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New parts showed up today.. one order of two, anyway: kudos to rockymountainatvmc for the free shipping offer: unfortunately tires don't qualify for 3-day free shipping, but it was still free!
Items that showed up:
* Bridgestone TW34 + tube
* Kenda K270 + tube
* Tusk D-Flex handguards (minus plastic.. wasn't in the budget)
I installed all of these items myself, and took the opportunity to inspect and see how the new brakes that I put on in the fall are wearing: not bad, but uneven: one of the shoes is wearing faster than the other on both front and rear. Re-adjusted for good measure.
Impressions:
Tusk handguards:
Relatively easy install, unfortunately you have to cut the ends off the handgrips to open up the bars, and on the right side you have to hacksaw off the end of the throttle tube: wasn't thrilled with this, but I'll take it for the added improvement.. the grips weren't in great shape anyway.
The bar clamps are moved as far as possible, that is, at the end of the guard's adjustment. This doesn't appear to be a hindrance, just a note. Their instructions advise to keep them at a slight downward angle, and to put the bar clamps inboard under the cross-bar. This works fine, but the rear allen-head screw is hard to get to, so snug it first, then tighten the other. This is the case on both sides: the cross-bar gets in the way.
Once mounted, they're solid, feels like you could (almost?) pick the front of the bike up with them; exactly what I wanted. They're extremely light, and total install time was maybe 30mins. It would be less if the kids didn't need a bath halfway through
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Some slight issue with rerouting the brake cable: the left guard seems to get in the way of it a bit. Still works fine, no sharp bending or kinking.
Kenda K270:
Nice tire, a little glossy from packaging, but good soft compound. I haven't taken it for a test ride yet (its after midnight and I don't care to wake anyone up), but it looks like a great upgrade from stock for my use. Tire seems to have gone on the rim easier than the old one came off. Total install time maybe 1 hour, since I had a moment and couldn't remember how to deal with the brake cable. No problems seating the bead: it popped around 12-15psi.
Bridgestone TW34:
Upgrading from a bald TW32: we'll see how it rides later. Installation was as expected: quite a bit more difficult than the front tire. Didn't flake and have brake issues though, so install time was around 45 minutes. Tire feels very stiff compared to the Kenda front. No problems seating the bead on this one, either: around 12-15psi again. The tube was remarkably difficult to get into the tire.. be prepared for a bit of frustration. What worked best was to lock my knees into the rim and push downward toward the floor while holding the rim mostly upright, then stuffing the tube in with my third and fourth arms.
Hopefully I didn't pinhole either of the tubes during installation, and they'll still have air in the morning..
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Keep in mind: I've never changed a motorcycle tire before, but have done dozens of car/light truck tires, and similar numbers of bicycle tires.
Beads broke easily, I have a cheap auto/light truck manual tire machine anchored to the floor in the garage that worked great for this.
I'll update with pictures later.
Items that showed up:
* Bridgestone TW34 + tube
* Kenda K270 + tube
* Tusk D-Flex handguards (minus plastic.. wasn't in the budget)
I installed all of these items myself, and took the opportunity to inspect and see how the new brakes that I put on in the fall are wearing: not bad, but uneven: one of the shoes is wearing faster than the other on both front and rear. Re-adjusted for good measure.
Impressions:
Tusk handguards:
Relatively easy install, unfortunately you have to cut the ends off the handgrips to open up the bars, and on the right side you have to hacksaw off the end of the throttle tube: wasn't thrilled with this, but I'll take it for the added improvement.. the grips weren't in great shape anyway.
The bar clamps are moved as far as possible, that is, at the end of the guard's adjustment. This doesn't appear to be a hindrance, just a note. Their instructions advise to keep them at a slight downward angle, and to put the bar clamps inboard under the cross-bar. This works fine, but the rear allen-head screw is hard to get to, so snug it first, then tighten the other. This is the case on both sides: the cross-bar gets in the way.
Once mounted, they're solid, feels like you could (almost?) pick the front of the bike up with them; exactly what I wanted. They're extremely light, and total install time was maybe 30mins. It would be less if the kids didn't need a bath halfway through
Some slight issue with rerouting the brake cable: the left guard seems to get in the way of it a bit. Still works fine, no sharp bending or kinking.
Kenda K270:
Nice tire, a little glossy from packaging, but good soft compound. I haven't taken it for a test ride yet (its after midnight and I don't care to wake anyone up), but it looks like a great upgrade from stock for my use. Tire seems to have gone on the rim easier than the old one came off. Total install time maybe 1 hour, since I had a moment and couldn't remember how to deal with the brake cable. No problems seating the bead: it popped around 12-15psi.
Bridgestone TW34:
Upgrading from a bald TW32: we'll see how it rides later. Installation was as expected: quite a bit more difficult than the front tire. Didn't flake and have brake issues though, so install time was around 45 minutes. Tire feels very stiff compared to the Kenda front. No problems seating the bead on this one, either: around 12-15psi again. The tube was remarkably difficult to get into the tire.. be prepared for a bit of frustration. What worked best was to lock my knees into the rim and push downward toward the floor while holding the rim mostly upright, then stuffing the tube in with my third and fourth arms.
Hopefully I didn't pinhole either of the tubes during installation, and they'll still have air in the morning..
Keep in mind: I've never changed a motorcycle tire before, but have done dozens of car/light truck tires, and similar numbers of bicycle tires.
Beads broke easily, I have a cheap auto/light truck manual tire machine anchored to the floor in the garage that worked great for this.
I'll update with pictures later.
