New Skins

2208 Views 29 Replies 16 Participants Last post by thundrhd, Aug 16, 2011

thundrhd

Discussion Starter · Aug 6, 2011

After 18250mi, I figured it was time for a new set of skins. All said & done I have $370.00 invested in a new set of Metz 880ME tires. 110/90/19 up front & 180/70/15 on the rear. I have to give kudos to a fairly new MC shop where I live "Capitol City Motorsports" for doing the change out. The cost of labor was $73.00. Tires & dynabeads came to $297.00 This young man changed my tires out without an appointment within less than an hour. I will be telling all my fellow riding brothers to give their business to him, he also told me, next time call him first, and let him sell me the tires for a lot less than I could get them online. Very good MC mechanic & works on EVERYTHING!! HD, YAMMY, SUZI, HONDA, KAWI, plus the Brit bikes, and German bikes as well. I hope he does well, as he deserves to do so. We had a very good conversation about the VTX in general & he knew way more than any Honda tech I've ever talked to. This guy will have ALL my business that I can't do myself. Here are a couple of before & after pics of my rear tire:

BEFORE....

AFTER;

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thundrhd

Discussion Starter · #4 · Aug 6, 2011

Depends on what tires & what pressures you run, determines mileage. I'm now running 40psi front & 42psi rear.

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thundrhd

Discussion Starter · #6 · Aug 6, 2011

Bry, haven't had the chance to try them out yet, but I do know the last couple of weeks, the rear end in particular has been a bit "squirrely"...LOL Especially when it rains.

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thundrhd

Discussion Starter · #8 · Aug 7, 2011

Scott, you know I will, the way I see it, I now have another 18k miles to put on the ole scoot!!

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thundrhd

Discussion Starter · #13 · Aug 7, 2011

Spoiler said:
Nice tires, and its good to find someone you can work with.

It seemed like pricing was pretty reasonable as well..

Spoiler

Yep, gotta love those Metz tires, the last time I had a shop change my skins, it was just a little over $90, I will be going back to get my next set done for sure, especially since he told me he could do better on the cost of the tires.

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thundrhd

Discussion Starter · #17 · Aug 7, 2011

Pulled the wheels myself, the labor was for at least 1hr, which I did not have a problem with. From the way he talked, next time would probably be cheaper cost overall if I buy tires from him. He is very thorough, and cleaned up the rims and tires when he was through, I've had tires come back and the mess left on the rims was unacceptable, causing me at least an hour's worth of time.

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thundrhd

Discussion Starter · #19 · Aug 7, 2011

Bassdude404 said:
Right on, that's what I thought...Hell just pulling/re-installing both wheels is another hour labor....:hmm2:

Easily another hour of labor, plus, i've done this enough to know that when I re-install my front, I know it's done proper, because if you don't align the forks right, you're wasting time & money, the left side tire wear syndrome only gives the tire a half-life.

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thundrhd

Discussion Starter · #24 · Aug 7, 2011

WOW!!!! what a difference, feels like a completely different bike now. I can't believe I put changing tires off for so long. I had developed a terrible wobble at 35-45mph indicated and attributed that to the stem bearings being shot, with the new treads, that wobble has disappeared. The guy that did the work also recommended that I run 38psi frt & 41-42 rear, and that has also made a difference, I used to run 38frt/40rear, I'm a firm believer that the pressures I'm running now are optimal for the performance I'm looking for.

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thundrhd

Discussion Starter · #30 · Aug 16, 2011

Ron, same tires I had put on Metz ME880 front & rear. They really should'vr been changed @ 16k though.

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