donlop elite III

[snowdog51]

snow

if your ever in st.paul walk right in treat the frig like its yours ifeel the as you in your post.
as ever bill

[Snow]

snowdog, I'm not exactly sure what you mean.

However, I would like to apologize for my earlier post in this thread - it was a bit of a jerk move and I regret saying it...

[Crazcnuk]

Translation:

If you're ever in St. Paul, Minnesota, come by, walk right in. Treat the refrigerator as if it was yours.

I feel the same as you do, in your post.

As ever, Bill.

[planedick]

Funny

Strange how the thread can change real quick when I chime in with the low tire price. Suddenly it goes from cost of tires to how many tools we have... He He Don't you guys have any Cycle gear stores near you. If not they are online.

[Crazcnuk]

Strange how you would think it had anything to do with the tire price....

[skids]

My experiences with buying tires is that if you find a shop that sells at a low price, the services for install are a bit higher. No big deal. Everything is getting more expensive and I would expect services to rise accordingly. I wish my COLA would be adjusted accordingly. I guess gasoline is not considered in the "market basket" for inflation.

[mro]

What a "ripe" thread for commentary!!!

Thought this was just a tire thread and skipped it over
[QUOTE"Controversy is my middle name."
(Actually, it's A$$hole... blame my parents)
[/QUOTE]
Sorry I missed that one

Translation:

Strange how the thread can change real quick when I chime in

you must be effin' Superman

mro
...next time...

[Jerry]

Now, I don't know what tire you bought, but let's play with a Dunlop Elite III. Dealer cost is $100.40. (Not including shipping) Retail is $132.95.

Prom, this dealer quoted me a "discount" price of just under $143.00 for this Dunlop Elite III rear (MT90B-16.) This is also a dealer I have used over the last 4 years. I buy some of my Arctic Cat snowmobile stuff from them, not large dollar amounts. Before that I bought parts for my Yamaha snowmobile from them. I've been a customer through 2 owners and 2 locations, for both motorcycle and snowmobile parts, supplies, and accessories. Nothing big or major, but a consistent customer all the same. In short, they recognize me when I come in the door.

Does this mean I should get special treatment? No, and I don't expect to. But I stand by my assertion that the total price of $188.00 for a tire, including mount and balance on a loose wheel, is not a reasonable price. We can differ on what is a 'reasonable' price; as I have stated I would have paid $140 - $150 for the deal, but not more. If you think this is unreasonable, then so be it.

On the tire balancing beads...

Have tried the front tire so far. Right now my tranny is partialy disassembled waiting for new gears, so have not had the opportunity to try the beads in the back. I had put the beads in the front tire, removed the weights per instructions, and rode about 65 miles, including some in-town and freeway mileage. Beads seem to work as advertised. You can feel some inbalance at speeds of 20-25 mph or less, again typical per the FAQ on the web site, but above that and the ride smooths out very well. I was getting a periodic harmonic vibrating of the fork legs; you could see it as you rode, and that is now gone.

Centripital force is what makes it work. I am not well versed in this area; in layman's terms the out of balance wheel will 'shake' up and down, causing the beads to move within the tire. As the beads redistribute, the tire stops shaking, or is in balance. Centripital force then holds the beads wherever they end up. When you come to a stop the beads fall to the bottom of the tire, when you start the same 'rebalancing' takes place.

My point, if this works, is that you may be able to balance your tires for around $7.00 per tire, since the kit for 2 motorcycle tires cost about $8.00 and shipping was about $5.35. (I bought a few other small items on my order.) You can also buy the beads separately, after you have the installation kit, which should lower the per-tire cost.

For people who mount their own tires, or have tires that seem hard to balance, this product may be of use.

I hope to take the XJ to Olympia, WA for Denny Z's rally in about a month. This should give the beads a good workout and I'l have a more fully-formed opinion of them on my return.

