cowpuc

Made me cry Jack,, reminds me so much of home - raising the kids,,, deep sigh of great memories... Never had the home of luxury like that one but we raised our 4 kids at the dead end of 5 miles of gravel road here in Michigan.. Had thousands of acres of State Land with lakes and trout streams covering them and I always considered "State Land" to be owned by "we the people" sooo. Abandoned Blue Berry patches that the State aquired with one of the huge farms that made up some of the land kept our freezers over flowing with fresh organic berries that our kids ate like candy. I was an avid bow and gun deer hunter back then - had numerous stands on our own property but never hunted from them, always hunted the interior of the State lands - my kids never got into the killing part of harvesting deer but brother - they LOVED (especially my oldest who is a teacher now out in Wilton California) to sit out there on those stands on our property and watch deer by the dozens come in to feed - Awahoo (her biker name,, real name is Tami) had em all named and could go on for hours about the crazy stuff those White Tail would do.. Deer kill limit was 5 a year per person if you played it right (had to count antler points) with land owner Doe permits. I managed a couple parcels (out of state owner) connecting our acreage to more State land to the east of us that gave me option to an additional 4 deer but always found 5 to be about all we could handle for filling our "hamburger", jerky and Steak needs.. The many many two tracks and the State "snowmobile" trail that ran all the up to the Mackinaw Bridge that connects upper Michigan to the Lower provided all of us with HOURS and hours of sledding, dirt biking, go cart driving (kids were driving old cars as go carts wayyy before they were double digits in age). Talk about a blast.. Tip was a school teacher when we married - I managed Building and Grounds at the same school and thats where we met. Neither of us could stomach the thought of our future children being subjected to the school systems in our area back then so - together we decided to Home School any children we would be blessed with.. Our first was born at the end of our first year of Marriage and that ended any outside the home "work" that Tip did - what an amazing stay at home Mom she was and still is.. She would and still does work CIRCLES around this old Cowpuc!! This was all going on during the years that the fight for schools of choice was HUGE and home schooling was legally "iffy" at best - we never "hid" what we were doing - matter of fact,, I remained active enough in the school and, later became involved with a local college as an Administrator - pulled some strings of agreement to have our kids "tested" on a regular basis - Tippy's teaching skills were good enough and our kids inherited enough of her brains that they always scored at the top of the testing criteria in the local school system so their test results helped bring the local systems overall score up enough that they got more money for the system and they left us alone concerning the home schooling matter .. Nowadays I understand that Home Schooling is MAJORLY used and completely PC - wasnt always like that I tell ya,, back then it fit more into my "not so much PC way of thinking" .. Sorry brother - got me like we were sitting in Store with our feet propped up eating ... Thanks Jack - that's a good one!

IMHO - our school master guru Bongo is 100,000,000,000 percent right on the money - dont run er no more till ya drop a meter on the battery!!! I have noticed a fair amount of variances in the dash volt meters over the years but never had one peg out PLUS - noticing the lights are brighter is a positive give away that she's over producing = regulator problems of some sort.. Might not be a bad idea to check the ground to the rectifier - could be as simple as a bad connection.. This brings back memories,, back in the 6 volt Yamaha Enduro days Mom Yam used the battery to shunt off voltage spikes - get a weak battery, over rev the motor a little and POOF - 15 dollar headlight and all those cute little 6 volt tach/speedo bulbs = exit - stage left:big-grin-emoticon:... ,, thinking our dear friend Bongo is trying to keep something like that from happening to your bikes much more expensive highly sensitive digital devices there brother:thumbsup: I love Bongo - he's a really nice guy

I know there are a couple suppliers around Chock.. I have a like new set of after markets with slides sitting on the shelf that I would be willing to part with - not sure they would do you any good though as they are for the Mk1's.. Personally, I have found Yama Bond number 5 to work awesome for pin hole repairs on slides and I really really like stock diaphrams - they just seem more flexible which - at least in my pea brain equals out to more responsiveness so I just keep repairing old ones .. I will say this - when you pull your slides you wanna check em for pin holes very carefully but you also want to stretch the area where the diaphram seals against the leading edge of the carb body - fine cracks along that edge are really easy to miss. Gotta ask this,,, did the scoot ever run right after having the carbs rebuilt?

