Weeping forks

[AgentX]

Not on aluminum.

[LarsBloodbeard]

If you've got a 747 parked in an annoying place, anyhow... 

Haha, yeah.  I never understood why they call it "aircraft remover" when "stripper" would make more sense.

[boggy]

"Airplane stripper?"  Is that like a pin-up girl?

[LarsBloodbeard]

The $90 didn't include a new tire?  If it did, that might be a good price.  If it didn't, that's ridiculous. 
My local Honda dealers shop wanted $30 to replace my front tire with my new Dunlop if I brought in the wheel.
The local Yamaha/Suzuki dealers shop wanted $17 to do the same thing.

Guess who doesn't have skinned up knuckles and is $17 poorer but is happily riding around with a new front tire? 

Revisiting the tire change prices... I just brought my front tire down to the closest motorcycle shop to get it mounted, which is a Honda dealer.  They charged $25.    I said "wait... isn't it cheaper when I bring in just the wheel?"  Their response was "yes, we would have charged you $40 if you brought the bike in."  So $90 for changing both tires on the bike is sounding more like the new norm.

I know there are 2 other shops that will do it for around $15, but I was in a rush and they're another 10 miles out.  Even $15 is more than I like paying... It takes them a whopping 2 minutes and no materials.  But it is worth it for the convenience I guess.

Back on the topic of fork work:  I was going to remove my lowers and paint them black to better match the military style of the bike, but after reading about how difficult this is I think I'll just mask and paint them in situ.

[boggy]

That's why I'm thinking of stripping the paint while I have them off.  Don't want to do that dance twice.

P.S. That was 90$ PER tire at the "Enfield dealer" here in sunny Boston.  I think it's because they use Ducati brand tools to change them.  Actually I'm not sure if the reason is that they actually get away with it, or they just don't want to do small jobs.  It's $20 for my mechanic to do a tire change on the car - And he'd probably charge me for only 3 out of 4.  Not sure if I need a bike specific shop to do a bike tire?  There are smaller bike shops around here I'm gonna try.

Good luck with the painting. That'll look great. 

[LarsBloodbeard]

P.S. That was 90$ PER tire at the "Enfield dealer" here in sunny Boston.

Woah!  Yeah, that is totally wrong.

[Arizoni]

boggy
I suppose you could car mechanic could do the job but with a car, they place the wheel on their power tire remover machine that has a 1 1/2" post coming up thru the center of the rim, hook a tool down between the rim and the tire bead and stomp on a electrical switch.
This powers the tool and forces it around, popping the tire bead off of the rim.

With a spoked wheel and the small hole thru the bearings I don't think that sort of thing would work.
This is exactly why I wanted to take my tire/wheel to some guys who know about working with spoked wheels.

[boggy]

Yeah, I'll try and find a shop with experience to do it.  Heck, I bet the MEGA HD Dealer here would do it for less than 90 per tire.  Maybe $85!

[LarsBloodbeard]

This is exactly why I wanted to take my tire/wheel to some guys who know about working with spoked wheels.

That's actually a good point.  Years ago my mom had a car with spoke wheels & inner tubes.  Seemed like they'd always have issues after a tire change until she found a garage that knew how to handle them.  You'd think people who change tires for a living would know how to handle all kinds, but apparently not.

[barenekd]

You'd think people who change tires for a living would know how to handle all kinds, but apparently not.

Why would you expect that? Most tire changers have never seen a wire wheel. That's like expecting a Honda technician to know how to work on an RE!
This is why they are called technicians nowadays. They sit and fettle with their screens and testers. There is a rare mechanic in a shop now!
And I would highly doubt that you could find a Harley shop that would do the tire swap for less than $100.
Bare

[bob bezin]

yah HD stands for hundred dollars.

[LarsBloodbeard]

That's why I'm thinking of stripping the paint while I have them off.  Don't want to do that dance twice.

I did the inverse and painted mine.  It turned out quite nice.  I did flat black on the forks to give a bit of contrast to the freshly painted gloss black rims.  If you look closely though you'll notice I broke the speedo hub.    Somehow they rotated it about 90 degrees when they changed the tire.  So after getting frustrated that my wrenches wouldn't fit in the recess well enough and I didn't have deep enough sockets to use a ratchet, I decided to grab the whole hub and try turning it a bit... yeah... bad idea.  I also didn't realize it was plastic.  Oh well, a metal replacement is on the way.

Did you strip yours yet?

[baird4444]

That looks BADASS....   I love it.
  I rode a couple years without the front fender and it ain't any fun
in the rain....     what tire is that??
                               - Mike

[AgentX]

Yeah, my local roads are pretty broken up, puddle-prone, and gritty--I can't even ride in the dry season without a front fender.  It's like getting sandblasted in the face with the dry bits coming off the tire.  Add some water and it's a nightmare.  I see bikes without and it really makes me wonder.  I guess if roads are cleaner it's not such a problem when it's dry.


I have a fiberglass seat/tail unit on mine that I sought to run without a fender in back, too; I've concluded I need to put some kind of fender or crud-catcher back there to eliminate the dirty, gunky skunk-stripe that appears on my jacket and helmet.

[boggy]

I did the inverse and painted mine.  It turned out quite nice.  I did flat black on the forks to give a bit of contrast to the freshly painted gloss black rims.
Did you strip yours yet?

That does look bad ass.  Really nice with the black rims.

Haven't done it yet.  That, the seals and tires will get done at some point this Winter.  Probably going to try some metal fenders and moto-x bars for a more street scrambler look than my current clubman set up too.  We'll see.  Got to get it done by March 31st, because April 1 I'm riding.