What have you done for your T7 today?

[Tenerider]

1 hour ago, Jasee13 said:

Installed Renthal & Rtech~

Man this is a cool looking T7 Sumo!

[Tundratom]

7 hours ago, Tenerider said:

I've got them, too. Have you painted the brackets white? Looks cool!

Yes, I sprayed them. The contrast T7 color isn’t quite grey or white, so I came as close as I could off the shelf. The camera exposure makes it look kind of blue, so now it looks like a quilt, but that’s ok. Makes the bars pop a little. Thanks 

[advsquid]

So I've had these Trailmax Missions sitting around a while and finally got around to (attempting) to swap them on. Only ever done this for bicycles and dirt bikes. How hard could it be? ......what a nightmare. The front not too bad with effort and lube, but even after getting it on it was difficult to get the bead to sit correctly. I didn't even notice at first and rode around with the tire not centered on the wheel, it was bouncing up and down like crazy . It's fine now though. 

 

I tried c-clamps, I tried driving on it in my Mazda w/ 2x4 over the tire, I rode around the yard with no air in the tube, I could not break the bead on the rear Pirelli. Ended up going to Harbor Freight for the bead breaker. Worked perfectly. Still took way too long to get one side of the bead of the Dunlop over the wheel and I couldn't actually get the second bead over. Had it down to the last bit and it popped back, throwing my tire iron into the shadow realm. Still can't find it. I'm shamefully taking the rear wheel and tire to the shop when they open up...there's no way I could swap a rear tube alone in the wilderness, at least with these dunlops mounted. Kind of worries me

Edited April 22, 2022 by advsquid
edit

[Tenerider]

32 minutes ago, advsquid said:

So I've had these Trailmax Missions sitting around a while and finally got around to (attempting) to swap them on. Only ever done this for bicycles and dirt bikes. How hard could it be? ......what a nightmare. The front not too bad with effort and lube, but even after getting it on it was difficult to get the bead to sit correctly. I didn't even notice at first and rode around with the tire not centered on the wheel, it was bouncing up and down like crazy . It's fine now though. 

 

I tried c-clamps, I tried driving on it in my Mazda w/ 2x4 over the tire, I rode around the yard with no air in the tube, I could not break the bead on the rear Pirelli. Ended up going to Harbor Freight for the bead breaker. Worked perfectly. Still took way too long to get one side of the bead of the Dunlop over the wheel and I couldn't actually get the second bead over. Had it down to the last bit and it popped back, throwing my tire iron into the shadow realm. Still can't find it. I'm shamefully taking the rear wheel and tire to the shop when they open up...there's no way I could swap a rear tube alone in the wilderness, at least with these dunlops mounted. Kind of worries me

Probably you have done it already, but just in case: Did you push both beads into the rim's center "channel" after breaking them? This gives the tire more slack.

[Landshark]

26 minutes ago, advsquid said:

So I've had these Trailmax Missions sitting around a while and finally got around to (attempting) to swap them on. Only ever done this for bicycles and dirt bikes. How hard could it be? ......what a nightmare. The front not too bad with effort and lube, but even after getting it on it was difficult to get the bead to sit correctly. I didn't even notice at first and rode around with the tire not centered on the wheel, it was bouncing up and down like crazy . It's fine now though. 

 

I tried c-clamps, I tried driving on it in my Mazda w/ 2x4 over the tire, I rode around the yard with no air in the tube, I could not break the bead on the rear Pirelli. Ended up going to Harbor Freight for the bead breaker. Worked perfectly. Still took way too long to get one side of the bead of the Dunlop over the wheel and I couldn't actually get the second bead over. Had it down to the last bit and it popped back, throwing my tire iron into the shadow realm. Still can't find it. I'm shamefully taking the rear wheel and tire to the shop when they open up...there's no way I could swap a rear tube alone in the wilderness, at least with these dunlops mounted. Kind of worries me

Tire replacement can be frustrating to say the least.  

Here is a few things I've learned over the years.  Use lots of tire lube when breaking the bead and when prying the tire onto the rim.  You were correct in purchasing the bead breaker tool.  Tools are your friend.  Use a tube valve retrieval tool to simplify things.  When reinstalling the tire, keep the opposite side in the middle of the rim.  Use 3 tire irons and lots of tire slime and reapply as needed.  The rear tire is usually a lot more stiff as it's a 150 width and the tires for dual sporting are extra stiff.   Not to mention the OEM rear tire was glued into place..  A balancing device will also be required.  

If you have room for a manual tire machine, it's well worth the price as compared to the time, effort and expense of dragging your wheels to the repair dude. 