I dont live on 5 miles of gravel road anymore but still like to do two track, single track and off road my 83's on occasion.. For me its Progressives, just under an inch of preload (I use Copper pipe end caps cause I dont care for the possibilty of PVC plastic wearing off and floating around in my fork hydraulic system), 12.5 weight fork oil (Honda use to spec ATF for forks back in the 80's before cartridge valves - used it for years in my dirtbikes but found it to light for my touring bike two tracking packed with gear and riding two up needs) and no air. Seems to give the most suspention travel on big bumps and running 50 or 60 on gravel roads in studder bumps they sure seem smooth.. I also run my rear mono at 70 pounds and number 4 on the dampner.. Drop to 45 when one up and riding single but leave the forks alone and wowzy = still awesome in the corners.. :bikersmilie::bikersmilie:

Got a little more time with the MK1's than the Mk2's like yours Chock - hope this is applicable, if not I sure one of the guru's will correct me and set us both straight.. If you look at the left engine cover - the one that your stator is under - its on the left side of the bike if you are sitting on it and is marked with "Yamaha - YCIS". Notice at about 10 oclock on that cover there is a small screw in plug that is has a flat screw driver slot cut in it? Unscrew that plug and you now have a window to view the fly wheel marks. On the flywheel you will see "T-1" and T-2 stamped in it if you rotate the wheel (can be done by bumping the starter). Those "T" marks are NOT for ignition timing - they are for setting the cam/valve timing when doing top end work.. They do stand for "Top dead center" though and the T-1 mark is stamped for TDC of the number 1 jug - the 1 jug is also the cylinder you ignition time from.. That said - if you locate the T-1 stamp and look beside it you should see a "H" stamp. That "H" stamp is suppose to be the 5 degree mark of which a timing light should shine on the pointer of the case locating it between the arms of the "H" when the motor is spinning 1 thousand rpm. Pretty easy to check with a clamp on timing light clamped onto the number 1 plug wire. Once that checks out you should be able to spin the motor up and visually be able to observe a steady climb on the flywheel as the ignition advances. To my recollect - there are no actual timing marks showing full advanced - maybe cause the ignition timing is not suppose to be adjustable. May sound crazy but that is about the easiest way I know of to check for ignition advance. Personally, over the course of riding these V-4's since 1987 I have had wayyyy more problem with carb diaphrams causing exactly the issues you are talking about than ignition advance problems BUT I am sure a vacuum leak, faulty pressure sensor, a loose pick up coil, a weak pick up coil, a faulty TCI could sure cause some mysterious issues.. I do think if it were mine, even though the carbs have been recently professionally rebuilt, I would spit check the headers right after start up and make sure she's hitting on all four - go ahead and check the spark advance but if it looked ok - I would pull those diaphrams and double check them and slide stickiness quicker than you can say Pucs Crazy..

Thanks Jeff,, this cooler winter air is much better :thumbsup:!!

Hearing that bro!! Got some other stuff going on too though that they still havent been able to pin point the cause.. Gonna keep chasing this rabbit till I get em but I am beginning to feel like an old Hound I use to have - good ol pup,, stuck on the trail like a magnet but about the 5th time around with the bunny sneaking by me and he would stop, look at me like ,,,, and have that comment on his lips of "you gonna shoot that thing or am I gonna have to do your job too:crackup:"

Tip and I were out goofing off on Tweeks a couple years ago and managed to find our selves out in Sturgis for the Rally... We stopped at Micky Dee's for a burger.. After leaving Tweeks outside to graze with the Hogs and going inside - Tip starting gazing over the menu while I was busy gawking at the real bikers we were surrounded by.. My gawking ended and my mouth started when I noticed a couple bikers with patches on their backs stating they were from Brooklyn ,,, I was like = WAYYYY COOL!!.. Fellow biker standing next to me overheard my announcement to Tip to take a look at the bikers from Brooklyn and stated something in reference to the color of their skin,,, to which I replied with a big = "guess I inherited my fathers color blindness cause I hadnt noticed :big-grin-emoticon:" .. Tip then followed me over to with those Brooklyn fellers and find out whether or not they had ridden in from NYC or trailered in .. Come to find out their group was out for a month and doing a cross country trip RIDING .. They had noticed us pulling up on our beat up ol Tweeks all covered with stickers and pointed out the window at the ladies who were with them still gathered around our bike admiring her stickers.. Never did talk about skin color but we did talk about how much easier it would be for them to find parking for their scoots (all riding Harleys) then it had been for us (actually got kicked out of few parking lots thru the years cause of riding a Yam) .. All that said,, wasnt very long ago and riding a Jap bike out to Sturgis was actually kind of iffy - in the 60's and 70's it wasnt uncommon to find a metric scoot being burned on main street at the Rally.. I havent seen that happen in many years out there,, maybe we are actually getting more civilized Thinking my Harley riding brothers from Brooklyn would probably have agreed with that

