Do any of you change tyres at home, i.e. removes the old tyres and put a new set oftyres on by yourself? I'vedone it once this summerand found it to be quite easy and will go on with that. Earlier I paid almost 60 dollars to get a front and rear tyre installed in rims, and now feel I could do better for that money. I’m using three to four sets a year, in case it would justbe one set every other year or soI would just leave the work to the shop.

 

What do you do for balancing the tire?????

 

i had a custom bike shop in philly check them after i mounted them up, and all 3 times no weight was needed. the owner of the shop commented that the tire technology has gotten so good that they rarely have to add any weight (to mag type wheels). so this last time i didnt even bother with taking them in to be checked, and they are smooth as glass.

 

I've just done this once so farand that was for a friend this summer. The removal and assembly of tyres was simple. Iloosened the tyre from the rim by a clamp vise, then cutted a largehole in the tyre and snapped off the steel wire on side by a bolt cutter. That will eliminate the risk to damage or scare the rim. Themounting of a new tyre is very easy with the proper leavers, compared to conventional removal.The guytold me that any timehe havehad the tyres replaced in shops,the new balancing ended up the same, with the same weights at the same location. So, we decided to keep the balance weights as before for a test drive. He did the test drive and reported that the balance was perfect, he could run to top speed without any vibrations, as before. I have also noted the same both onmy GSX R and the previousHurricane, premium tyres seems to be so well balanced that when the rim once is balanced it will do well for new sets of proper tyres.

WhatI feel I have to do, andwill do when changing tyres at home, is to also check and adjust the static balance like they do on tracks, to be on the safe side. Its just to hang the wheel on its axis on a support stand and adjust with weights until no part of the wheel is weight dominant, i.e. the wheel stops at random positions after being spinned. The need of a dynamic balancing is far less on a narrow motorcycle tyre and rim compared to car rims that are wider, heavier and more unsymetrical.

 

The shop where I go only charges $30 for a set of tyres to be fitted. I'll gladly pay that to save the hassle.

 

Way to go R1000. Tell me one thing please. You said in some old post, that once you bought and tried the Metzelers Z 6 tires. You said your first impresions but never told us the mileage you did with them, how they wore out... and so on. I need to change my tires and i'm indiceded between Bridgestone bt 020 and Z6. Thanks a lot for any replies...
Best of luck

 

[/quote]
Way to go R1000. Tell me one thing please. You said in some old post, that once you bought and tried the Metzelers Z 6 tires. You said your first impresions but never told us the mileage you did with them, how they wore out... and so on. I need to change my tires and i'm indiceded between Bridgestone bt 020 and Z6. Thanks a lot for any replies...
Best of luck
[/quote]

Well, I'm not sure I recall all details but will give it a try. Initially I used the MPP’s on the Hurricane, which where absolutely great except for the wear resistance. After about 5000 km's they where out andreplaced to Z6's, which disappointed me to begin with since they where not as turn willing as the MPP. However, after afew days I learned to appreciate the Z6's very much since theyare very comfortable and stable in any situation and also provided a tremendous grip. It was just to counter-steer harder in turns and they provides a verygood high speed corner stability.I only used them for 2000 km's until I sold the Hurricane for a Bird -97 and they still looked perfectly new at that time.

Happily, the Bird was also equipped with Z6's that was relatively new, about 70% left. The Bird runned absolutely great on the tyres all summer for almost 6000 km's and I walked away from my friends GSX R 1000 -05 with the Bird on Z6's with ease. Igained 100% commitment to the tyres that never failed even though pushed very hard some times.When it become cold here I got several slides, mostly because of the low temperature and to much throttle, only a few deg C, and also because I was thennot at used to ride when wet and cold.

The end result is that I'm very happy with the Z6's and will continue with them on the Bird. I will do a middle-play on MPP 2CT coming spring on the Bird, just to enjoy the recently improved chassie to its full potential, and drag the knees with no fear. I’ll later go back to Z6's on the Bird, which last much longer and still provide premium grip. I have never got a dry-slide on the Z6’s from what I can remember, and I have pushed the bike to front lift out of corners several times at different speeds.

When I was on a tracktraining this summer at Nurburg Ring in Germany, I meet a guy from Switzerland who had a BMW K1200S on Z6's. He was one of the fastest guyon the track in our (fast) group, and I was onlymarginally faster than himon my GSX R 1000 -03 on MPP Dual Compund tyres. The Z6's are very qualified tyres, which I can recommend to anyone who is prepared to avoid budget tyres. Hope that helped.

Cheers

 

It did helpa lot!
Thanks, it realy made up my mind.
any idee on prices for z6
Thank you!

 

You have to check where you live. Here in Sweden all premium tyres are about the same priceand they are quiteexpensive. So,I always order tyres from via the Internetfrom www.dackonline.se, then they cost about 60% percent compared to the local steelers. In combination with mounting at home it will be great.I believe you have the same company representedat http://www.pneucity.com/or http://www.motopneucity.com/where you can check the tyre prices. In Sweden they come from Germany free of freight cost. BTW, Z6's are the Metzeler brand, I guess you knew already.

 

Makes me glad I stayed friends with all the people at my old job. Any time I need to change a tire, I get the dealer cost and they let me use the tire changing machine too.