Peer Pressure 1986 VFR700

I was going to like this...but that sucks. Hate to have to go to a dealer myself...but man don't ruin that powder coat.

 

hah, it is what it is. I can usually literally just push it with my hands over that part. And I will 100% damage the powder coat trying to get angrier with it. I walked away from it for a few hours to clear my head, tried again, and I had no further clarity on how to do it with the limited skillset I possess. Goddammit I've done BT45'46's 9 times with no issue. #10 is apparently where my luck runs out.

I have the new chain but not new sprockets yet. Maybe this is the ordeal that finally convinces me to pony up for a NoMar or similar tire machine. They make some hitch-mount ones that I'm curious about.

 

I have often though about a tire mount machine.
If I still raced (or even rode LOL) I would have one already. I don't trust any dealer around here to not F a rim up.

 

Not on VF/VFR, but I've got my first full race weekend coming up in a few weeks. I'm glad I chose to skip Autobahn today because it was friggen snowing this morning.

I'm not going to show you how badly I butchered the front decal installation (... I already ordered a replacement), but I worked with Chris at DrippinWet to come up with a logo, and I'm so friggen pumped about it. I'm just hoping I remember how to ride a motorcycle. It's been a minute.

 

Sorry about your tire woes. Let me know what you are thinking about for a tire changing machine. I might need to get one.
I may need to make a deal with the CyclerGear manager about tire swaps and purchases. I have the VF500, NC35, VFR750, and Tuono that all need some form of tire displacement. Boooo.
$$$$

 

You just need another set of knees keeping what you have done already down in the "well" of the wheel so you can do your finishing moves. Been there so many times.

Your knees are the keys.

When removing, there is a way to have spoons hold your work too if you install the rotor and have the spoons rotated under and holding for you.

 

I do ALL my tires changes on my knees on a blanket with my tools. It's just figuring out how to help yourself or buy some beer for a knee or a hand to hold a spoon. From 2.5" to 5.5" rims.

 

I do all of my track/street tires with just spoons and a static balancer. Easy peasy.

 

Time to buy some knee pads.

 

Well bicycle was the goal, but unicycle is fine for now. I will say that the putting the VFR front wheel on is so much better than the setup on the VF500F. The entire axle setup on the VF500F is kind of silly. I guess that's just technology improving.

I changed the fork oil a while back and put in 12.5W (mixed Maxima 10W and 15W). The fork seals are the one thing I have documentation for from the previous owner. They were replaced in 2014 and they're not leaking, so I didn't replace them. I figure I just want to get the bike running first to figure out if I even like it.

Will do. I've been given some suggestions I'm going to do some followup on. You're lucky your Cycle Gear even changes tires--mine won't. Also, congrats on the new bike(s)! I have nothing to add so I've just been following the thread and drooling!

You're probably right. Third hand may get me there and I've got a friend coming by tomorrow I'm going to con into giving it a shot. I do wonder if the buildup of powder may be causing me some issues, but I don't doubt that somebody skilled could pull it off. I just can't work out how to do it when I can't push the easy part over the bead lip.

Regarding knees--I always put on my thrashed up riding jeans with knee protectors when doing tires. I still end up bruised on occasion tho, hah.

Easy peasy is what it's been for the last several changes! The first couple I ever did sucked. There's definitely some technique that you learn. I've just never been not able to push the bead over the lip. This vid was like a year ago and I was messing around on some spray-bombed rims I just picked up and I decided to see how quickly I could spoon a tire on. But the VFR rear sure as hell isn't going like this one. Not the rear at least.

 

What music is playing in the background? It sounds dead opposite of my tunes.

 

From watching the video, it looks to me like your issue could be where the tire is opposite of where you are trying to finish. The whole part of tire that is already over the lip needs to be pushed towards center deepest well of the rim, and stay there, giving you as much slack as possible to work with. Most of the time that can be cheated a little, especially with modern radials. But the thick powder is not helping likely and some sizes of bias can be just weird like that too.