 

 

[thepointchris]

44 minutes ago, advsquid said:

So I've had these Trailmax Missions sitting around a while and finally got around to (attempting) to swap them on. Only ever done this for bicycles and dirt bikes. How hard could it be? ......what a nightmare. The front not too bad with effort and lube, but even after getting it on it was difficult to get the bead to sit correctly. I didn't even notice at first and rode around with the tire not centered on the wheel, it was bouncing up and down like crazy . It's fine now though. 

 

I tried c-clamps, I tried driving on it in my Mazda w/ 2x4 over the tire, I rode around the yard with no air in the tube, I could not break the bead on the rear Pirelli. Ended up going to Harbor Freight for the bead breaker. Worked perfectly. Still took way too long to get one side of the bead of the Dunlop over the wheel and I couldn't actually get the second bead over. Had it down to the last bit and it popped back, throwing my tire iron into the shadow realm. Still can't find it. I'm shamefully taking the rear wheel and tire to the shop when they open up...there's no way I could swap a rear tube alone in the wilderness, at least with these dunlops mounted. Kind of worries me

I had quite the struggle when I mounted my Missions, and it was a cold day, so cold hard rubber. the whole tire chance drama is a system - lots of lube, bite sizes, patience,technique, don't muscle it, I could go on. in the end I used a bit of added heat to deal with the last few inches of the rear bead.

keep in mind that to replace a tube in the wild you do not have to remove a whole tire, and that your tire will be warm and flexible from riding. 

let us know how you get on with those Missions - I have 1500M on mine now, and liking them. 

[advsquid]

Thanks y'all. Went to the motorsports shop down the street and they stopped what they were doing to finish putting the rear tire onto the wheel for me, no charge. It was in the 50's last night so the rubber was definitely stiff. Glad I was wearing my garage clothes because my sweatshirt and jeans are absolutely covered in tire lube after last night. I do have a balance stand and weights so during lunch I'll be able to do that and put the rear back on the bike, end of story . 

 

Be glad to give updates on the Dunlops. I'm gonna do the DirtDaze event in NH this summer and I'll want more like a 50/50 tire for that so I plan on getting my money's worth out of these tires before then, lots of riding this summer!

Edited April 22, 2022 by advsquid
spelling edit

[NeilW]

2 hours ago, advsquid said:

So I've had these Trailmax Missions sitting around a while and finally got around to (attempting) to swap them on. Only ever done this for bicycles and dirt bikes. How hard could it be? ......what a nightmare. The front not too bad with effort and lube, but even after getting it on it was difficult to get the bead to sit correctly. I didn't even notice at first and rode around with the tire not centered on the wheel, it was bouncing up and down like crazy . It's fine now though. 

 

I tried c-clamps, I tried driving on it in my Mazda w/ 2x4 over the tire, I rode around the yard with no air in the tube, I could not break the bead on the rear Pirelli. Ended up going to Harbor Freight for the bead breaker. Worked perfectly. Still took way too long to get one side of the bead of the Dunlop over the wheel and I couldn't actually get the second bead over. Had it down to the last bit and it popped back, throwing my tire iron into the shadow realm. Still can't find it. I'm shamefully taking the rear wheel and tire to the shop when they open up...there's no way I could swap a rear tube alone in the wilderness, at least with these dunlops mounted. Kind of worries me

 

At least you know that you could have ridden out of the wilderness with a flat and not worried about the tire coming off the rim - good thing to know ??

[NeilW]

15 hours ago, Tundratom said:

Today I finished my Hepco & Becker crash bars.  They refer to this as the Extreme model. It does not come with matching lowers.  It does provide a lot of protection as is, but I might try to configure a lower from another mfg. 

Good luck finding a lower that will attached with those uppers. Make sure you can return what ever you buy.

[Tundratom]

NeilW

its a bit of a long shot, as many if not most have a bar that goes around the lower radiator and mine already have that. I’m going to check out the type that sit low and connect from along the bottom frame  by the foot peg / back brake and foot peg/ shifter then connect again where the H&B connect to two bolts at the corner of the radiator.  The one I am looking at only has one bolt (the lower one) at the corner which is good and it looks like there will not be interference of the two bar types.  I think what I will face is either changing out the spacers, changing the order of how the bars stack with each other with a longer bolt or both.  Yes, I never buy anything I can’t return and I will make the mfg aware of what I am doing and I’ll even pay a restocking fee if I have to.  

[Wintersdark]

10 hours ago, Landshark said:

Tire replacement can be frustrating to say the least.  

Here is a few things I've learned over the years.  Use lots of tire lube when breaking the bead and when prying the tire onto the rim.  You were correct in purchasing the bead breaker tool.  Tools are your friend.  Use a tube valve retrieval tool to simplify things.  When reinstalling the tire, keep the opposite side in the middle of the rim.  Use 3 tire irons and lots of tire slime and reapply as needed.  The rear tire is usually a lot more stiff as it's a 150 width and the tires for dual sporting are extra stiff.   Not to mention the OEM rear tire was glued into place..  A balancing device will also be required.  

