Did he apprentice for Keith?
Keith was a good friend of mine who told me that Ted apprenticed under him while at a Cycleworld or something.
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Where do you guys go for new tires?
- Thread starter flyinggarlicbread
- Start date
Keith was a good friend of mine who told me that Ted apprenticed under him while at a Cycleworld or something.
Relax
Well-known member
Keith at Cycle World East? Damn, how young is Ted?
No I think it was the Cycle World West location that closed around 20 years ago.
Relax
Well-known member
I never knew anyone at the West location. I used to hang out at the East location in the early 90's until my friends all moved to McBride.
Only if you can get him to autograph them.
The bike was a 2003 Kawasaki Zr-71 and this was back in 2015 when I had my dispute with Ted Bundy Toes. Like I said, if you are a bike mechanic and you are only good at changing tires and oil filters, then you are as valuable as a gnat to me.
You would have been willing to pay to split the cases on a ZR-7?
I was stupid for investing too much money on this piece of junk, bought it for $2900 and I spent another $3k on it, and it still wasn't running properly. And forget about trying to start this on a cold morning, it was carburated. I bought a recent model bike fuel-injected and have never looked back.
You just wrote those words yourself. I think you owe Ted some gratitude
Quick summary, for context, in case anyone missed / can't remember the previous posts that you're referencing:
@Wingboy
If local dealers sell for the same price as on-line, sure, but that is never the case. I get them at FortNine or Pete's Superbike, usually Pete's.
I install them and balance them myself to avoid installation issues (gouges, scratches, etc).
Basic equipment consists of:
- A sturdy workbench so you don't have to bend down
- Some sort of support or stand on the workbench to hold the wheel in place so you aren't putting pressure on the brake rotors. An old car wheel with tape or rubber hose around the rim will work.
- A length of threaded rod, a couple of wingnuts and washers run through the workbench/stand and through the hub of the wheel so it stays in place
- A schrader valve tool to remove the valve and deflate the tire
- A bead breaker. Can be something as simple as a 10" C-clamp, or integrated into your support/stand
- 2 or 3 tire irons. Smaller 10" ones are fine
- A couple of 12" bar clamps to squeeze the tire and keep it in the drop center of the wheel
- Some pieces of heavy plastic cut from a laundry detergent jug to avoid scratching your rims with the tire irons
- Lube. Dish soap works fine
- A compressor to seat the bead, but a good inflator can work.
You can do it with much fancier equipment if you like, or less equipment if you already understand the technique and are working with soft tires (stiff-sidewalled Dunlops suck). I also balanced my wheels the first few times, but I don't bother anymore.
Difficulty ranges from absolute "screw this" for your first one to "hey, that was pretty easy" once you do a few and get the technique down.
- The most important thing is to keep the opposite side of the tire in the drop center of the wheel when you're trying to lever the new tire on. This gives the tire on the near side an extra centimeter or two of space to slip over the rim easily. You probably won't remember this the first couple of times and will just reef on the tire irons really hard. Smaller irons make you focus on technique rather than brute strength and potentially damaging the tire bead.
- The second most important thing is lube. Clean and lube both the tire bead and the wheel thoroughly everywhere the tire will touch it during the remounting process.
It can be depending on the tire type and width and rim sections. I always used Melco Tire irons (the flat type) and 2" x 5" plastic strips I'd cut out of old windshield washer bottles to protect the rim. I did that for decades...since the mid-70s. I recently ordered a tire changer from Olmaxmotors in Poland. A heck of a lot easier and a heck of a lot less sweat.
I built my own tire balancer.
Tubed tires are a lesson in patience and finesse. I did one a few years ago and so proud, front and back. Came in the morning an the rear was flat. I pinched the tube. Got to do it again. This was just with tire irons and dishwasher soap. If I had to do it again (rear is flat again). I would use real tire lube. The more you sweat the more you are doing it wrong. I sweat a lot.
This summer when I installed a new front tire.
When it comes to tools and shop equipment, I do no cheap out.
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