Fat Bob Avon 200 rear 150 front tires DIY FXDF
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Cruiser
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 101
Likes: 0
From: Maryland
Fat Bob Avon 200 rear 150 front tires DIY FXDF
So I did the online research and decided to to go with Avon tires upsized on my FXDF. When new the Dunlops were okay even in the rain but after a year they were starting to already show their age. Two and a half years and almost 11K miles later and they were getting thin and scary. Rain was no fun anymore at all. I will admit that I let them run low on air for a while and the tread was not even due to the low air pressure and the tread design. I never liked the looks of the tread to begin with I must admit.
I already had a service manual and read through the various sections on those involved with changing the tire. I did miss a couple sections with some key pieces but nothing I couldn't overcome. I ended up having to run to the dealer to get some new sprocket bolts as they are torque to yield which means a single use due to changing rear wheel bearings. I know people could debate this till the cows come home but the rule is replace them so I did. They are not supposed to be reused and the 2013 FXDF definitely uses torque to yield bolts. I should have also purchased new rotor bolts as well but ended up leaving them on the wheel while I did the work. It would have been easier to have removed the rotors to change the tire with the way I did it and the fact that there are two rotors on the front of an FB but I got away with not removing them.
I went to the dealer first to give them a shot at my business but a straight out of the book price on the tires more or less sealed the deal right there let alone the charges to remove the wheel and do the tire swap added about 300 to the price. They would have taken me for 800+.
So I listed almost everything I purchased to complete the tire change below so you can see exactly what I bought and what it cost. What is not shown is a strip of tape on wheel balance weights from the local auto parts house. Also not shown below are of course the pieces I already owned like the service manual, hand tools, air compressor, torque wrenches in 1/4" inch pound and 1/2" foot pound sizes. I also have a large assortment of sockets and breakers bars beyond your normal shade tree mechanic from decades of hot rodding, differential and suspension work and four wheeling. The last tool I have already was a dial indicator from differential work which was used to measure bearing play. Most people won't have one of these.
I also already had a motorcycle jack. I secured the bike on top of the jack by tying ropes to the triple trees and then to the rafters in the garage. I figured this would at least ease the impact if it did fall off the jack. I was still very careful though it seemed very secure.
I wish I had passed on ordering the Ride On tire sealant/balance goop and the OTC axle wrench as I didn't use them. This would have saved me $80 plus shipping. I also wished I had just bought the bearings from Harley. After a discussion with Brocks sales guy I learned that what they sold me isn't especially superior to what HD probably is selling and HD was actually cheaper. HD had an issue with the non-ABS bearing on these bikes but it appears that has been solved per several threads I read. The ABS bearing my bike uses has never had an issue, it was just the non-ABS bearing. Reading the Brocks page it stated that they disassembled a new bearing, cleaned and inspected them and re-greased them with superior Chevron grease. Poor grease or amounts of grease can be an issue with sealed bearings as well as the seals themselves. When I got the bearing the two non-ABS bearings were made in Japan and sealed in plastic from the factory. The ABS bearings were in an appropriately sized zip lock bag. I emailed and then called Brocks with a WTF thought in my mind but was polite. The sales guy called me back and explained that they did indeed need to change the web page as they were factory bearings but superior to the old HD bearings. I'm still wondering about the zip lock bagged bearings, I wonder if they were repackaged HD bearings. They were more expensive than HD bearings and the Brock guy offered a full refund but I declined and kept them for my tire job. The ceramic bearings are disassembled, steel ***** swapped for ceramic and new grease installed. If I had it to do again I would have just bought the HD bearing and saved money to boot. I could have saved about another $50.
I do wish I had bought angled valve stems, kicking myself on this one. I would have made checking the rear air pressure so much easier.
So the HD service manual is actually pretty darn good compared to some service manuals. They could always use more pics but there were sufficient to make it easy to get the job done. I did find a pic online in a parts installation instruction set for the sprocket on identifying the primary side of the whee. More on that in a minute.
