Kenda 761 pinch flats

[o2jmpr]

I just purchased Kenda 761's for my Hawk:

Kenda K761 Dual Sport Tir
Front, 90/90-21, 21, Tubeless, 54, H, 4-Ply

Kenda K761 Dual Sport Tire
Rear, 120/80-18, 18, Tubeless, 62, H, 4-Ply


The rear went on with a new MSR heavy tube with no trouble. The front WILL NOT go on properly, (at least not by hand with tire irons).

It was a complete SOB to even shoehorn on the rim and in doing so, scratched the piss out of it. I tried to blow it up to seat the bead and.....hisssssss........
I tried again with my spare tube and was sure to be as careful as humanly possible and same thing. >:(

Gonna have to wait until next week to take into a shop and see if they can get the thing on. Otherwise I'm gonna need a new rim or tire set. Just letting you all know my experience.

[Megadan]

I had the same trouble mounting my skinko 705s in the same size. I got it eventually, but it definitely is a pain.

[OneLeggedRider]

Folks usually assume that the front tire is gonna be the easier of the two, and the rear will be more difficult because the tire is thicker/stiffer. This however is not the case, I always have more difficulty with the front.

Remove the tire and inspect the rim looking/feeling for anything sharp and make sure the rim strip is where it's supposed to be. Then do the same for the inside of the tire. I use talcum powder inside the tire and on the tube trying not to leave any excess. We weren't taught to do that in school but I find it helps the tube seat properly in the tire.

Now this is the important part. After installing the tube start from the opposite side of the valve stem and be sure to get the bead in the rim center. Having a buddy hold it in the rim center makes it easier and there will be less prying and hopefully no pinching. Also try to make sure the tube is clear of your iron before applying any pressure.

You can do this and finding a shop that will mount a tire you didn't purchase from them may be difficult.

[pete]

I find getting the wheel off and back on the bike the hard part..
Tyres are the easy bit.... Only use two 200mm levers and dish wash liquid ..
The deeper the rim well the easyer it is...


Put a small amount of air in the tube... just enough to loosely hold it's shape
then diving in to deep with the levers is not such a issue... "most of the time"


..

[o2jmpr]

Sorry to revive this but I just took the wheel to a local shop and had them do it. I lost my man card for the day, but I'm riding! :)

Side note: with these new tires inflated to 32psi each, my top speed went up to ~64 (I'm 280lbs on stock carb, rejetted for location and stock muffler). Also..... (and here's the most exciting part) my speedometer is right on the money! I just took a 40 minute trip and compared against GPS. That makes riding on the streets much more pleasurable.

Also found the oil cooler I just installed must really be doing its job. I never had to adjust my clutch cable once whereas I usually have to fiddle with the damn thing all the time and I tested finding neutral at each stoplight and had no issues. Super happy today.

[Megadan]

Sorry to revive this but I just took the wheel to a local shop and had them do it. I lost my man card for the day, but I'm riding! :)


Also found the oil cooler I just installed must really be doing its job. I never had to adjust my clutch cable once whereas I usually have to fiddle with the damn thing all the time and I tested finding neutral at each stoplight and had no issues. Super happy today.

No shame in having somebody else do it for you. Usually when I buy tires locally I will go to the same shop because they offer free installation and balancing with tire purchases if you bring the wheels in. I can change a tire myself, but why not let somebody do it for me lol.

As for the oil cooler, yes that is the cooler doing its job. You will also notice your oil won't turn super dark anywhere near as fast. My oil has 200 miles on it since my cooler install and is still golden clear like the day it went in. Usually by this point it has turned dark.

[dpl096]

Defeat is better than surrender. You got beat on this one but didn't give up and park the bike in the corner and walk way. You lived to ride another day