New skins

There is nothing so transformational for a motorcycle as a new set of tires.

Car drivers don't quite get this. When you put a new set of tires on your car, the effect is usually pretty minimal unless you're putting on snow tires for the winter. On a motorcycle, however, replacing a worn set of skins with some new ones is like getting a brand new bike.

I was reminded of this on Saturday, when one of our technicians put a new set of Metzeler Tourance tires on my BMW GS. The ride home was wonderful. Despite knowing what to expect, the difference is always amazing.

Since you lean a motorcycle to turn it, the shape of the tire's cross-section has a strong impact on the handling.

Consequently, motorcycle tires are designed with rounded edges to allow the bike to transition smoothly from one side to another. As tires wear, they tend to square off the tread and make the edges more angular. As you wear out your tires, the process can be so gradual as to make it hard to recognize the change, but mounting new tread brings it all back to you.

That's why my ride home was so great. I purposely chose twisty back roads so I could enjoy the quickened steering and agile response of my machine. As I kept a brisk pace down the country roads, I was smiling in my helmet, feeling the bike roll right and left under me. This is what motorcycling is all about!

I thought of a conversation I had earlier that day. A man and his fianceé were in my motorcycle shop, and he was looking at the bikes. While he browsed through riding gear, I had a conversation with her. A non-rider, and not very enthusiastic about the idea of her boyfriend riding, she told me about a relative of hers who suffered severe injuries in a motorcycle accident.

This is a common occurrence, by the way. Non-riders seem compelled to tell us about every motorcycle accident they're ever heard of, almost always resulting in graphic injuries or even death, as if we do not know these stories already. Any reasonably intelligent rider recognizes the risk involved, takes actions to mitigate it, and accepts the outcome.

Anyway, the girlfriend told me her relative took the settlement money from his accident (it was a car driver's fault, another common occurrence) to buy a new bike. She was astonished. I told her that any motorcycle rider would understand his actions. She was even more astonished.

I tried to explain the feeling of riding, how it's as close to flying on the ground as you can get, how it feels like ballet as you glide along, angling this way and that, at one with the machine under you. To her credit, she tried to understand, but it's really something you have to feel for yourself.

And trust me, it's a lot easier and more fun to feel it when you've got some new skins on your bike.