I give up!!!!!!!!

I have spent Sat evening and this am trying to mount my CT. The only thing I have managed to do is put a hole in my tube, scratch my rim, and totally frustrate myself. I am now going to see if I can find someone local to mount it for me. Any suggestions on how to go about this? I want to try the dark side, but am thinking about staying with a MT since I have been having all this trouble. Talk me into turning to the dark side.

take a breather , read this:
http://www.clarity.net/~adam/tire-changing-doc.html

then make up some lube with olive oil and dawn dish washing liquid with water, a half cup of each, shake well.
now let us know what trouble are you having and what tire do you have?
we will try to help you but we need to know if it is taking it off or are you putting it on?

horse

I got a Dean Celestial Metric Radial from a local tire shop. I was able to get the tire on and off after some messing around. I nicked the tube putting the new tire on. I tried to patch it but the patch would not hold when I pumped up to 90 lbs of air trying to seat the bead. It never did seat all the way. I took some chunks out of the inside part of where the tire seats to the rim. Could this be the reason it would not seat, or did I just not put enough air in it? I am going to call the local Honda shop Tues and see if they will mount the tire. I have to get a new tube any way. I went to Farm and Fleet and bought a new tube but it is for a car and the valve stem is too large to go thru the hole in my rim. I thought about drilling it out but got to thinking with my drum brakes I need a 90 degree valve stem so you can get at it with an air chuck. This pretty much explains what has happened. I am pretty mechanically inclined but this situation has me beat!!!!

As the Commander saya....Never give up, never surrender
There are only 2 others that got it to seat with a tube.
https://mcdarksiders.forumotion.com/vtx-1300-tech-f11/i-got-it-done-am-i-the-first-t1377.htm
https://mcdarksiders.forumotion.com/vtx-1300-tech-f11/i-did-it-t1479.htm

Jerry

Zman
You have a pm. Definately do not put a car tube in it. If you have it that far mounted already you should be able to get it on your self. Good luck

See you out there
Smokey

Getting it on is not the problem. Getting the tire to seat is. I have not tried in excess of 100 lbs of air yet. Should I? If I do get it that far and it does not seat, should I put it on the bike and run it at higher speeds with the bike on a stand? Could this do it?

Get it up to 100psi for sure and let the tire sit in the sun for awhile. The hotter the better. Let is set for an hour or so in the sun.

Next, put the wheel back on the secure the bike. Rev it up to 70 or so. Be very careful! Watch for wobble. Take extra precautions to NOT let the bike get away. Do this at your own risk.

I rode mine with the bead unseated. Got it up to 70 for 10 miles or so. Very risky. It did not seat the bead and was quite a harrowing ride. I do not recommend this.

In my case, I had to get a different tire. But I knew going in that I was trying a new tire and that I might lose $50. I did. But bought a tried and true Douglas and never looked back.

Sometimes, you are the first. Alvin Edison found 100 ways to build a light bulb that didn't work before he found one that did. Be sure to post your failures too. You're doing others a favor by marking dead end allies.

Good luck!

Steve-O wrote:Be sure to post your failures too. You're doing others a favor by marking dead end allies.

Good luck!

Steve,

Great advice here. It took me two tires to get the right one. I'm sure you remember me riding to Enis to Dave's house with that tire strapped to be back of my bike. I sure got a lot of looks on that ride.

For those out there doing your 'investigative work' but have not taken the plunge yet, the first thing you want to do is find out what others are running on YOUR model bike. Different bikes have different size wheels on them.

Then you want to measure the distance from outside to outside of your rims. You do not want your tire to be more than about an inch to an inch and a half wider than that.

Next, you want your tire soft enough that you will be able to put the squeeze on it to get it to mount.

All of that is advice from Dave and Steve that help point me in the right direction.

I came home and started looking at what others were running, narrowed my decision to the final tire, then went out and bought it. Being that I 'KNEW' that it had already been mounted on a VTX1800C wheel, I was confident that I was not wasting my time and $$ on this tire.

I got lucky and found a National Tire store (Lamb's) in my area that was more than happy to mount the tire for me. Since I have never removed the wheel before they even let me come in and watch - I am a visual person, so now I don't have a problem tackling that task in the future. I've seen it done and know how easy it is.

