I got the best deal from the local Yamaha dealer. The guy ordered a Dunlop 402, narrow white wall tire with the Harley name on the sidewall. I took in the rear wheel and he mounted and balanced it for $118 - tire, valve stem labor and tax.

 

Bill,

So you do leave your bike on the jack unattended? I was refering to a lift as one of those hydraulic table type deals. I have a Craftsman jack. I just didn't know if it was ok to leave the bike up unattended you know.

Thanks for the info

 

Want to by METZELER 880 tires and American Motorcycle Tire doesnt seem to have them. I was on some other site and they had different styles and sizes for the Metzeler 880. Does anyone know which model numbers I should get. I want back and front tires with no whitewalls.

Thanks

 

I leAve the bike on the lift but I make sure the safety bars are in place so the bottle jack can't bleed off and let the bike all the way down.

Regards,

Bill

 

The thing to remember in all of this, is to make it FUN. There's no hurry. If you don't get it done today, no sweat. You'll get it done next time. Go to Sears and get some tools; sockets, open ended wrenches, a torque wrench, some torx sockets and allen sockets, a motorcycle lift, and lastly a harley manual for your bike. It will seem like alot of money to buy all of this stuff, but you WILL save money in the long run, plus you'll feel better about things, as you KNOW if it was done to spec. or not! I was nervous about throwin' a wrench to my big dollar Harley at first, but I just told myself, "we're gonna get to know each other".

So far, so good. [&:]

I guess I'm lucky, in that at the dealer, the two mechanics really know their $hit!! Both are real bikers, and have been workin' on them for 20+years, so I actually feel good about lettin' them work on it. I try to do most of my own work, but I'm not to proud to turn it over to Travis or Kris when I'm in over my head!!

P.S. It was built by men, and can be fixed, so if you screw up, then learn from it, and have it fixed, and move on......Nobody was born a "Master Mechanic", and the best learned by breaking/screwing stuff up too!! Jump in and try it, I do it!


joe

 

To change my rear tire on a fatboy, yes it was that easy. I visited with a friend who has been working on bikes for the past couple of years and he gave me some advice. That was the adjustmnet screws on the back on the swing arm, should be acuratly measured to get it back in the proper position after the change. I too own a craftsman jack and it does a great job! I only have one problem and that is that the bike sits low and sometimes i have to force the jack under the bike (any ideas?). I agree with the rest of the folks posting, have a manual on hand. I do have to say that the manual makes things sound very complicated but I had the rear tire changed in about an hour of my time and an hour at the shop where the new tire was installed and balanced (total time 2 hours).

 

I use a guy that is fairly smart seems to be able to handle basic stuff with out cause too many other problems some times he forgets where he left a tool and spends more time looking for it than walking to the tool box to get another.

Mac you buring off the tire now?? HA HA good for you, let me know if you nned help with your new skins, I have the best most greatest way to remove the stickers from rear tire, it is a secret but I think I will show you. LOL

 

In California I use Honest John in Santa Clarita. He is HD certified, used to run the shops at Glendale and Canoga Park Harley. Is cheaper, does quality work, and is a cranky old fart...like me.

In Arizona it is 2 Wheel Motor Sports. Does Harleys and Seadoos. Dave is a genuinely nice guy! One of the few Bullhead City Az. business owners who actually meets his commitments.

 

i do all my own work no matter what it is cars or cycles, didn't have a clue what i was doing bout a year ago but now i'm confident with what i can do. last summer the local service shop let me use their lift to change the tranny in my now sold blazer. change oil, tires, brakes, installed $1000 dollars worth of stereo equip. in my car (another one of my expensive hobbies) and i'm only 17 so theres lots more time to learn

 

i take the wheel off and have the tire changed and balanced
you do need a lift and yes you can leave it up i've left mine up for a week
at a time even run the engine on the lift no problem
taking the rear tire off is no problem except hd put the axel through
from the right side so the exhaust may have to be taken loose
put the axel back in from the left and next time leve the exhaust alone
I didn't take the belt adjusters loose so I didn't have to mess with
readjusting belt tension.. have fun with it not all that hard.