Changing the tires was more difficult than I had hoped and I did scratch my rear wheel a little but it would be hard to see due to my saddlebags anyhow. While off the bike I cleaned them up and put a coat of wax on before reinstalling them. For the front tire I used two large C clamps to break the bead. For the rear because the C clamps wouldn't fit around the tire I used a 2x4 and blocks of wood to break the bead. I put down some two by sixes to keep the wheel off the cement, wedged a wheel chock next to the wheel lip and then put a two by four under the truck hitch. I had my teen son stand on the wheel to stabilize it and then put leverage on the wheel chock with the two by four. This worked awesome to break the larger tire bead and I wished I had done this to the front tire as well. After that it was rim protectors, tire spoons and soapy water, no big deal except when I got a little lazy and didn't move the rim protector. I was working alone at this point and an extra pair of hands would have worked wonders but I got it done. I used the Harbor Freight wheel balancer and the stick on weights to balance the wheels and they came out awesome. This why I wished I had not purchased the ride on stuff. Inspecting the bearings found the fronts to be within tolerance and smooth as a babies butt rolling. The rears were in tolerance but felt a little rough and did not turn freely so I swapped them out. This is why I had to buy the sprocket bolts from HD as I couldn't swap the bearings using the Pit Posse tool with the sprocket no the wheel. No biggie and the bolts were less than $16 and a ride to the dealer. One bearing is the primary side, this bearing goes in first. That side is defined with a groove behind the rotor. This wasn't as clear in the manual as I would have liked. I searched on wheel installation and bearing installation online and found a set of instructions from HD. This clearly identified the primary side as the one with the groove. I was also able to determine that on the rear wheel the groove was not behind the sprocket since I had to take it off for to install the bearing with the bearing installer. The installer shaft was not long enough to install the bearing with the sprocket in place.
In my younger days I would not have spent money on the special tools and probably would have reused the bolts and maybe the bearings. I look at it this way, why go cheap when you don't have to and locking up a wheel or tearing up a sprocket and wheel over cheap parts is not smart. I also would have eyeballed the belt tension but that tool wasn't too expensive. The last item I could have done without is the alignment tool. The manual and various online videos will show how to use welding rod to make a tool. Again a cheap tool but I should have made this one as it would have been simple to make and saved me $20.
So I learned a lot about my bike which will help me in the future especially if something happens away from home. I have all of the tools I need to do another set of tires when these wear out. I have a set of bearings remaining as well as wheel weights. While I spent near if not more than what a dealer or indy would have cost me I will definitely save money next time as it will probably be just the tires and maybe another set of bearings. Would I do it again or go to the shop, without a doubt do it myself again.
So now the tires, they are wider than the stockers but not significantly. There is plenty of clearance but the belt is a finger tip distance from the tire in the back. On some dynas the rear tire is offset to one side, typically the left, by as much as half an inch. I didn't see this with the stock tire and freaked when I noticed it with the new wider tire. The reason I could see this is that it lines up with the license plate bracket and makes it really clear that it is off. There are some ways to fix this but it is only noticeable when you really look for it and everything I read says if the bike is aligned properly then leave it be unless you want to fix it for aesthetics. I plan on changing the rear fender and will align everything then. As for handling and ride, they seem much smoother than the stockers, could be due to the radial construction or the wider tire. Handling is slightly different but I am getting used to them and as the tires get a few miles on them they are settling in and becoming smoother in turns. Or I am just used to them, heck I don't know and really don't care. I like them. I am not sure if I would go with stock sizes or these again next time as they really are not that noticeably bigger on the bike. Side by side you see it but going down the road it ain't that much. I do like the ride though. Two things are apparent, when you turn there is a pronounced lean angle that you feel the bike go through. This seems to be going away as I put more miles on the tires, still only about 200 as of this thread. Also, leaning through and intersection over white lines such as a crosswalk the Cobras actually wiggle a little. It's been in the 40s but even the worn Dunlops didn't do this. I am surprised at this and will keep an eye on air pressure but this was not expected. They do feel secure in normal corners though, more so than the stockers but then they were getting old and worn. the Cobras seem more compliant probably due to the radial construction so they are not upset by bumps in the curves as much as the Dunlops.
Okay, tired of writing, any questions I will try to answer. Hope this helps someone with their own project.
