G-MAX Update The First Break-In Miles
Had the bike out for the first ride to "scrub" the G-MAX and break it in. With the pressure set at 34 psi. I managed to put 102 miles on it without incident. First impression....WOW! The tire is amazingly smooth. My static balance job was on the button. No vibrations or tire thumping. Once having a few miles on the tire I hit some interstate to further check on the balance. With several throttle roll-on from 60 to 90 mph the ride was rock solid. On the secondary back roads the tire held like glue in the corners. The " corner carving capabilities" of the bike are unaffected by the CT.
Started a "Tire Log" for recording/capturing all aspects of the tire and its performance. More info later:icon_wink:
G-MAX Update- Day Two of Riding
On the bike early today and followed a route I had the "6", with cycle tire on, on three previous occasions. So familiar is the 100+ mile route I know every pot hole, tar strip and other road imperfections and could drive it blindfolded!
The first 50 miles of two lane roads are a collection of sweepers, twisties and a few switchback corners with posted 15MPH warnings. The ride carried me along the Lackawaxen and Delaware Rivers from Pa. into N.Y. State and back into Pa. It is truly a beautiful and scenic ride. This was my opportunity to give the new G-MAX a workout and make a comparison to my previous exact rides on the stock Bridgestone. The G-MAX performed well above my expectations. Not a single hick-up in the corners and it gripped like sand paper through and coming out of ever corner. I ran the approximate same speed as I did with the MT and IMHO I'll take the G-MAX CT over the Bridge any time. Crossing over the Delaware back into Pa. there is a 1 1/2 block long steel bridge which produced tire squirm equal to the Stone and I kept my hands tight on the bars. The remainder of the ride was primarily on the super slab ( !-84 ) and ended on several secondary roads. The overall handling on the slab was like any other bike/tire encountering parallel grooves/imperfection in the road surface with the expected brief pulling/wobble and a occasional bang of the front shocks when one just cant miss the (I got ya hole).
This will be one of the last post on the subject for a while. I'll be capturing and sharing data on the tire at 1K mile intervals and may change that if I "crash & burn":icon_wink:
Total miles today 117........162 miles yesterday and I'm still here to tell about it:clap2:
G-MAX Update The First 1k Miles
With the recent break in weather I managed to finally get the first 1k miles on the G-MAX. Like every other CT, I've used, it takes several tries at getting the tire pressure to the "sweet spot". In the case of the MAX that is 38-40 psi. Took several hundred miles of tuning the pressure from a low of 30 psi to the high of 42 psi. After a 300 mile run this past Sunday 39 psi is "golden" for my bike/rider combination. Other than visual checks of the thread I've not captures any tire temp data other than my hand on the tire. Not very scientific but that will change as the ambient temps increase and I shoot the tire with my trusty Laser Thermometer:icon_wink:
My first impressions of this tire! So well is the handling, I'm about to order another one. The tire is as near neutral as a MT and has exceptional corner handling characteristics. It is smooth riding and the only flaw, if there is one, is the "squirm" encountered on "steel grate" bridge surfaces. Actually it is no worse than a MT.
On the 300 mile Sunday ride I was accompanied by a Harley ( two up), a M109R (solo with 240 rear MT) and GL1800 Wing (two up with OEM Stone). I had the lead position for the entire ride. The folks knew I was on a car tire and there was, needless to say, some sincere skepticism by those folks until the ride was over and they were shaking their heads as to how well my 6 handled. In all truthfulness, I could have pulled way in any of the corners we encountered but keep a nice civil pace out of concern for the poor folks on MT's:icon_biggrin: My Brother-In Law who rode the Wing stated he's on his second set of tires in less than 10k miles. Being one of the biggest critics of Dark Side Riding, he's about to take the leap to a CT:clap2:
More info later!
Ride Safe
Bob
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G-MAX 1500 Mile Thread Comparison
Thought it would be informative, for those interested, to have a visual side-by-side comparison of the G-MAX with 0 miles and 1500 miles wear. Contrary to what some folks think, Dark Side Riders are never on the sidewall when cornering. The magic of "radial sidewall flex" keeps the thread firmly planted to the road surface.
The photos (left to right) provide some clear evidence of the original round mold marks which were visible on the entire tread face and remain on the thread edge after 1500 miles of riding.
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