First time tire change questions

Those are probably something like these:

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I think GoldWings use/used something similar but they had supports for the metal part of the stems to significantly reduce the stress on the rubber portion.

Apparently some people have used these

extension_racor_valvula_rueda_acodado_codo_90.jpg


on their valve stems not realizing they're meant to be temporary – on only long enough to fill a tire and then removed. Maybe they could be left on metal valve stems or tractor trailer rigs where tires have a wingman. I dunno.
 
ST Gui said:
Most shops I've dealt with replace the rubber valve stems on car rims when replacing the tires every time. It a little money maker for the shops but probably isn't necessary depending on where you live. I get about 35Kmi out of a tire more if I rotated them regularly. I don't. I should. I don't. I've never had a valve stem fail on a car. One time a valve core went bad.
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One stem went bad on me, '97 Cougar. Left me on the roadside putting on a donut spare. Think it's a cost/benefit ratio for car tires not really so much making money. For bikes and trailers I always use metal, again, cost/benefit. Never had a metal fail have had a bad core or two.
 
T_C said:
One stem went bad on me, '97 Cougar. Left me on the roadside putting on a donut spare. Think it's a cost/benefit ratio for car tires not really so much making money. For bikes and trailers I always use metal, again, cost/benefit. Never had a metal fail have had a bad core or two.
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I had to replace one of my Ariete stems. It was old and the rubber washer had cracked and was leaking. I couldn't find a rubber washer to replace it so I just ordered another pair.
 
ST Gui said:
Most shops I've dealt with replace the rubber valve stems on car rims when replacing the tires every time. It a little money maker for the shops but probably isn't necessary depending on where you live.
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Not so much these days with cars being factory fitted with TPMS the last decade or so. Instead they now try to charge you for a "sensor rebuild kit", supposedly a new core and cap costing anywhere from $5-$10. Total rip off, I always say no thanks.
 
OK, newbie here. I just took front tire off and had my local car tire shop mount the new tire for me. However, as I'm leaving they said they didn't balance it because they don't have the tool. So now I've got to go to the bike shot (no I don't want to balance myself - yet) which is 40 mins away and figure I'll take the rear in too for that new tire mount. I was going to do both separately but might as well do both at same time now. Question, how do I balance my bike with no wheels on it? It's on center stand now with scissor jack & wood under the engine. Will the bike tip to the back when I take the rear off, or will it tip to the front. What about the chance of it falling sideways while changing. Sorry for the stupid questions, but just got this bike (2005, ST1300) and I want to get on the road. Tires that came with it were crap and I don't trust (nor do I want to pay) the local shop to take off the wheels. Cheers
 
The first thing I'd do, is to ask yourself if you really need to balance the tires. I know...everyone knows the tires need to be balanced.

Short story follows.

I have always had my tires mounted and balanced by the local shop. One weekend, I went to a Kawasaki Concours rally and watched one of the attendees change his rear tire in the parking lot. I learned two lessons that day. One...don't count on a worn tire making it 500 more miles. Two...he used balance beads and a good experience with them. Hmmm...

Fast forward about six months and my local dealer almost doubled the cost of a tire mounting and balance. I could afford it, but it rankled on principle. I decided to do it myself and found it wasn't that bad. And this is just using tire irons, not a machine. I ordered balance beads and installed them...really just poured them in. It's that technical. ;) The tire was smooth as a whistle going down the road.

Next tire change, I lost some of the balance beads on the floor. They'll go everywhere! So I left them out and decided to see how bad the vibration was. Well, it wasn't. The tire still ran nice and smooth. And I didn't get tire cupping or anything from an out of balance tire.

Bottom line...I wouldn't get into a panic about balancing the tire. I'd put that front tire back on, and give it a try. If you think you need it balanced, then try some kind of balance beads. And then if there's still a problem, ride it to the dealership 40 miles away to get the tires balanced. By the way, there's probably a motorcycle shop across the river in Hood River. Any shop can do this.

Personally, I wouldn't take both wheels off at the same time unless I could brace the frame for movement in both directions. But if you try what I wrote above, you won't have to.

BTW, a forum member on another forum wrote one of the tire manufacturers and asked why they didn't have a "red dot" on their tire. The answer he got back was their tires are checked for balance at the factory and are perfectly balanced or scraped. So if your wheel is balanced, and the tire is balanced...you don't need to have them balanced.

