Dunlop Road Smarts -HOLY CHRIST!!!

[Fencer]

And how did you do it?

I Did a set for Jwilly IIRC (that is what he brought) and they were tough to get on, but they went on with a little extra elbow grease.

I am trying to do a set for myself and the rear has me tossing in the towel. I can't do it. It has broken my "yellow" thingy from No-mar, bent two spoons and used a gallon of lube (OK slight exhaggeration, but not by much).

I have tried heating the tire in my truck with the heater on high, outside temp is in upper 70s and I even put my race tire warmer on the ***** while it was in the truck to soften it up.

I give up and am going to have to take it to someone with a pneumatic mount.

anyone else run into one like this?

 

[MrTwisty]

Nope. I'm on my second set now, the third should be here Monday or Tuesday, and I'll be mounting them before the Georgia FJR Rally next weekend. The first two sets were no harder to mount than any of the others I've tried. IMO, the FJR's rear wheel is difficult with any tire, but I don't have a No-Mar or any other tire mounting tool.

 

[jwilly]

And how did you do it?

You did it once with mine you pansy! Did you buy the right size tire?

JW

 

[wheatonFJR]

I threw in the towel with my RoadSmarts as well...very disappointing. I've put on Azarros, Storms, and PR2s successfully. I hope I don't like these RoadSmarts...they were impossible to mount.

 

[Fencer]

I'll tell you I think I have found religion. I must have, with all the Jesus Christs that came out tonight :lol:

I went back and gave it a third try with another gallon of lube, the recruitement of my wife, and more choice words.

I got it to the sticking point, and used the rim tool to lever it down. I was lifting my fat arse off the ground and bending the rod, but FINALLY got the damn thing mounted.

And then the rear tire took NO WEIGHT to balance while the front took 1.5 oz

I matched the dot to heavy spot on the rim for both.

All I can say is I don't want to change it any time soon B)

 

[thompsonian]

Wuss... :crazy:

 

[vabrzn]

I put the front on without an iron and only needed to spoon on about 10 inches of the rear.........Do you use woodworking clamps to squeeze the tire into the center of the rim?

 

[S76]

I had the same problem until I figured it out. I always spooned tires on with the rim on the floor. Usually, kneeling on the tire to keep the bead in the small of the rim while installing worked. Not with these though. I had to elevate the rim on a couple of pieces of wood to allow the tire bead to stay in the small of the rim while spooning it on. They are stiff.

Also, I use silicone grease on the beads which makes it go alot easier, but if I was lowering air pressure and drag racing that may not be a good idea.

 

[HaulinAshe]

I'm old injured and weak, so the guy down the road mounts them for me. His underpaid helper provides the added strength.

Just be glad it's not an E-series Strada. You have to assemble a battle plan to mount that sucker!

Hardwood blocks is my best suggestion, just like they show in the No-Mar Goldwing video. Works for me when I have to do it myself.

Good luck Fencer.

 

[motorcycle-ed]

I put mine on using my piece-o-crap harbor freight changer, but admittedly, I could not roll the bead on with the arm. I had to lever it on, but it was no harder than some other tires I have mounted. They SURE work good. I will be using them as my standard tire on the FJR.

Ed, Lancaster, SC

 

[Warchild]

The RoadSmarts were a complete ***-pain to mount.... the sidewalls are approaching Bridgestone-like stiffness. I just dis-mounted the RoadSmarts last week and mounted up a proper set of Storms.

I have never had a tire that swung from one end of the performance spectrum to the other over it's treadlife, to the degree that the Dunlop RoadSmart has. I am bitterly disappointed in the final grade I am giving this tire: C-

Like with all tires, when it was new, life was grand. It proved to be an exceptional tire in the dry. Turn-in and grip were excellent.

However, within about 1500-200 miles, a funky "high ridge" developed on the front tire. A very, VERY strange wear pattern, one that I have seen photos of on other tires, buy have never experienced myself. The "ridge" became so pronounced over time, it began to take MAJOR effort to tip the handlebars into a turn. It got progressively worse, and proved to be completely distracting as time wore on. They had maybe 500-1000 miles left on them when I ripped them off the FJR.