I have over 4 rim protectors and half dozen different spoons. Keeping more pressure on the last set of spoons while you set the next pair helps keep the tire down in the rim. As you progress, new sections need to be kept down (in) while also making sure where you started is too.

I know you know all of this, just re-clarifying some things. I do A LOT of tires and all my friends do their tires here too. So I've seen just about every combo and issue.

 

This is good info from all y’all. I should really go for some kit and do my own. Although I must admit I struggle with my 12” scooter tires.

 

Not sure--it just popped up on classical rock channel.

Lol, it's from the Doom video game soundtrack. People do "speedruns" to see how quickly they can finish a level. The "any%" is a category means all glitches allowed. It was a... nerd moment for me.

The smaller tires are usually more difficult. Something like a super soft carcass tire like a Pirelli SC3 (and that's the hardest one) you can do without breaking a sweat. The BT45/46's usually aren't too crazy--I'm probably just missing something on technique.

Thank you. I was curious if something might be obvious from that video that I could correct. Usually those dropwell clamp tools do the trick for me, but thinking about it now, the tire may be getting stuck on them. If I get a third hand today I may try again and not use them.

I added two more rim protectors to my shopping cart. The two I have isn't enough when I care about the finish of the wheel. I have some cheaper ones that I refuse to use after having them shoot into the tire after spooning the thing on and then having to dig the damn thing out!

 

One more thing, pull up on the opposite side and make sure that is up in the deepest part of the rim too. Maintaining pressure with the spoons will keep it there. That gives you more slack too.

You got it.

 

Hell yea. I think I just needed you (or someone) to tell me that it was okay to get rough with it a bit. I was afraid of damaging the tire, and it took a bit more force than I thought it would, but it got on there. Four things I did differently:

1. Tried the zip tie method out of desperation. Not a chance. I've never gotten this to work before, and the carcass on this tire is so stiff compared to the videos I've seen this working, I don't think this is a realistic option.
2. I heated the tire up way more. It was about an hour on the hair dryer. Mainly because I was using that time to clean the swingarm and put off tackling the tire.
3. I sprayed the shit out of the inner wheel before pushing the first side of the tire over it.
4. Most important--I lubricated the shit out of the bottom of the dropwell clamp.

I was stuck again but got a bit heavy with it and heard the tire slide across the bottom of the dropwell clamp. Once I heard that I knew it was possible to spoon it on. Still way harder than normal, but it got there.




Now I've got to get it running again. Well, I suppose it also needs a set of sprockets and a chain. I wanted to mount the rear though because I'd kind of forgotten how it went together.

 

Nice goin ' Matt, this is the only job I don't/.wont do myself.

ill do dirt bike tires, but the rest, forget it, ill take 'em in and have someone deal with the headache for the $100 it costs me.

if I had a tire machine...maybe

 

Ditto with The Cat


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Explain! Dirt tires are 10X harder. In the time you drive to the place, you could be done.

 

I've only ever done one set of dirtbike tires for a little Kawasaki KE100 which is like a beefy bicycle wheel. I didn't much like it having to worry about pinching a tube though!

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I wanted to check that the carburetor swap to the bodies that Captain sent me worked as well as verifying I didn't mess anything up with the wiring fixes. It fired up right away and sounded way better than before. So that's good news. It needs an actual vacuum sync, but it was a lot better.

Then it shot a nice little fireball up towards me through the carburetor and scared the shit out of me. I noticed on the ground that cylinder #3 had dropped its vacuum port plug, so it started running odd. That little vacuum nipple is super hidden! I shut it off before I took out the multimeter to check if the new regulator was, well, regulating.

I need to pull the carburetor again, so it'll make it easier to remove that vacuum nipple on #3 and just replace it with a washer and screw to cap it. I may also need to fix my little oopsie... I'm pretty sure I cut new fuel lines in the wrong direction. I think I need the connection off to the left, not right. Trying to figure out a way to not have the soft new lines pinch--that's what the zip ties are on there for.




I'm glad to have it back as a roller and a runner. It'll be a while til it's a rider though.