I've been meaning to post this to the list for a while: Tires:
I put Dunlop D220's (120/70 F, 170/60 R) on my bike in September. I have put ~2300 miles on them since then. The front is slightly cupped, but nearly as much as the previous D207 was at similar mileage. The bike turns in quicker than with the D207 front/D205 rear combo I had before and definitely quicker than with the MeZ4's that were on the bike when I bought it (in all fairness those were nearly worn). I'm not keeping track of thread depth, but they seem to wear better than any other tire I've bought. I would buy them again. Amsoil: On my last oil change I put in Amsoil's "Series 2000 20W-50". I haven't tracked consumption from the date of the change, but I did track it since the satrt of my ride down Appalachia (Severn, MD to Macon, GA and back). In the last 2233 miles the bike consumed 16 oz of oil. which is almost half as much of what it was consuming before. Keep in mind this is more viscous than what I was using before (10W-40 or 20W-40). The oil is pricey and you still have to top it off every once in a while, so it's a cost/convenience tradeoff. Amsoil claims you can leave it in there longer (not that it would stay with the GTS1000's consumption, hehe) so it might be a wash. I'm going to try Shell Rotella 15-W40 in my next oil change ($6 to $8 a gallon locally). - Walt Garcen www.hvmparts.com
