I pulled the wheels off the K100RS. Interestingly, it's the little things that make you appreciate factory engineering. Usually to pull the rear wheel off you have to pull the brake caliper, but the new Ohlins shock gets in the way of that. It takes a little bit of extra effort to convince the caliper to move.

Then I realized with the oversized Remus canister I have to remove the exhaust.

What a pain. But I have both wheels ready to go. Despite looking pretty good these tires date back to Calgary, Canada and have over 7K on them. I'm surprised they're not down to cords at this point.

The R11S is another matter. Because Duncan hasn't been riding the S since getting his bike, it's not gotten nearly as much use. The tires look like new. I replaced them just prior to last years Deal's Gap run and they just just a hair over 2K miles on them.

I'm a bit on the fence. Money is becoming a bit of an issue for me and I'm thinking with only 2k miles and not being torn up at all, replacing them at this point is likely overkill. The counter argument is I'm going to be having a friend ride this bike for 2k miles and I want it to be perfect.

Thoughts?

IMHO, one year, two thousand miles, and not very many heat cycles means keep them. They should be fine.

Who's riding the 'S' on this trip?

Bruce will be on the 'S this time around.

Pilot Road II's are now on the K bike wheels. Wheel bearings checked out ok.

Now it's just a matter of bolting it back together.

I'm jealous. When I'm rich and single (what?!) I'll ride out and join you guys there on my own bike.

FWIW, my own tires currently have 7,000 miles and 2.5 years on them - Pilot Road 2CT's. Maybe I'll find a chance this year to put another couple thousand on them. Idaho or California?

7k is about the upper limit for those tires, no?

If money were no object I would certainly replace them. But it is and they have enough tread left that I'll wait a little bit longer. Many people consider three years to be about as long as you'd want to keep tires, tread or no tread.