Monty

Do most of you run bias or radial?

I found the info here...good stuff. How to read tire fitment charts and info: Typical complete tire description: 120/70ZR17J (58W) Now, let's break that down into pieces that make sense: The first number (120) represents the widest point of the tire's width between the left and right sides, called the "section width", and measured in millimeters. In this example, the width of the tire is 120 millimeters. The slash ( / ) is there to differenciate the first number from the second number, and serves no other purpose. The second number (70) represents the sidewall height as a percentage of the first number (in this example, it tell us the tire sidewall height is 70 percent of 120 millimeters, or 84 millimeters tall). Then comes either one or two letters (in our example, ZR). Sometimes these letters are placed elsewhere in the description, but traditionally, they should be listed this point. The first letter is always the speed rating (see Speed Rating chart), and the second letter, if it is there, is an "R" (radial tire) or a "B" (bias tire). Lack of a second letter means it is a bias or non-belted tire. The next numbers (17) represent the wheel's diameter, measured in inches. In this example, the wheel is 17 inches across. A letter at the end of the first part of the designation (the J in our example) is not required, but if present means that the tire has a special characteristics to match some manufacturer's specific motorcycle model. For example, Metzeler makes (made at the time I first wrote this portion) a Z4 radial as a 150/70ZR17, as a 150/70ZR17B, and as a 150/70ZR17J, where the "B" model was intended specifically the OEM factory tire for BMW 1150GS models (slightly different tread pattern), and the "J" model was intended for Yamaha FJR1300's (again a minor tread pattern variation from what I could tell). A two digit number follows, which is sometimes omitted but never should be (58). This number represents the load capacity or weight rating of the tire (in terms of how much weight, including both the rider and the motorcycle itself, the tire is designed to handle as it's maximum). In our example, the 58 can be looked up in a cross-referenced chart, and represents a maximum load rating of 520 lbs. There is no simple way to directly convert the number to the weight that I have been able to figure out. Finally, a letter may follow the load capacity (W). This is a manufacturer "modifying descriptor" and means that the standard for the tire is modified by some means (W generally means higher speed rated than a standard Z rated tire). We haven't been able to find a cross-reference for the various modifiers (yet -- they do vary by manufacturer), so if you are concerned about the rating modifier, contact the actual manufacturer's rep for the tire. Additionally, all motorcycle tires are normally marked with three or four digit code on their sidewalls, which represent the date of manufacture (the first two digits are the week of the year, the last digit is the year of the decade it was manufacturered in). Since modern cycle tires are only good for about five years from the date of their manufacture (the time period it takes the various compounds that keep the tire pliable and strong to evaporate out), knowing which year of a decade it was manufacturered is normally enough. Example: 011 would be a tire manufactured in January (1st week) of 2001. 118 would be a tire manufacturerd in the 11th week (between the 13th and 19th of March) of 1998 (since 2008 hasn't arrived yet, as I write this). As a general rule, newer tires are better, and we recommend you buy tires manufactured within the past 12 months whenever possible (obviously, if you have a flat away from home, you will take whatever you can get). Do not buy a four or five year old tire -- and if you buy an old bike, immediately check the tire age before riding it! SPEED RATING: Speed Rating vs. Used Tires Tire's speed ratings are established with new production tires. Tires that have been repaired (patched), abused (dyno-tested, used at a track day), or are worn down somewhat no longer qualify for their original speed rating. Keep that in mind when you try to figure out why the motorcycle's manufacturer specified a 149+ mph rated tire for a bike that only goes 130 mph max. It's for your own safety! RATING RATED TOP SPEED MPH / KPH J 62 mph / 100 kph N 87 mph / 140 kph P 94 mph / 150 kph S 112 mph / 180 kph H 130 mph / 210 kph V 149 mph / 240 kph Z 149+ mph / 240+ kph SPECIAL NOTE: Tires with a 2" to 2.5" nominal section width (think choppers) are rated at 75 mph. LOAD RATING: The importance of the load rating on a tire can not be overstressed. A tire that is overloaded beyond it's design limit will run hot, wear fast and may quite literally blow out on you. The load the tire is designed to bear also affects it's shape and construction -- if you think about it, a GoldWing tire is not going to look like a GSXR600 tire. The load rating the manufacturer sets as the spec for your bike takes into