Hokey spamokey - was having some massive headache issues - doctor encouraged me to shelf any reading for a few days to see if eye strain may be connected - follow his orders and WHAMO - the rumor mill goes right to work - that rickardracing sure knows how to :stirthepot::stirthepot:.. Even got a visit from bluestar99 and his wife yesterday .. Nope - not out CTFWing or nothing fun like:8: that BUT - Tip and I are in the middle of helping my son and future daughter in law prepare for their wedding on Monday (mostly Tip actually - I only gotta pay for it all - actually, one of our daughters from Sacramento is here helping with it all too ).. Not really feeling up to cross country biking anyway,, figured I may as well marry off another youngen in the spirit of adventure :sun: Hey,,, notice some subtle changes around here,,, no instant reply thingy,,, looks like the Boss has been tinkering,, must be bored now that he dont have a Harley to work on

Right rear,, relax the throttle and it quits? I would double check for looseness in motor mounts, check the pipe mounting bolts and any contact the pipes may be making with frame (i.e. = rock or loose bolt laying between pipes and frame. Check carb sync (yep - can cause some strange vibes), give rear brake caliper a wack with a rubber mallet to nock the pistons in a little - ride it up to vibration speed without hitting rear brake and see if it changes anything. Try reaching back and wrapping hand around antenna's when you hear noise.. Bout all I can think of at the moment..

Good on ya and CONGRATS Esit!! YammerDan is pretty close - its actually the Maroon 83's with the repaired 2nd gears that are the fastest Ventures mom Yam ever produced BUT - I will tell ya what will get you pretty close = drop a set of vacuum gauges and check the sync on that gorgeous scoot of yours since digging around in there reattaching that cable and she will thank ya by running real close to those magic Maroon carpet rides brother!!

Yep - Prayers Up!! Doug, it would not surprise me to find out that the Hospital that treated your daughter has already filed a complaint with the authorities concerning the matter.. Like already mentioned - a lot has changed in the school bullying issues over the years and bullying is now a pretty serious offense. A quick followup (and you should - IMHO) with the Hospital should answer that question. If they cannot or will not give you positive evidence that the ball to protect your daughter (and other children) from the bullies who are crying out for proper parenting (hopefully we all know that this is what causes bullying) then, as her Dad, you are obligated to do so - IMHO. Requesting a followup report from the Hospital and the authorities to insure the matter has been properly handled is a good first step. I substitute taught at a local public school and know for a fact that bullying was a serious offense that was not tolerated at ANY level in our system - it was in fact one of the few things that required a student be removed and the home evaluated. The key, as usual, has to do with the type of leadership within the system, again - IMHO. If the Hospital has failed you, your job is not to take the law into your own hands but to find the proper leader within your system who will not only hear the complaint but take the required action to nip it in the bud NOW. This is and should be 100% possible without the bully(s) even realizing who the victim is to protect your child from re-victimization. From experience I KNOW this can all be done totally anonymously VERY successfully! Parenting ain't for cowards brother but I gotta tell ya - that precious little daughter of yours is counting ya and she deserves nothing of what she has already been thru - SIC EM!!

OUTSTANDING FIND RIV!!! Your daughter will have a BLAST on that puppy,,, ,,,, if she can keep her bike fanatic father off it ,, wanna quote from Puc's Positive Points to Ponder?? Sure ya do:big-grin-emoticon: Quote #17556 = man with 1 moped and family of 6 (I have 4 kids) is short 5 mopeds

Jonas!!! Old Vespa's are like WAYYYYYYYYY COOL brother!! Waiting patiently for following the restore!!

Yea but you gotta know its not the same Chrysler Motors Don... Kind of like those really cool little Harley's from days gone by - built by Amarachi, sold by Harley = run forever and not leak a drop of oil :crackup::crackup::crackup::crackup:

Also,, thinking I remember replacing a fuel pump on a Chrysler like that one time,,, thinking it was located on the back of the power head, under the cover of course and about in the center.. If I recall correctly - it was totally exposed and a fairly simple/straight forward swap..

