I need to get new tires on my 2000 fxd - I am leaning towards getting the metzler 880's. I also need new pads, and am guessing I should change the rotors if the wheels are off. I am considering taking off the wheels myself, getting tires online, and bringing them somewhere to get mounted to save money. I will have to get my hands on a bike lift to do all this, but in the end I should be saving some dough. From what I have read, it seems pretty basic to take off the wheels, but I do not want to bite off more than I can chew. Would it be unwise to attempt this? My biggest concern is getting things back on right so I don't have bad alignment. I've done brakes and other minor work on my CJ-7, so I have some confidence. Is it worth saving the money? I have had the bike less than 2 years, and have no idea what maintenance has been done on it in the past. It has about 21k on it. Thanks-

 

Fist thing you need to do is get a service manual for your bike. That will make things so much easier.

Secondly you don't need to replace the rotors unless they are warped. The job of taking the wheels off is straight forward just lay everything that comes off the bike in the order it came off to again make things easier to go back on. Things like the wheel spacers take note as to which side they are on and which way they were situated on the axle.

 

Thanks Nab- I have a Clymer. So nothing needs to get done to the rotors? I am thinking of trying the EBC pads and stainless lines too.

 

Look at Lyndel gold pads.
Most I do with the rotors is scuff them up a bit to take any shinny patches off and make them more presentable. If you take the rotors off, HD and members here recommend replacing the bolts.

 

Buying a tire on line is fine. Most dealers and Indy's will mount and balance them for you. I buy my tube from the installer in case it goes flat a week later. It keeps the finger pointing out of the consversation when it has to be redone or towed in. The Metzler 880 is a soft tire, but a good one. The 880 is being phased out and replaced by the 888, which is to do double the miles of the 880. The Michelin Comander II's are good and the Dunlop Elite is good, and made in America. I don't know what sizes are avail in those brands for your bike. I buy my tires from Dennis Kirk or Jake Wilson. My dealer charges me $90 + the tube if I bring the the bike and tire in. They do the whole job. I wont remove and mount and balance the rear tire for $90.

 

The metzlers and commander 2s are both good tires. I just switch from the 880s to the commanders and I think I like the commanders better. Plus they are less expensive. Check out motorcycle superstore if your going to order online. If you have tubes, I'd recommend replacing them and the inner rim strip. I'd also recommend pulling off your wheels weights and picking up some dyna beads that go inside the tire (not sure if you can use those with tubes). They work better and get rid of the ugly weights. As far as pads I'd check out the lyndall golds, pricey but good pads. You can do this yourself it's pretty simple if you have a manual, but like you said you'll need a jack. Check out the sears red jack mod, it's a good/cheap way to lift your bike. Your also going to need a torque wrench and a rear wheel alignment tool which you can easily make yourself. Good luck!

 

I use Michelin Commander II and EBC pads. It's very dry out here and the pads tend to build up
dust and squeak like crazy. A quick blast from a water hose cures that. I think they're better than stock,
but not by a whole lot.

The Mickys now have about 6,500 on them with lots of tread left whereas the rear Dung-Flop the bike
came with would be shot by now. I don't know if it's just me but I think the Mickys are a bit more sensitive
to road snakes than the Dunlops. I haven't had a chance to ride these in real rain (doh.. severe drought),
so I don't know if they're better in the wet or not.

 

$90 for each tire mounted balanced if tire bought elsewhere? I'm looking at $150 for the rear, $110 for the front at a local non-HD shop.
I won't ever buy dunlops for anything I own ever again- they came on a car I bought brand new and they were ****. I don't need tubes. I just priced out the 888s and the Michelin Commander IIs, and the 888s are about $25 more for the pair-

Those Lyndalls cost double the EBC's!

 

i mount my own tires..as far as balance,i use dyna beads...and yeah you can put them in tubes,they have an adapter for that..but its a bitch gettin them in there sometimes

 

for those of you bashing the Dunlops....I just changed my rear Dunlop 402..........I got 17,000 out of it.....95% of that was freeway as I was commuting 86 miles a day.........just saying I don't think they're that bad...got a lot more miles than you guys with the Michelins or any other brand for that matter...I just kept it properly inflated and did 0 burn outs....replaced it with the same...170 not 180