account extra loading for weight-transfer (loading up the front wheel during braking, loading up the back wheel under acceleration), so you can't simply go by the curb weight of the bike. Always check the specs for your bike before ordering tires, and make sure the tires meet or exceed the load rating requirements for that wheel on that particular bike. For example, if the load requirement for the front wheel is "58" (520 lbs max), then you can fit a 59 or 60 weight-rated tire in the right size on there with no issue, but should never fit a 57 or below! TIRE LOAD-RATING CHART 20 176 lbs / 80 Kg 53 454 lbs / 206 Kg21 182 lbs / 82.5 Kg 54 467 lbs / 212 Kg22 187 lbs / 85 Kg 55 481 lbs / 218 Kg23 193 lbs / 87.5 Kg 56 494 lbs / 224 Kg24 198 lbs / 90 Kg 57 507 lbs / 230 Kg25 204 lbs / 92.5 Kg 58 520 lbs / 236 Kg26 209 lbs / 95 Kg 59 536 lbs / 243 Kg27 215 lbs / 97.5 Kg 60 551 lbs / 250 Kg28 220 lbs / 100 Kg 61 567 lbs / 257 Kg29 227 lbs / 103 Kg 62 583 lbs / 264.5 Kg30 234 lbs / 106 Kg 63 600 lbs / 272 Kg31 240 lbs / 109 Kg 64 617 lbs / 280 Kg32 247 lbs / 112 Kg 65 639 lbs / 290 Kg33 254 lbs / 115 Kg 66 661 lbs / 300 Kg34 260 lbs / 118 Kg 67 677 lbs / 307 Kg35 267 lbs / 121 Kg 68 694 lbs / 315 Kg36 273 lbs / 124 Kg 69 716 lbs / 325 Kg37 282 lbs / 128 Kg 70 736 lbs / 334 Kg38 291 lbs / 132 Kg 71 761 lbs / 345 Kg39 300 lbs / 136 Kg 72 783 lbs / 355 Kg40 309 lbs / 140 Kg 73 805 lbs / 365 Kg41 320 lbs / 145 Kg 74 827 lbs / 375 Kg42 331 lbs / 150 Kg 75 853 lbs / 387 Kg43 342 lbs / 155 Kg 76 882 lbs / 400 Kg44 353 lbs / 160 Kg 77 908 lbs / 412 Kg45 364 lbs / 165 Kg 78 937 lbs / 425 Kg46 375 lbs / 170 Kg 79 963 lbs / 437 Kg47 386 lbs / 175 Kg 80 992 lbs / 450 Kg48 397 lbs / 180 Kg 81 1019 lbs / 462 Kg49 408 lbs / 185 Kg 82 1047 lbs / 475 Kg50 419 lbs / 190 Kg 83 1074 lbs / 487 Kg51 430 lbs / 195 Kg 84 1102 lbs / 500 Kg52 441 lbs / 200 Kg WHAT ELSE TO KNOW: NARROW VS WIDE: Although wide tires are all the rage now, narrower tires handle better under most real world conditions. TIRE GROWTH: All tires will expand to some degree over time once they are mounted, both due to the pressure on them, and due to heating-cooling cycles. Street tires normally expand 3 to 8%, while race tires can expand up to 22%. Be cautious in mounting a tire that will barely fit your clearances; the tire may easily grow to exceed the available space once it gets up to temp. UNEVEN TIRE WEAR (#1): Because roads are normally crowned to permit rainwater drainage, and you consistantly ride on the same side of the crown (right side of the road in the most countries; left side in the UK, Japan, and certain former British colonies), under normal street riding, tires wear unevenly to one side across the peak of their center apex. UNEVEN TIRE WEAR (#2): Depending on a variety of factors, including the size of the land-sea boundaries, the compound composition, the ambient temperature and the road surface temps, tires may wear unevenly from the front to rear of the individual tread blocks. Tire pressure and how it relates to tire surface temperature can have a drastic affect on whether this kind of scalloping/cupping at the land/see boundaries occurs, although certain tires types do it more than others. HIDDEN LEAKING: Your tires leak. Period. Under pressure, tires leak out some of their pressure directly through the rubber compound of the tire each and every day, very slowly. Check your tire pressure before you ride anywhere for the day (usually referred to as measured "cold") and add air as required. PRESSURE DIFFERENCIALS: A ten degree (F) change in the ambient temp will result in a significant pressure change in the tires. If the weather cooled or got hotter since yesterday, check your tire pressure again before you ride. NAILS, SCREWS, TACKS: If you get a nail, screw or tack in your tire miles from home or the closest shop, you have a few choices. The wisest of them is to call a ride to tow you & the bike to somewhere where you can get a new tire, then pull the object once you get there and hope it didn't go all the way through. The second is to cut it off flush (if it isn't already) and ride it to a safe place slowly -- very very slowly (think walking pace), ready for a possible leak or blow-out. The third is to pull the item out and pray it didn't go through -- and if it did, you're not going anywhere without a tow. And the final way is to carry an emergency patch/plug kit, pull the item, plug it as necessary, then proceed directly to somewhere that sells replacement tires. TIRE AGE: Motorcycle tires should not be used after five years from date of manufacture. Tires contain Volitile Organic Compounds (VOC's) which help keep the rubber flexible and grippy; as tires age, the VOC's leach out. Certain conditions can accelerate this process, including extremely hot and excessively humid or dry environments, parking on certain forms of man-made carpeting, certain molds & mildew forms (which may accelerate or even cause what is commonly known as "dry rot"), as well as overheating the tires due to low tire pressure or hard use.