[trbig]

Just a word to the wise about things such as these beads or Fix-a-flat, or anything rolling around in your tire. If you are ever in the need and ever have to put a PLUG in your tire (I realize not everyone is tubeless), every time that plug rolls around it will hit rolling/sloshing things and make the tire bounce HORRIBLY. I have seen this many times on car tires and could only imagine it being magnified for a M/C tire (Tyre for you boys across the pond! )

This also makes me wonder if you had a patch in the tire, since it would be a raised spot on the inside... would this cause the beads to slosh around every time they hit it.. or even rub off the patch?

Things that make you go, "Hmmmm".


Tod

[oseaghdha]

Reminds me of a story........

Once, a long time ago, the 'kid' car had a flat on a muddy road. Don't recall who was operating at the time, maybe my sister, but I took it in and had a plug put in it and aired it up.
After that the car would start shaking like Tina Turner on occasion. Other times it was fine.
Had occasion to have the wheel jacked up and gave it a spin and I hear this clump clump clump sound from inside the tire.
Turns out there were four or five mud balls rolling around in there.
Sometimes, I guess they would spread out and it would balance, but other times............
Pretty much the only thing that should be in tires is air.

[Pat Kelly]

So, how do you like the Elite III's?

[snowdog51]

snow

i just think that helping other guys and
sharing tools and skills is the way to be
if you are my way stop and say hi .
as ever bill

[Jerry]

every time that plug rolls around it will hit rolling/sloshing things

Well, you put only 1 oz of these tiny beads in your motorcycle tire, more for larger tires. Given the circumference of a tire I doubt if there is much 'sloshing' involved. Unlike Fix-A-Flat and Slime, this material is not a liquid. Having seen what those 2 products to to the inside of a tire and rim I wouldn't use them on any of my vehicles.

Again, will try them on a long trip and come back with a report. If possible I will have other people ride my XJ for short distances and see if they can feel any difference between a conventionally-balanced tire and this bead system.

trbig...if you do have to plug a tire motorcycle tire, should you get it rebalanced?

Pat: This will be my first E3, response from others has been good. Tire appears to have greater tread depth in the center and tapers or curves off a bit more at the edges than the E2. Looks to me like this should help the tire keep from developing as pronounced a 'flat' profile as the tire wears. Most of my riding is 1-up interstate, so the edges of my E2s always looked like they had a lot of tread left, but the center is bald when I replaced them. The new design looks like it should minimize this.

Unlike the E2, the E3 has a solid center strip unbroken with tread 'blocks'. In fact, the tread pattern looks quite simplified in comparison to an E2. In spite of this the E3 seems to do well in wet wether, a concern of mine since I always seem to run into rain on any long trip. I will have to test this for myself.

Elite II:


Elite III:


I am looking forward to trying out the E3.

[trbig]

I guess you do have apoint there Jerry. There is several ounces of fluid going around from the Fix a flat type products... and I whole-heartedly agree with you on what that crud does to the inside of a rim... VERY corrosive. As for rebalancing after a plug... only if you go at really high speeds... probably faster than the XS/XJ can. I think a 1/4 ounce wheel weight weighs considerably more than one of those vulcanizing push in plugs.

So.... since you only add one ounce of the beads.. wonder what happens when you get a crummy tire that takes more than an ounce to balance it?? As bad as I hate to admit it, I do agree with Prometheus. (Crap... twice in one post?? What's wrong with me?!?) I don't think the average guy is going to feel an out of balance tire unless it's really bad.

It would be kind of neat to get one balanced conventionally... run it up to @ 130 or so... then pull the weights (Can you just pull the valve stem core and put them in down it??) Then go run it up again and see if there's a change. The way it sounds, you could re-claim the beads and re-use them on your next tire.

Tod

[COOL TOM]

Weights

trbig,
going 130mph and trying to take the weights off MIGHT be kind of trickey. HA HA If you do it video tape it so we can see how you do it. What will be fun is trying to get the beads in at that speed.