Got good deal on new Tires

I just ordered a pair of spitfires (110-90-18 / 100-90-19) for my kz650 from jakewilson. Just wanted to say that it was 130$ for both tires, new tubes, rim strips, rim savers, wheel weights, and a new set of sparkplugs... free shipping

Thought I'd post here cuz it seems like such a damn good deal. get 10$ off for getting 2 tires, then here are some coupons I found---

Just put one in during checkout
10$ off 100$ or more - JWCS10
20$ off 150$ or more - JW009


...I have no affiliation with this place, just heard they had good deals and I'm passing on some coupons I found. Heard good things about these affordable tires too so I'm excited. Gonna mount and balance them myself, seems pretty doable with a little cussing and elbow grease.

Cheers

what do u need to mount and balace them urself im getting a kz550 ltd in like 2 to 3 weeks and it gonna might need a new back tire when i get it. ive never had a bike and never mounted my own tire so ithought i would ask

ditchdriver wrote:

what do u need to mount and balace them urself im getting a kz550 ltd in like 2 to 3 weeks and it gonna might need a new back tire when i get it. ive never had a bike and never mounted my own tire so ithought i would ask

Personally, I'd just take it down to your local bike shop and pay them to mount it. My local shop charged me $20 for this (with the wheels off the bike).

By any chance did you ask about the date code on the tires? I bought some GT501s at CycleGear locally a while back. After the purchase, someone mentioned that little detail about the age of new tires, so I checked them: one tire was 5 yrs old, so I returned it for a newer replacement.

ditchdriver wrote:

what do u need to mount and balace them urself im getting a kz550 ltd in like 2 to 3 weeks and it gonna might need a new back tire when i get it. ive never had a bike and never mounted my own tire so ithought i would ask

If you are the determined do-it-yourself sort, then go ahead & give it a shot. If not &/or you can get it done cheap, then go ahead & take it to the cycle shop. Around here it's $35 per tire when you bring in the wheel & buy the tire from them.

For doing your own tires using hand tools... I have 2 long curved MotionPro tire irons, 2 smaller tire irons & 2 sets of rim protectors, and I use Ru-Glyde tire lubricant. A heavy work table is handy for doing the job - I temporarily screw down a couple of 2x4s to lay the wheel across for keeping the hub elevated.

milk crates or even better a large garbage can works well also.

JMKZHI wrote:

By any chance did you ask about the date code on the tires? I bought some GT501s at CycleGear locally a while back. After the purchase, someone mentioned that little detail about the age of new tires, so I checked them: one tire was 5 yrs old, so I returned it for a newer replacement.

Yikes 5 years is a bit much. I wouldn't fuss about a couple years... Thats interesting though - I'll check before I mount them just in-case. Thanks.

To mount them you dont need a lot, but the job is a lot easier with proper tools... I have 5 or so tire irons and rim guards... It'll be a lot easier with a proper stand but I'm just going to find a bucket and/or use the carpeted floor in my apartments laundry room I have not been able to find tire lubricant, so I'll probably use the widely recommended window cleaner or soapy water (I know some people say that this can cause damage or make the tire slip, yada yada, maybe true, but thousands of people use it without problems...)

Windex has always worked fine for me. Haven't had a tire slip yet on my zx-10r. Approx 160 rwhp. Are you interested in my ultra cheapo barstool tire balancing trick? I'm serious about this BTW. I can detect an imbalance of 1/16 oz. with my method.

testarossa wrote:

Windex has always worked fine for me. Haven't had a tire slip yet on my zx-10r. Approx 160 rwhp. Are you interested in my ultra cheapo barstool tire balancing trick? I'm serious about this BTW. I can detect an imbalance of 1/16 oz. with my method.

Ultra cheapo is my middle name, do tell please!

I was not sure how I was going to accomplish the balancing part quite yet so I'd love to hear it

JMKZHI wrote:

By any chance did you ask about the date code on the tires? I bought some GT501s at CycleGear locally a while back. After the purchase, someone mentioned that little detail about the age of new tires, so I checked them: one tire was 5 yrs old, so I returned it for a newer replacement.

How did you translate the date code into a date? I was looking for a date on the old tires that are on the bike that I just got... but there was no date but looked like a possibly code. Did you just google it?

sft1662 wrote:

testarossa wrote:

Windex has always worked fine for me. Haven't had a tire slip yet on my zx-10r. Approx 160 rwhp. Are you interested in my ultra cheapo barstool tire balancing trick? I'm serious about this BTW. I can detect an imbalance of 1/16 oz. with my method.

Ultra cheapo is my middle name, do tell please!

I was not sure how I was going to accomplish the balancing part quite yet so I'd love to hear it

I have been meaning to do a write-up, so I'll try to get to that in the next couple of days. I'll shoot you a link to the thread when I do.

sft1662 wrote:

JMKZHI wrote:

By any chance did you ask about the date code on the tires? I bought some GT501s at CycleGear locally a while back. After the purchase, someone mentioned that little detail about the age of new tires, so I checked them: one tire was 5 yrs old, so I returned it for a newer replacement.

How did you translate the date code into a date? I was looking for a date on the old tires that are on the bike that I just got... but there was no date but looked like a possibly code. Did you just google it?

The date code is heat stamped on the side, it is 4 digits. The first two digits are the week of the year it was made, the last two are the year. So 0610 would mean the tire was made in the 6th week of 2010. Dates before 2000 are more tricky, but you wouldn't be running a tire from back then anyway.