Dropped the belly fairing, lifted the bike, took off the wheels and had new Shinko Tour Masters mounted. Figured while I was at it I'd clean, inspect and Staburags-ize the rear splines. With only 6500 miles on it, the final drive is in pretty nice shape (took pictures anyway). Surprising to me was that it was lubed with some red snot that seems to have flung everywhere in there.
Final drive back on, shock re-hung, wheels mounted, everything torqued to specs. Figured I haven't ridden in four days, might as well go for a rip. It was too short at 16 or 17 miles, but I really like the way these tires feel compared to the Metzler Laser (not Lasertech, man. date of 2000) that was on the front and Lasertech (man. date of 2014) on the back.
Couple quick questions if anyone feels like answering:
1) Should I have put copper anti-seize on the caliper mounting bolts and the final drive mounting bolts? It didn't look to me like there had been any on there prior ,so I didn't.
2) I put the tire pressures at 38 front and 40 rear. This was within the ranges specified in the Clymer manual (Table 2 of the Maintenance section). Is there a 'recommended' pressure for one-up riding based on the collective wisdom of this group? I found the tires to be very responsive, the ride wasn't harsh and cornering was more crisp than with the old tires.
3) WTF is the correct procedure for removing the side panels? I managed to bust the rear pin of the right one and the u-shaped hook off the left one. Thank g-d for JB Weld. I tried by pulling out at the top front where that big knob goes in to the rubber grommet, then sliding backwards. Is there a better way?