Tire Date

This gets more interesting. I went to this site https://www.utires.com/articles/read-date-code-motorcycle-tires/ and found the section below.



I could not find the triangle referenced above on the tire so now I wondering if the rear tire is older than I thought. I decided to check on the front tire. It is a Metzler ME 33 Laser (not Lasertec). I looked around the internet for a while and found an ad (for sale on e-bay) for this tire from 1987. Then I checked the tire date code and it is 3 digits...115. I do not see a triangle on the tire. Could this tire possibly be from the 11th week of 1985? Unlike the rear tire, the front tire looks decent. Perhaps it was new-old stock.

Mounting your own

Vark, I have mounted my own tires in the past as well as replaced tubes on the side of the road. If you have a decent pair of tire irons (not the ones in an airhead tool kit. Although I have changed tubes twice on the side of the road with them.) and something to protect the rim from scratching and such. You can do the job yourself. The worst part is breaking the bead loose. In the garage, I clamped the tire in a vise to break the bead. On the side of the road, I put the tire under the center stand and used it to break the bead.

With tubes, you have to be extremely careful to install them properly, (use a new tube with a new tire, tubes are cheaper than medical bills.) If a tube type tire is used, blowing up the tire and having the bead pop into place on the rim is a piece of cake. For tubeless tires, the "seating the bead" or getting the tire to a point where it will fill with air, can be a problem.

Once you get the tire mounted it is a very good idea to balance it. This I have never done myself as I never had the means. Changing the tube on the side of the road was only a short term thing because as soon as I could I changed the tire and tube for a new one. (I carry a folded up tube in my tail compartment under my seat, it is usually the last tube I took out during a recent tire change.) I ended up taking the tire and having it balanced at a shop.

So what do I do now? I don't mess with changing tires myself. I take them to a motorcycle shop. I am lucky I have an airhead friendly shop near me as well as a Honda dealer both who will change and balance tires. I found the little bit of money I saved changing the tire and still having to take it for balance was not worth the fooling around doing the tire change myself. Watching someone with the proper machine to do the job is a heck of a lot more fun than doing it myself, I can drink a cup of coffee and chat.

If you don't know a shop who will do tire and balance, call around. If you are in the Rochester NY Buffalo area, the Beemer Barn will be happy not only to sell, change and balance your tires, he will even take them off the bike if you can't. Oh yes, he does excellent work on airheads as well. St.

vark said:

Thanks for all the feedback.

Where do you guys buy tires and get them mounted? I’m not interested in mounting myself. But do I buy them online and then get a local tire shop to mount them? Can you trust a tire shop that primarily mounts car tires to properly mount a moto tire? Or is this a job for a BMW dealership? Any advice welcome.

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Howze about throwing your local (motorcycle) dealer a bone? Sooner or later you will need a dealer. It will help you get an idea how the dealer is to work with.
Good luck.
OM

Replace 'em!

I feel really strongly about replacing tires of questionable condition and origin. Even if you've put them on and they've reached 5 years of service (with low miles of course), but still 'look good', replace 'em anyway. The compounds degrade, and considering the tiny size of the contact patch you are riding on at any given moment, why take the risk?

ECJ

vark said:

Thanks for all the feedback.

Where do you guys buy tires and get them mounted? I’m not interested in mounting myself. But do I buy them online and then get a local tire shop to mount them? Can you trust a tire shop that primarily mounts car tires to properly mount a moto tire? Or is this a job for a BMW dealership? Any advice welcome.

Click to expand...

I mount and balance my own tubeless tires. The last time I changed tubed tires on my R90S was the last time I will (hopefully) change tubed tires. Way too annoying (and, yes, I'm old) -- when I got tires for the BSA before selling it, I had a local shop get the tires do the work (I'm a long time customer and they only charged $30 labor for both wheels--I expected to pay $40/wheel). I would not trust a car shop in general but I suppose there are places that know how to do MC tires. Remember that nobody does tubed tires for cars anymore. You certainly don't need a BMW dealer; just an MC shop, independent, Japanese, etc. Most will insist on getting the tires for you and you will pay 20% or so more for parts as well as labor. The way to save money here is to just take wheels in. Well worth it for me.

Vark, don't bother going to a place that mainly does car tires - they won't have the correct spindles or adapters to fit the hubs of your wheels, and they won't care as much about scratching - or yes, even bending - your wheels. And, their balancing machine probably won't adapt either.

Your Anonymous Book lists the dealers near you, and if you want to save a few bucks, it also has ads for the privately-owned (not BMW subordinate) shops. There is even a listing of those shops somewhere in this Forum, or so I thought; I looked around but couldn't find it. (MOD - where??)

Your local Cycle Gear (or equivalent) shop MAY be able to help you, but again, they might not have the correct equipment for your wheels.

I often buy my tires on line (RevZilla and others have better prices than dealers, and sometimes free shipping) because I have a relationship with a local (non-corporate) shop, but many places will have a different mounting fee depending on whether you bought your tires from them or somebody else.

Pauls1150 said:

(MOD - where??)

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Here- https://forums.bmwmoa.org/forumdisplay.php?76-Links-and-References
OM

Thanks!