Last night I got back from a 21 day, 8009 mile trip through 22 states and some of Canada, too. All in all, my C10 did a great job, but she wasn't the bulletproof mount she's been in the past. Let's get the negatives out of the way first:
About half-way though the trip (15k on odo) the oil seal in the final drive began to leak. Over the next 4k miles the gas stop ritual included getting the gear oil off the left side of the wheel and tire. That 4 ounces of oil made one hell of a mess, and made me think hard about every left sweeper in the mountains.
500 miles later the bike would make zero power below 3000 RPM. It turns out that all 8 screws in the intake boots had loosened up (BIG vacuum leak). A couple turns on each set it right. Did the boots shrink over time? Maybe. Since I was the last one in there (3 years ago), that one's on me.
At about 5500 miles my rear brake pedal was flopping around. I pulled over and found that the clevis pin between the pedal and rear master had gone missing. How did a cotter pin fall out? Who knows. The building I had pulled over in front of was a hardware store with every clevis pin known to man. Good luck or bad? Seems good in hindsight.
Now on to the Dunlop E3 tires. I expected them to wear well, but I also expected them to perform like the Michelin Pilot GTs they replaced. They wear like iron, but felt wooden and gave zero cornering feedback in the Rockies. I struggled to keep up with the other 3 guys (C14, ST1100, ST1300). The tire below has 8200 miles on it:
Now the good:
The "7th gear" and advanced exhaust cam sprocket made this bike a whole 'nuther animal. The buzz was reduced enough that I never had hand numbness, which had always been an issue within 30 minutes on this bike. Chewing up miles at 70-75 was effortless.
The C10 fairing does make the bike sensitive to turbulence and cross winds, but also offers great protection. The area near Minot, ND was badly flooded and there were zillions of bugs. The picture below shows 4 HOURS of bugs that Kawasaurus stopped before they got to me:
Another plus was my Garmin Nuvi 550. It's waterproof and looks just like the Zumo 220, but cost $250. The Concours was unable to shake it apart.
The Spot Tracker was another nice addition. It gave my family peace of mind when I was in the middle of nowhere, which by the way is the entire northern side of Lake Superior.
The bike averaged 48 mpg for the trip. Not bad, considering all the crap I had piled on it. Overall it's the best $6900 I ever spent on a bike. Gotta order some parts now...