tire/wheel maint.

[Eddie]

Amigos, first Happy Thanksgiving to all....... now, on to my question. I had a set of Avon Gripsters on my KLR for several years, then I changed them for Avon Distanza's; and the Gripsters were a bear to remove! I mean, they were welded, mated, if you will, to the rims, we had to use a torch (I am not kidding), we cut them, and backed a pick up truck over them to try and break the seal. THEN, when we put the new tires (Distanza's)) on, we had to take them to a tire shop because we could not get them to seat/seal. I should mention that I used some of the heavy duty Moose tubes with the new Distanza's. So, is this a common thing? If this had happened in the boonies, NO WAY would I be able to get them off to fix the flat. It is easier to tollerate my mother in law than it was to remove the tires. Any of you all ever had an experience similar to this (tires, not mother in law?). Eddie M

[Jud]

It can be hard to break the bead on Gripsters because they are tubeless-type tires (even though you run them with tubes), and therefore fit the rim much more closely. They can be even harder to remove if soap was used as a lube while mounting; they will be almost glued to the rims. If the Distanzas are also tubeless-type it may also be difficult to seat the bead. It has been a while since I mounted a Gripster. I used to run them on my airheads, but have never tried one on a dual sport bike. I recall one very hot, shadeless stop along SD34 with a gripster that had picked up a nail. It came off hard, and then would not seat for anything. It took a trip to Howe's Corner and 48 psi to seat that bead. In recent years, I have become pretty smug about my ability to break a bead using just three tire levers (or sometimes a single spoon) and if necessary some WD40. I am getting pretty good at it with K270s and D606s, but have not had the pleasure of trying a Gripster. I am betting it can be done, though, especially with the WD. It should be even easier if the tire was mounted with talc as lube instead of soap. I have also found that my beads seat more easily with talc, too, although the choice of tire may have something to do with that. It is worthwhile to practice breaking the bead with the tools you are going to carry. I don't want to carry a bead breaker; too much weight and bulk, and I think the levers really work better anyway.

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "eddie" wrote: > > Amigos, first Happy Thanksgiving to all....... now, on to my question. I had a set of Avon Gripsters on my KLR for several years, then I changed them for Avon Distanza's; and the Gripsters were a bear to remove! I mean, they were welded, mated, if you will, to the rims, we had to use a torch (I am not kidding), we cut them, and backed a pick up truck over them to try and break the seal. THEN, when we put the new tires (Distanza's)) on, we had to take them to a tire shop because we could not get them to seat/seal. I should mention that I used some of the heavy duty Moose tubes with the new Distanza's. So, is this a common thing? If this had happened in the boonies, NO WAY would I be able to get them off to fix the flat. It is easier to tollerate my mother in law than it was to remove the tires. Any of you all ever had an experience similar to this (tires, not mother in law?). > > Eddie M >

[David Bowden]

I had a flat in yosemite a couple hours outside of nowhere. I had heard all kinds of horror stories about changing tires. Lucky for me it was front tire and there was a single lane paved bridge across a stream that I could stop on. The trail before and after provided no place to remove a tire without being ran over by other bikes or making them ditch their bikes. I propped the bike up on its center stand, took the tire off and got ready for a fight. I squeezed the tire with one hand to reposition it, and broke the bead. Squeezed it gently again and both sides came completly undone. Stuck a couple tire irons in it and poped the tire off and back on in 10 minutes maybe. Was worried about setting the tires new bead, but before I got the tube up to 20 lbs it was solid and ready to roll. Made it to the casino for a great prime rib lunch with no further problems.

On Nov 23, 2011 4:25 PM, "eddie" wrote: > > > > Amigos, first Happy Thanksgiving to all....... now, on to my question. I had a set of Avon Gripsters on my KLR for several years, then I changed them for Avon Distanza's; and the Gripsters were a bear to remove! I mean, they were welded, mated, if you will, to the rims, we had to use a torch (I am not kidding), we cut them, and backed a pick up truck over them to try and break the seal. THEN, when we put the new tires (Distanza's)) on, we had to take them to a tire shop because we could not get them to seat/seal. I should mention that I used some of the heavy duty Moose tubes with the new Distanza's. So, is this a common thing? If this had happened in the boonies, NO WAY would I be able to get them off to fix the flat. It is easier to tollerate my mother in law than it was to remove the tires. Any of you all ever had an experience similar to this (tires, not mother in law?). > > Eddie M > > On Nov 23, 2011 4:25 PM, "eddie" wrote: > ** > > > Amigos, first Happy Thanksgiving to all....... now, on to my question. I > had a set of Avon Gripsters on my KLR for several years, then I changed > them for Avon Distanza's; and the Gripsters were a bear to remove! I mean, > they were welded, mated, if you will, to the rims, we had to use a torch (I > am not kidding), we cut them, and backed a pick up truck over them to try > and break the seal. THEN, when we put the new tires (Distanza's)) on, we > had to take them to a tire shop because we could not get them to seat/seal. > I should mention that I used some of the heavy duty Moose tubes with the > new Distanza's. So, is this a common thing? If this had happened in the > boonies, NO WAY would I be able to get them off to fix the flat. It is > easier to tollerate my mother in law than it was to remove the tires. Any > of you all ever had an experience similar to this (tires, not mother in > law?). > > Eddie M > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[David Bowden]

