What would you do?

The rear has been mounted/balanced and re installed to the bike, and I must say it looks really good (sorry, no pics yet). I didn't realize how squared off the back tire was until I saw the shiny new round tire with deep tread on the bike. It took me a bit to find the trick to get the wheel back on easily, but once we figured out how to get the rear brakes back on it was a snap.

Tomorrows high is forecasted at 85 degrees, so I will definitely take the rear tire on its first ride. After I've had my fun (carefully, of course) I'll park it again, jack up the front and remove the wheel to bring it to the shop.

 

Dude,

Get both new tires on your bike before you go out and play Ricky Racer. Tires on bikes are sets. If your local dealer has not told you this and told you that and that you need to scuff in the new rubber that takes about 100 miles, they are not a friendly as you think.

 

+1... Motorcycle Superstore has some really good blowout deals on Pirelli's, Michelin and Metzlers right now.
Street Bike Tires and Sportbike Tires at Motorcycle Tire Superstore

 

When did I say anything about playing Ricky Racer?

I realize that a tire needs scuffed in, so I was going to start the process by taking a little ride in town, with absolutely no fast corners, hard take offs, etc.

 

My local shop charges $20 a tire to mount and balance if you bring them the wheels and bought the tire from them, $40 if you didn't buy the tire from them.

I bought a front Michelin Pilot Power 2CT from Dennis Kirk, $103.95 shipped to my door, plus $41 to mount and balance (they nicked me a buck for wheel weights (load of crap). But it was still cheaper than ordering it through them ($135 for the tire ONLY, plus $20 M/B, and the $1 for weights).

I say, stop trying to gouge the customer on tire prices - just come closer than $32 MORE for the same god damned tire.

 

Be very care full with the 501 front tire in the rain over tar strips. You know those snaky 2" wide road sealing tar strips? Zero grip. I found that front tire also to be very vague in the first 10 degrees of lean angle. Kind of spooky until I got used to it. And of coarse seeing it has a single groove down the center all the way around, it likes to dance alot on steel bridges surfaces. So be careful there. It does work good when leaned over dry or wet. I've used Dunlops on all my past street and race bikes. The 501's were the last bias ply used and will never use them again. Back tire is great. Front tire sucks IMO. Went with the Conti-Go's. NICE tires for bias ply.

 

Front wheel is off and in the shop. Will be done by the afternoon tomorrow and back on the bike by the evening.

And no badbilly, I didn't take it for a ride today. I'll save that for tomorrow evening.

 

Both wheels are back on the bike, and it looks great! Weather should be decent to day so I can go and start to scrub them in.

I'll post pics asap.

 

I'd go with the local shop. I've pondered the very same thing myself. You can save quit a bit of money on the tires by buying online, but believe me, your local dealer won't like the idea of you buying online and then having them do the install. You could remove the wheels and just tell them you're doing the work yourself as a means of educating yourself on your bike. I think they would understand that a whole lot more. Like you said, your local dealer is there when you need them.

 

Thats exactly what I did VerconaVale. Going in there they even told me that I would save a good amount of money if I took the wheels off by myself and had them mount/balance them. I thought that was very honest of them. I couldn't get both tires done at the same time, so it took me about 4 days overall to get the project done between my classes. The folks down there know me by name now, and I'm sure they would not hesitate to help me out if I need anything else. And I wouldn't hesitate to go back.

As far as the tires go, WOW. New rubber makes such a HUGE difference on the handling of the bike. The back was squared over quite a bit, which I knew was affecting the handling of the bike, but I never would have guessed that the bike would roll into corners that easily! I also changed the oil (purchased the filter from the same shop) and now I wont hesitate to take the trips that I have planned for this summer.

A great experience overall for me!