Tyre Sizing

[xbally]

They're in Wordsley (Stourbridge) . As I alluded to earlier in this thread the keen motor cyclist who was a director (Tony Jones)has now retired. They do MOT's , a fellow comes in once a week - Wednesday IIRC . i'VE JUST PICKED UP my GPZ front wheel and dropped off the rear from the RS250.
 From the help I've had on here from our members I've realised how complex the issues of motor cycle tyres now are. Back in the day there weren't so many options but now there are multiple bike types, tyre types etc etc I remember when I started out on bikes when there was only really Dunlop and Avon in the main with very little choice. Then more European manufacturers came in to the market and then the Jap tyres improved.

[xbally]

Where's your local tyre place Martin?

They're in Wordsley (Stourbridge) . As I alluded to earlier in this thread the keen motor cyclist who was a director (Tony Jones)has now retired. They do MOT's , a fellow comes in once a week - Wednesday IIRC . i'VE JUST PICKED UP my GPZ front wheel and dropped off the rear from the RS250.
 From the help I've had on here from our members I've realised how complex the issues of motor cycle tyres now are. Back in the day there weren't so many options but now there are multiple bike types, tyre types etc etc I remember when I started out on bikes when there was only really Dunlop and Avon in the main with very little choice. Then more European manufacturers came in to the market and then the Jap tyres improved.

They are in the main car folks.

[iansoady]

I've just popped in to see Lee at Stealth and he fits your own tyre to a loose wheel for £20. So when I have the wheel off I'll drop it in to him.

https://stealthmotorcycles.co.uk/

[xbally]

I've just popped in to see Lee at Stealth and he fits your own tyre to a loose wheel for £20. So when I have the wheel off I'll drop it in to him.

https://stealthmotorcycles.co.uk/

That doesn't sound too bad.

My place quotes £10 each but I'm sourcing the tyres through them of course.

I don't know what the mark up per tyre is. It would be interesting to know.

I didn't want to get the tyres elsewhere in case they were the wrong size and had to be sent back + any problems with tubes, valves, balancing etc...

I picked up the GPZ wheel yesterday and dropped off the RS rear. Re-fitted the GPZ in the afternoon and whipped out the RS front which was a bit tricky as I don't have room to use my paddock stands in our summer house but the RS is no heavyweight so I was able to jack up the front slightly to gain enough clearance to remove the wheel while the rear remains supported on the centre stand on of timber. It's all quite secure . Amazing how much simpler it is with a light weight.


Later I picked up the RS rear wheel and dropped off the front. The rear now has a nice Bridgestone Battlax. The old front was not a Mitas but an IRC with a 2010 date so I'm best shot of it. Tyre looked to be in OK condition though with plenty of treads and no cracking I could see,

Planning to pick up the new front for the RS later this morning.

I've pulled my back with all this activity and the cold weather (serves me right- I should know better at my age) so I may have to wait for the warmer weather / back rest before I refit the RS wheels. I aim to do the front first and then the rear after I've cleaned off 10 years of grime / chain lube / oil etc.

[xbally]

Ok so I've just picked up the last tyre.

On the plus side they have only charged me £10 + VAT to fit each one to the loose rim.
The Battlax cost £90, the GPZ Mitas was £550 and the RS Mitas was £45.
I chose to pay £2 to dispose of each old tyre environmentally when I could just have sawn them up to go into landfill.
The VAT element was £45.20.
Grand total £271.20 which didn't please the wife at all!I set off £100 birthday money and £82 I had in my Ebay account to try to retain marital harmony.
Nothing comes cheap these days but as I get older safety rises up the list of priorities.

[Moto63]

Ok the GPZ Mitas was £550 and
I chose  to try to retain marital harmony.

Wowsers Martin. That’s one expensive tyre. I don’t blame you for trying to retain some marital harmony after that bill 😉

Ps.... should you ever think of parting with the RS250 ...please give me first refusal on it. Had one new back in 1981, had it for 5 yrs then sold it to big brother as his go to work bike and I bought my first shiny new XBR.
Cheers, Michael

[Moto63]

Pps..... Having been a sufferer of two slipped, now prolapsed discs Martin you have my sympathies.