If you have room for a manual tire machine, it's well worth the price as compared to the time, effort and expense of dragging your wheels to the repair dude. 

 

 

 

I love these stories. Makes me feel better about how much of a hard time I had changing my rear too. For sure, @advsquid, don't feel bad about that rear.  EVERYONE has a nightmare getting that stock Pirelli rear off the first time.  I have no idea what the deal is there, but it's freakishly hard.  What gets me though is the Pirelli isn't a stiff tire.  It's actually really soft.  It just DOES NOT let go of the rim.  

 

I'll through my tips into the barrel too, though, as someone relatively new to tire changing:

 

• A heat gun or hair drier on the ground circulating hot air inside the tire for a few minutes before you put it on (assuming it's a cool/cold day, anyways) is incredibly helpful.  If it's a hot sunny day, just leave it in the sun for 10-20 minutes.  The rubber is MUCH more pliable when warm.
• I don't have them, but I've got buddies who use them: the Motion Pro Bead Breaker tire iron set is really great.  I'd like a set to keep on the bike while travelling, as it's such a good way to break beads.
• Everyone who's really experienced with tire changing likes to recommend all sorts of random Shet to use as lube.  Tire changing is an art, and as you get better at it, sure, pretty much anything wet and vaguely slippy is fine.  When you're new, though?  Give yourself all the help you can.  Use actual tire lube.  It's not expensive, you can get it from amazon if you've got no suitable shops nearby, and a small tub lasts forever.  Then you can do stuff like paint it onto the tires, and dip your tire irons into the lube bucket as well.  It's also water soluble, so you can easily thin it by adding water, and it just washes off with water.
• It's all about getting both beads into the drop channel opposite to where you're working.  I use C-Clamps personally, have a 5" and a 8" clamp, and that makes the whole process trivially easy for me.  After many tires worth of sweating and swearing and one destroyed tire, I clung to that like a liferaft.

For tire changers and gear, there's tons of options, and it doesn't have to cost a lot.  I have a Olmax Motors tire changer, which cost all of $250CDN shipped.  The only trick to using it not really covered in the instructions is to strap it down to whatever surface you're working on so it doesn't move.  Which seems obvious in retrospect, I guess, but I was trying to hold it with my feet initially while pulling on the bar, and that just didn't work.  No-Mar makes an excellent set of tire machines, which are highly recommended all over the place, but also pretty spendy (usually around $700usd?)

 

For balancing, a cheap Amazon balance stand works just fine, and is pretty fun to use.  

 

I figured for $250, I'd pay that off in 5 tires changed.  With two bikes that change between summer/winter tires, I'm ahead of the game inside on year.  

[Hibobb]

@Wintersdark I have the same Olmax tire changer. Took three months to get shipped to the usa (but they told me that up front). My advice to everyone ordering one is to get the additional 15mm center post at the same time. The stock one is 20mm and is fine for most bikes (T7 included) but I have 17mm bearing on many dirt bike and even some 15mm bearings.... I had to place a second order for the smaller post and I am still waiting on that one!

[Redneckj]

I installed knobby tires today!!!

Michelin Anakee wilds.  

Rides smooth.  Turn in is slower than the Pirelli’s.  Which is ok.   85 on Closed course NO wondering no weird motions.    Now, let’s see how long they last.  Put the tires on at 499 showing on the odometer. 

 

 

[jdub53]

Adding to the tire mounting dialogue, I've found Dunlop tires (especially fronts, including the Mission) to be some of the most difficult because their beads want to stay spread and are very resistant to staying in the rim center. One day I grabbed some wine bottle corks from my toolbox (I'm a pack rat) while mounting Dunlops and found corks are perfect for keeping the beads where they need to be. Easy to insert and remove with no chance of rim or tire damage. 

 

I've changed all my own tires and those for many friends for decades using three tire irons and pieces of a cut up Frisbee and/or piece of old bicycle road tires as rim protectors and Ru-Glyde tire lube from NAPA applied from a small spray bottle.

 

   

[Ray Ride4life]

10 hours ago, Redneckj said:

I installed knobby tires today!!!

Michelin Anakee wilds.  

Rides smooth.  Turn in is slower than the Pirelli’s.  Which is ok.   85 on Closed course NO wondering no weird motions.    Now, let’s see how long they last.  Put the tires on at 499 showing on the odometer. 

 

 

The turning will get better after 2 or 300km.
Then they will feel more stable too.
How long they last depends on what terrain, on my Crosstourer with mostly pavement they lasted 9000km but on the T7 with a lot of offroad and lots of playing in the corners i'm happy they will make it to 4500km but 4000 will be closer.
I really like them but i'm looking for something that will last longer with the same feel.
If not i will definitely go back and accept the limited range.