Chris
 
Thanks Chris, I'll give it a shot. The worst that can happen is I practice installing/uninstalling that front tire again :). Now to track down that procedure/sequence for re torquing those front bolts...
 
Some people use Ride-on tire sealent for balance.

Tire Sealant - flat tire prevention for Motorcycles | Ride-On Tire Protection

Prevent flat tires and improve tire lifespan with this special tire sealant and balancing gel for motorcycles. The Ride-On CHS formula seals punctures and balances the tire, for the smoothest driving experience. No more flats, no more vibrations and a better fuel mileage and road safety.
www.ride-on.com www.ride-on.com
 
Daboo said:
BTW, a forum member on another forum wrote one of the tire manufacturers and asked why they didn't have a "red dot" on their tire. The answer he got back was their tires are checked for balance at the factory and are perfectly balanced or scraped. So if your wheel is balanced, and the tire is balanced...you don't need to have them balanced.
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Saying the tire is perfectly balanced or scrapped is not true. Though the manufacturers are doing better these days, there will be a bit of imbalance on the best made tires because of ply overlap. The tires have to meet some internal maximum imbalance spec, but perfection is not the standard or they'd still be trying to ship a tire. You might try asking a manufacturer to replace a rear tire that took one ounce of weight to balance. I can't recall seeing max. imbalance given by a manufacturer in their tire specs. It just becomes a point of argument when there is a problem. Lots of motorcycle tires don't have paint dots these days. Logic would say to align the dot, if it exists, with the valve stem because that should be the heaviest part of the wheel. I have pre-balanced my wheels with permanent weights, so I ignore any dots if present. Pre-balancing the empty wheels makes significant sense if you are spinning a TPMS sensor around in a circle. I occasionally get a tire that requires no balancing weights, but not very often. It is correct though, that it takes a good bit of imbalance to become noticeable - especially on the rear. I have a friend who never bothers to balance his tires and he seems to live a happy live.

BTW, on car tires yellow and red dots mean different things. That doesn't seem to be the case with motorcycle tires.
 
ST-Traveler said:
The rear is near impossible with out a power tire mounter- I recommend not even trying the rear tire yourself the side walls are super stiff and very, very difficult to put on the rim.
I have damaged the bead on a couple of new rear BT020's trying to install them.
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Something wrong there. I've mounted 7 sets of BT020 tires on mine without issue. But yeah, that rear tire is a bit stiff.

What surprised me about this thread is hearing the BT020 tires are still available. Had a difficult time finding my last set. We are talking about the BT020-F tires, correct?
 
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Daboo said:
Okay...I used a term, "perfectly" that implies an absolute. I was wrong. I apologize for using a bad word. :eek:

Chris
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No harm / no foul, but lots of these perfect tires require significant weight to balance. Also, I think it important to remember that dot indexing is just a starting point to hopefully balance with less weight, and not something that renders balancing unnecessary.
 
Robfin said:
OK, newbie here. I just took front tire off and had my local car tire shop mount the new tire for me. However, as I'm leaving they said they didn't balance it because they don't have the tool. So now I've got to go to the bike shot (no I don't want to balance myself - yet) which is 40 mins away and figure I'll take the rear in too for that new tire mount. I was going to do both separately but might as well do both at same time now. Question, how do I balance my bike with no wheels on it? It's on center stand now with scissor jack & wood under the engine. Will the bike tip to the back when I take the rear off, or will it tip to the front. What about the chance of it falling sideways while changing. Sorry for the stupid questions, but just got this bike (2005, ST1300) and I want to get on the road. Tires that came with it were crap and I don't trust (nor do I want to pay) the local shop to take off the wheels. Cheers
Click to expand...
I put the axles back in and put a jack stands under each one.
 
OK, I thought I'd have an easy time finding the process but somehow eludes me. Can anyone point me to the process for re-torquing the front wheel. I've heard the bike will pull to the right if done improperly.
Many thanks
 
From my notes, picked up from somewhere! If it's wrong, someone will say.....

ST1100 - FRONT WHEEL INSTALL...

* Loosen fender bolts
* Wheel on, brakes fitted, axle nut loose
* Bounce
* Tighten axle nut - 65ft lb
* Tighten L. pinch bolts 16ft lb
* Bounce
* Tighten R. pinch bolts 16ft lb
* Tighten fender bolts
 
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