Great people here at Florida VRCC (James III n Grumpy)

[BCoy]

What a great day of learning what drives our phat gurls; a big thank you to James for taking time out of his busy schedule to help me do the rear end service, double bearing mod (Bill's spacer), also replaced both tires. Put on the Austone and another Dunlop 404, the Falken 205 Ziex only lasted 13,500 miles n the Dunlop 404 squeaked out nearly 9,000 miles.  Only one problem considering all the work that was done, the rear caliper pistons are not working properly so we weren't able to put in the new brake pads. Need to get a new caliper or a rebuild kit in order to ride it safely. A huge THANK YOU to James III n Bill (Grumpy), I couldn't have done it without their expertise.
BCoy
Ride Safe

[Flrider]

Way to go James and Bill.
You guys are a class act 

BCoy
Glad you got your ride mostly fixed up, peace of mind on the tires and rear end service and you know where you stand with the brakes

[larue]

These FL board memebers rock 

[John Schmidt]

Only 13.5k on a car tire? Sumting wong!  What kind of pressure were you running, if not at least in the mid 30's psi that would be part of the problem. I can understand 9k on the 404, that's about average it seems for that tire. I currently have a Metzeler in front running well past 15k and still with good tread. I plan to replace it soon only due to age, not wear. My car tire isn't far behind in mileage but will most likely replace it next Spring...again, due to age, not wear. Come to think of it....sure hope my wife doesn't have the same criteria. 

[BCoy]

The Falken was my first MC car tire, Billy Boy and I were running the same tire and he replaced his tire a few months ago.  Not sure what kind of mileage Billy Boy got but I don't think it was anything to brag about.  I ran between 32 and 35 psi solo riding. I wouldn't buy another Falen Ziex tire.

[HayHauler]

I run the Falken 512 and love it.  I change it every year, but only got about 17,600 and 15,000 the last 2 years from them.  I run them at 44 psi so the middle wears out first, but I like how they handle at that pressure.  They are $89 + shipping.  Well, they WERE.  I heard they were discontinuing the tire, so I bought the last 3 that Discountireonline had in Texas last year.

When these 3 are used up, I will have to find something else, but until then I am set.
Just like oil, there is a tire out there for everyone, but it isn't going to be the same tire. 

I agree, James and Bill are stand up guys!

Hay 
Jimmyt

[James III]

  Thanks for the kind words Bill ! That rear tire surely didn't fair well. It didn't show signs of too little or too much air pressure, just roughly worn out. A little air pressure adjustment with your new front and rear tires should dial you in. Hopefully the Taxi tire will give you a better service life.
As we saw with the blocked bleeder on the rear caliper, the rear brake system is going to need a good flush and would suggest a caliper rebuild or replacement; your choice. I would suspect quite a bit of corrosion or contamination inside the caliper and a buildup below the piston seals on the pistons. Without free movement of the pistons, a lockup or rotor damage is nothing to take to chance.
Overall we did get quite a bit completed. I enjoyed the day, liked chatting with your tire change guy and would keep them in mind for future CT changes. After we separated late, the night weather was fantastic so I had to garner a few miles myself.

James

[billyboy]

Hey BCoy; Not sure why you got such low miles out of the Falken but I got more than 30,000
out of mine. Maybe you wrote the mileage wrong or something. I now have a Nexen 5000 and
it is much better than the Falken. I am sure you will like the taxi tire much better. Hope to ride
with you soon. Peace and out.      

[IamGCW]

How did the old bearings look? 

Is the 404 a rear tire?

Gil

[BCoy]

Gil,
The 404 is a Dunlop front tire.  Need to do more reading on the rear tire mount on the front of the bike before I go double dark side.  The bearings were good nothing looked abnormal both sides worked freely with no binding or play, decided to do the mod because we were in there n had the parts, will replace the front bearings at the next tire replacement.

[BCoy]

Billy Boy,
Those are great miles for your Falken, not sure why I didn't get similar miles, probably operator error.  I recorded the mileage correctly so it was probably air pressure as John noted in an earlier post (James also looked over the tire an didn't find any over or under inflation signs); however, I was in the 30's for psi as a mostly solo rider.  No worries, I was ready to try out the much talked about Austone Taxi tire.