Need new tires

I have an 81 KZ250 with 2.75-18 front and 4.60-16 rear. I have been getting this bike back together and everything is running good again except the tire are bad. I did some looking around and I came to this conclusion:

I can use tubeless tires with tubes just fine with the spoked rims.

I can substitute a 90/90-18 tire for the front

I can substitute a 120/90 tire for the back

How hard would it be for me to put the new tire on myself? Any words of advice or cautions?

I just relpace my tires with front 110/90 19 and back 120/90 18 and did it myself. They to are spoke rims with tubeless tires and tubes in them. I used three big screw drivers and it was like changing the tires on a pedel powered bicycle. Be careful with the tubes not to poke holes in them if you plan to reuse them. With the new tires, you'll make sure they are put on in the right direction, there's an arrow on the side wall pointing which way the travel.Then find the "O" mine was a red circle about the size of a dime, And that goes where the valve stem is. The tire makers know thats the light side of the tire and with the weight of the valve stem,makes it a better ballance. The back tire has bead lockers which makes it a little hard to put on the tire but with a gallon of sweat by now, Its something you'll figure out. I polished up the inside of my rims as they were a little rusty, and cleaned off the big rubber band tube protector that goes around covering the spoke adjuster nuts. I first checked out youtube on how to change a motorcycle tire by human hands(Not useing fancy tools) Putting on the new tires was a little stressfull but with a little lube near the last 10 inch of the bead it stretched itself on and Wallah My bike has new tires. But now to ballance them. My old ones didnt have any ballance weights on the rims with those tires, So I dont know if the last guy ballance them or not( Perfect tires NO ballance,doutfull)Probably worked but they should be ballanced. Also on youtube - How to ballance your tires. If you try it yourself, I'll feel the pain with you.

I've never had much luck changing tires myself on a bike. Some things I can do, like sparkplugs, oil and filters. Tires are something I don't want to take a chance on since I am riding on only 2 of them. The local shop wanted $25.00 labor to do it. So I pulled the wheel and brought them the tire. Mounted, sealed and balanced in less than half an hour. It would have taken me waaaaay more time to do it myself and I probably would have damaged something or cut up the tube and have to buy a new one.

As suggested I would look at videos on YouTube, and search websites for articles on changing tires.

I change mine and I have a stand made out of a old car wheel, and I have tire irons. But each time I get done with a bike tire I say "Next time I'm letting the shop do it, it's worth the $25.

All I can say is it's easy for some guys and hard for others. It's up to you. One factor to help me decide is how often do I plan on changing tires? If it's twice a season I would buy the right tools and stands to do it myself; if it's every couple years or more then take it to a shop.

If you don't have proper tire irons with curved ends, the chances are high you will cut the tube installing the tire. Even with the right tire irons, I know a fool who still managed to cut the tube.....:laugh:

If you do attempt this yourself and manage to get the tires off, check around the edge of the rim where the tire bead meets it and look for any kind of corrosion. I don't know if the KZ's came with aluminum spoke wheels or not, but sometimes corrosion gets built up in this area and can cause your tires to slowly leak air. I had to dismount the rear tire on my bike this winter as it would go flat after a few weeks. A wire wheel should take care of it just fine if you do happen to find some.

As far as changing the tire, you may find that a 15" car rim works great to sit a 16" rim on to act like a table. This way, you can work with the wheel sitting flat, which saves a lot of headaches. My dad has some tire changing tools, like bountyhunter mentions, which make the job a little easier. You basically have to wedge one inbetween the rim and tire, then wedge another next to it, and try to work the tools away from each other. Sometimes having an extra person there to help is a plus. Also, get some soapy water to use as a lube for removing the tire from the rim. Good luck!

Tire irons don't cost too much, you should invest if you plan to change tires. I have a little one that slips under the bead and hooks to a spoke which leaves both hands free to work with two more tire irons going around the rim to get the tire off the rim. That way you don't need a second person. At any rate, you do need three good tire irons: one to hold the bead and two more to "leapfrog" around the rim pulling the bead on or off.

As for soapy water: most recommend against it as it rusts the rim inside the wheel.... seriously, mine are really rusted after many years of that. Just use a few drops of dishwashing soap on the rim without the water an the tire slides right on. baby powder inside the tire helps the tube slide in and center up.

I will try the dish soap when I go to mount the tire. I did remove the back wheel and removed the tire just fine. They were old Yokohama tires from 2000 and are all cracked. I found some tire from "Duro" on-line. Is this brand any good?

I believe Duro will be Chinese, kind of along the lines on Cheng Shin, Kenda ect. Probably not roadrace quality, but good enough to use for a few yrs. I've done all my own tires since I was 13 yrs old nearly 40 yrs ago. My dad was not real mechanical, so I was kind of forced into being the mechanic. One word of warning on soap/water. My wheels are rusted inside, but that's par for the course, they will get water inside and rust from normal riding. The trouble with soap/water is it corrodes aluminum, so if you have aluminum wheels, which you don't, just beware. I didn't believe it and used soap for yrs then one winter I went out and had a flat front tire on a honda goldwing and found the wheel so corroded it would not seal to the tire from the use of soap. Get some regular tire lube made for the job. It can probably be purchased locally.

RonKZ650 wrote: "Get some regular tire lube made for the job. It can probably be purchased locally."

Good advice! In fact, if you take a small jar to a car tire shop and talk nice to one of the workers you may be able to get him to give you some for free. It doesn't take a whole lot to do the job, and when you tell them you're doing a couple bike tires they will know you're not taking bread from their table. Ed

Some people had said to use window cleaner like windex. Is there any danger to using it?

jannin wrote:

I found some tire from "Duro" on-line. Is this brand any good?

There's nothing wrong with any of the new brands. My four KZ1000Ps are running a variety to include Dunlop, Kenda, Shinko and Chin Sheng. They all see good to me.

Mark