Changed tyres

[Darwin_R65]

So i got my new Bridgestone Battleax BT45 to fit.
How do I get both tyres off at once?
I remeber reading someones comment to get the rear off with panniers remove the front wheel first. So off with the front which required a small lift from the jack to clear the mudgaurd, then tilt the bike forward.
remove the rear. Steadied the bike using two car axle stands on the exhaust mounts. Then refit in reverse.

I'm glad I read the comments on here about tyre size, in the end i went for 90/90 on the front and 110/90 on the rear and as you can see from the last photo, the 110 only just fits beside the swing arm.

Did all that late last night, first ride will be to work this morning.

catch you all later
John

[montmil]

The Bridgestone BT45s will turn your R65 into a "lean" machine. Quite sticky. Let us know what drags first

Monte

[donbmw]

I hope you strapped your center stand before you pushed over ontho the forks. Your center stand could retracked when doing that.

Don

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

I hope you strapped your center stand before you pushed over ontho the forks. Your center stand could retracked when doing that.

Don

I don't see one.  You can get lucky.

I generally use one of my tie-down straps, with one hook around the cross member of the stand, and the other hook on the exhaust cross-over, then pull the strap tight.

And as I found out one time, if your tank is full or near full, don't leave it tipped forward for very long!

[Darwin_R65]

I hope you strapped your center stand before you pushed over ontho the forks. Your center stand could retracked when doing that.

Don  

Obviously a lesson I was lucky not to learn the hard way.
Someone up there must have been looking over me.

Interesting ride today, the bike wants to lean around corners. Took some getting used to after my worn square tyres.

However I need to go back to the tyre shop, between 55 and 65kmh theres a shake like riding over corrugations that was never there before.

John

[Bob_Roller]

Need to check to see if the tires are fully seated on the rim, then a recheck of the balance .

I had a front tire no fully seated on the bead, and gave a nasty shake at about 75 mph (107 km/h) .

I just had the front tire replaced on my '81, it developed a nasty dislike for the 'tar snakes' on the streets in my neighborhood as the tire got to the point where it needed to be replaced .

Been using Metzelers for 23 years on this bike, this is the first one to display this behavior .

[steven m]

Something is wrong.  Following Bob's post, Check to see if your tires are seated properly on the rim.  I had new tires and tubes installed by a supposedly good BMW shop and first time around they mounted the front tire backwards, then re-did it and failed to fully seat the tire to the rim.  I took the wheel off, let all of the air out, and then pumped it up to about 50 pounds, at which point it seated properly.  Reduced the air pressure and have had no problems since.  Even with the improperly mounted supposedly good BMW shop's wheel weights falling off I get no shakes.

  

[montmil]

As an aside to the tire tale... Note the oft-cursed early design centerstand. See that "tang" off the left-side leg? Yes, that's the one.

This is the '81 vintage BMW design that gets such bad press and is often replaced by the newer design; the one with the foot pad and a wee different geometry. Much easier to get the scooter up n' over for parking.

Monte

[azcycle]

However I need to go back to the tyre shop, between 55 and 65kmh theres a shake like riding over corrugations that was never there before.

John

I just had new tires put on not too long ago... you can read my thread about it. Experienced the exact same "corrugated" shake in the front end.  Some think my front wheel is out of whack (which it is, slightly) but the shake wasn't there with the old tire.  Purchased a new front tire, had it professionally mounted... front end bounce still there.

I'm thinking it might be the rear tire not balanced correctly. I plan on having it re-done and go from there...

[steven m]

This last weekend I took my bike on the freeway as a test, and sure enough, on the grooved 405 by Culver City it did wander and nibble at the grooves a bit, but was under control, however, when I moved over to the 10 westbound towards the beach, where it was damp, not wet, and a little greasy, the grooves were disconcerting and I had to really slow down as the front end felt as if it was on ice.  When I got onto the Coast Highway, no grooves, it tracked and rode smoothly at the same speed.  So I think our short wheelbase, light weight, no steering damper bikes are very sensitive to road conditions and that needs to be taken into account when sorting out handling issues.  I don't see my little bike as a freeway flyer.

Steve

[Bob_Roller]

You can try experimenting with tire pressures as well to see if the bike handles better .

I'm running 38-40 psi on the Lasertec tires that are currently installed on my '81, the bike handles a lot better than at lower pressures .

[steven m]

My bike handles just fine, it just didn't like the beat up, damp, greasy, poorly grooved Santa Monica Freeway!  I run about 32 up front and 36 in the back.  Maybe I'll try going a little higher and see what happens.  I think a 4psi difference between front and back should be about right.  Anyone running less, or more?

Steve

[nhmaf]

I run 36 PSI in both front and rear tires on my R65LS (BT45 tires) and really like the way it handles.   The rubber of the BT45s is very sticky.  I ride the bike solo, but with me and some stuff in the saddlebags and tankbag that is probably around 240-250 pound of 'cargo'.

[Barry]

I think we all know that the original pressures listed under the seat of 27 front and 26 Rear are too low for modern Tires.

For solo riding I run the manufacturers recommended pressures for the tire I'm using which is usually available from the website and that has varied from 31 PSI (Metzeler) to 33.5  PSI (Pirelli).  The bike handles very well on these pressures even though they seem to be lower than most are using. I do add 3 PSI for two up or heavily loaded.

Other manufacturers recommend higher pressures but are some of you running higher than manufacturers recommendations for solo unloaded riding and finding a benefit in doing so.

Any insight as to why the original bias of rear tire pressure lower than the front seems to have changed to the other way around.

[steven m]

Just for clarification, I'm not racing my bike, just riding in a relaxed but spirited manner on country and canyon roads.  No knee dragging, no hanging off the bike.  Aiming for smooth; brake in a straight line, dial on the power (ha ha), and clip the apex in one arc.  What the bike was designed for and what the small tires can handle.  

Very enjoyable.

A friend of mine has a Buell and has reported the same greasy feeling on the freeway, which he rides daily, with paint stripes, tar, and grooves.  He doesn't like it either, AND he has large modern rubber.

Steve