I watched them remove the old tire and mount the new one. They had to remove the rotor to get the tire mount machine to do its thing, but as soon as they got the rotor off, the tire went right on. I think the tire beaded at somewhere around 45-50 lbs pressure. It sounded sweet when the 'POP-POP' noise went off.

My advice - do your homework before buying your tire. It will save you a lot of headache in the long run.


click for full-size image

onei wrote:

Steve-O wrote:Be sure to post your failures too. You're doing others a favor by marking dead end allies.

Good luck!

Steve,

Great advice here. It took me two tires to get the right one. I'm sure you remember me riding to Enis to Dave's house with that tire strapped to be back of my bike. I sure got a lot of looks on that ride.

For those out there doing your 'investigative work' but have not taken the plunge yet, the first thing you want to do is find out what others are running on YOUR model bike. Different bikes have different size wheels on them.

Then you want to measure the distance from outside to outside of your rims. You do not want your tire to be more than about an inch to an inch and a half wider than that.

Next, you want your tire soft enough that you will be able to put the squeeze on it to get it to mount.

All of that is advice from Dave and Steve that help point me in the right direction.

I came home and started looking at what others were running, narrowed my decision to the final tire, then went out and bought it. Being that I 'KNEW' that it had already been mounted on a VTX1800C wheel, I was confident that I was not wasting my time and $$ on this tire.

I got lucky and found a National Tire store (Lamb's) in my area that was more than happy to mount the tire for me. Since I have never removed the wheel before they even let me come in and watch - I am a visual person, so now I don't have a problem tackling that task in the future. I've seen it done and know how easy it is.

I watched them remove the old tire and mount the new one. They had to remove the rotor to get the tire mount machine to do its thing, but as soon as they got the rotor off, the tire went right on. I think the tire beaded at somewhere around 45-50 lbs pressure. It sounded sweet when the 'POP-POP' noise went off.

My advice - do your homework before buying your tire. It will save you a lot of headache in the long run.


click for full-size image

onei,

Thanks for the info. But I believe that I am going "where no man has gone before." I am mounting a CT on a Honda ACE 750. I don't think it has been done before. Call me stupid, brave, a pioneer, ...... whatever, but i will get this done!!!!!!! Buying a new tube tomorrow and hitting a few independent tire shops to see if they will mount it for me. I don't need it balanced, Dyna Beads to the rescue!!!!! I will keep everyone updated.

Thanks all for the encouraging words.

is the tube leaking in the same spot every time even after you patch it?

remove the tire on the side that you are having trouble with, some tires have a wire from the bead , that might stick out and poke your tube , If this is the case then ether cut or grind the wire down smooth and cover it with rtv , let dry and try again, I hope this helps.
Horse

Whatever you guys do when you try to mount your own tires DO NOT use dishsoap, vegi oil, petroleum based oils etc. Get some tire lube from a tire shop. I managed a tire store for years and mounted 1000's of tires and believe me you don't want to use anything but tire lube. Soap will reconstitute when it gets wet and can cause the tire to spin on the rim. Vegi oils will never dry out and can do the same. Petroleum products will destroy the rubber compounds. I took my rims to a Big 10 Tire Store here in Orlando and they mounted em right up for me and didn't charge me anything :pirat: They were too amazed at the idea of mounting a CT on a motorcycle rim, wanted me to be sure to bring the bike by when I was done so they could see this blasphemy !! Works for me!!

I have an appointment to have my tire mounted at World of Powersports in Decatur, IL Thurs am. I called them looking for a tube because my local Honda shop did not have on and asked to talk to their shop. They told me they will mount up the new tire for a little over $30 if it is off the bike. I was all over that!!!!!!!!!! I will post some pics when I get it mounted.

Zman wrote:I have an appointment to have my tire mounted at World of Powersports in Decatur, IL Thurs am. I called them looking for a tube because my local Honda shop did not have on and asked to talk to their shop. They told me they will mount up the new tire for a little over $30 if it is off the bike. I was all over that!!!!!!!!!! I will post some pics when I get it mounted.

If they wont do it I have a guy just North West of Peoria that will for $10 plus $10 if you want it balanced...

Jerry