Yep,, it will have a fuel pump,, if I were a bettin man I would put my money on it having a small vacuum operated fuel pump mounted somewhere under its cover.. I have worked on a couple that actually used the same fuel pump idea as a lot of the early sleds did, i.e. = remember the Tillitson Carbs that had the fuel pump built into them? Should be able to find the pump by following the fuel system under the cover.. Usually, not always, but more times than not it will be a cracked or holed diaphram in the pump.. Some were rebuildable and some were not.. Could also easily be a gummed up carb = 2 stroke mix goes south REALLY fast as the gas evaps and the oil is left to gum up.. I personally really like where TJ was headed in his suggestion to go right thru the system - especially if it has been sitting unused for a good while.. If it has been sitting for a long time, is something that you plan on using regularly and will fire up consistently on a squeezed bulb or a shot of mix into the carbs (showing it probably has good rings/cylinders = good compression) a really good tune up with all new lines, carb jets - float needles, diaphrams, plugs, points if its that old, squeeze in some new lower unit lube and a new water pump impeller in the little feller will probably produce a motor that will bring many many years of great service.... Had a customer who had me do all that on his really neat little Merc 10 horse - minus the impeller.. Didnt even get 1 month into the season - motor ran perfect but after the crumbly impeller rubber finally let go and they were on their way back thru the channel in their sailboat (night time - couldnt see the squirt and no breeze) the last mile with a ruined/seized neat little Merc made the trip to the slip take over 4 hours to accomplished..

Long as I am on here I may as well with Sho Greg for a minute ... Never did have the honor of owning a 2nd Gen but have heard that they take more kindly to different aftermarket springs than Progressive.. The way I understand it - there is a company that makes non-progressively wound springs (sort of like the stock ink pen springs in the 1st Gens only MUCH better) in different compressive tension rates so you can choose by weight exactly what spring tension you want.. Not absolutely positive but I think @ragtop69gs went with these other springs and was very happy with what he ended up with.. I have always used Progressives in my 1st Gens but am very familiar with the concept of ordering after market springs by spring rate for my MX bikes of days past and can attest to the wonderfulness of doing so - Race Tech comes to mind from past experience but I know that doesnt sound right from what I think I heard Raggy mention.. Might not be a bad idea to do a little home work and get that puppy set up exactly like you want it.. Also if it were mine I would pull the brake pads, push the caliper pistons out about a pad width (not all the way out) - make a wrap around the pistons one at a time with a strip cotton tee shirt material - loop it around the piston - pinch the ends together - squirt it wet with either carb cleaner or brake cleaner - pinch it tight and move the rag back and forth around the piston till that puppy shined pretty - squeeze it in and do the next one.. Bottom all the pistons, bleed the brakes front and back till I got really good clean new fluid front and back and then put brand new pads on it all the way around. Do the clutch next. When I had the rear wheel apart I would grease the splines and drive pins.. Also take a really really good look at the rear mono cause I have heard of shock problems with the 99's. LOVE THE PIPES!! May not be a bad time to check those exhaust gaskets while ya got her up in the air.. Probably toss a VOM on the battery and check it and the Stator seems how I dont think those sweet hearts got a volt meter on em,, do they? Worth a quick check anyway.. Check battery water level if your not running AGM or Lith.. GORGEOUS SCOOT Greg - I love the name "America" and glad to here your "making her great again" :usa::usa::usa: Not to Trump ya but I been doing the same thing with my new scoot - a pretty little 83 I picked up from Carbon One - first one I ever did own with the 2nd Gear repair done -

good stuff,,, ,, got a pretty good touch of "as in the days of Noah",, got some "men shall be lovers of they ownselves" goin on,, may have a fair amount of unthankfulness happenin,,,, got wars and rumors of wars if ya watch a little news,,,, got a fair about of boasting.. ,, hopefully = "when the Trump shall sound" is meant literally and not some kind of a gender reference.. Stay on the back wheel and keep lookin up!! Puc