My '83 Venture has MR90-18 on the front, and a MU90R-16 on the rear. I am looking at buying a set of Elite 3's from Motorcycle Superstore, and these are the sizes they give... Front: MR90H-18 Rear: MU90HB-16 Will these work? Does the "B" mean bias? I want to stay Radial and tubeless.

Nice. Hannigan Motorsports is only about 15 miles from my house, in Murray, Ky. Is that where your bike/trike is?

No ideas? Does the spring really need lubricated?

I just mainly wanted to know where it was, so I could look for it. Was interested in the dipstick too. I am bad about carrying lots of tools just in case. I've always been that way, no matter what I drive/ride. Same thing with my medical kit. Here is what I carry... 3/8 drive swivel head ratchet 1/4 drive swivel head ratchet long and short extensions for both rail of metric sockets 8mm thru 19mm rail of 1/4 drive metric sockets 8mm thru 14mm rail of std sockets 1/4 thru 3/4 deep well 10mm socket..6 point spark plug socket 8mm nut driver Combination wrenches 8mm thru 16mm and 1/4 thru 5/8 crescent wrench vice grips needle nose vice grips channel locks needle nose pliers diagonal cutters (dikes) metric allen wrench set with ball ends hammer 3 sizes of std and phillips head screwdrivers...including stubbies. tire gauge plug kit 3/8 fuel hose for screwing spark plugs in and out plug gap gauge electrical tape and tye wraps I think that's all I have in there...for now.

I know how you feel...sorta. I had told my son he could buy my bike if I got another one. I got my Venture about a week and a half ago, and it hadn't been here 10 minutes when he was asking for mine. We went for a ride last week, so he could get the feel of it, and he rode it like a pro. He's in love. I had never heard my bike without me being on it, and it sounded so good, I told him I just might keep it(his heart was sinking as I was saying it...lol). As long as he lets me ride it now and then, I guess I can live with it. Here we are, with my Venture and my '82 Suzuki GS850GLZ. Gonna miss her. http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i274/13thAFMonterey/DJBikes.jpg

Thanks guys. It's all good. Mikes' post just hit me wrong on an already stressful day. I was just looking for an answer, and not all the other crap. No problem. I can move on if you guys can.

