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Old November 5th, 2017, 11:13 PM   #53
isuoboe
ninjette.org member
 
Name: Kevin
Location: Central Iowa
Join Date: May 2012

Motorcycle(s): 1981 Honda CB125S, 2006 Ninja 250

Posts: 65
Smile Success!

I started this thread when I was stilled deciding whether or not to mount my own tires. I have succeeded in doing it myself. I'm sharing a lot of things here, hoping to help other newbies. (I know, there is nothing earth shattering here!) I'll share what I consider the most important things I learned first, so you don't have to read it all to get something out of it. If you haven't seen the same videos or read the same posts I have, some of this may seem pretty obtuse, so please don't hesitate to ask for any clarification.

The most important things to me, learned from lots of research including all the helpful input from ninjette members:
1. Use a HAIR DRYER on low blowing inside the new tire to soften it up. (It's too cold here now to get any benefit from sitting in the sun. Taking the old tire off wasn't that big a deal.)

2. Use PIECES OF A MILK JUG AS RIM PROTECTORS. On my pregen rims, this material is fine for preventing scratching the rims up, and it's really easy to slip through the smallest gap between tire and rim. In addition, the 4 pieces I got from cutting up the 4 corners of a 1/2 gal. jug, is way better than only having the 2 "real" rim protectors I got in a set.

3. I bought TIRE LUBE CONCENTRATE at Theisen's for $3.49. It makes a gallon, enough for my whole life. (I know everyone uses dish soap, but others say the grease fighting ingredients are bad for rubber.)


More details. I decided to stick with the tires "made for this bike" (2006 ninja 250), Dunlop K630's which I was replacing. Therefore, it was easy enough to leave the old front tire on with lots of tread left. Other tires I was looking at are more sport bike design which isn't necessary for me; I will never ride on a track and I occasionally ride on gravel (lots of potential for that with my exploring around central Iowa).

One person mentioned that replacing the Dunlops with Shinkos got rid of the grooved pavement issues. Actually, I had not had that issue for a while. Now with the new rear tire I have it again. Maybe the combination of a tread groove around the middle of the tire, and the more flexible, thicker, new tread creates the squirreliness. I decided to live with it for the limited amount of grooved pavement riding I do.

I was prepared to try any and all tricks (zip ties, gorilla tape, etc.), but I thought I'd like to try my hand at conventional "spoon" mounting. I bought a set of 3 spoons and 2 rim protectors for about $15 on Ebay. Some reviews told of potential bending problems with these spoons; I don't think that would ever be a problem with these tires.

Someone in this thread mentioned that tires on the small ninjas are harder to mount than bigger tires. Having never mounted bigger tires, I can't speak to that, but having viewed videos of other people mounting a variety of tires, I am convinced that different tires are very different to mount. The fact that the tire I was mounting has beads very close together, actually makes it harder to push on the first bead on, the way some did in the videos using no spoons at all.

BREAKING THE BEAD: I used a bench vise to break the first bead. It worked fine except I chose to use a pipe on the vise handle as it got harder to turn! I broke the second bead with a C-clamp: I used a 2x4 on the rim under the tire with the clamp on it and then screwed the clamp down next to the rim on the top bead that that was still sealed.

REMOVING THE OLD TIRE: Heeding warnings about damage to the brake disc, I chose to take it off. I put 2 2x4's under the wheel. Removal of the old tire was accomplished easily with spoons on the first bead. The second bead was removed with 2 spoons inserted about a foot apart to start the bead over the rim, then, with the rim vertical, I put my weight on the part of the tire that was over the rim until the whole thing came off.

INSTALLING THE NEW TIRE: I used spoons and moderate lube on both beads. The multiple milk jug rim protectors, mentioned at the beginning of this post, made a huge difference on this. I had failed on my first try without them.

SEALING THE BEAD: At first I had not "bounced" the tire enough to spread the beads. I attached a bicycle pump and had no seal. I bounced it some more (turning the tire to hit all around it) and then got pressure. I think I could have gotten the bicycle pump to work. (I pump my bicycle tires to around 130 lbs. with it.) However, as I pumped, starting around 20 lb., the pressure gauge wasn't moving. I didn't feeling like working as hard as it looked like would be necessary so I took the tire/wheel to a gas station with a real compressor (not the typical low pressure ones so common now days). The bead sealed fairly quickly; the pressure measured only about 44 lb. once this was accomplished.

TIRE BALANCING: I used the jack stands method with the wheel on the axle between the jack stands. As per someones suggestion, I found the heavy place on the wheel WITHOUT THE TIRE. That point is where I put the yellow circle on the tire which normally would go by the valve. (Some people will now think I didn't know what that yellow circle was for) I don't know if this really makes any difference. I ended up with the same amount of weight as the previous tire (4 --1/4 oz stick-on black weights which look very unobtrusive on the black wheels).

VALVE: I used an angle valve which I hope will make it much easier to check and fill the rear tire.

ALIGNMENT: before I took the wheel off, I checked the alignment using the string method. It was way off. The string ran along one side of the front tire, and was over an inch away from the other side. When I put the wheel back on after the tire change, I started by lining up the marks on the chain adjusters. I also had one of the motionpro chain alignment tools that fastens to the sprocket. This tool is a great idea, but I see 2 problems: 1. I had a hard time sighting along the bar to see if it was really lined up with the chain (perhaps a trifocal-eye issue). 2. The bar isn't nearly long enough; a slight variation in the length of the bar would result in a huge variation at the front of the front wheel. Proceeding from here to the string method, I could see I had more work to do. This proved quite tedious; it would have been much easier if I'd had a little brother, grandson, etc. around at the time to help me move the strings! I ended up with what must be a pretty good alignment. However I have some questions. 1. What difference does it make? (after all, my alignment was way off before I started, and I thought the previous tire mounting must have had good alignment since I had no wobble when I released the handle bars; and the bike seemed to handle fine.) 2. The string alignment is done on the tire, not the rim as auto alignment is done. If you spin the wheel, the outside edge of the tire does show movement, while the rim is pretty darn steady! 3. my tires don't show weird wear. I got about 7,500 miles out of the back tire which people seem to think is pretty good, and the front tire has significant tread left to the wear indicators. 4. Do dealers actually use the marks on the chain adjusters and swing arm? If so, and the "alignment" they achieve is OK, then it DOESN'T REALLY MATTER. I say this because the marks are too far apart for precise measurements, and really, don't they just plain look crude? Here's where my marks end up when the string method shows the alignment is correct: (I would not say the two sides look the the same! Click the pictures to enlarge them.)

IMG_7287.jpg
IMG_7289.jpg

CLEANING AND ADJUSTING THE CHAIN: During the current tire change, while the wheel was off, I used the opportunity to soak the chain, a section at a time, in kerosene. Otherwise--DUH--in case anyone else is as dumb as I've been for 5 years of chain cleaning and lubing on the Ninja--Take the chain guard off to give great visual and reachable access to the chain! The picture below shows 1. the wash bottle (bought at the chem store at the local university) I use to put Kerosene on the chain for cleaning without spraying all over everything; 2. My gauge (2 paint stirring strips and a mini C clamp) I use to measure chain slack. I adjust the length of the gadget so when resting on the ground, the end of it is even with the top of the chain when pushed up; if adjusted properly, the bottom reaches between the 35 and 40 mm marks.

IMG_7283.jpg
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isuoboe

Last futzed with by isuoboe; November 6th, 2017 at 06:57 AM. Reason: forgot something important
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