210-207 Avon AV72 Cobra 200/60R16 Rear Tire 1 $198.99 $198.99 210-200 Avon AV71 Cobra 150/80R16 Front Tire 1 $159.99 $159.99 Product Total $358.98 Net Product Dollars $358.98 Sub Total $358.98 TOTAL $358.98
130157: Steel Wheel Bearing ST-6205 (HD-9276)
Qty: 2 ( In Stock )Price: $19.95131470: Steel Bearing ST-9252 For ABS Applications (HD-9252)
Qty: 2 ( In Stock )Price: $59.95
Order Subtotal: $159.80
Discount: $0.00
Shipping Total: $13.99
Sales Tax: $0.00
Order Total: $173.79
Payment Method: Credit Card Amount: $173.79
Pit Posse VT102 Harley Davidson Wheel Bearing Remover And Installer Tool Lifetime Warranty
Sold by: E & I Motorsports
$87.95
Ride-On Motorcycle Tire Sealant-3 bottles
Sold by: ATV Outfitters
$39.99
Motion Pro 08-0049 Tire Iron Set
Sold by: Orange Custom Cycle
$22.05
Condition: New
Motion Pro Wheel Alignment Tool 08-0368
Sold by: Orange Custom Cycle
$19.79
OTC 4769 3-Piece Wheel Rim Protector Set
Sold by: Amazon.com LLC
$10.04
OTC 4748 Belt Tension Gauge
Sold by: Amazon.com LLC
$15.54
OTC 4882 Rear Axle Wrench
by OTC
4.6 out of 5 stars
List Price: $39.95 Price: $39.62
Motorcycle Wheel Balancing Stand
Pittsburgh Motorcycle Harbor Freight
Item #:98488 $39.99
I already had a service manual and read through the various sections on those involved with changing the tire. I did miss a couple sections with some key pieces but nothing I couldn't overcome. I ended up having to run to the dealer to get some new sprocket bolts as they are torque to yield which means a single use due to changing rear wheel bearings. I know people could debate this till the cows come home but the rule is replace them so I did. They are not supposed to be reused and the 2013 FXDF definitely uses torque to yield bolts. I should have also purchased new rotor bolts as well but ended up leaving them on the wheel while I did the work. It would have been easier to have removed the rotors to change the tire with the way I did it and the fact that there are two rotors on the front of an FB but I got away with not removing them.
I went to the dealer first to give them a shot at my business but a straight out of the book price on the tires more or less sealed the deal right there let alone the charges to remove the wheel and do the tire swap added about 300 to the price. They would have taken me for 800+.
So I listed almost everything I purchased to complete the tire change below so you can see exactly what I bought and what it cost. What is not shown is a strip of tape on wheel balance weights from the local auto parts house. Also not shown below are of course the pieces I already owned like the service manual, hand tools, air compressor, torque wrenches in 1/4" inch pound and 1/2" foot pound sizes. I also have a large assortment of sockets and breakers bars beyond your normal shade tree mechanic from decades of hot rodding, differential and suspension work and four wheeling. The last tool I have already was a dial indicator from differential work which was used to measure bearing play. Most people won't have one of these.
I also already had a motorcycle jack. I secured the bike on top of the jack by tying ropes to the triple trees and then to the rafters in the garage. I figured this would at least ease the impact if it did fall off the jack. I was still very careful though it seemed very secure.
I wish I had passed on ordering the Ride On tire sealant/balance goop and the OTC axle wrench as I didn't use them. This would have saved me $80 plus shipping. I also wished I had just bought the bearings from Harley. After a discussion with Brocks sales guy I learned that what they sold me isn't especially superior to what HD probably is selling and HD was actually cheaper. HD had an issue with the non-ABS bearing on these bikes but it appears that has been solved per several threads I read. The ABS bearing my bike uses has never had an issue, it was just the non-ABS bearing. Reading the Brocks page it stated that they disassembled a new bearing, cleaned and inspected them and re-greased them with superior Chevron grease. Poor grease or amounts of grease can be an issue with sealed bearings as well as the seals themselves. When I got the bearing the two non-ABS bearings were made in Japan and sealed in plastic from the factory. The ABS bearings were in an appropriately sized zip lock bag. I emailed and then called Brocks with a WTF thought in my mind but was polite. The sales guy called me back and explained that they did indeed need to change the web page as they were factory bearings but superior to the old HD bearings. I'm still wondering about the zip lock bagged bearings, I wonder if they were repackaged HD bearings. They were more expensive than HD bearings and the Brock guy offered a full refund but I declined and kept them for my tire job. The ceramic bearings are disassembled, steel ***** swapped for ceramic and new grease installed. If I had it to do again I would have just bought the HD bearing and saved money to boot. I could have saved about another $50.
I do wish I had bought angled valve stems, kicking myself on this one. I would have made checking the rear air pressure so much easier.
So the HD service manual is actually pretty darn good compared to some service manuals. They could always use more pics but there were sufficient to make it easy to get the job done. I did find a pic online in a parts installation instruction set for the sprocket on identifying the primary side of the whee. More on that in a minute.
