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Finally installed DS Tire on my Suzuki C50T...but my ears are still ringing

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jedishon
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Terry1013
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Finally installed DS Tire on my Suzuki C50T...but my ears are still ringing Empty Finally installed DS Tire on my Suzuki C50T...but my ears are still ringing

Post  Terry1013 Sat Apr 24, 2010 9:14 pm

Well, after 3 flats and getting tired of the high cost of MC tires I resolved myself to installing and trying a car tire on the bike. I also have really wanted to run a tubeless tire so I could plug a tire on the road and go.
After much research and study on this forum, IntruderAlert and Volusiariders.com I settled on a tire from Walmart, a Goodyear Viva 2 P195/65-15. It is not a directional tire but was in stock and easy to find in the future if I need another. Stood next to a worn Metzler 880 it is about a 1/4 inch shorter. I wanted a taller tire but this was in stock and was close enough I figure. I bought 2 tire spoons from Harbor Freight store so I could do this myself.
I removed the old Metzler and cleaned the inside of the rim as best I could with a wire wheel on my drill. On the rim center when the tire is seating it has to push over a small ridge to seat. I had read that grinding that ridge some helped in seating stubborn tires. So I to a grinder and gently removed the highest part of the ridge all the way around on both sides. That is some really hard steel that took a long time to grind enough to make a difference. After grinding I smoothed it down. I cleaned the inside of the rim with Methyl Ethyl Ketone that I had laying around in the garage and wiped several times and blew dry with the air hose.
To seal the spokes I used 100% silicone specifically designed to be used on Metal and Aluminum found this at the local Lowes store for $5 a tube. I dabbed each spoke end and covered with a little glob and smoothed it out to cover. I let that dry and set up over night then the following day skimmed a good coat over top of the spokes and smoothed this all the way around to a build up of about 1/4 inch. I also prior to this installed a tubeless tire valve stem. After I was happy with the silicone I let it dry for 24 hours also. The next day I felt I needed some protection over the silicone in case I nicked it with the spoons while installing the tire so I wrapped with a good quality duct tape.
I wrestled the car tire onto the rim and hit it with a little air and it held air immedialtly. It popped onto the rim all except about a 4 inch length on each side. But no leaks at the spokes So I let the air out and tried a few times and it did the same thing with 20 pounds of air. Luckily I had a clip on air chuck so I could clip & let it go... this may have saved a hand for me!! After a while it was obvious this was not going to be easy so I took the tire out into the driveway and clipped the air hose onto the valve stem. I went back into the garage and regulated the pressure going to the tire by cranking the regulator at the compressor. 25, 35, 40, 50 60, 70, 80.... I'm really getting nervous here. At 85psi I heard a nice little pop and snuck out close enough to see the tire was seated on one side. I took the air line off at the compressor and let it bleed the tire down. I turned it over and the bottom still had to seat. So back up we went. 85, 90 95 100 105, 110.. I'm REALLY not liking this about the time I hit 115 there was an explosion that I can't put into words here.. It was a Sunday morning 930 and the neighbors way down at the end of the street were out looking to see what happened. My wife come running out of our house to see what had happened, she said what was that? I said aw nothing.... played it off. She gave me a loook and returned into the house. OMG my ears were ringing and I started to rethink the whole darkside thing. I just let it sit for a while and thought about it.. 70 for the tire, another 70 and I'm still only 2/3 the cost of a metz. I went to Wallyworld and bought another. and tried again. This time as soon as I tried to air it up the spokes were leaking, undoubtedly from the explosion. So I tore it down, scraped off all the old silicone and started over. This time grinding a little more off the ridge and smoothing it out with a dremel. A complete redo of the process and this time a few days later I was back to trying to get it to seat. I refused to go above 60 psi. I aired it up and let it seat. All the while I've used dishwash liquid liberally on the rim & tire.
I read that night the accounts of airing tires to 150 to get seated and declared personally not to go that high again. After thinking about it I decided the next morning after looking at the tire with 60 sat overnight and still lokked the same to try something. I sety the tire out on the blacktop drive. Aired it up to 80 psi and went to work. When I got home that evening it was seated on both sides perfectly. I had the axle in the bech vise and could hang the tire there to spin I balanced it using all the old wights I had removed. Balnced perfectly I installed on the bike and took my first ride at 36 psi. Very mushy feeling and not to my liking. I aired up to 42 psi and took off, there it is, a nice smooth ride. I immediatly went to a large parking lot and tried a lot of figure 8's and quick stops. It actually feels more stopable with this tire on. After 300 miles I'm really getting to like the feel of this tire on the bike. I've been checking air pressure like crazy but its been fine. I hope to run many miles on this tire. 2 weeks now and I'm getting a comfort level with the tire. No real noticeable difference in speed. The GPS says I'm still only 4 mph off at 55 mph. So its the same. or at least near enough.

Terry1013

Number of posts : 6
Location : Casstown Ohio
Registration date : 2010-04-24

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Finally installed DS Tire on my Suzuki C50T...but my ears are still ringing Empty Re: Finally installed DS Tire on my Suzuki C50T...but my ears are still ringing

Post  Doc Sat Apr 24, 2010 11:39 pm

Congrates... cheers cheers cheers
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Post  jedishon Sun Apr 25, 2010 12:06 pm

Nice write up. Thanks for sharing it with us. Welcome to the darkside. You will also find it doesn't get pushed around as much in cross winds.

Jerry
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Finally installed DS Tire on my Suzuki C50T...but my ears are still ringing Empty Re: Finally installed DS Tire on my Suzuki C50T...but my ears are still ringing

Post  smokey2255 Mon Apr 26, 2010 5:30 pm

Greatwrite up and welcome to the darkside.

See you out there
Smokey
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Finally installed DS Tire on my Suzuki C50T...but my ears are still ringing Empty Re: Finally installed DS Tire on my Suzuki C50T...but my ears are still ringing

Post  nodakbassmaster Tue Apr 27, 2010 1:19 am

sweet, glad you like it! cheers
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Post  quadancer Mon May 03, 2010 3:11 pm

jedishon wrote:Nice write up. Thanks for sharing it with us. Welcome to the darkside. You will also find it doesn't get pushed around as much in cross winds.

Jerry
Get a Harley so you don't have to worry about that. :albino:
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Post  CaribCruiser Tue May 04, 2010 9:24 am

Congrats & enjoy it for a looooooooong time.
Better some bells in your ear then a hole in your wallet Wink
Robert.
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Finally installed DS Tire on my Suzuki C50T...but my ears are still ringing Empty Re: Finally installed DS Tire on my Suzuki C50T...but my ears are still ringing

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