How many kinds of my beloved Mobil 1 can you see? Includes ‘European Formula’ which is precisely what is in Silver Lady.

Silver Lady doing her impression of C3PO in Cloud City

New Metzeler Tourace – no more juddering!

Mileage this trip: 4000
Total mileage: 47000

Oil Consumption

About a litre crossing Germany (roughly 700 miles) and then 0.5l in the USA.  Silver Lady* is 11 years old so using a litre at autobahn speeds (about 110mph for us) is excusable.  At USA speed, she’s using so little that under normal circumstances she’d probably meet a service interval (6 months) before needing a top up and I’d be telling everyone she uses no oil at all.

Also worth noting, she didn’t lose any oil during the rather undignified night she spent with her wheels in the air after unwanted attention from a bear.

Whining While We’re Going Along…

…isn’t just Helen. I’d swear there’s a wheel bearing on the way out so I keep getting her onto the centre stand and waggling the wheels, but no. On the most recent waggle I thought I could hear a tick at the back. I took the wheel off but all looks fine and when I put it back I couldn’t hear a tick any more. Maybe I’ve fixed it but it’s more likely that I just got bloody filthy.

Front Tyre

Got a new one!  Old one was a Metzeler Tourance Next which lasted 15 months and a more organised person would be able to tell you the mileage it did.  Mileage included London to Berlin and back twice, a summer holiday in the Alps and the 4000 of this trip.  So that’s lots.

Unfortunately, it didn’t hold pressure very well and was incredibly out of balance so that the bike shuddered lie crazy at 90mph.  It was probably contributing to the whining, too.

I phoned ahead to a bike shop in Tulsa and ordered a Tourance Next.  Got there, whizzed the wheel off myself, picked the new tyre out with the guy and he slapped it on.  Wrong tyre.  Mine had not arrived, yet, and this was the original Tourance, not the Next (or, indeed, the EXP).  I’m actually quite pleased.  The original Tourance was known to be unpunturable and to last forever.  I’ll get a rear to match sometime before Mexico and have the ideal tyres for this trip.

*please suggest a better name