(11-20-2025, 11:25 AM)pdedse Wrote: Always feels good to have new tires on the bike.
Yes it does. Being one to save as much as possible, sometimes I put new tires off if I'm not down to the wear bars, even though replacing might be the prudent thing. 90% of my riding is in a straight line on dry pavement, so maximum traction and water shedding are not a huge concern.
That did come back to bite Mrs. and I over the weekend, when the first storm of the season hit our area. We were on the way to the museum in the rain. I had left the CB in the garage, as Mrs. was coming with, and I don't ride in bad weather. Don't like showing up for work cold, wet and dirty. The tires on the CRV were at "maybe we can get a few more months out of 'em" depth. But, hydroplaning at anything over 50mph told a different story.
I didn't feel like spending over $800 at Costco, and definitely didn't want to wait weeks to get an appointment. I checked Facebook Marketplace under "Llantas Usadas" for the best near-new deal I could find. Turns out it was a set of new Kumhos at an unbeatable deal, ready to go with no waiting. A quick scan of reviews of that model showed that they'd do just fine. The reply to the FB message was "we'll wait for you if you can come now!" Great, on the way.
Here's where it got fun... Google Maps took us to a residential neighborhood. Hmm... we rolled up to a paved lot with a few storage containers, a large lean-to tent, and several cars and trucks, with people milling around. Getting my bearings and asking for "Felix", I was directed toward a shack next to the lean-to, where a lady asked me to show her the Facebook message conversation to verify the model of tire and price we were discussing. Several guys were running around with tires and floor jacks, like a ramshackle pit crew. Under the lean-to tent, four cars were parked, two side-by-side, nosed up to two others, side-by side. The guys were furiously jacking up the cars, removing tires, rolling them into the shack, where two old tire changing machines and balancers were in constant use.
The storage containers held stacks and stacks of new tires of all brands and sizes. Taking in the whole scene, I figured we didn't have much to lose. The CRV is on plain basic steel wheels, so if they got scratched or scuffed in the process, I could just touch them up with spray paint like I do whenever Mrs. bumps a curb.
The lady at the desk took my agreed payment - cash only - and told me to wait by our car. When it was our turn, she had me pull under the tent and nose up to a truck that was in mid-change. Four floor jacks were furiously cranked to get our car in the air, two guys rammed air guns on the lug nuts, and ten minutes later we were back on the road with fresh rubber.
Mrs. G asked me if I thought we had gotten a good deal. As soon as we got to freeway speed and were rolling smoothly, without a hint of vibration, I said that yes, considering we were probably rolling on rubber that was diverted from a legitimate tire store somewhere, we did.
