I arrived at #1 son's house in the afternoon, on my bike and he and one of his friends were examining the back tyre of his motorbike. Looking for "Chicken Strips". In other words the area of tyre which is not worn because it's never been used. Because the bike has never been leant over that far.
He had two strips about an inch wide, one on each side of the back tyre. This is not surprising because he only passed his direct access test last week and has only ridden the bike 4 times up until Tuesday. As it's a 160mph sports tourer and the last bike he spent any time riding was my Honda 90 when he was 18; I'd be worried if he was not overly cautious.
So I arrived and they started looking at my tyres. I said "what are you looking for". "Chicken Strips" they said. I smiled, realising what they meant. #1 son says "you don't have any". Then he says "your tyres are hot". I smiled again...
I'd just come up the road from Granton on Spey to Tomintoul. Fantastic road for a bike on a warm dry day with good visibility. It was real fun.
Sadly this run has pushed the front tyre over the wear limit and I'll have to get a new one. The process of acquainting each other as to our abilities will have to start all over again.
We had a great day out, #1 son, his fiancé as pillion and a friend from work. Lovely weather, great roads and fantastic countryside.