I am not easily offended, and I dish it out too. I just have noticed there seems to be sort of a "click" thing with new gen vs old gen, after reading back a bit in the forums. The thing is, I was asking for help, and seemed to be just getting bs answers. I joke too, but when someone needs help, I try to help them the best I can.

If you put a capacitor in backwards, it will blow up on you. I used to pull that trick on people in the lab at electronics school. They would go to the bathroom, and I would turn it around while they were gone...lol...priceless.

Some of us are financially challenged, and can't afford a 2nd gen like some of you. (hmmm, maybe I SHOULD pay the membership fee and just join the other site, if I'll just get made fun of here). The strap is in the saddlebag, but not the kit. I already carry way more tools than the kit would have anyway. Was just wondering where it was. Sorry to bother.

The manual refers to a dipstick that is in the tool kit for measuring the final drive oil, but doesn't say anything else about the toolkit.

Gee Mike, thanks so much for the help.

Does my '83 Venture have a tool kit? If so, where is it located? I don't see anything in the manual referring to it.

I have pretty much the same problem... Cold mornings on the way to work...tach sometimes doesn't work. Other times...tach jumps around sometimes. '83 Venture with electronic tach(no cable). Is it usually just plug connections? I should also mention that when the tach is jumping, the engine is still running fine. No problems with running at all, just the tach. I have also resoldered the connections when I removed the dash and greased the speedo.

In addition to the tools and such, I also carry... A full medical kit. Small fire extinguisher. Sorry, all of the years as a medic and firefighter have taught me to be prepared. I've used the medical kit a few times on other riders after they went down.

The solder job may not have been that great. You may have to take it back out and recheck the solder joints.

Next time, WD-40 is one of the best bug and tar removers out there...and it won't damage anything.

Here is the fix. http://www.venturers.org/Tech_Library/?action=article&cat_id=001006&id=250 I just shift early in 2nd. It starts the slip around 3500rpm, so I shift to 3rd before that. It's not hurting anything, and I plan on fixing it next winter.

We need pics!!

Glad you didn't get hurt. I sure hope you dragged them out of the road before you left, so maybe another unsuspecting person didn't hit them, and not get as lucky as you. I tend to find treated 4x4 blocks that fall off of trailers. I guess they are the wheel chocks. I always stop and throw them in the ditch, so someone doesn't hit them.

I used to run a computer repair shop, and this always worked the best for me. www.superantispyware.com In extreme cases, you would have to use hijackthis to fix it, but you need computer knowledge to do so. Be very wary of some of the so-called "spyware" programs out there, as they are actually the problem. I Use AVG for my av, and Superantispyware, ad-aware and spybot s&d. My machine stays squeaky clean.

There is a spring? I just changed the oil for the 1st time on my newly acquired '83 two days ago. I never saw any spring.

About 20 years ago, my wife and I were on our daily commute to work, when this woman got right up on our tail. We were on a county highway, doing about 55, and she just stayed on my tail.(4-lane hwy, so no reason for it). I tried speeding up, but she was just matching my speed, and staying right on me. I mean she was CLOSE!! I don't know what her problem was, but I was drinking a Coke from a glass bottle at the time(my wife was holding it for me). Well, the bottle ended up looking really nice sticking out of her windshield. I know it wasn't the right thing to do, but I was pissed(and I was only 19 at the time),and I think it may have taught her a lesson. I've used a pocket full of pennies too.

This is what Tennessee Law states... (b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the driver of a motorcycle approaching an intersection that is controlled by a traffic-control signal utilizing a vehicle detection device that is inoperative due to the size of the motorcycle shall come to a full and complete stop at the intersection and, after exercising due care as provided by law, may proceed with due caution when it is safe to do so. It is not a defense to a violation of § 55-8-109 that the driver of a motorcycle proceeded under the belief that a traffic-control signal utilized a vehicle detection device or was inoperative due to the size of the motorcycle when such signal did not utilize a vehicle detection device or that any such device was not in fact inoperative due to the size of the motorcycle.