Changing the tires was more difficult than I had hoped and I did scratch my rear wheel a little but it would be hard to see due to my saddlebags anyhow. While off the bike I cleaned them up and put a coat of wax on before reinstalling them. For the front tire I used two large C clamps to break the bead. For the rear because the C clamps wouldn't fit around the tire I used a 2x4 and blocks of wood to break the bead. I put down some two by sixes to keep the wheel off the cement, wedged a wheel chock next to the wheel lip and then put a two by four under the truck hitch. I had my teen son stand on the wheel to stabilize it and then put leverage on the wheel chock with the two by four. This worked awesome to break the larger tire bead and I wished I had done this to the front tire as well. After that it was rim protectors, tire spoons and soapy water, no big deal except when I got a little lazy and didn't move the rim protector. I was working alone at this point and an extra pair of hands would have worked wonders but I got it done. I used the Harbor Freight wheel balancer and the stick on weights to balance the wheels and they came out awesome. This why I wished I had not purchased the ride on stuff. Inspecting the bearings found the fronts to be within tolerance and smooth as a babies butt rolling. The rears were in tolerance but felt a little rough and did not turn freely so I swapped them out. This is why I had to buy the sprocket bolts from HD as I couldn't swap the bearings using the Pit Posse tool with the sprocket no the wheel. No biggie and the bolts were less than $16 and a ride to the dealer. One bearing is the primary side, this bearing goes in first. That side is defined with a groove behind the rotor. This wasn't as clear in the manual as I would have liked. I searched on wheel installation and bearing installation online and found a set of instructions from HD. This clearly identified the primary side as the one with the groove. I was also able to determine that on the rear wheel the groove was not behind the sprocket since I had to take it off for to install the bearing with the bearing installer. The installer shaft was not long enough to install the bearing with the sprocket in place.
In my younger days I would not have spent money on the special tools and probably would have reused the bolts and maybe the bearings. I look at it this way, why go cheap when you don't have to and locking up a wheel or tearing up a sprocket and wheel over cheap parts is not smart. I also would have eyeballed the belt tension but that tool wasn't too expensive. The last item I could have done without is the alignment tool. The manual and various online videos will show how to use welding rod to make a tool. Again a cheap tool but I should have made this one as it would have been simple to make and saved me $20.
So I learned a lot about my bike which will help me in the future especially if something happens away from home. I have all of the tools I need to do another set of tires when these wear out. I have a set of bearings remaining as well as wheel weights. While I spent near if not more than what a dealer or indy would have cost me I will definitely save money next time as it will probably be just the tires and maybe another set of bearings. Would I do it again or go to the shop, without a doubt do it myself again.
So now the tires, they are wider than the stockers but not significantly. There is plenty of clearance but the belt is a finger tip distance from the tire in the back. On some dynas the rear tire is offset to one side, typically the left, by as much as half an inch. I didn't see this with the stock tire and freaked when I noticed it with the new wider tire. The reason I could see this is that it lines up with the license plate bracket and makes it really clear that it is off. There are some ways to fix this but it is only noticeable when you really look for it and everything I read says if the bike is aligned properly then leave it be unless you want to fix it for aesthetics. I plan on changing the rear fender and will align everything then. As for handling and ride, they seem much smoother than the stockers, could be due to the radial construction or the wider tire. Handling is slightly different but I am getting used to them and as the tires get a few miles on them they are settling in and becoming smoother in turns. Or I am just used to them, heck I don't know and really don't care. I like them. I am not sure if I would go with stock sizes or these again next time as they really are not that noticeably bigger on the bike. Side by side you see it but going down the road it ain't that much. I do like the ride though. Two things are apparent, when you turn there is a pronounced lean angle that you feel the bike go through. This seems to be going away as I put more miles on the tires, still only about 200 as of this thread. Also, leaning through and intersection over white lines such as a crosswalk the Cobras actually wiggle a little. It's been in the 40s but even the worn Dunlops didn't do this. I am surprised at this and will keep an eye on air pressure but this was not expected. They do feel secure in normal corners though, more so than the stockers but then they were getting old and worn. the Cobras seem more compliant probably due to the radial construction so they are not upset by bumps in the curves as much as the Dunlops.
Okay, tired of writing, any questions I will try to answer. Hope this helps someone with their own project.
