Tires

[bosco659]

Temperature change? When I do tires I change everything, tire tube and strap.
I don't change tires often and find it a pita, so if I'm in there I'm doing it all.
Just not worth the chance. BTW This is the old me talking, the young me would just

I didn’t change the spoke strip but will. Temp isn’t an issue on this install because it was done in the house.

 

[bosco659]

Just a guess; really work, flex that valve stem around with soapy on it.
Yeah I'm cheap and reuse "looks good" tubes. I'm kinda getting away from that after I removed one and I could tear it to pieces with my bare hands, and I'm not that strong.

I wiggled the valve stem but couldn’t detect any leakage. There’s a double nut on the stem and the inner nut wasn’t real tight. Maybe air sneaking out under high pressure? I will install a new tube but am curious about the root cause.

Edit - with the washer and nut off, I gave it a harder “wiggle” and saw very tiny bubbles forming. Had I tightened down that nut it probably wouldn’t have leaked. Oh well….

 

[ckahleer]

I fell for this myself. Out of the bike the tube held air, but you can only put a few psi in the tube. Once mounted and aired up to 35 psi., it leaked around the base of the valve stem.

 

[bosco659]

Was thinking, a shot of Tire Slime would probably have sealed this up.

Just read this and it says for non highway use. Wonder why? Balance, liability?


https://slime.com/pages/which-slime-sealant-do-i-need

I enjoy watching these vids - Project Farm

 

[Melnic]

Slime and fix a flat works on tubes?

 

[Grimly]

Just read this and it says for non highway use. Wonder why? Balance, liability?

Because people put Slime in, and ride around with a Slimed repair for many miles afterwards. Much less liability at slow off-road speeds.
Anyway, I've done the above and I'm still alive, so there's that.
It bugs me I can't get Ride-On here, as that's about the only one that says it's ok for highway use. Mostly for the balance side of things, but the self-repair is handy, too.

 

[bosco659]

Just looked up Ride On and it’s available here on Amazon. Quite a few positive reviews.

 

[bosco659]

5T, that gentle head shake is EXACTLY what I experience with the 712 front in my TX650A. I'll likely replace them in a year or two.

Making Shinko tires….

 

[Melnic]

Making Shinko tires….

@ 8:10 Those look like the 777 tread pattern w/ the little Harry Potter Z along the edges.
Puttting them on the Harley sportster at the end is rather funny. Could not find a Japanese bike to put them on?

 

[bosco659]

Oh the pressure… maybe I should buy an Amazon stand. lol. Yes to hot tires. When I planned to remove the tire this morning, I placed it in front of my diesel heater for a good hour before prying it off and the 29 year old rubber was quite pliable.

I took delivery of my Amazon Chinese wheel balancer today. When I unpacked it I didn’t think it looked too bad. I looked at the bearings and they were quite stiff - maybe because of heavy grease in them? I removed the dust covers off of one side of the bearing and washed them out with brake cleaner. I then oiled them with a light machine oil. One bearing had some debris in it and would lock up occasionally. I cleaned that one again and blew it out with compressed air. It seems ok now. I needed to add a washer behind each bearing to make sure it wouldn’t rub on the vertical arm, when the tire is spinning.

Then I started bolting the thing together. This is when the poor quality stood out. By adjusting the feet on the base, I could get one vertical arm plumb. After doing this the other arm was way out of plumb. I ended up putting two thick washers under one of the mounting tabs to get it as close as I could to plumb. The base looked flat so the mounting tab on the bottom of the arm must be welded on crooked.

The cones and collars on the shaft are not a tight fit but should work.

My overall assessment is you get what you paid for. If I paid top dollar for this I’d be pi$$ed. Since I didn’t pay much I could live with having to mod it a bit.

 

[bosco659]

Pics of the balancer. The first two show how far off plumb the one arm was. Last pic shows the “shims”.

Tire not mounted yet - waiting for tube.

 

[bosco659]

Just stumbled onto this re: valve stem lock nuts.

How tight are your nuts? Lol

 

[5twins]

My old BMWs actually have a knurled top nut that can only be tightened by hand .....

On my other bikes, I do tighten the top nut with a wrench, but not super tight. There's no issue with it pulling the stem out of the tube because it's double nutted. There's always another nut (or should be) on the stem inside the wheel.

 

[Melnic]

Just ordered Shinko 777 tires for an XJ650 project. This site is more active and informative for getting info on tires so posting my progress here.
I have some tools on the way to me to do the job myself. Will get Harbor Freight balancer. Looked at varios DIY videos on breaking the bead, Ill likely cut the tire off with box cutter like I think it was Bosco did if it ends up problematic.

 

[5twins]

Nine times out of ten, I'm able to break the bead on an old tire by just standing on it with the heels of my boots .....

It helps to have a nice little something to lay the tire and wheel on, so you may want to build yourself one of these. I got tired of laying the wheel on loose 2 x 4's and having it easily come off so I whipped this up many years ago .....

 

[Melnic]

Great Idea 5twins. I can hang that on the wall up high in the garage out of the way. Now, what could be done to that to dual purpose it for other uses? hmmm

 

[bosco659]

Just ordered Shinko 777 tires for an XJ650 project. This site is more active and informative for getting info on tires so posting my progress here.
I have some tools on the way to me to do the job myself. Will get Harbor Freight balancer. Looked at varios DIY videos on breaking the bead, Ill likely cut the tire off with box cutter like I think it was Bosco did if it ends up problematic.

Many ways of breaking the bead. C clamps, small scissor jack under a fixed object, vise or if you’re in good with a local auto shop, get them to break the bead for you. I cut my front tire off because the rubber was quite stiff and I didn’t have my fancy tire irons yet.

 

[Melnic]

Many ways of breaking the bead. C clamps, small scissor jack under a fixed object, vise or if you’re in good with a local auto shop, get them to break the bead for you. I cut my front tire off because the rubber was quite stiff and I didn’t have my fancy tire irons yet.

I have a couple big C clamps in the garage. Thx

 

[Kevin Werner]

Many ways of breaking the bead. C clamps, small scissor jack under a fixed object, vise or if you’re in good with a local auto shop, get them to break the bead for you. I cut my front tire off because the rubber was quite stiff and I didn’t have my fancy tire irons yet.

I have layed a rim on something solid and used a heavy mallet and the end of a 1 foot (or so) 2x4 against the tire next to the rim. Once one section breaks away, the rest is easy.

 

[bosco659]

I have a couple big C clamps in the garage. Thx

A 2x4 on each side will distribute the pressure better to break the bead. Only problem doing it this way is you’ll find you need a third hand. When reassembling the tire / wheel, use a good lube and the tire will seat onto the rim easier. I got some good stuff from my friends auto shop. It’s like a paste - water based. Cleans up easy even after drying.