brainfart Posted May 9, 2012 Share #1 Posted May 9, 2012 Leaving work last friday the Venom on the rear was flat. Local dealer quotes for new Avon were $190 for the tire, then $25 to $100 for mounting. and they didnt offer to blow-in-my-ear for that price.... with 112,000 on the 07 RSV have been thru Bridgestone, Metzler, Michelin and Avon (my favorite so far). long story short -last weekend I dropped by Harbor freight for a motorcycle bead breaker, motorcycle wheel balancer and weights. cycle gear for tire spoons, then Discount tire for a Kumho. all totaled - $209. Then i fabricated a hitch-mounted tire changing "stand".. nothing fancy.. an old car rim, some steel box tube and left over fish-tank air hose (split lengthwise and siliconed around to the top of the rim). Last night I began the manual swap- not as difficult as i'd thought it would be. (swipped better-halfs' liquid dishwashing soap from under the sink) Pumped to 70 lbs it just wouldn't "pop".. stopped there - just not comfortable with pushing 100 lbs in there. will let it bake all day in the Arizona sun -s/b 91degrees today. hopefully that'll do the trick. From what i've read - appears 30 - 35 lbs makes the Kumho feel most comfortable... appreciate any feedback on tire pressures & break-in (other than the "it can be kinda slippery for the first couple hundred miles").. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dacheedah Posted May 9, 2012 Share #2 Posted May 9, 2012 (edited) ok old farm trick to seal a bead, spray starting fluid in around the rim on both sides, leave a trail 3' away and light. It will set the bead in a heartbeat, knock out any fire remaining, occasionally there is some. Use this on trailer, car and truck tires. . . Edited May 11, 2012 by dacheedah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mm482 Posted May 9, 2012 Share #3 Posted May 9, 2012 I tried to air up my Federal tire with it standing up. The wheel would drop down into the tire (not centered) and it would not seat to the wheel. I laid the wheel and tire on a barrel (horizontal) pushed the lower side of the tire down onto the wheel. This centered the tire on the wheel. I then used a band around the tire to help to get it to bead to the wheel. It only took about 75 PSI to seat the tire to the wheel. Earl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brainfart Posted May 11, 2012 Author Share #4 Posted May 11, 2012 chapter 2... i had no trouble seating the tire on the bead with my small compressor. the difficulty came in getting the tire to POP the last bit on each side. last night i pumped the tire to 95 psi and let it sit. figure it will either work or i'll take it to the local red-neck tireshop. about an hour later - while working on another project - heard the POP....POP... of success. reduced to 40psi for re-assembly and test-ride this weekend.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etcswjoe Posted May 11, 2012 Share #5 Posted May 11, 2012 A tie strap will help you seat the bead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brainfart Posted May 14, 2012 Author Share #6 Posted May 14, 2012 Put just under 150 miles on the Kumho over the weekend.. Navigator says it's a much softer ride, less bumpy. Running 30 lbs right now - slight "wag" in the 70mph area when riding solo. just reviewd a bunch of posts this AM - think i'll pump it up to 38psi and see if that makes a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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