Lone Wolf

I saw one in the wild yesterday in California when I parked my bike. I was shocked.

Wow. I would have taken the road at the same speed - no real warning the road had a "rock of doom". Adversity builds strength, and knowledge for future survival. I recently got the same Innovv K2 and it has been very stable, great that you captured the incident.

Congratulations. Was that from "wheels in motion" in Chatsworth? I have seen their prices on Cycle Trader and wondered if they tack on destination fees or something. Is that brand new?

Maybe you could just put some "Ride-on" in the tires. It will balance the tires and protect against flats. I just got 2 bottles and will be putting them in this week myself. Supposed to work well, and not get all over the rim like "slime". Comes with valve core removal tool, you would just need compressed air after put it in. Mid-trip, that would be a lot faster than removing the wheels from bike to balance them.

Check out this thread where a member solved that with a Corbin seat custom made for him. Member Panther6834 told me that the main benefit was narrow sides on the Corbin, they removed foam from sides that acted like lowering the bike for him and also more comfortable.

Cool. Just play with the engagement point, and get it where it works for you.

I understand. If the smell is from the clutch, improper adjustment at the lever could make it slip. That is what I meant in my prior comment. If you take all the slack out of the clutch cable, and the clutch isn't fully engaged with your hand off the clutch lever - you are going to have some degree of slip caused by poorly adjusted clutch lever (too tight). If the lever is binding that could also cause slippage (not fully release). Once you get the engagement point right using the stock lever, everything will be OK. Your bike is pretty new, but anytime I pull a clutch lever I clean everything (Q-tip is your friend) and apply grease to all pivot points including where the cable end rotates in the lever. I just use wheel bearing grease, anything is better than dry metal-on-metal.

If you smell the clutch it is likely slipping. But of course there would be other obvious signs of not getting full engagement of the clutch even in non spirited riding. Gotcha on the original lever going back on. You won't be juggling multiple issues and can simply adjust for engagement.

Well, depending on your adjustment - it may not need to "go back" any more. What I am not hearing on this thread is your engagement point. This stuff is fairly universal. Does the clutch fully disengage, can you release a bit, then a bit more and it starts to engage, and smoothly fully engage the clutch by releasing. If you can pull in the clutch fully and start in first gear while holding in the clutch, and release with normal engagement, you are good to go. You mentioned "cable adjuster screwed to make more freeplay resulted in lever not returning even more" Right, that is what you would expect. The clutch is fully engaged, it isn't going to pull any more cable. You mentioned "disconnecting the cable it had smooth operation no hickups..." OK so the lever moves smoothly. Assuming it is a quality aftermarket lever you just need to adjust for the engagement point. If it is a super cheapo aftermarket and you don't have trust in it - I would take it off.

How tight? What are the numbers?

Right, the sprockets are going to wear. BUT, if the chain doesn't "stretch" then the sprocket wear would be reduced quite a bit. Of course the reason chains "stretch" is because of wear at the rollers & pins inside. I imagine that if the chain maintained original length, no stretch at all, there would be less "hook" type wear on the sprockets (as shown in this article)

We have all been there. But there is a reason for that. Changing tires by hand is an absolute bitch until you learn the tips and tricks. Over the last 10 years, I must have watched every video on youtube re: changing motorcycle tires. I got "Adblock for youtube" and set the speed at 1.5 or 2.0 and just barrel through them. For someone without a dedicated stand, no specialized bead breaker - only tire irons, this would be my recommended video. I review that video before every tire change. His method of breaking the bead is a good one for those without specialized tools. It also shows just how much effort is required to break a bead. The Motion Pro bead breaker that Ari uses at the top of this thread would be great if you needed to carry it with you on the road - but I prefer something with more leverage like this dude's 2x4 or something from Harbor Freight. My only tweaks to this video would be to get a better bead breaker, and apply more lube as described on some earlier posts on this thread. The frustration goes away when you fully understand the importance of the drop-center / valley of the tire. This video (and others) demonstrate the need to control the OPPOSITE side of your tire iron. You have to make sure that other side of the tire is in the valley of the wheel so there is room to work the tire over the rim. Lube is your friend, and any local auto parts store has a decent brand if you haven't ordered some from NoMar. Full strength, undiluted NoMar is like Gorilla snot.

Yeah, the links I posted show the NoMar staff using tire irons on difficult installs like the gold wing. They are a great example of using tire irons - but the NoMar changer is much more than that, as I am sure you are aware. For tires that do not have super stiff sidewalls like the gold wing example, the allure of the NoMar changer is to go beyond tire irons. Here's the video of Sue changing a tire using the normal NoMar method, for typical motorcycle tires and wheels.

