| Author | Message | ||
     Kag |
Well right after I posted my last thread that the Conti Motion tires were doing great....flat tire and cord started to show. So I got about 5k out of the back tire. Still running the front one as it looks good. The check engine light that kept coming on intermittently and the low beam light issue that was popping fuses was a pin in the instrument cluster. Just pulled it and taped it off. No high beam indicator light but HD said $300 for instrument cluster so I think I can live without the high beam indicator light. SO I bought........drummer roll....a Shinko Raven. Reviews were good and won an ebay auction for $92 shipped. I also ordered a set of bearings, a blind HF puller, and tire tools from No-Mar. Tired arrived and looked good and was even clean like it had been washed as there was no release agent on the tire that makes them slick as snot. Pulled rear wheel, removed the brake caliper, I removed the sprocket and rotor because I used my tractor front end loader to bread the bead on the tire. The 180/55/17 is tough to get off the rim but not too bad to get on. I just aligned the balance dot on the tire to the valve stem. While the rim was bare I used a heat gun to heat up the bearing pocket area and the HF blind pulling snatched the old red bearings out. One was smooth as silk and the other had a rough area so i am glad I decided to put new bears in. I had the new 'blue" bearing in the freezer and heated the bearing pocket with the heat gun. Pulled the bearing out of the freezer and used a mallet and block of 4x4 post to set them. I sis add a light coating of grease to the out side of the bearings. The spacer looked fine. They went in easy. Put the brake rotor and sprocket back on using craft tacky glue. I reused my bolts. getting the rear axle shaft started out in the 100F heat was a PITA....just could not get it started....finally got it on and torqued it down after doing a belt alignment. Put it all back together. First 2 mils was down my gravel drive and gravel road then a couple of mile at 30mph doing zig zags to scuff the tire. Then 60mph for about 10 miles and pulled over and checked everything. The tire rode rough compared to the Conti I took off until the new tire set then it smoothed out.Did hard start and stops for about 1/2 mile then flogged it back home and it took several tight curves really well. Doing a 300 mile trip in the morning....day off......so hopefully all will be well      (Message edited by kag on August 29, 2013) | ||
| Arry |
That Raven looks like a nice tire. I'll be interested in how well it holds up. The price was certainly right. | ||
| Kag |
Rode it on a 360 miles trip today. Performed well in all the curves, down about 30 miles worth of gravel roads, and then high speed on the interstate. If I only get 5k miles out of it thats fine as I can afford to put new rubber on it at that price. I looked around and saw $100 shipped for a rear tire from several sources. I more than likely will order a couple just so I have them. The other rear tires i had on including a Pirelli only got about 5k. I plan to put a matching front one on when the Conti wears out. I averaged about 46 mpg today. I saw an 2006 Uly for $6k at HD wichita also in case someone might be interested. Checked all the bolts when I got home and they were gtg. | ||
| Teeps |
I got close to 10k out of a Shinko Raven rear. The center of that tire still had tread and probably could have made it to 10k miles or more. After only getting 3100 miles from a Conti Motion (rear) and 5k miles each (x2 sets) from Bridgestone Battle Axe 023 tires. Installed a new set of Raven's last week. Shinko's are not the ultimate cornering tire but; over all bang for the buck is very good. Here's what the rear looked like when I changed it, in 2010.  | ||
| Kag |
Wow...that's still got life left to it. The thread life is what I keep reading about with these. I hear they do well in the rain so I am looking forward seeing just how well they do for me. Did you also put a front on and if so how did it do for you? Glad you posted the photos up | ||
| Teeps |
Yes installed a front too. For some reason the front tires on my Ulysses wear in a triangular pattern. Notice the tread depth in the center and on the unused edge. The handling is crap too, as the bike abruptly flops into the turns. But, once down, it seems to hold the line ok. With new skins on the bike it's like night and day. Much smoother turn in, and if needed a slight change in the line is effortless. Here is what the front looked like.  | ||
| Kag |
thanks for the info and photo. I had been told the Raven front was not very good and actually so far the Conti front and the raven rear actually seem to compliment each other. The conti front has really even wear that rolls onto and out of corners well. On your raven front I wonder if its a dual rubber compound causing that? | ||
| Teeps |
Rode the new Shinko's today. The turn in is just as you describe. Minor changes to the line mid corner are not a problem. No wandering on the rain grooved freeway lanes either. |
