Is this normal?

Not sure on that Kbike wheel. The snowflakes on my R bike took several coats to cover. Partially due to the profile of the substrate. My Beemer guy does tires for the dealership he works for. The machine ain't one of those garage band specials from Beijing and my guy is a tool and die maker by trade. He doesn't own a car and does tire testing for Metzler. One of the other shops rents out a small space to one of the local fast guys who does tires, chains and sprockets. He is good. Busting beads on radials is work for a machine..not me with a handfull of tire spoons.

What is your call on balancing? I have it done. Any real tire guy I have ever talked to says to do it. This includes my guys and the head tech dude for AVON.

How bout loafers and fishes? Loafers too damned lazy to do just a little homework and yet can type out questions that have been answered a hundred times. Maybe Jesus will not strike me down if I never talk about those ******** R/Rs again..

 

Zen has found his place on the mountain.. The top floor called the ignorance level or maybe the bargain basement where all the dead Harley's go. Maybe he is Jesus too. Not a clue.


What is scary for those who are into history is a recap of Godo Magarulians book "Chopper" , now out of print written in about 1919-1920. In synopsis, it's about a guy who came back from WWI and became a Harleydood in a strange way. He rode all over SoCal putting up notices on shop walls offering use of tools, a spot to rack out or a meal to any biker folk.

This guy killed who knows how many, chopped them up and freaking ate them. He was finally stopped when he got arrested on Terminal Island trying haul away refuse from a tuna cannery. He was mixing the fish waste with what he didn't eat, having it canned and was supporting himself and his "habit" by selling the waste as cat food.

 

Sounds like a Soylent Green episode. Think Charlten Heston was in that one. Goes way back. Had to think hard about the loafers and fish thing but finally came up with my interpretation. Its really funny though, because the people with them stick on fishes on their Vee-Hickles are usually the worst drivers and would cut your nut sack off rather than be late, lord knows where they are going in their SUVs.

Balancing? ABSOLUTELY! if you go to a cut rate place sometimes they wont do a rear tyre on a cruiser. I always did it regardless if I had a fancy Snap-On tyre maching or a static balancer. Kinda Zen like getting a modern tyre to balance on stuff that had its origins that go back a 100 years or so. A good idea still works even today. I always cut this silver duct tape they use for duct work and taped over the stick on wheel weights. (trade secrets here) :wink: Was at a garage today and asked the mechanic if he had a multi meter. He told me he left it on the dash board of a car years ago and it got fried by the hot sun. All he uses now is his scanner that plugs into the cars 0BD 2 input. Doesnt even use a test light anymore either. Told me the cars today tell you whats wrong with them. Kinda scary really...are bikes next? Thats when I will ask Jesus for some help. :smile:

 

I always check the balance of my wheels when mounting new tires, but tires these days are so damned consistent, that I've found once my wheel is balanced I can mount the same type of tire over and over again and rarely (if ever) need to change weight. In the rare case that a tire goes on off-balance, I simply pull the valve stem back out and spin the tire a little on the rim to offset an unusually off-balance tire; that little dot isn't always perfect! lol

When running the same model of tire, I've gone dozens of sets without having to move weight. Hell, I ran the Avon AV-45 / AV-56 combo on the 4th & 5th gen bikes and never had to change weights around!

...and yeah, there's is something Zen about using the old static method on a stand (it's all I've got anyway) and it's plenty accurate. :thumb:

 

No, it's you.

 

Heston went from Soylent Green to spokesdude for the NRA and shooting his own chow.

There were some dudes here awhile back that were convinced that balancing wasn't necessary. If ya get a chance instead of duct tape try some gaffers tape. A theater supply is a good source. The adhesive doesn get all gooey with the heat and when removed the residue stays with the tape. I am liking that black "Gorilla" tape of late.

The auto folks have had plug in cars since (guessing) the VW bugs in 1966. I saw the latest scanner the other day at a garage. Big bucks, but it would (so sez the dude) do both pre and post 1995s. Got a problem right now with my cage and an odd engine light and some codes that don't add up.. Got another guy on that one for me. Check this one out.. Super wrench. Rides Harleys but is not a "dood." Also a certifed MS Systems guy.

Just a guess again but observing the race bikes and the current electronics on the Gixxer streetbikes I would be I think close to the fact if I said computers and new stuff ain't very far away.

 

I hope Jesus and Zen continue to agree. If they don't we might see another of those gloom and doom flix where the earth is destroyed by a giant tire.

 

That's unfortunate any way you look at it. The shop I took my wheels to was pretty shitty but even took the time to lathe out the inserts for my axles to be used with their tire machine. Didn't notice any damage. I guess I got a little lucky.

It looks like Jesus misunderstood you Billy, it looks like you were quoting in the price of new tires with the mounting. I don't see what the big deal and stalker accusations are for. :crazy:

 

Its silver tape and does not get gunky and nasty with solvents. Its used on the inside of ducts in homes. I vaguely remember talking to an A&P Mechanic and he used the term "speed tape". You can get it at home depot and a roll will most likely last a life time. :smile: What else, yeh you can go on about FI and all that crap and I might just keep my true feelings to myself. I have to say I was impressed with the BMW set up with the flop sided triples and fours. Easy to get to the fuel rail and injectors. I learned alot about FI with those bikes. I do remember taking one out of the crate (funky cardboard) and it had a bad injector. Makes you wonder if they ever ran the bike out of the factory. Another nice thing about beemers was that they had aluminum gas tanks, no-matter how nasty the petrol degraded regardless of having to replace the fuel pump and ancillelary parts, it never rotted out. Rust is BadD. Cheers a gin and tonic is in my future. Maybe a winning lottery ticket?

Had a check engine light finally illuminated, It was a bad coil pack on # 6 cyclinder. Its amazing how a mis-firing cylinder could mimic a sketchy transmission. Its better but I wana drive the car more and see if I get another light to come on before I take it to the transmission shop. Shudder at 25 mph and at 45 mph. Had issues before this problem and just kept driving it. Its kinda a bummer but what can you do...

 

The figure was for tires and mounting. Ol Jesus needs to figure out that like the rest of us, he is really as common as cowshit and not to expect his rationalizations to be taken as absolutes.

If he wants stalkers, a pic in a thong on certain websites might be the best bet. I'm going for the hot chica thread mself..

 

Duct and gaffers tape is pretty much the same "silver" , but the adhesive is different. Then ya go "Duck" tape from WalMart that ain't even close.. The Gorilla Tape so far as I know comes in black. It's good stuff.

Almost bought a K75 and missed a K1000 by minutes on Craigslist. Zero actual experience with FI on a bike. I had an Audi SW with FI that was flawless.

BMW crates had great tiedown straps. They looked kind of funky since they were not colorful but strong as hell. The aluminum tanks I think you might be referring to are the Heinrich tanks. All the Beemers I know of that had factory tanks were made of steel. My 79 Ri00RS tank is steel and so is the spare.

Yeah, those engine lights can be a PITA. I do know that my particular problem ain't the #6 cylinder on my four banger..

 

IMO, there is a difference between static and dynamic balancing that needs to be looked up before having a third rate stealership slap on new rubber, chip the paint on the wheels and leave grease all over everthing. Or, the meaningful conversations can just go on into the dark and stormy night.