[xbally]

OOpppps £50 NOT £550. Check your spelling Martin. Idiot! :'(

Yes I will give you first refusal ...if I remember! However I've always been of the view I will keep the RS250 for as long as I can keep riding as it's so light and manageable.

I seem to recall either you or Andrew ? sold me one in bits  you had part restored with a load of powder coating done. This would have been back in 2018. I know because we'd just moved into our bungalow. We met on a service station on the M6 North one Sunday morning IIRC? I had to move that on when I found myself with too many bikes / projects but I know for a fact the guy I sold ot to completed the resto. I seem to think he'd previously done a Cateram 7 so an RS would have been easy! My current one was a part resto when i got it but it had been cafe racered so I put it back to standard as I had a load of parts at the time.

I've always suffered with my lower back. There's a family history on both sides but fortunately so far I just need to take it easy for a few days and not do too much heavy lifting or bending. Fingers crossed .You have my sympathy with your serious back problems. They are very common. When I worked in law I was often consulted by people with physical manual jobs whose backs had a congenital weakness and often they were not able to continue in that type of work.

[Moto63]

Afternoon Martin.yes it was big brother Andy who sold you the RS I think, certainly wasn’t me.
Please don’t think I was hankering after you selling yours, I know you’re more than happy with it, I meant IF you do ever think, “it’s time for it to go” then just let me have first refusal on it before you advertise it anywhere.
Cheers, Michael

[xbally]

' Evening Michael.
No don't worry I didn't think you were hankering after my RS. It's always worth putting feelers out if there's something you want.
I'll certainly bear you in mind if I do decide to sell but as I said my plans at the moment are to keep it for as long as I can.
I didn't get round to re-fitting the rear wheel today due to the poor light and weather and I thought I'd give my aching back a rest. I did clean 2 cars today though for the exercise.
I managed to re-fit the front wheel last thing yesterday but ran out of light to do a final check and tighten up.

[Ian]

I have just bought front and rear Bridgestone S22 tyres for the new SRX. 110/70 x 17 and 140/70 x 17 radials. They call them "Hypersports tyres" maybe a bit OTT for the 400 but at £180 fitted, I'm not complaining. Got them from Sticky Stuff in Telford. I do know that they charge £20 for fitting a single wheel or £35 for a pair. Seems on par with most now. I'm happy as they are local to me.

[xbally]

Still not had time to re-fit the rear wheel with the Bridgestone. Weather here has been wet and now cold .I need to clean up the area around the swinging arm / mudguard underside before re-fitting. I did make a start but I couldn't see very well so I need to try again in the sunlight or get my lead lamp out now my back is a bit better.

[kevberlin]

Martin.
I did those jobs too when my 250rs rear wheel was off. Very worthwhile. I also stripped the paint from the alloy rear brake cover and polished it up. Looks very nice all shiny and clean.

Kev

[xbally]

I've done a bit more this afternoon . Got the sprocket back on the hub with the spacer and large circlip. Incidentally I previously had a load of play in the rear sprocket which I thought was due to worn cush drive rubbers. The RSA has a slightly unconventional set up more like my Ducati and the rubbers are hard to remove and at the time it was difficult to source new ones. The de lux model has the usual larger rubbers which you can easily remove and get new ones. Anyway it turned out it was not worn rubbers but someone had fitted the wrong size spacer under the circlip-hence the play. I had the correct spacer in my parts stash so it was an easy fix.

[kevberlin]

Agh,,,the dreaded Cush bush for the rsa. I dropped on some 2 yrs ago and actually have a new set in my garage……just in case!
Just bought a Delkevic exhaust system for my cbf250………hopefully get that on in the coming weeks, although, being a cold weather whimp, I’m not actually riding much. The 250rs is stored away for the summer months having had a tidy up and new rear tyre. Bring on the Springtime!