I had a flat in yosemite a couple hours outside of nowhere. I had heard all kinds of horror stories about changing tires. Lucky for me it was front tire and there was a single lane paved bridge across a stream that I could stop on. The trail before and after provided no place to remove a tire without being ran over by other bikes or making them ditch their bikes. I propped the bike up on its center stand, took the tire off and got ready for a fight. I squeezed the tire with one hand to reposition it, and broke the bead. Squeezed it gently again and both

On Nov 23, 2011 4:25 PM, "eddie" wrote: > > > > Amigos, first Happy Thanksgiving to all....... now, on to my question. I had a set of Avon Gripsters on my KLR for several years, then I changed them for Avon Distanza's; and the Gripsters were a bear to remove! I mean, they were welded, mated, if you will, to the rims, we had to use a torch (I am not kidding), we cut them, and backed a pick up truck over them to try and break the seal. THEN, when we put the new tires (Distanza's)) on, we had to take them to a tire shop because we could not get them to seat/seal. I should mention that I used some of the heavy duty Moose tubes with the new Distanza's. So, is this a common thing? If this had happened in the boonies, NO WAY would I be able to get them off to fix the flat. It is easier to tollerate my mother in law than it was to remove the tires. Any of you all ever had an experience similar to this (tires, not mother in law?). > > Eddie M > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[dooden]

UHD and HD tubes in a set of Kenda K-270's always works. Kenda beads have always broke easy for me. Dunlup D606 I used a machine and YamaLube stuff, had to really air it up alot and seem to remember beating tread with a mallet to get it to pop... Hope I can break it without access to the changer, worse case got a small Arbor Press at work... Dooden A15 Green Ape

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "eddie" wrote: > > Amigos, first Happy Thanksgiving to all....... now, on to my question. I had a set of Avon Gripsters on my KLR for several years, then I changed them for Avon Distanza's; and the Gripsters were a bear to remove! I mean, they were welded, mated, if you will, to the rims, we had to use a torch (I am not kidding), we cut them, and backed a pick up truck over them to try and break the seal. THEN, when we put the new tires (Distanza's)) on, we had to take them to a tire shop because we could not get them to seat/seal. I should mention that I used some of the heavy duty Moose tubes with the new Distanza's. So, is this a common thing? If this had happened in the boonies, NO WAY would I be able to get them off to fix the flat. It is easier to tollerate my mother in law than it was to remove the tires. Any of you all ever had an experience similar to this (tires, not mother in law?). > > Eddie M >

[Andrus]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "eddie" wrote:

> > Amigos, first Happy Thanksgiving to all....... now, on to my question. I had a set of Avon Gripsters on my KLR for several years,

I feel your pain! I also had a set of them on for a few years and had seated them with Simply Green due to the fact that it was on my bench at the time. Thanks to my bead breaker, I was finally able to get them to break loose and pry them off with car tire size tools. I then had to get all the stuck rubber off the rim, sand it down smooth and lube it good with regular dish washing soap mix when installing the Kenda 270s I want to put on at the time. My 2nd set of Gripsters were installed with just Dawn / water mix and were on the bike for about 4 years when I pulled them ( after buying the bike back in March ) they came off pretty easy. I carry a pretty heavy bead breaker in the tail pack just incase. Have not had to use it on the trial for my bike but have for several people I've run into on the road that could not get the beads broke to fix a flat. Running Shrinko ????? something tires at present with about 40/60 precent gravel / paved roads. So far , at about 2600 miles on them, they be okay.

>

[KLR Bugeater]

Hi Group, A good lesson Jeff Saline taught me in his workshop in 2009. When you take a tire off the wheel, always clean the wheel to where there is no residue on the bead seat from the old tire, even if it takes a wire brush. The bead seat should be spotless and any aluminum burrs should be de-burred from over aggressive tire iron use, or whatever caused the burr. This combination of tire rubber residue and small burrs can act as a non-slip agent when remounting and removing a tire. "Less is More" in this case and will make mounting easier. Plus, make sure the opposite side bead is in the groove where the spokes are. Horizons Unlimited (Susan and Grant Johnson) make a lovely video on propper maint. and removal/installation of any motorcycle tire, FYI. Nice people them Johnsons. KLRBugeater North of Charlotte, NC