A conversation with Claude

(and putting him right).

In the previous episode of this oft ignored blog, I mentioned that the rear of the T7 was getting a wee bit out of control in a slightly exciting way.  Here's a pic of the old E-07 compared with a the new replacement - an E-07+ (first time on T7 but ok on Super Ten).

So, where does Claude come in?  Well, Claude is an AI that I play around in every now and again and I had a question for him.  I'd seen someone suggesting putting the tube (slightly inflated) into the tyre before fitting the first side of the tyre to the rim and I thought this was a stupid idea that was just asking for a pinched tube.  Turns out Claude agreed.  But, he (pretty sure Claude is a bloke's name) wasn't to clear with some of his suggestions/instructions and I had to put him right - more later.

Anyway, last night I pulled the old tyre off in expectation of a tyre delivery today (my guess on delivery was correct).  Less than fifteen minutes had the wheel off the bike and tyre off - only one tool required to remove the rear unlike the Tiger which requires all of the tools...

Ok, I needed the mallet as well as socket and bar...that's two tools...

Bead-breaker has been a good investment

I must investigate a tubeless solution (I say this every time)

Easy peasy.  So tonight was the slightly trickier job of getting the new tyre on and wheel refitted to the bike.  It appears that I am getting a little better at the job and didn't have too much trouble getting the tyre on.  I did muck around a bit fitting the wheel - I had a little trouble lining up the brake calliper carrier which meant pulling the wheel out again and giving it another shot.  But she's on!

Mmmmmm, rubber

Gotta have a little bit of blood involved but no tears...

Anyway, after the event, I decided to go back and fill in Claude on some of my other tips and it was interesting to see him agree with me (not unusual, AI's are great at agreeing when you give them the learn and sometimes apologise if they get it wrong).  Claude even suggested I write up my own how-to guide so that's almost what this is...

Here's the conversation with Claude: Claude doesn't know it all

Next maintenance item might be rear pads as the bike eats them - there's still plenty there but maybe another 5k to got, best I keep an eye on them.  Might even check the front ones...

That tyre dilemma...

 ...before a trip.

Has that tyre got 5,000kms in it?

Things to consider:

• How many km's has it done?  9,244.
• How long did the last rear last?  11,503.
• Does it still look good?  Yes.
• Have you used the same tyre before?  No.
• Is the Tiger hard on rears?  Nope.
• Where are you going?  South Island (coarse chip eats tyres).
• Are you expecting wet weather?  See above.
• How many kms are you doing again?  5,000+
• Feel like living dangerously?  Nope.

Very impressed with the Anakee Road

So, Colin and I are doing 2 x TT2,000's this time around.  There's no time for tyre problems or trying to find a tyre in the middle of the ride.

So out with the crazy amount of tools required to remove the rear wheel.  Yep, it's not a Japanese bike.

And on with the new Anakee:

Seven more days at work...

Dealt to

Finally, after 11,500km, the rear tyre on the Tiger was toast.  The original (subject to a do not ride recall that I was unaware of until I got the bike serviced!) has lasted longer than any rear tyre that I've had in a long time.  Maybe it was actually a good tyre (apart from that whole recall thing) or maybe it's the smoothness of the triple?  Anyway, I was pretty happy but I'd already bought an Anakee Road to pair up with the front which I replaced at around 9k.

On with the job.  The first step was to remove the rear wheel and to do this I needed to work out how to do it.  I was looking at the rear end and thinking that I'd have to remove the hugger thingee but after closer examination this looked like a major job with one bolt completely inaccessible (removing the wheel would make it easy).  So it was off to the interweb and the first video I stumbled on was gold.

So, back to the shed I went.  And promptly discovered I needed a new 36mm, 12 point socket...Off to town I went.  I then found out exactly how many tools I needed - a lot!  It might not be the hardest job in the world but you certainly use a few of ya tools just to get a wheel off.

Missing is the hex tool for the RHS of the axle - and the actual tyre changing stuff...

Like I said, it was actually not that hard (although some of the bolts were insanely tight) and everything goes together really well - I quite like the way bracket for the brake caliper locks into that other triangular piece and of course being a shaftee, the wheel will sit there nicely while you line everything up properly before replacing the axle - nice!