[Wintersdark]

20 hours ago, Hibobb said:

@Wintersdark I have the same Olmax tire changer. Took three months to get shipped to the usa (but they told me that up front). My advice to everyone ordering one is to get the additional 15mm center post at the same time. The stock one is 20mm and is fine for most bikes (T7 included) but I have 17mm bearing on many dirt bike and even some 15mm bearings.... I had to place a second order for the smaller post and I am still waiting on that one!

I ordered a 17mm center post myself for my Tracer's front wheel (the rear is 22 though) - it took 3 weeks to get here, but spent a full week of that stuck in customs because... customs.

 

I've bought a bunch of stuff from Poland lately, and had *great* shipping times at least here to Canada.  The Huzar exhaust system came from there too, took IIRC 10 days to arrive. 

 

But yeah, if you've got other bikes, a smaller axle/center post is super helpful, and you'd save money ordering them together. 

[banditrider]

Removed the warning stickers,  Fitted some protective fill around the tank cap so that the little rubbers on the Givi tankring don't wear away the paint.

[skoalBANDIT]

Hi All,

Thought you might like to see my farkle list (for now) all ordered and waiting for the postie

OH! I'm waiting for the bike too ....

Far too much research - OCD doesn't help

 

1. Pipe - Hpcorse 

2. Decals - Decalmoto

3. Tail tidy - Twalcom

4. Indicators - ebay

5. Rad guard - ebay

6. Water pump cover - Aliexpress

7. Engine covers - Aliexpress

8. Dash - Twalcom

9. Rear pillion seat rack - Aliexpress

10. Finger clutch - Aliexpress

11. Fork leg protectors - CamelADV

12. Rear rack - CamelADV

13. Engine bars - Adventure Spec

14. Bash plate - Adventure Spec

15. Rear racks - Adventure Spec

16. Hand guard bars - Hepco and Becker

17. Indicator adaptors - Aliexpress

18. Headlight protector - Aliexpress

19. Frame protectors - Aliexpress

20. ABS guard - Aliexpress

21. Screen adjuster - Aliexpress

22. Throttle guards - Aliexpress

23. Chain guide - Aliexpress

24. RAM wireless phone mount - J.A

25. Chain guard - Aliexpress

26. Rear brake masrer cylinder guard - Aliexpress

 

Phew!

 

[Lewie]

Fitted a cheap tail bag and removed the tank sticker

 

[DT675]

On 4/19/2022 at 2:11 PM, Ray Ride4life said:

Or put the bike in first gear plus a stick or plank through the spokes to block movement.
Then you just need some leverage.

I've never done this with spokes but have with street bike tires a bunch of times.  I make sure whatever I'm using to block against the wheel is covered in thick rubber padding to not scratch anything and it works great!

[Tenerider]

First ride on loose ground (gravel with larger potholes, dry). Didn't go too fast, maybe 35-40 km/h.

Great fun, although this part was only 1,5km long or so. In our area, legal unpaved roads are RARE.

[NeilW]

3 hours ago, Tenerider said:

First ride on loose ground (gravel with larger potholes, dry). Didn't go too fast, maybe 35-40 km/h.

Great fun, although this part was only 1,5km long or so. In our area, legal unpaved roads are RARE.

You should plan a fly and ride trip to the the USA. You can rent and ride. 

Off road is a blast. We have 1000's of miles of gravel, forest roads in the Pacific Northwest of the USA. Here is a video from my 360 camera enjoying a typical off road ride. 

 

 

This is a video of what we call a quad track ( for 4 wheel quad cycles- about 4 feet wide)  This is about as hard as I NOW choose to do on my Tenere 700. I have done way harder and dropped my bike way too many times- it isn't the dropping that is the problem - it is the picking up! I am not as young or as good of a technical rider as I used to be

 Here is the same type narrow track using my 360 camera 

 

Edited April 24, 2022 by NeilW

[Ray Ride4life]

3 hours ago, DT675 said:

I've never done this with spokes but have with street bike tires a bunch of times.  I make sure whatever I'm using to block against the wheel is covered in thick rubber padding to not scratch anything and it works great!

I don't care about scratches, if i did i could not ride the bike like i do and miss out a lot of fun.

[r6realtor]

Bought my T7 a twin today! 2022 africa twin adventure sports, outback motortek  crash bars should be in next week so it should be interesting to see how it does offroad compared to the t7

[Tenerider]

4 minutes ago, r6realtor said:

Bought my T7 a twin today! 2022 africa twin adventure sports, outback motortek  crash bars should be in next week so it should be interesting to see how it does offroad compared to the t7

Love the AT, very good looking bike - great colour choice! Congratulations!