| Author | Message | ||
     Bomber |
well, after shifting the gum to the LEFT side of my mouth, the caliper slid home (I also broke a couple of corners very slightly with a file, but that seemed to have no affect until I had sat on the garage floor for a bit . . .said floor reminded me that we had a nicer (warmer) February than April . . . . . .ah well . . . doncha love it when, after hours of something not working, all of a sudden it does, and yhou have no idea how to repeat the miracle? | ||
| Buellzebub |
zen and motorcycle mechanics!  | ||
| Bomber |
bub . . . .exactly . . . .p'raps I should develop my own mantra . . . . . . always figured intoning Om worked better when delving into the electrical system | ||
| Henrik |
Bomber: LOL  Henrik | ||
| Bomber |
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| Jmartz |
Just got myself a new set of Michelin Pilots. Now I get to try my JC Whitney bead braking tool. Hope it works that last item I purchased for this purpose (from Competition Accessories) did not work at all. This is my 3rd pilot (rear). The previous two has short lives due to nail punctures.  I'm not sufficietly rich to be replacing tires every 2500 miles. | ||
| Aaron |
I use the JCW bead breaking tool, it works good. Also use the Metzeler balancing stand with great success. | ||
| Caboose |
As promised here is my input on the BT010's. For the street these tires are great. IMHO they are better than the Dunlop's. Here's why. Intial turn-in is quicker due to a more triangular front profile. Changing lines once leaned over is easier, because of the 180/55 on the 5.5" rim compared to the 170/60? Feed back is more precise because of a stiffer tire carcass, a good thing...although comfort fades a bit...I feel every little pebble on the road now. I haven't had a chance to ride them in the rain yet, nor have I really thrashed them on the road....weather has been too damn cold! My first trackday is in three weeks.....we'll see how they last when really pushed. | ||
| Jmartz |
AAron: I have the Metzeler balancing jig also and I love it. I'm not familiar with the bead breaker you allude to. The JC Whitney (sold by others also) is a steel contraption not designed specifically for motorcycles but quite robust with a base and long breaker arm. In the past I would drill a 3/8 hole through the tire and insert a threaded rod with washers and nuts. Tedious but effective. jose  | ||
| Jmartz |
While on the subject of wheels, is anybody aware of a lifetime for wheel bearings? I have held the bike up and attempted to discover play on the axle or at the neck or the swingarm and cannot detect any. | ||
| Reepicheep |
 Just looked at my rear Dunlop D205 on my Cyclone today and noticed what sure as heck looks like a manufacturing defect. The tire has about 80% life left, and developed a moderate split perpendicular to the tire (across it). Can't understand how it could be anything but a defect, as it extends to both the right and left shoulders (but not to the sidewall), but does not go across the middle. I don't think it would be possible to make this happen from a road hazzard unless I drove over a V shaped razor blade the width of my tire being held up straight with the tires nearly deflated.  The shape of the defect also looks like it was a defect in the rubber as well. It is holding together for the moment, but no way it will last the life of the tire. Anybody ever had any luck getting Dunlop to cover a defect, or would I be wasting my time? I bought the tire and had it mounted by a dealer, but I hate to bug them with it, it was last season and they did a good job mounting it, and had a cheap price for both the tire and the mounting. | ||
| Gcpoland |
My experience wih Dunlop is that they have been very willing to help, if it is a defect. But you have to have a dealer willing to do the legwork for you. Like most warranty stuff, if the dealer doesn't want to bother, it will make it harder but not impossible. Gary | ||
| Blake |
Reepi, What you describe sounds like the result of an encouter with a pothole or other sharp edged obstacle. When your tire encounters a sharp bump it tries to deform out of the way. If the bump is severe enough, the outboard areas of the tire tread get pinched between the rim and the offending obstacle while the center tread does not. Thus the cut does not extend accross the middle of the tread. I had the same exact thing happen to a rear D205 with only a thousand miles on it. I nailed a poorly filled pothole at 50 mph. The tire lasted its full lifetime of 5000 miles and through two track days. Maybe I was lucky. | ||
| Djkaplan |
Reepicheep, Same exact split across the tread of a 207 I had. Already had about 2K miles on the tire when I noticed it. I went ahead and used the tire until the tread wore down and the split disappeared. Hope it works out. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Interesting... I loaned out my digital camera, but I will shoot some pics when I get it back. Its pretty deep on one side, and the profile does not seem right for the pothole scenario. It extends across the entire curve, with nothing down the center incho or so, and nothing on the sidewall, and looks like it just pulled apart along an existing odd shaped defect.. but I could be wrong. The local (barely a) buell dealer was nice enough to walk out and look at it, and said it sure looked like a defect to him, but then proceeded with some total bs about "has to be returned to the store you bought it from". Not according to Dunlop it does not. Fine, I will take it to the dealer where I got it (an hour away), and take my order for the Supertrap IDS with me. They have been a lot better to deal with anyway, and actually stock Buells besides the Blast. These Harley dealers must be making money hand over fist from the chrome crowd, because they sure don't seem the least bit interested in giving me any service even when I try and support them | ||