Oppssss, thats right,, ol Cowpuc forgot that not everyone on the web has stacks of 35mm negative film laying around from picture taking of years go by.. Ya know,, now that I think about it,, I think I still have mini 8 movie reels and a projector somewhere - a Polaroid instamatic and probably a few 110 camera's with partially used film still in em Hey Vaz,, thinking this thru very carefully - if that 89 were mine and it was not plagued with the usual 40 mph wobble when ya let go of the bars or had some other ailment I was trying to over come I wouldnt mess with it.. On the 2nd Gen,,,, the whole intent of cleaning those fork seals with the 35mm film or using a modern day fork seal cleaning tool is to do so prior to having to take the forks all apart.. Normally it only involves putting the bike on a stand so the front end is raised up, pull the dust covers, wipe the seal clean and slip the film around the tube at an angle between the seal and the tube and work any debris out of it.. Having never owned a 2nd Gen - I had no idea we were talking about having to tear it down just to clean the seals brother ... Looking at what you got going on there I gotta tell ya,, aint no way - aint no how I would go to all that work and not drop new seals in it - ya got 3/4's of the work already done... PLUS - if I were gonna drop new seals in it - I would put new bushings in it too.. Just an opinion brother but thats what I would do!!! ,,,,, that'll teach ya to ask around here if your missin something Hey Vaz,, I LOVE the looks of those handle bars - sort of a Mini Ape look to em.. I also LOVE the way the grips angle inwardly - do those seem to give you the bar length you need to be able to lean back against Pat or your back rest and find your not stretching to control your scoot? One of the things I have ALWAYS loved about my 1st Gens = the bars!! Fold em back and in = PERFECT!! What are those bars David? and Prairiehammer = gators or gaiters, I still think those things make a bike look like a late 70's MX bike

OUCH - that is really not pretty Southbound.. Although NOT on our V-4's, I have had numerous bottom ends apart on scoots thru the years and done LOTS of tranny and clutch work on em and gotta say - that right there is a .. First question,, in the stack of plates I am looking at here - I noticed the first fiber is different than all the rest (looking at the fiber pads). Is this possibly because that plate is the buffer plate that goes in behind the wire at the bottom of the basket or was that a replacement plate someone put in your bike?? I only ask that because if it is a replacement plate and it somehow sized different than the other plates - I wonder if that would cause the fiber plate next to it to notch out on the tabs like it did.. It seems odd to me that the 1st "normal" fiber is the one that took the most beating - the other fibers look ok.. I also noticed that the steel plate between the top fiber with the abnormal looking pads (notice how the pads are rounded?) and the second fiber with the sever notching on the tabs has what appears to be abnormal high spot wear/rub marks on it.. This tells me that something was locking up internally - possibly within the tranny,, probably not rear end related as you would have felt it in the rear wheel assembly - as the inner hub was in the process of being engaged and driven by the outer basket = a "chattering" on the closest disc with the softest material to damage (fibers have aluminum backing for the pads that is used to form the tabs that drive the fibers.. The steel plates that teeth into the hub are steel and therefore harder).. I suppose its possible that you lost the basket bearing on the clutch,, allowing the outer to wobble and cause an angular notching of that plate.. Truly though, I have a strange gut feeling that we are looking at a tranny bearing seizure or some kind of gear related seizure on a shaft somewhere.. I think I would proceed with removing the clutch basket assembly like you are talking about - as you do,, watch very carefully when removing the basket for shims and make sure you see what goes where and in what order behind the basket. Check the shift mechanism behind the basket carefully - might try running it thru the gears while spinning rear wheel and listening/feeling for tightness on the tranny primary as you do.. Ya know,, I really hate to say this but I would probably do some research and see if there is a way to open the tranny up (maybe through an oil pan removal) to at least do a good cleaning even if its not a transmission problem and you dont end up splitting cases to repair the tranny.. Those little pieces of aluminum floating around definitely need to come out - IMHO.. Hope I am totally 100% wrong and its nothing more than a faulty clutch disc or something.. Puc

But,,, ,,, let me guess,,,, its been off before right?? I only guess that cause EVERY time I have removed one that had never been off before it was the old ,,, :duck::duck: :missingtooth:routine..... OUTSTANDING YAMAGRL and thanks for the advice!

We talking RD 350 Snyp - YAHOOOWOWZY I loved them little suckers!! Had an R5 and an RD back in the days - I could ride the RD on the back wheel thru 4 gears (not 1st - to pipey).. I also LOVED my RD in the woods - the low pipes worked like ski's in the sand LOL... Those puppies were DRAGON KILLERS brother!! Always wanted an RZ but just could never afford one,, your not talking RZ are you????? Also had an original R1 Yam.. Lots of younger folk dont know this but in 67 Yamaha came out with the predecessor of the RD = the 350 R1... Cool bike in its on right but nothing close to the little RD..

