Thursday, Nov 9 2017 [6,147 miles]
New tire time
6K miles
New 705
I could get some more miles out of the stock Bridgestone rear on my DR650. Winter rains have started. I’ve had a replacement Shinko 705 waiting for a couple of months. The weather is nice this afternoon. Time to change tires.
Strap down the front end
Raise the rear end
I moved the DR to the lift and strapped the front wheel down to the wheel chock to keep it in place when I use a scissor jack to raise the rear end of the bike. I used an impact wrench to loosen the rear axle nut because why else would I own an impact wrench :)
The wheel comes off the bike pretty easy. Next time I’ll remember to gently place the sprocket and cush rubbers on the lift before they fall there on their own.
Ready to break the bead
Beads broken
Dirty wheel
I removed the valve core from the tube before breaking the bead on one side and flipping the wheel to break the bead on the other side. With the bead broken I removed the tube before removing the tire from the wheel.
As clean as it is going to get
Balance
Ready to ride
About the only time I clean wheels is when changing tires. The rim is mostly clean, the hub not so much. I checked wheel balance before mounting the tire. The heavy spot was the where the valve stem hole is located. After mounting the tire the heavy spot stayed the same. I added an ounce of weight opposite the valve stem to make things a bit better.
I use baby powder to let the tube slide around in the tire when mounting and airing up. The cap on the 20+ year old baby powder container broke. I think more powder wound up on the garage floor than in the tire.
The bike is ready to ride. Maybe I’ll take it to breakfast Sunday – if it isn’t too cold. I much prefer the GS with heated grips and a larger alternator to power my heated gear for riding in the cold.