| Blake |
Bill, do you remember tagging a sharp edge or pothole really hard? If not it is probably a defect. Unless your tire was underinflated, you would most likely recall a bump that was hard enough to pinch-cut your tire. I cut the left sides of a front and rear tire just turning hard left into a local restaurant's parking lot at about 30 mph. The restaurant parkling lot's cement entrance had a sharp lip about two inches above the street's asphalt. The sidewalls didn't show evidence of the pinching on my tires either; only the tread did. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I sure as heck can't remember anything.... I'll get a picture posted in the next few days and we can compare and see if it matched what you saw. I have no interest in screwing anyone... if it is my fault I will eat it. I sure think I would remember hitting something hard enough to do that to the back.. its a DEEP cut. | ||
| Pilk |
Anyone have a guess on the miles a Bridgestone 010 will get on a X-1? Moderate to mild riding, lots of long treks. I've got 6400 mi on 207's right now but cords showing and little chunks of rubber coming off the rear. X-1 parked till 010's come in next week. Pilk | ||
| Road_Thing |
Pilk: I think we ought to have a pool where anybody who wants to guess at your mileage can pick a number and put in a buck. Then, when the tire is shot, the one who picked the number closest to the actual mileage gets all the money. Of course, you'll have to ride the tire until air shows through the cords so we'll know you didn't change it out when it got close to your number! r-t | ||
| S3dave |
Pilk: I am getting ready to change my rear 010 to a 020. The 010 has 6000 km on it and won't last much longer..maybe 1000 km. I'm leaving next week for the Brag California trip and am hoping the 020 will last 10,000 km. BTW, loved the tire, good feel and great traction. Dave W. | ||
| Pilk |
Thanks guys, the pool is a great Idea, I could get a new set of tires off you guys. Just do lots of smiley faces when it gets close to my number. Pilk | ||
| Road_Thing |
 Really? You like the idea??? Can I hold the money??? | ||
| Srl |
Bought wheel (PM) bearings from a local bearing shop and they are manufactured by FAG Corp.(ok get the laughs out) but dealer said these are top of the line bearings not cheapies, anyone know anything about them? They were almost twice the price of the other bearings he stocked but cost is not an issue, I want to make sure I'm putting good stuff in and protecting my wheels. There is also an extra couple of letters after the number listed at the top of the page but he said that doesn't matter, any trouble? Thanks! | ||
| X1glider |
FAG, NSK, SKF...all good bearings. I specify them all the time. 6204 and 6205 are just your basic deep groove radial bearings. They come packed in a grease that's good for 8500 rpm. The -2RS means that the bearings have 2 seals. -RS is one seal only. No designation is, guess what? No seals. So if the ones you bought don't have those letters on them, take them back. | ||
| Libnosis |
Is anybody else singing the front brake blues (chatter)? Is there something I can do about it? The chatter is drowning out my beloved engine. Is upgrading to a 00 or later rotor and caliper assy the only answer? The problem is on my 98 S1 (of course). Thanks. lib | ||
| Buelliedan |
Lib, You can fix your present rotors. All you do is remove each of the carrier to rotor connections one at a time. Inside you will see a washer that should be partially bent. Take that washer and bend it about 1/4 of an inch 2 times so that it is bent at 45 degree angles. But don't bend them so much as to indent the washer, just get it round at the bends. Reinstall the hardware. Do this to every connection and your chatter should be gone. You could also find thicker wave washers which would help it even more. | ||
| Jmartz |
Libnosis: You can add another ballerina washer to the buttons. This will quiet down the noise considerably. Alternatively you could install the new rotor which is immune to noise but it is a bit heavier and not as attractive. jose | ||
| Jmartz |
 What causes a pulsating brake? My recent (2000 miles) Ferodo rotor is pulsating just as bad as my old factory unit (40,000 miles+). I have measured the thickness with a micrometer and it seems to be constant. Pads look good, brake is annoyingly pulsative. Jose  | ||
| Buelliedan |
Jose, Thats sounds like your rotor is warped. Use a dial gauge indicator and see if you have excessive runout. | ||
| Ara |
Guys, is a ballerina washer the same as a wave washer? Jose, did you mean that that one could install a spring/wave/ballerina washer on each side of the rotor under the buttons? Russ |
