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Oh No - Not Tires

roadventure said:
James,

Did you re-calibrate the speedo? (I think we can do this....)

Also, the comment about not needing to remove the brake caliper is very helpful. Anything that helps with the complicated rear wheel removal/install process is a plus.
Click to expand...

No, I said nothing funny... ;-) To get the 200 tire off, had to remove all bolts, and spend a good 20 minutes figuring out how to bend/twist it out of the way without damaging the hydraulic line. It was not easy. Reinstallation went much easier. And, no, I haven't done the recalibration. I had forgotten we had the function available. Thanks for the reminder...
 
PaulDavies said:
I think the rear brake caliper will still have to removed (or at least pushed to one side), since it is attached to the wheel axle which obviously needs to come out to remove the wheel
Click to expand...

True, But when removing the wheel with OEM tire size the rear caliper has to be physically moved up and away (taking care to not bend or crimp the brake tube) from the installed position to make clearance for the rear tire. That also means that the left rear shock needs to be unbolted at the bottom and swung out of the way.

If the 180 wide tire can slide out without relocating the caliper this is a huge simplification to rear wheel removal.
 
roadventure said:
True, But when removing the wheel with OEM tire size the rear caliper has to be physically moved up and away (taking care to not bend or crimp the brake tube) from the installed position to make clearance for the rear tire. That also means that the left rear shock needs to be unbolted at the bottom and swung out of the way.

If the 180 wide tire can slide out without relocating the caliper this is a huge simplification to rear wheel removal.
Click to expand...

I've not had to remove the wheel since going to the 180, so don't know if the caliper can simply swing, or has to be completely freed. Pretty sure the shock is no longer such an issue though....
 
So…

I’ve just read 19 pages of comments on tires for the California. It seems like the “consensus” is that running a 180 rear tire is the way to go to save work on removing the wheel without sacrificing handling. I’m looking at the Avon Cobra Chrome F&R for my Cali Touring. Does that seem to sum up the current view?
 
Amory said:
So…

I’ve just read 19 pages of comments on tires for the California. It seems like the “consensus” is that running a 180 rear tire is the way to go to save work on removing the wheel without sacrificing handling. I’m looking at the Avon Cobra Chrome F&R for my Cali Touring. Does that seem to sum up the current view?
Click to expand...

It noticeably speeds up handling. I've done the "Calibration" procedure outlined in the manual, but my speedometer is still approximately 8-12% off though (i.e., reads faster). The "procedure" changed nothing to my eye. FWIW....
 
Amory said:
So…

I’ve just read 19 pages of comments on tires for the California. It seems like the “consensus” is that running a 180 rear tire is the way to go to save work on removing the wheel without sacrificing handling. I’m looking at the Avon Cobra Chrome F&R for my Cali Touring. Does that seem to sum up the current view?
Click to expand...

I'm on my 3rd pair of Cobra Chromes, so yeah i like them, they work well in all conditions. Not sure about making it easier to remove the rear wheel though, I have an Eldo which runs a 180 tyre standard and I still have to remove the left hand shock to move the caliper out of the way.
 
John L said:
I'm on my 3rd pair of Cobra Chromes, so yeah i like them, they work well in all conditions. Not sure about making it easier to remove the rear wheel though, I have an Eldo which runs a 180 tyre standard and I still have to remove the left hand shock to move the caliper out of the way.
Click to expand...

How many miles have you gotten on each set?
 
Amory said:
So…

I’ve just read 19 pages of comments on tires for the California. It seems like the “consensus” is that running a 180 rear tire is the way to go to save work on removing the wheel without sacrificing handling. I’m looking at the Avon Cobra Chrome F&R for my Cali Touring. Does that seem to sum up the current view?
Click to expand...
I’ve found the Cobra’s far superior to the original Dunlop’s. Didn’t have to remove the shock or muffler when I removed the wheel. I cannot replace the original 200 with a 180 as the bike would not pass the road transport inspection.
 
I confirm that the cobra chrome are very very good in all conditions, even on wet roads, and very easy to run in the mountain roads .
I carry on with 200 size , no problem for me on my touring, very handy .
 
Last edited:
In France, we fight the government against the technical control . My group, "FFMC" , French federation of angry riders in english, is very activ for the defense of riders . It's quite difficult, but we have a lot of success over the years .
The political class has always disliked the bikers, strangely . I think that we represent freedom, and they prefer repression and control .
 
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