If you are mounting tires at night, they need to be heated up a bit to be pliable. Ari Henning has a hilarious way to do that in this video, he gets a hair dryer and has it running inside the new tire before installing.

Were you the original owner? Sounds like a high-miles bike that may not have been lubricated by original owner. My 1980 Yamaha 850 Triple and 1982 Yamaha 750 Seca both had awesome shaft drives. Others mention the FJR and Maxim with no problems. Yamaha does know how to make a great shaft drive.

I would buy that chain from Regina - but I would still lube it. Unless the O-rings / X-rings are made of unobtanium, they would eventually dry out and crack, pieces of rubber sticking out like any other chain that has high miles. That is why I clean and lube chains, to preserve the rubber rings - hoping the INTERNAL lube stays in place as long as it can. "At first glance, the M Endurance is a typical X-ring design, with a permanent lubricant filling between the rollers and pins. The secret, says BMW, is a new coating material called tetrahedrally amorphous carbon (ta-C), a type of industrial diamond, to the rollers and bushings." I like the steel, because that wear is why chains "stretch" but you still have to try to keep the seals intact. Otherwise you lose the internal lubricant.

Travel by car is like watching a movie. Motorcycle: You are IN the movie

Agreed. I have the same ones Ari is using in that first video at the top of this thread. His popped off, then he puts the tire iron right on the rim (metal on metal). Mine have popped off, and also cracked, they are very brittle. As you can see in my photos, I have better luck with scrap plastic, which is also thin and takes up less room in that tight space as you force the tire over the rim.

This thread appeared just as I was about to change a tire. Once again I dreamed of having better tools to change tires - and found a NoMar on Craigs list. I waited to call on it, and like a girl you waited to ask to the prom - someone got her first. So once again I was using my hands... I created a separate thread on changing tires by hand, with tire irons https://www.tracer900.net/topic/8978-changing-tires-by-hand/ This thread started out focused on Tire Changers, such as No-Mar or clones by Harbour Freight. If I had the money, and the room for it - I would get one of these like Sportbike Track Gear (Atlas, pneumatic)

My tires are not as difficult as a Gold Wing. I have one of the huge NoMar tire irons, but tend to reach for my thinner Motion Pro (traditional) spoons because they aren't as fat, and provide more clearance for the tight region where you are forcing the new tire over the rim. That photo shows a zip-tie holding the beads together, and a tie-strap forcing that side of the tire into the drop-center / valley. Although the zip-tie method works, I think I prefer using the 3/4 inch thick wood blocks because they are easier to insert and remove. The NoMar videos show the use of wood blocks, and they even sell them on their web site if you don't have scrap wood laying around. I still use a "tie-strap" to force that side of the tire into the valley rather than using my knees.

This NoMar video shows use of tire irons to put the tire on a Gold Wing. They are using a NoMar Bar to remove old tire, but the "put back" is all by hand. Here's another video where NoMar decides to use tire irons for very difficult tire. Notice the use of wood blocks to push the bead down toward the valley / Drop center of the wheel.

Once the old tire is removed, that valley of the wheel is your friend and must be lubed up to help get the new tire on. You want the new tire to move freely in that valley to provide the room for the stiff sidewall to go over the opposite side of the rim. There is a steel cable that cannot stretch running along the bead of the tire. If it can't stretch, it must go in the valley on the other side. This photo is from the NoMar video on changing a Gold Wing tire - showing the area to be lubricated. The experts at NoMar do know what they are doing, and when it comes to these tough tires they are basically using their expensive stand as something to hold the wheel while they use tire irons.

In this photo (from NoMar video) you can clearly see where the "bead" of the tire sits on the outer parts of the rim. Once the tire is pushed down, and you have "broken the bead", the edge of your tire will be in the "drop center" also known as the "valley" of the tire. When you are trying to pry off a tire (or put it back on), it is very important to understand that that the other side of the tire needs to be in the drop center / valley of the wheel. In the video, Ari mentions this and uses his knee to push the opposite side of the tire into the valley.

In that video he uses "Windex" as lubricant. I believe that is why he is struggling so much. There are many brands of dedicated lube for tire changes, and any of them would have made that tire change go much easier.

There is another thread focused on Tire Changers, such as No-Mar or clones by Harbor Freight. This thread is focused on using tire irons, with suggestions to make it easier. I have been changing my own tires for 10 years, and believe it is a skill that gets easier as you learn the "tricks". As a starting point, here is a video showing tire change on FJ-09 / Tracer I have Motion Pro tire irons - but I am of the opinion their bead breaker used in the video is only good for when you are off road. Breaking the bead can be very challenging. This Harbor Freight bead breaker was money well spent for me.