the process has begun.....

[brainfart]

Leaving work last friday the Venom on the rear was flat.

Local dealer quotes for new Avon were $190 for the tire, then $25 to $100 for mounting.

and they didnt offer to blow-in-my-ear for that price....

with 112,000 on the 07 RSV have been thru Bridgestone, Metzler, Michelin and Avon (my favorite so far).

 

long story short -last weekend I dropped by Harbor freight for a motorcycle bead breaker, motorcycle wheel balancer and weights.

cycle gear for tire spoons, then Discount tire for a Kumho.

all totaled - $209.

 

Then i fabricated a hitch-mounted tire changing "stand".. nothing fancy..

an old car rim, some steel box tube and left over fish-tank air hose (split lengthwise and siliconed around to the top of the rim).

 

Last night I began the manual swap- not as difficult as i'd thought it would be.

(swipped better-halfs' liquid dishwashing soap from under the sink)

Pumped to 70 lbs it just wouldn't "pop"..

stopped there - just not comfortable with pushing 100 lbs in there.

will let it bake all day in the Arizona sun -s/b 91degrees today. hopefully that'll do the trick.

 

From what i've read - appears 30 - 35 lbs makes the Kumho feel most comfortable...

appreciate any feedback on tire pressures & break-in (other than the "it can be kinda slippery for the first couple hundred miles")..

[dacheedah]

ok old farm trick to seal a bead, spray starting fluid in around the rim on both sides, leave a trail 3' away and light. It will set the bead in a heartbeat, knock out any fire remaining, occasionally there is some. Use this on trailer, car and truck tires. . . Edited May 11, 2012 by dacheedah

[mm482]

I tried to air up my Federal tire with it standing up. The wheel would drop down into the tire (not centered) and it would not seat to the wheel. I laid the wheel and tire on a barrel (horizontal) pushed the lower side of the tire down onto the wheel. This centered the tire on the wheel. I then used a band around the tire to help to get it to bead to the wheel. It only took about 75 PSI to seat the tire to the wheel.

Earl

[brainfart]

chapter 2...

i had no trouble seating the tire on the bead with my small compressor.

the difficulty came in getting the tire to POP the last bit on each side.

last night i pumped the tire to 95 psi and let it sit. figure it will either work or i'll take it to the local red-neck tireshop.

about an hour later - while working on another project - heard the POP....POP... of success.

reduced to 40psi for re-assembly and test-ride this weekend..

[etcswjoe]

A tie strap will help you seat the bead.

[brainfart]

Put just under 150 miles on the Kumho over the weekend..

Navigator says it's a much softer ride, less bumpy.

 

Running 30 lbs right now - slight "wag" in the 70mph area when riding solo.

just reviewd a bunch of posts this AM - think i'll pump it up to 38psi and see if that makes a difference.