23 January 2000

Update 23/01/2000 :  Yes, I’m back ! The phone is connected, and all the moving and unpacking is almost finished. As you may have noticed I tried to find out what the symbol on the bike means. It is pronounced ‘haa yah tow’ and means either fast or cool ! (Yet to be confirmed but she reckons it’s 90% correct) I’ve typed up the first draft of the Y2K predictions in horrorscope so check out what might be in store for you this year. I’ll be completing the write up over the next few weeks !

My Email server was under maintenance for a little while so if I haven’t replied to your Email by now please resend your messages ! BTW I’m getting a 52,000bps transfer rate through this phone line now ! That’s good because I was getting between 33,000 and 44,000bps in my other place.

Anyway, back to what this site is about. After a 2 week break from riding it feels really nice to be back. The new AVON rear is still being run in ! I’ve only done about 100kms due to being busy, so these are only the initial impressions. Firstly, the tyre does feel sticker than the BT56 S. The BT56 S feels stiff and grippy but the AVONS feel soft and sticky. The AVONS are definitely wider hence flatter, and when cornering this definitely shows. Leaning at this stage seems like a conscious effort. It appears to under steer compared to what I was used to. However once you have your line sorted the tyres grip very well. They also feel very stable where as the BT56 tended to feel a tad precarious when cornering fast. The AVONs do give a strong impression of being able to lean a long long way. I’m haven’t been revving to much anyway.

The front wobble has definitely been reduced !  I had the front tyre balance checked when I had the AVONs fitted and they were perfect. Hence the wobble may be caused by some other factor, possibly tight head bearings. My question is with the AVONs why has the wobble decreased noticably ? I feel the need the play with tyre pressures again !