[Shotimes] The Bullet I Dodged Almost Got Me From Behind.....or....Man, Am I Gonna Get Yelled At!

[George Fourchy]

Here's a cool adventure....and it's all true....I swear by my tattoo!  Yeah, it's
long, but hey, it's me, after all!

Lowrider's on the road, OK?  It made its third trip to work today, my Wednesday. 
It's about 105 miles round trip.  It's running good, getting about 25 mpg...even
with the a/c on, and maneuvering (4th gear..pedal to the floor, natch!) around the
slowpokes.  Boy!!  Does it feel good to be back inside there, listening to that
snarl!!  The RE 730s are loud, but at speed their hum frequency is not disturbing,
and I know they are good tires.

So, today at 5:45 AM I'm rolling through the Maze....the place where I-80 splits
into three roads, I-580, and I-880, which go east and southeast, and I-80 takes a
right and goes west to cross the Bay Bridge.  Traffic is heavyish...not bad, but
some trucks are there, and we're down to about 50 mph or so.  When it's empty,
REALLY early (4:45 AM on Saturday) in the mornings, I take that interchange at 75,
still on the cruise, not releasing it until I get to my airport exit on the south
side of Oakland on 880.  Suddenly I feel this new constant shudder in my seat, and
the car is a lot less responsive when I turn the steering wheel back and forth.

...OK...flashback to the first part of April 2003, about 3 weeks before the car got
rear-ended by the sweetheart/better half...(Grrrr!).  You might remember we were
talking about folks having accidents, and how well the car performed in evasive
maneuvering.  I said I dodged a bullet when some guy with one eye pulled out in
front of me on an offramp and made me high-center it on a curb at about 65 mph for
100 feet or so, then I was able to get it back on the road and get it stopped.  The
tires looked OK, but the left front wheel was scraped at the bead edge.  

....Well...what I didn't know was that the rear tire took a hit, too.  It made it
off and on the road OK, but at some point during all that, the sidewall got pinched
REALLY hard between the curb and the bead.  The bead has some real gouges in it, and
after it finally fatigued the rest of the cords in the sidewall, a year later (11
months of which was sitting), the tire blew...no noise, just poof, and it was flat,
in that Maze interchange today.  

Imagine what might have happened if that tire let go when I'm in a 75 mph .80 G
loaded S turn through that interchange tomorrow with no one else there....!!  I
might think I'm good, but I'd bet I wouldn't be THAT good......!  There are 4 foot
concrete barriers everywhere!!!  Can you say "Dale Earnhardt?!   Heck, the paint
almost isn't even dried, yet!....(relatively speaking).

So I slowed down, checking traction all the time, listening for it to come all the
way apart and ruin my wheel (which it did not do....ya gotta LOVE Bridgestone!), and
I took an offramp up the road a bit, and put on the doughnut.  Fortunately the jack
and lug wrench were there (no thanks to me....heck, all I cared about while working
in the trunk was that the stereo worked!), and the doughnut had some air in it...it
was low, but worked until I got to Costco on the way home.

While I was at work, I checked some tire prices....Contis, RE750s, RE910s, RE02s,
and read their reviews.  I know Costco doesn't carry Continental tires, but I could
ask.  No good.  They also don't have any Z rated tires in stock.....usually.  They
knew I needed something right away, because I didn't like commuting on that
doughnut.  Well.....what do you think they found in the corner of their showroom?!?

You've heard the adage..."A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush", right?

There were two...{which is how many I needed today....we looked at the left front
tire, and it had a big chunk out of the tread, down to the cords, on the inside
shoulder.....I ain't no dummy.....I'm gettin' ALL new tires (way back there in the
dust somewhere, I was thinking I would just get ONE tire)...the other two are almost
worn out anyway}....I said there were TWO ....Michelin Pilot Sport 225/55/ZR16s back
there, just waiting for me, just so pretty and spiffy!!

I almost got a set of these a while back, but "someone" said...."Hey...those are WAY
too expensive.  You take them back right now!!!  (They had been ordered and paid
for, but needed to be shipped in.)  So I went back and cancelled the order.

NOT THIS TIME!!!!   :-D

They are now on the back, waiting for me to balance them, and the former right rear
Potenza is now on the front, rolling backwards.  It won't be raining for a while,
and the other two will be in on Tuesday, so I can run it backwards for a few hundred
miles.

They are pretty close to well balanced already....traffic was heavy coming home, and
I couldn't go any faster than 60 or so for a minute or two, but they are pretty
close.  Seems like they belong on this car....they sure are smooooooooooth!!  They
should outlast it, and will go on the 'next' one that comes around after Lowrider
goes to Sacramento.  I don't think I'll race on them, but use the other RE730bs on
Diamond for that.

Now I have to figure a way to slide some money around from here to there and back
again to pay Amex so that the nuclear fallout around here won't be TOO bad when she
gets back.  I will have pictures of the two failed Potenzas to show her, and you, on
the website later on.  Knowing her, that won't mean ANYTHING!!!

Wish me luck!!

LOL!!

Gonna go check the balance and roundness now.....!!   (Might lube my sliders, too) 
Yee Haw!!!!

George