Helpful info

Just finished putting a 205/55ZR16 Eagle F1 on 2003 VTX 1800 C - I was following Bare's VTX web site for taking off the rear wheel for the rear axle he says you can use either a 7/16 or 12 mm allen I bought the 7/16 and by the time I went to retorque it started to slip. I would recommend getting a good 12 mm allen socket expensive but worth it( snap on) also there must of been a shortage of grease the day they built my bike -seems a likely reason for the bearings to go with only 8000 mi. I have applied lots ( moly paste) also make sure you tie the front end down securely- so that when you get mad that the tire won't fit in from the back and lift up on the bike it dosen't fall all the way over to the right(wow) don't try this without a buddy present ( I did) Don't try and mount the tire yourself unless you like polishing out rim scratches (I know how now). I did grind the inside ears and part of the rail off also. Looks good now- thought maybe this might help.

Thanks for posting Shock. there are trials and tribulations on the mount, some go better than others. But the rewards is much improved handleing and tire life. Did it and can't find any reason to look back...Ride Safe,,,,REAPS

=" Don't try and mount the tire yourself unless you like polishing out rim scratches (I know how now).

you can get these motorcycle tire spoons on e-bay. they work great. no scratches. I was impressed..

Thanks for the info on the spoons- but to late- the tire was such a tight fit just trying to get that last part over was starting to cut into the tire- lucky I finally found someone with a machine who would do it.