tyre changing

[2kwacks]

well its about the time I will be replacing the rear tyre soon, have read all the comments on the standard bt021 and to be honest I find the tyres to be dam good? ok have not tried any others on the the gtr1400 so can not really compare. to be honest I found this to be the case with my zzr1400. have had 3 rear tyres and 1 front tyre on the zzr1400 and each time have replaced with the standard bt014. again theses tyres are not rated with other zzr1400 riders? yet I found them to be excellent. last year me and a mate went to the alps he was on his hayabusa, and we did give both bikes some stick on the twisties and I had no problem with grip what so ever. so this is very confusing. on one hand I have many riders knocking the standard tyres on both the gtr and the zzr, yet I find them to be a good tyre. kawasaki must spend a fortune on selecting the right tyre for the right bike, so common sense tells me the standard tyre is the best choice. on the other hand! its also stands to reason, you the rider and majority of you all say the standard bt021 is not the best tyre for the gtr1400, the same applies about the bt014 tyres on the zzr1400. tyres are a personal choice and if its works for you, then whats the problem I hear you ask! its just that both my gtr1400 and zzr1400 handel exceptional well in dry or wet conditions on standard tyres and can not see how theses bikes could handel better on other tyres. do I need educating on this or am I thinking on the correct lines? anyway when you change the tyre do you take the wheel to the dealer or any bike shop? I have a mate you works in a tyre fitting garage, he allways changes my bike tyres but with theses having tyre monitors fitted am thinking best to take to a main dealer, or are they ok providing you dont break the bead by the sensor!

[Kwikasfuki]

Even dealers have been known to break TPS sensors. I normally tell my local garage and then watch them like a hawk when they are doing the change.

[Rusty]

I have just changed my tyres and I let the dealer do the lot .... walked off to the local cafe for a " Full English " and upon my return it was all done  ;D A set of Michelin PR 3's fitted etc etc £273. As you say it's all very personal ... take the wheels in and order your own tyres to save some money , but then waste an hour watching them do their job .....to be on the safe side I just hand it all over and be done with it.

[2kwacks]

I have just changed my tyres and I let the dealer do the lot .... walked off to the local cafe for a " Full English " and upon my return it was all done  ;D A set of Michelin PR 3's fitted etc etc £273. As you say it's all very personal ... take the wheels in and order your own tyres to save some money , but then waste an hour watching them do their job .....to be on the safe side I just hand it all over and be done with it.

thats a fair point! but I have a hugger fitted, so I would need to remove the hugger and to move the hugger I need to remove the exhaust, so might as well just take the wheel in, or suppose I would get a bigger bill. why cant things ever be simple?

[Lonewolf]

When I had my tyres changed earlier this year although the hugger and exhaust had to be removed there was no additional charge to what I had originally been quoted.

[Therenback]

Lord rusty - is that alf's ? Not far off needin new tread myself. Found them to be very good so far

[Kwikasfuki]

When I had my tyres changed earlier this year although the hugger and exhaust had to be removed there was no additional charge to what I had originally been quoted.

Why does the hugger and exhaust need to be removed to change the tyre?

[Kwikasfuki]

I have just changed my tyres and I let the dealer do the lot .... walked off to the local cafe for a " Full English " and upon my return it was all done  ;D A set of Michelin PR 3's fitted etc etc £273. As you say it's all very personal ... take the wheels in and order your own tyres to save some money , but then waste an hour watching them do their job .....to be on the safe side I just hand it all over and be done with it.

There's no TLC applied though. Even the dealers don't bother tightening to the correct torque, everything is manhandled. I even had to stop one of them laying the wheel down on the disc.

I use a company called The Pit Stop in Huddersfield to do my changes. Although not perfect, they listen to you. The best part is that you can take your bike and use their tools to remove the wheels, meaning you only get charged for fitting the tyre. I just replaced my rear PR3 (didn't need to use their tools as I took my own), and the owner was impressed with the level of attention I was placing e.g. greasing the axle and splines, correct torque, greasing and replacing the seal over the bearings. He said that kind of attention wouldn't be done by any fitting company.

[Boomer]

The Hugger interferes with removing the wheel from the Final Drive splines.
I've never removed the exhaust though. Perhaps they still have the OEM Mortar Tube fitted and it's vast ugliness gets in the way.
Either that or they don't have a ground down Allen Key to hold the TetraLink bolt while you remove the nut that holds the hugger.  ;D
Sorry, did I forget to mention that useful tool that I made myself the first time I had to remove the rear wheel, after fitting the hugger.  ::)

As for they tyres, a friend always swore by the BT-020s on his bike.
He said that they were perfect for that bike.
Finally, he couldn't get the BT-020 in his size and went for the PR2s instead.
He eventually admitted that they were noticeably better and they also lasted 4000 miles longer.
He is now on his first set of PR3s and loving them.

How can you know if another tyre is better if you don't try them?

As for manufacturers spending $£$£ developing tyres for the bike,.... what a load of codswallop.
They develop tyres for a size, speed and load. They then sometimes fiddle with an existing design for a specific bike.
What is weirdest is that it is always Bridgestone,......
OH WAIT, aren't Bridgestone the ONLY Japanese motorcycle tyre manufacturer?
Perhaps that is why the Japanese bike manufacturers fit Bridgestone tyres to all their machines.  ::)

After several bad experiences with Bridgestones I will stick with Michelin/Metzeler/Pirelli/Avon thank you.

[Kwikasfuki]

The Hugger interferes with removing the wheel from the Final Drive splines.

Don't know the make of hugger I have on mine, but it certainly doesn't interfere with the removal of the wheel from the spline

[mecki]

OH WAIT, aren't Bridgestone the ONLY Japanese motorcycle tyre manufacturer?
Perhaps that is why the Japanese bike manufacturers fit Bridgestone tyres to all their machines. 

Suzukis come with Dunlops

[Rusty]

Therenback .... YES , Alfs it was and I have to say a !st class service I get too ... from Mick at sales to the service team. I have been popping in there for years " just for a look ", even when I had my Hondas, and I was always greeted with a smile and offer of coffee even when just looking about, which is one reason I went there for a change of bike.

[Rusty]

Ps ... 2Kwacks ... The hugger was fitted by the dealer and there was no mention about it when it went in for new tyres so I imagine they just popped it off and cracked on ... I am sure there wouldn't be a problem as they come across it all the time  ;D

[2kwacks]

point taken about tyres! I do beg to differ? however my thoughts are, "why fix something thats not broke" as far the hugger concearned am only going on what have been told by one of our members! which was and I qoute" but you need to remove the hugger when replacing the rear tyre because there not enough clearence to clear the splines. but if we dont need to remove the hugger well thats happy days?

[mecki]

I also don't have any problems with the original tyres. But then, it's a new bike and the suspension is obviously miles better than the one I had on the 1250 Bandit before, so how do I know if PR3s or even Dunlop Roadsmarts aren't better until I've tried them?
Nothing to do with something not being broke, though. When the tyres are worn it is a different story. Then they are 'broken' and need fixing anyway, so why not listen to advice of other GTR riders who've been there and done that? So unless the PR3s are significantly more expensive I'll give them a go and see for myself. And if I can get Roadsmarts for a better price, I'll most likely go for those to try them out. They were good on my previous bike, so they can't be bad on the GTR.