H Rated Tires: Opinions, Experiences, Advice, Please

[Oldenuf]

Like everything, one step at a time. But I enjoy doing lots of maintenance items on motorcycles, and would encourage anyone who is interested to do likewise. But some things I still leave for the shop mechanic.

Art

 

[Mike Cash]

Just ordered a center stand, so if I can install that by Saturday I hope to pull the wheel and have the tire changed Sunday. Also need to do my son's VTZ250 front and rear.

I believe by the time I wear out the tires going on this time I will be able to get set up for doing the actual change and balancing myself for the next time.

 

[Fuzzy]

Good choice. You will like stand for more than tire change. Just paid $100 to have set mounted. Would have been $40 if wheels off the bike.

 

[Mike Cash]

Putting a period on it.

I did a search for NC700X and H-rated tires and got a trip down memory lane when it turned up this thread I started three years ago.

Details are here: http://nc700-forum.com/forum/tire-tech-talk/4984-tires-fit-nc700-10.html#post173441

After three years of thinking about it...my wife will testify it's the only decision in my life I haven't rushed into...I finally broke down and bought the equipment to do my own tire changes at home. The first thing I did was to go through and read every post on every thread in the Garage section having to do with either pulling wheels or changing tires. I also read some guides from other sites and watched some videos.

Being in my 50s, overweight, and having high blood pressure and a short temper I quickly realized that all the things I read about bead breaking being hard and aggravating would best be avoided if possible. When I found that I could get a nice purpose-built bead breaker for about $40 delivered, that purchase was a no-brainer. Thanks to it, the bead breaking turned out to be the easiest part of the whole process.

I bought a pair of straight spoons about 30cm long, one somewhat longer curved spoon, and one overkill-ginormous 53cm flat tire iron. The straights were of limited utility, the curved was absolutely indispensable, and I was very glad I got the overkill iron. In addition to the Cartmanesque "you will respect my authoritah" way it worked in the tire mounting process, it was perhaps even more valuable for placing under the wheels and levering them into position when putting the bike back together again.

Another useful tip I picked up from having reviewed the forum as part of the planning process was that I could use the torque wrench on the left side 22mm head of the axle instead of on the 27mm right side nut. I bought a torque wrench for this project and since the largest socket I had at home was 19mm I was going to have to buy a socket for one side or the other. A 22mm was considerably cheaper than a 27mm so I saved a bit there. I picked up a nice 12" crescent wrench with a marked capacity for up to about 35mm and used that on the right side. Handy thing to have along on the bike, with plenty of leverage.

These same IRC RX-02 tires that I purchased for my son's VTZ250 three years ago and which ultimately inspired me to enter into this project are still looking good and holding up well about 10,000km later. The set I installed on my bike yesterday makes the third set of tires for it, despite the bike having only 23,000km on it and my wearing them to the point that I get worried comments about the state of my tires from rank strangers.

By the time the next tire change comes due I will have bought or built a decent stand to work with and I will get some of those doohickeys you clamp onto the rim to hold the bead down.

 

[potter0o]

Nice job. Nothing like a victory . Do you have a link to the bead breaker you settled on? I have come to that realization that breaking the bead for me is the only barrier to fitting this into my comfortable repertoire.

 

[Mike Cash]

Nice job. Nothing like a victory . Do you have a link to the bead breaker you settled on? I have come to that realization that breaking the bead for me is the only barrier to fitting this into my comfortable repertoire.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B005APDVBK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That's the one I got.I imagine any of the several similar models would work just as well.

 

[b_rubenstein]

Another useful tip I picked up from having reviewed the forum as part of the planning process was that I could use the torque wrench on the left side 22mm head of the axle instead of on the 27mm right side nut.

Rotating the axle instead of the nut doesn't give the same torque setting. The axle passes through spacers, chain adjusters, bearings, etc., that all add rotating friction that diminishes the torque at the nut. As a nut is tightened on a bolt it puts tension on the bolt stretching it producing a clamping for on the assembly. (This is why in some applications, bolts can only be used once.) Lose the twisting force through friction and the clamping force is lessened.

 

[StratTuner]

A set of tires with the W (or higher) speed rating such as are OEM run in the neighborhood of $450, give or take a bit depending on the brand/model. H rated tires are about half that.

That's amazing! I might pay that for the Michelin brad Pilot Road type, but for the Continental Motions, I can get both for about $150.

 

[Mike Cash]

Rotating the axle instead of the nut doesn't give the same torque setting. The axle passes through spacers, chain adjusters, bearings, etc., that all add rotating friction that diminishes the torque at the nut. As a nut is tightened on a bolt it puts tension on the bolt stretching it producing a clamping for on the assembly. (This is why in some applications, bolts can only be used once.) Lose the twisting force through friction and the clamping force is lessened.

My torque wench is calibrated in n/m so I got that whole "equal but opposite" thing working for me.

Seriously, if I were that uptight about it I wouldn't be mounting the "wrong" tires on it to begin with. But a 27mm socket won't throw me in the poor house so I'll try to have one by the next time I have to monkey with the axle.