210-207 Avon AV72 Cobra 200/60R16 Rear Tire 1 $198.99 $198.99 210-200 Avon AV71 Cobra 150/80R16 Front Tire 1 $159.99 $159.99 Product Total $358.98 Net Product Dollars $358.98 Sub Total $358.98 TOTAL $358.98
130157: Steel Wheel Bearing ST-6205 (HD-9276)
Qty: 2 ( In Stock )Price: $19.95131470: Steel Bearing ST-9252 For ABS Applications (HD-9252)
Qty: 2 ( In Stock )Price: $59.95
Order Subtotal: $159.80
Discount: $0.00
Shipping Total: $13.99
Sales Tax: $0.00
Order Total: $173.79
Payment Method: Credit Card Amount: $173.79
Pit Posse VT102 Harley Davidson Wheel Bearing Remover And Installer Tool Lifetime Warranty
Sold by: E & I Motorsports
$87.95
Ride-On Motorcycle Tire Sealant-3 bottles
Sold by: ATV Outfitters
$39.99
Motion Pro 08-0049 Tire Iron Set
Sold by: Orange Custom Cycle
$22.05
Condition: New
Motion Pro Wheel Alignment Tool 08-0368
Sold by: Orange Custom Cycle
$19.79
OTC 4769 3-Piece Wheel Rim Protector Set
Sold by: Amazon.com LLC
$10.04
OTC 4748 Belt Tension Gauge
Sold by: Amazon.com LLC
$15.54
OTC 4882 Rear Axle Wrench
by OTC
4.6 out of 5 stars
List Price: $39.95 Price: $39.62
Motorcycle Wheel Balancing Stand
Pittsburgh Motorcycle Harbor Freight
Item #:98488 $39.99
Last edited by carjunkie; Dec 6, 2015 at 11:41 AM.
Road Warrior
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,368
Likes: 27
From: Australia
good effort mate,
here in Oz its about $600-$800 to change a set of tires at an indy or dealer, whereas I can get a set or pair of tires delivered to my door from US or at home for about $450
so i done same as you and have changed on my bike now, one thing is watch the Pirelli Night Dragon they a rounded tire and I could not break the bead on either a front or back
I use a timber bead breaker which I bolt to garage wall when i need it, dunlops and avons I can break bead
after using soapy water have now changed to a tire paste and it is so much easier, like heaps easy
also put 2 layers of cloth tape around the whole rim, static balancer with stick on weights
thanks
here in Oz its about $600-$800 to change a set of tires at an indy or dealer, whereas I can get a set or pair of tires delivered to my door from US or at home for about $450
so i done same as you and have changed on my bike now, one thing is watch the Pirelli Night Dragon they a rounded tire and I could not break the bead on either a front or back
I use a timber bead breaker which I bolt to garage wall when i need it, dunlops and avons I can break bead
after using soapy water have now changed to a tire paste and it is so much easier, like heaps easy
also put 2 layers of cloth tape around the whole rim, static balancer with stick on weights
thanks
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 2,026
Likes: 474
I love my oversize Avons on the Fat Bob. I feel more confident going into corners.
Much better handling tire than the stock Donecraps, even in the rain too. The Dunlops were down right dangerous with just a little mist or early mourning ground sweat on the road. Dumped the bike once like that. Front tire just slid out going into a turn.
The only I don't like about the Avons is tar snake road patches cause them to squirm. Almost feels like the bike is going out beneath you. I just take it slow & no sudden maneuvers when we ride over tar road patches.
Much better handling tire than the stock Donecraps, even in the rain too. The Dunlops were down right dangerous with just a little mist or early mourning ground sweat on the road. Dumped the bike once like that. Front tire just slid out going into a turn.
The only I don't like about the Avons is tar snake road patches cause them to squirm. Almost feels like the bike is going out beneath you. I just take it slow & no sudden maneuvers when we ride over tar road patches.
Last edited by Chicago Ken; Dec 5, 2015 at 02:49 PM.
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Jul 2013
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From: Maryland
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/dyna-...-bob-pics.html
Sorry, keep forgetting to take pics. This thread has some excellent photos of the same exact tire which is one that I reviewed before buying my tires.
Sorry, keep forgetting to take pics. This thread has some excellent photos of the same exact tire which is one that I reviewed before buying my tires.
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Cruiser
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From: Sonoma County, CA
OP, good write up and I'm sure you learned some valuable things while doing the work yourself. I've always done my own work, however, I just remove the wheels from the bike and drop them off at the local dealership. Since I've become a "regular" over the years, they swap them for me the same day. $100 later, I'm putting them back on the bike. I am definitely a believer of doing things yourself, however, this is the only area I don't.
Good job and enjoy the new Avons.
Good job and enjoy the new Avons.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 3,791
Likes: 57
From: N Texas
Great write up, very descriptive! I do wish you would have posted pics at various steps in your tire/bearing change.
Curious about not using Ride On tire sealant, have heard good reveiws on it and it elliminates the weights on the wheel.
Have to say that I am with Eric above though, I do all my work on my bike too but do not plan on doing tire changes. I will take the wheels off myself and take them in but I still love reading about the process.
Curious about not using Ride On tire sealant, have heard good reveiws on it and it elliminates the weights on the wheel.
Have to say that I am with Eric above though, I do all my work on my bike too but do not plan on doing tire changes. I will take the wheels off myself and take them in but I still love reading about the process.