Changing and mounting front/rear tires... any tips?

[emt803]

Post topic kinda says it all so no long winded posts as I often am guilty of. Going with stock size pirelli sport tourings. Taking them off personally and taking old ones to shop for swap and balancing. As far as bearings, brakes etc is there anything I should be aware of since this will be my first attempt? I can keep the rotors on right? I have all necessary tools per site/factory recommendations. Tried googling, but everyones more concerned with changing the size rather than the process. Any tips that are FZR 600 specific?

[yamaha_george]

Post topic kinda says it all so no long winded posts as I often am guilty of. Going with stock size pirelli sport tourings. Taking them off personally and taking old ones to shop for swap and balancing. As far as bearings, brakes etc is there anything I should be aware of since this will be my first attempt? I can keep the rotors on right? I have all necessary tools per site/factory recommendations. Tried googling, but everyones more concerned with changing the size rather than the process. Any tips that are FZR 600 specific?

While the wheel is off check bearings, remove the rotors I have idiot tyre shop type gorilla's drop the wheel on a disc and warp it. Some wheel machines do not have clearance for the disc so the machine works with the disc as fulcrum.

Once the new tyre is seated, clean the rim thoroughly it is the only time you can get to all those corners easily (especially if you have white wheels ).

With new tyres DO NOT ride in the wet, you need to "scrub" off the moulding machine oil by heat cycling the tyre first BEFORE riding in the wet .

My step brother said yeh right and rode, cost him a VW bug rear windshield, helmet, leather jacket & a plated collar bone and a bottle of single malt for me as I said "told you so"

[emt803]

Well, my tire delimma ended up being a no brainer. Ended up getting both of the tires in the mail within a couple of days of each other and had to go on a 500 mile round trip run the day after getting said tires. Could of either removed them myself (one at a time due to stand "issues") and ran them 100 miles round trip(s)to get swapped and balanced for $35 per tire (approx cost $70 plus gas in whatever car I might of been able to borrow, plus the time to do the work and run them) or take them to a shade tree bike shop down the road that a friend turned me on to and let them do it for $90. Dude was done in an hour, checked my brakes, and washed the rims since they were off and easy to scrub. Also informed me that my front axle pinch bolt was missing so that I was able to go grab one (to anyone searching as I had to, I used an allen headed M8x 1.25"....40mm might be the exact length required, but you know how it is here in the U.S.) The guy even offered me a beer. I felt like an ass when he was done with all of the stuff I was researching about for days in just an hour, but for the time, work and guaranteed completion that day, it was money well spent.
To anyone else concerned and wondering how the new tires feel in comparison to the old ones (Pirelli Corsa 110/70/17 front with 150/60/18 Battle-Ax rears, both balding and squared mind you). It feels like a brand new bike to me. Turning and tight maneauvering is no longer an insecurity for me in town. Perhaps if the older tires were in better condition I could comment more on how the 140/70 rear changes things from a handling perspective compared to the 150/60 it replaced. So all I will say is this, the new/ different sized Pirelli Sport Touring tires that I just installed have made handling at low speeds A LOT easier and handling at high speeds mind blowingly smooth and more enjoyable. Riding on the old tires was the only bike riding I'd ever done, so imagine my surprise when I was able to lean and drift from side to side like floating on a smooth cloud for the first time. It was heaven.

[Mike D]

Post topic kinda says it all so no long winded posts as I often am guilty of. Going with stock size pirelli sport tourings. Taking them off personally and taking old ones to shop for swap and balancing. As far as bearings, brakes etc is there anything I should be aware of since this will be my first attempt? I can keep the rotors on right? I have all necessary tools per site/factory recommendations. Tried googling, but everyones more concerned with changing the size rather than the process. Any tips that are FZR 600 specific?

While the wheel is off check bearings, remove the rotors I have idiot tyre shop type gorilla's drop the wheel on a disc and warp it. Some wheel machines do not have clearance for the disc so the machine works with the disc as fulcrum.

Once the new tyre is seated, clean the rim thoroughly it is the only time you can get to all those corners easily (especially if you have white wheels ).

With new tyres DO NOT ride in the wet, you need to "scrub" off the moulding machine oil by heat cycling the tyre first BEFORE riding in the wet .
My step brother said yeh right and rode, cost him a VW bug rear windshield, helmet, leather jacket & a plated collar bone and a bottle of single malt for me as I said "told you so"

Advice please: - On my FZR 1000 I have just fitted new Metzler on both back and front, what is the best way to "scrub" the tyre - the rear still appears very silky, especially round the walls.
The front has only done 50km and the rear about 150km.



How do I scrub - still too silky!

[Muscrap]

Riding a easy 50mi on a hot day would scrub your tires in just fine.

[Mike D]

Thanks Muscrap - we're experiencing much rain at the moment, with no let up forcast for the next few days/weeks - desperately wanted to burn her a little though, but I guess I must wait patiently!

Thanks all the same!

[cntryboy85]

when i got my bike about a 18 months ago it came with some crappy dun-lop sport maxes and i will never go back to them again. but you can remove and mount a tire in your garage with simple tools and a little muscle. i had a scissor jack under my swing arm pushing the bike on the kick stand and had a flat bar going across my attic access with a ratchet strap down to the triple tree mount pulling the front tire off of the ground. i took both front and rear tires off the bike. used a razor blade to cut the tire in half down the center of the tire to give it more play. got a flat bar with a tapered edge and used it to get under the bead and pry it up. once i had it up i took a rubber mallet and beat the bar all the way around the tire so that i could bring the bead off the rim. repeat with second tire. to put tire back on the first bead wasn't a problem the second bead was a pain. i don't remember the exact way i did it but i did it in a night with a few beer and the wife making fun of me. i took it to a local shop to have him balance it for me but instead putting weights on the rim he did something i absolutely love. Dynabeads they go inside your tire and never have to worry about them falling off and they also help keep it from rusting from the inside.

[cntryboy85]

mike d what do you think of the metzlers. my father in law runs them on his H-D but i havent seen them for sport bikes.