Wass up Vaz? Hey,, was reading on a recent post about Fork Braces - noticed someone had something on there about having to wire up the bottom of his fork gators when he put on the new brace - remembering our discussion about the brace you got from Riv and now gotta ask,, is that GORGEOUS 89 yours one of those models that was suppose to have gators on it? Maybe those lower leg tops are a little bigger cause of it? Sorry for the Casey - another flaw in my character

Absolutely, positively, unequivicably NO offense taken if your aiming that "didnt mean to offend" comment in my direction Snyp - just different strokes for different folks.. I get in the same discussions when talking oils,,, i.e. I was always the one to stick with cheapy Walmart 20/50 Supertech oil when running desert temps always swapped out with I could "feel" my trannies getting sticky (usually between 3 and 3500 miles) - always had really good luck with the "junk" dino oils.. Always really liked Wally's 20/50 cause I could always find it, Wally let me use their store drain and,, instead of 8 bucks a quart = couple bucks.. Main thing was/is in my opinion = keep the oil changed but I do have a LOT of buddies who think I am crazy and wouldnt think of putting anything other 8 to 15 dollar a quart oil in their scoot... Batteries the same = lots of folks spend the big bucks for batteries.. Same guy who has the new Harley with the expensive rear tire just went Lithium on his - thinking it was around 400 bucks - WOW is it lightweight.. Batteries are a another fun topic of discussion around here.. I happen to be a Wally battery lover,, good old fashioned lead acid battery - last I one I bought from Wally cost me 50 bucks.. CHEAP,, yes BUT it also comes with a Wally warranty and I for one have had really good luck with em.. Cant tell you how many times I been on the road thru the years, out of State, battery got finicky, pulled into Wally's, removed my battery and pulled the receipt from the Maintenance Dept (right bag) - walk in and walk out with a brand new battery.. Bottom line on tires IMHO - always double check the load rating and date stamp on tires BEFORE you order them online - Mom Yam specs our 1st Gens at 65h front and 71H rear - personally I think thats light but I pack pretty heavy.. 77h on the rear and 71h on the front is more to my liking and I try to stay newer than 2 years old. I have family in California so when I do a cross country ride now - I just order up a new rear tire and have a shipped to Sacramento, history has taught me a tire out and tire back.. Had a new Dunny 404 on when I left Michigan for Cali a few years ago, got messing around playing in Utah on the way out - keeping close eye on air pressures as always - that 404 ended up all over my rear fender and back of the bags cause of the hot tarmac with just under 4k miles on it.. Stopped at a dealership - only tire they had was another 404 and they wanted 185 bucks for the tire CASH AND CARRY!! That was in Moab,, rode to next town, all Yamaha/Honda shop there had was another 404 too BUT they only wanted 135 bucks for it - had me over the barrel, spooned on the next 404 - it was GONE by the time Tip and I got to Sacramento a couple weeks and under 5k miles later.. I am absolutely positive and have NO DOUBT that people on here have gotten 15 to 20000 miles out of the 404.. I have a hunch that my lower mileage has something to do with gross vehicle weight and tarmac tempts.. May also have something to do with tarmac type because I have noticed some really sharp rocked tarmac in some western states I have ridden.. On the same token though, I have yet to notice a significant difference in low/mid or high dollar tires when used the way I use them.. I did notice some handling differences in the high mileage Michillins I ran out a couple years ago - the rubber on those tires was noticeably stiffer and harder which produced, IMHO, some strange "feelings" of lack of hook up when really challanging mountain twisties.. Have ridden out a set of Shinko's - liked em fine. I actually think they hooked up better than the Avon Venom's I am running right now - good cornering tires and great in the rain. Second rear Shinko I ran I did have a chunk of square steel that looked like a lock for split rim go thru the brand new rear tire down near Johnson City Tennessee.. The 1/2 inch wide by 3/8 inch piece of steel made a hole thru the center of the new Shinko and was inside the tire when the guys at "Jims" in Johnson City removed the tire from the rim (long story - got a ride into town, a GREAT salesman at Jims sold me an Elite 2 (my favorite tire of all time) for 100 bucks and offered to mount it for free) the piece fell out - we were ALL amazed that the piece of steel with NO sharp edges was able to puncture the Shinko = last Shinko I have ran BUT would run another before I trusted another Metz.. ,, ok,, I'll stop