Back to Stroms until something new comes out to try....

 

[Zorlac]

"Do you use woodworking clamps to squeeze the tire into the center of the rim? "

+1

Pretty sure any bike rubber would succumb to a pair of these.

https://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=93230

"I use silicone grease on the beads which makes it go alot easier,"

Oh baby, scary stuff, keep an eye on that balance dot after a few throttle whacks!

 

[HaulinAshe]

...Also, I use silicone grease on the beads which makes it go alot easier, but if I was lowering air pressure and drag racing that may not be a good idea.

I keep passing by this and just can't let it go.

Man, this is a BAD idea IMHO. I used silicone one time on an MX bike tire change because nothing else was available. Two months later when the weather turned cold and wet, that front tire completely dismounted off the wheel just as I was landing a jump. I broke my left arm in half and had to use a fence post to set it back in place so that I could drive myself home.

I can't imagine how bad a tubeless tire dismount would be under speed and load on an FJR. It's just too risky IMO to use anything silicone, especially since silicone is so difficult to remove. You would have to completely dismount the tire and scrub everything with denatured alcohol in order to remove the silicone deposits.

Personally, I can't stand the guilt of not giving this warning. No expertise here, just some sharing some bad experience.

 

[Iris]

We used the woodworking clamps as described above and it worked for us.

We have the nomar tire changer. Nomar sent a video on how to change a tire and I can not (for the life of me) figure out how the woman (no bigger than me) on the video makes it look so easy. Actually, she indicates that it is a sport bike tire that's being changed so I don't feel so bad.

Good Luck

 

[Fencer]

here is what it did to my spoon and yellow thing

 

[Zorlac]

here is what it did to my spoon and yellow thing

Ummm, it sent it to an alternate universe? :blink:

 

[J-DADDY]

:"I broke my left arm in half and had to use a fence post to set it back in place so that I could drive myself home."


HaulinAshe-

Holy Mother of Pearl! Jeff, you have gotta be one tough dude! I cannot imagine the scene! Were you alone? Did you kinda

fasten the fence post to the broken arm by twisting barbed wire or the like around them to make the grisley repair

workable?

As I reread this, it sorta looks like I'm bein' a smart a$$, but I'm not! I just cannot imagine! I am in awe! Can I get you to

expand on that story a bit?

JC

 

[Fencer]

:"I broke my left arm in half and had to use a fence post to set it back in place so that I could drive myself home."


HaulinAshe-

Holy Mother of Pearl! Jeff, you have gotta be one tough dude! I cannot imagine the scene! Were you alone? Did you kinda

fasten the fence post to the broken arm by twisting barbed wire or the like around them to make the grisley repair

workable?

As I reread this, it sorta looks like I'm bein' a smart a$$, but I'm not! I just cannot imagine! I am in awe! Can I get you to

expand on that story a bit?

JC

Didn't you ever see Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon?

How he threw his arm in and out of socket by hitting a wall>

There ya have it

 

[wheatonFJR]

...Also, I use silicone grease on the beads which makes it go alot easier, but if I was lowering air pressure and drag racing that may not be a good idea.

I keep passing by this and just can't let it go.

Man, this is a BAD idea IMHO. I used silicone one time on an MX bike tire change because nothing else was available. Two months later when the weather turned cold and wet, that front tire completely dismounted off the wheel just as I was landing a jump. I broke my left arm in half and had to use a fence post to set it back in place so that I could drive myself home.

I can't imagine how bad a tubeless tire dismount would be under speed and load on an FJR. It's just too risky IMO to use anything silicone, especially since silicone is so difficult to remove. You would have to completely dismount the tire and scrub everything with denatured alcohol in order to remove the silicone deposits.

Personally, I can't stand the guilt of not giving this warning. No expertise here, just some sharing some bad experience.

So...I think yer saying uh "No No" on the silicone grease...



OUCH.