Swapping the tyres was pretty easy too.  One benefit of "road bike" tyres are that they don't have that massively stiff sidewall that the adventure tyres have and are a lot easier to both remove and fit.

The job probably took this amateur just under an hour (not counting my trip into town) and pretty painless.  No to scrub that sucker in and see how long it takes to wear out...

Cat feet

Or perhaps just cat foot...

Strangely enough, if you ride motorcycles, they tend to destroy tyres and the the Tiger appears to be no exception.  Over the last few rides the front had definitely been starting to look a wee bit sad and a trip to Raglan and back on slippery and sometimes frosty roads finally toasted the tyre.  In fact, I've probably never ridden on a tyre in worse condition which is definitely not my style.

Try not to look at those lines showing beneath the rubber...

This is why it felt a little weird...

Anyway, i'm still getting over a cold so no riding today, but I did manage to muster up the energy to swap the front out for a new Michelin Anakee Road - I would have gone for a normal old Road 4 or 6 but apparently not for a Tiger rim.

Oh look, the fat one looks just like the skinny one!

The job went pretty easily.  To get the front wheel off only required dropping one caliper off and then the wheel shimmied right out.

Even the tyre swop went reasonably quickly - I'm finally starting to get the knack I guess.  No blood either!  The trickiest bit was seating the bead but plenty of soapy water, sitting on the tyre and no valve in the stem soon sorted it.

The rear is still looking pretty good, I thinking at least 2-3k so could even do the October NI800 if I don't ride the bike too much in between...

9k isn't too bad I 'spose

Anyone want these?

Tyre changing

 Mr Birch not only makes offroad riding look easy...

It's a never ending chore...

 And I'm getting a bit better at it...

So, the old girl has had a bit of love and hopefully might actually get an outing every once and a while - it's embarrassing how long the last set where on the bike...

Shed time

Ok, so there is a ride write-up in the works but first something a little more simple.

Today it was time to give a couple of Yamaha's a little love.

First, the mighty WR was given a quick bath in preparation for going into town to get a WOF.  Of course, she passed the warrant with flying colours although they keep telling me it needs a reflector for some reason...

Art shot...

Next was a bigger job.  The Shinko on the back of the Tenere needed swapping for a fresh one.  The first one lasted 5,349km - the second one should just about be toast after the TT2000 me thinks (ergo I might get 2 months out of it).  So it didn't last that long (and to be fair was pretty knackered around 7-800km ago) but they are cheap...

I'll be going back to an E-07 next time (ordered from my friendly tyre supplier already) but will definitely consider the Shinko again - especially for winter riding where they are probably better on wet seal than an E-07.  They're just not great on summer gravel (especially when poked).

The tyre change went really well with a lot less cursing and no blood.  The bead even went on perfectly.  Nice, maybe I'm getting a wee bit better at it...

It's great having heaps of room in the shed to do the work too...

After that, it was time for morning smoko and then, rather than changing two more tyres that need changing, I gave the Tenere it's bath.  This took a bit longer than the WR (I think it was even dirtier than the WR even though the WR had just been up Takapari Road) and I even took the screen off to give the dragon a scrub behind the ears too 😉

Dirty girl...

Good to get those little jobs done, and even better, it wasn't 30 plus degrees to do it in...

More rubber wrangling

 It seems like I'm doing tyres every other weekend - and there's a set waiting to go onto the Connie...

But, with a few decent rides coming up the old E-07 (standard version) was starting to look a little sad.

Maybe another 1,000km or so in it but...

So, after a trip to secure a Dakar front from my not quite so local tyre supplier (Glen), I was in a bit of a rush to get the new hoop on before the weekend.  So into it then...

I almost hate to say it, but I might actually be starting to get the hang of it.  I managed to get the old tyre off (even multi-tasking by yapping on the phone at the same time) and new one on pretty quickly.  The only trouble I had was getting the new tyre back onto the bead.

After trying a few times with a tank full of air and the compressor working overtime, I ended up putting straight detergent around the bead and giving it another shot.  All the slipperyness finally did the trick and we were back in business.

The new tyre definitely looks a bit better than the old one...

Oh, and if you're interested in what the difference is between the standard E-07 and the Dakar version is:

If only the idiot importer would bring in the Dakar version of the rear...