I always loved doing stoppies (kind of a reverse wheelie) on my dirtbikes.. Probably wayyyyy out there in left field but it seems to me like that front wheel is where the most effective stopping power is at BUT - ya gotta watch pavement surfaces pretty close and use tenderness in application when on questionable surfaces - no one likes to face plant from a front end washing out.. Probably means nothing and not applicable to bikes but I noticed long ago when doing brake jobs on cars for a living that most car brakes seemed to be proportioned to apply the front brakes first - resulting in front brakes being worn out long before rears.. I assume (and thats dangerous) they probably did that because the front brakes have better stopping power - maybe... This brings up another subject. For years my relatives (goofy kids) all wanted me to help them get street bikes. I always agreed as long as it was under my terms and for most those terms were to stiff. I reguired one year of woods riding with me on dirt bikes before I would even go look at a street bike with them - couldnt live with myself if I lost one of my family to being untrained and I had given my stamp of approval. My two nephews who finally did take me up on my offer both ended up LOVING dirt biking so much that they both own dirt bikes and street bikes now 20 years later.. Besides learning that wheelies, throttling up instead of hitting the brakes over obstacales, hand/foot control cordination, riding standing up and all that crazy stuff are tools that will save your life on the street, they also learned braking methods on a motocross track easily apply to street riding.. I know,, alllll sounds nuts BUT, look who the messenger is:big-grin-emoticon:..........

WOW, AWESOME!!! Have a fantastic trip out there Bum!! We LOVE Nova Scotia!!!

Oh wow, hey @tankerman, gotta ask you - you arent by any chance a "Tankie" are ya? You know, the kind that build water towers and the like? Reason I asked is I spent a fair amount of time in the trades tig welding and rigging for the Boilermakers (power house work) and, on big jobs worked with a number of "Tankies" (at least thats what the trade name for em was back then) - some out of Canada.. Be wayyyy cool if by chance we had worked together!! Never hurts to ask!! Regardless, THANKS for the post!!

Ahhhh, makes sense,, certainly more sense than having a filter on that vent line.. Well, regardless,, Tweeks check valve is now replaced by half a Bic Pen body - part number Bic ke-33496714A BUT - available free at any Bank, Insurance Company or Lawyers Office or your buddies tank bag - if your quick enough:witch_brew:!! THANKS FOR THE CORRECTION PRAIRIE!!!

:rotfl:You bet I am Silv, problem is that Book title "Everything Men Know About Women" (you know the one, its the one that is about 2 inches thick - then you open it up and all the pages are empty:crackup:) is an exactly copy (only retitled) of the book of which you speak:fnd_(16):

Well put Earl:clap2:, THANK YOU!!

Prayers Up and Blessings Down Rbig, wishing you NOTHING BUT THE BEST with all this stuff!! Glad they found it early my friend!!

I get that, THAT is exactly my experience with bike tires when they get toward the end of their life - its like the rubber just evaporates.. Have had that happen many many times thru the years but, I aint never owned an Avon so maybe I am wrong in your case.. My E2's (I loved my E2's) cost me an experience like you describe on more than one occasion - just wore right out in a matter of a few hundred miles - really caught me off guard!! I always chalked it up to learning tire wear BUT - your case may be totally different Midnight!! If you have a bad gut feeling about Avon's, there are enough tire selections out there you NEVER need to return to them!! I know one thing, I feel that way about Metzlers and would only mount one up under extremes - like I had just hiked in off the desert with my wheel and thats all the cowboy town dealership happen to have...

Visiting with you, having you here and getting to ride with you will forever be a moment in time I will treasure!! Thanks Squid for being my friend!! Love ya brother!! Puc PS,, thats a pretty fancy cooler you got there on the front of that trailer.. That must be a Texas thing cause I dont believe I ever did see one of those up here in Michigan afore!!

Thanks Squid!! It really went well and am VERY excited about the next one!! You were sorely missed BUT - I/we REALLY appreciate you even taking a short time with us - THAT WAS AWESOME!! Glad you made it back safely my brother!!! Ya all come back now, ya hear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH MY GOSH Jack, I miss that DRY, never ending Nevada - Arizona - California - Utah heat sooooooo much!! Hey, you ever ride along with no shirt on, hold your hand flat on your belly - count to ten and remove your hand and notice how wet it is under there:big-grin-emoticon:!! I LOVE doing that!! I cant tell you how many folks I have had giggle at my side jug full of water.. Until they ask about it and I simply ask them if they have ever ridden in the desert before.. Wellll, no - is usually the answer.. Then I tell em stories that are similar to what you are saying my friend.. Its always a pleasure hanging around with folks like you who have been there - done that!!

Indeed, that looks suspiciously like a just a worn out tire to me - of course, I am NO tire expert though!!! If those cords are showing all the way around like in the pic - it just looks worn out.. In the pic below, notice the delamination on that happened on a Metz out in California - it seems like the rubber just came unglued,, I may be wayyyy wrong but it just looks to me that the Avons acually stayed together right to the end where these Metz literally fell apart.. This also may sound crazy and may not even apply to what we are talking about BUT, it seems like my limited experience with wearing out bike tires thru the years has shown me that the last third of wear on a bike tire goes by the fastest!! Like bike tire rubber is softer when it gets closer to the carcass - sounds crazy but I know one thing, I watch my tires really really closely when I get down to that 1/3 tread mark because I have been in exactly the shoes you just went thru and it aint fun.. NOT trying to cause you any more grief than you have already been thru Midnight but just wanted to share a different prospective is all!! Maybe some of these other varmints with their years of tire experience will chime in and set me straight as to what I am seeing here... Anyway, sooooooo glad you folks are ok - riding down a touring bike with a flat tire is a real nasty experience, YOU DID WELL and glad your ok!!

Just make sure those padded walls inside there are decored with 1st Gens, Choppers and Z50 Honda's and ol Puc will be just fine!!

Annie, I dont know how I missed this posting about your sister but I did (I guess I just spend to much time in the Water Hole), sorry about that!! Please let Beryl know that she is in our thoughts and prayers sister!! Prayers Up and Blessings Down for everything she is going thru!! By the way, THANKS for being you Annie and for being there for your sister - although this sounds strange to most folks around here, family life doesnt always work that way - YOU REALLY ARE AN AWESOME AUSSIE ANNIE!!