tire suggestions?

[yamaha fj rider]

FJ MCC VII

Take your time, don't force it, when frustrated take a break. The more you do the better you will get. The big difference between you and a tech is experience. Bikes are not hard to work on. You will do a better job than the local service department. Don't work on the bike last minute. Hope this helps?

Keep the wheels turning.
Kurt
     

[ribbert]

CraigO, if you like the Conti's, give the Road Attack 2's a try next time. If you ride hard and ride in the wet you will be surprised.

[craigo]

CraigO, if you like the Conti's, give the Road Attack 2's a try next time. If you ride hard and ride in the wet you will be surprised.

Thanks for the suggestion, but my bike has never, or hopefully will never get caught out in the rain. I don't commute on her as she's a weekend toy. My weekends are in the middle of the week though. 

CraigO

[jscgdunn]

CraigO, if you like the Conti's, give the Road Attack 2's a try next time. If you ride hard and ride in the wet you will be surprised.

Thanks for the suggestion, but my bike has never, or hopefully will never get caught out in the rain. I don't commute on her as she's a weekend toy. My weekends are in the middle of the week though. 

CraigO

Jeez you Kalifornia beach boys really do live up to the hype..."never out in the rain"!   I guess that means no freezing rain, sleet, snow, ice crystals or black ice either.   

[jscgdunn]

Red, Thanks for the comment and interesting pics. Food for thought. Maybe all white, with black accents, like my previous custom paint job...

Jeff, I looked at the Battleax too, but will probably go with the Avon for the front as well. You eat those up in 7,500 klicks? That's about 4,500 miles or so, right? I usually try to get a year or around 8,000 miles out of a set of tires, but I probably don't ride as hard as you do. But I'll bet you get your money's worth of fun out of your tires! Ride on, Brother!

I wish I rode hard...but really to old to claim that!  The Avons are really sure footed though.  We also have a bias ply Battleax on our 84 with over 8,000 kms and still have 5MM tread depth.

Here is a brand new Avon next to the one with about 7,000 KMs:



Here is a shot of tread depth on the new one, 7MM:




Here is a shot of tread depth on the old one, 2MM:

Front is the same depth

They seem to be a bad design as they only wear out in the middle.


I doubt if these guys have the same issue

[FJmonkey]

I doubt if these guys have the same issue

No tread to worry about, just some dimples near the edges that keep getting shallower with every lap.

[craigo]

Jeez you Kalifornia beach boys really do live up to the hype..."never out in the rain"!   I guess that means no freezing rain, sleet, snow, ice crystals or black ice either.   

I used to ride in the rain, back in my collage years when all I had was a motorcycle. I loved the rain when out of the dirtbike. Don't hang out at the beach much, if at all. I love the mountains and the roads that climb, twist, switchback, & drop. You know, where the roads go on forever.

CraigO

[jscgdunn]

Sounds awesome....we really do not have many great curvy riding roads within a few hours.  It does get better further west.  I thought everyone in California spent 1/2 the day at the beach and 1/2 the day lounging around the pool...and it never rains.   I saw it in the tourism commercials so it must be true.

[Capn Ron]

I'm pretty superstitious about not having a "professional" work on my bike. On the other hand, I know I can cook a better steak at home than I can get at any restaurant in town. Probably the same with wrenching on bikes, with the major difference that if I screw up cooking a steak, I have to chew more beef, but if I screw up on my FJ, I might have to end up chewing more street.

No one cares about your bike more than you do...certainly not the average "wrench" working in a dealership!  Once I got over that superstition of having the "professional" do all the motorcycle work, I dug in.  Litterally removing, examining, then (re-installing/replacing/powdercoating when appropriate) every nut, bolt, clip, washer, gasket, bearing, seal and cable on the FJ.  In the process, I was shocked to find numerous mistakes or outright deceptions that "professional" mechanics duped me over in the past.

I work on my bike as if my life depended on it.  A mechanic will work on your bike as if his $862 paycheck at the end of the week depended on it.  Take your time, learn about your bike and you will develop an amazing relationship with... and trust in... the FJ in the process.

I still haven't mounted/balanced my own tires though...Have my eye on a No-Mar setup.  Would have paid for itself EASILY by now!

PS:  Next time I'm in Austin, I'm stopping by for a steak.  

Cap'n Ron. . .

[FJmonkey]

I did some poking around on tire changers and found the Cycle Hill unit. The reviews are really good and seeing it on YouTube makes tire changing look Stupid Simple. The pay back for me is about 3 years. Here is a good link to it.  It is made by No-mar, consider it the upgraded version. But I saving for an RPM shock so it will have to wait.

http://www.dm.net/~bahwolf/tire/tire.htm

Here is the YouTube link.

Cycle Hill Motorcycle Tire Changer

[rktmanfj]

I did some poking around on tire changers and found the Cycle Hill unit. The reviews are really good and seeing it on YouTube makes tire changing look Stupid Simple. The pay back for me is about 3 years. Here is a good link to it.  It is made by No-mar, consider it the upgraded version. But I saving for an RPM shock so it will have to wait.

Those things are the shit.

I got to check out a live demo at the MotoGP a couple of years ago, and could not believe how easy it was to use.

They didn't have the hitch mount out then, though.

[ribbert]

I'm pretty superstitious about not having a "professional" work on my bike. On the other hand, I know I can cook a better steak at home than I can get at any restaurant in town. Probably the same with wrenching on bikes, with the major difference that if I screw up cooking a steak, I have to chew more beef, but if I screw up on my FJ, I might have to end up chewing more street.

No one cares about your bike more than you do...certainly not the average "wrench"
Cap'n Ron. . .

Ron's mostly on the money, I've worked with or employed dozens of mechanics over the decades and there are a few good ones but they're like hens teeth. In fact, I can think of only two, ever, that I would trust my bike to.  Bike mechanics are worse than car mechanics. If they are trained and qualified they know how, but most just don't give a shit.

Cap'n Ron is right about working on it yourself, if you're comfortable and you want to that is. The FJ is about as simple as a bike and an engine get. There is nothing you will ever want to do to your bike that hasn't already been done hundreds of times by forum members.
There is a staggering amount of information here and plenty of people to help talk you through.
Even if you just manage the servicing and minor repairs you will be miles in front and it will give you immense satisfaction.

No one is ever mocked for asking really basic questions, you've got to wait until you start offering advice for that. If you have ever fitted new blades to your lawnmower, you can work on the FJ.
From a safety perspective, ask enough questions and you can't go wrong.
It is like cooking a steak with a room full of chefs looking over your shoulder telling you what to do and making sure you get it right.

There are plenty of people of course who just want to ride and are not even interested in doing their own work, which is fine if that's your thing, plenty of members do you use mechanics. But, if you want to learn and it interests you, this is the place. There are many here who have successfully carried out procedures, with the help of the forum, that they never dreamed they were capable of.

Noel

[Pat Conlon]

Yep, spot on Noel....That's what we are all about......helping each other. 

[Dan Filetti]

Yep, spot on Noel....That's what we are all about......helping each other. 

Wait, and drinking and getting laid too, -right? 

[andyb]

Not with each other.

Half right, maybe.