Tire Change Finally Done

[Guest]

Finally got around to both of them. Did the front last Saturday, and the rear in May. The original Bridgestones went about 14k for the rear, and over 16k for the front. That was really pushing them.

The balancing idea using two jackstands and the axle shaft worked great. I put the yellow paint on the tire at the heavy spot on the front wheel. Totally forgot about trying to balance the rear until I had it mounted, but happened to get the paint near the stem area, and the ride is smooth.

The front was much easier than the rear, for both wheel removal, and tire mounting (shaft drive). Got a definite pop for both beads seating on the rear, but none at all for the front. Seems fine though. I used soapy water on the rear, and Murphy's oil soap on the front. I had a set of two tire mounting tools, but really needed a third.

There's something about doing it yourself. Valve job (also overdue) and carb balance next, and maybe a tank clean and seal between Fall and Spring semesters.

[BassCliff]

DIY cudos!

Mr. JMHJ,

Yes! It gives me a warm fuzzy to learn wrenching on my bike. Great work on the tire mounting. The folks here have been great at teaching and guiding me. I've got a little valve adjustment pictorial here that might help you. My bike's running too good now so I'm going to put off the carb rebuild until I have to. I've got a set of Progressive fork springs to install. I'll be documenting that too.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[bexabarr]

I did my front tire for the first time about a week ago. I didn't hear the bead sitting. I kept trying and trying... then I let it be. Did the soap thing, saw that I wasen't loosing air, and took a short, real easy ride. Since then all seems to be fine, I haven't lost any air either since last week. It's good to hear that I'm not the only one experiencing this.

[JMHJ]

Thanks for the link; I put it in the Favorites for future reference. I too wanted to avoid taking the carbs apart unless I had to. I had hoped to just synch them at first and see how that works (doesn't require any kind of teardown, right?). They were done in '05 before I bought the bike, but they have developed some gas stains here and there since then, and the left side appears to be running richer than the right (more carbon residue on that exhaust opening). I recall reading though, that someone said doing the valve adjustment fixed a carbs out of synch problem. I may have to take 'em apart sooner than I want to anyway, since my tank has rust, inline filter notwithstanding.

For the front tire, I've got a slow leak there, but haven't tried to find it yet. There was one little section on one side where it didn't appear to seat out quite as far as the rest, but an almost unnoticeable difference. I've lost 5-6 psi in a week. Surely it won't be a big deal to fix.

[mark]

Around 79-80 is when Suzuki was transitioning from tube to tubeless rims. Often there will be both a tube and tubeless rim on the same bike (mine for example). Rims that are not marked "tubeless" won't have the same "pop". You may want to check that.

[BassCliff]

Mr. JMHJ,

Yes, you'll want to do the valve clearance check first. Then Mr. bwringer has a nice carburetor sync tutorial here.

Most recently I've been going through The Stator Papers and troubleshooting my non-charging issue. I've got a new Honda r/r on that way thanks to Mr. duaneage. My bike's running great as long as I remember to attach the trickle charger ever couple days.

And I'm one of those lucky ones with mixed wheels on my bike. The rear wheel says "tubeless applicable" but the front doesn't. I'm using inner tubes on both anyway. We'll see how it goes.

Let us know how you progress.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[JMHJ]

Got the soap out and found a small leak at the front tire valve core; couldn't find any at the rim on either side. Tightened it a little and seems to be fixed. Both rims say tubeless, on the right side. I left the factory valve stems in also when I did the tire changes. Hopefully that's ok.