Man, we might be stuck in another fcuking Covid-19 lockdown for another week (at least) but at least today was a magnificent day, maybe there's an early Spring on it's way? Regardless, it's fantastic to just get outside on days like these and do something. By early afternoon, I just couldn't stand just staring at my work computer screen any longer, so I wandered outside.
As is usually the case, my ability to get things done was outweighed by reality. I'd intended to fit the new Michelin tyre on the T350, then install the new seat cover on the T500 seat. I decided to do the more difficult job first, namely the tyre. The Inoue tyre on the front wheel is at least 40 years old, if not the OEM tyre. The wheel came from a seller here in Oz, who didn't know it's history, but as it was also the original fitment tyre (my T350 had the same tyre on the front, but it had been laying in a field since 1973 so the wheel and tyre were toast) and could well be 52 years old, which is amazing.
T350 tyre change 13 Aug 2021 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
Unlike the rock hard, age cracked Dunlop tyres on my 1978 CB750A, the Inoue was still perfect with no age cracking, and felt quite supple. Regardless, I didn't want to gamble that it would hold together, and provide maximum grip, and I'd kick my own arse if I dropped it and destroyed the OEM paint etc because I took a risk on a 50 year old tyre. Tyres are cheap insurance. I finished assembling my tyre machine, and discovered that it's rubbish. Well, maybe not completely useless, would probably be OK for car tyres, but not so much for bikes. Pick the obvious fault.....
T350 tyre change 13 Aug 2021 1 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
Yep, it's only an 18 inch rim, but the little fingers that hold the rim onto the machine don't extend out far enough to allow you to mount an 18 inch front tyre like on my T350, let alone a 19 inch rim, which is pretty much the size of every other front tyre I have on 99% of my bikes. Hmmnnn, well, what could I do to make it more useful? this piece was the most restrictive, so if I could get it open another half inch, I could probably fit the 18" rim, at least? My, that wide collar on the left could be trimmed a tad, I'd reckon?
T350 tyre change 13 Aug 2021 2 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
So I not only trimmed the best part of 3/4 of an inch off it, I also move the whole shebang back another 3/4 of an inch, by relocating the collar further back on the threaded rod and drilling a new hole for the roll pin.
T350 tyre change 13 Aug 2021 3 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
I reckon I can squeeze a 19 inch rim in there now, but if not, have ideas for moving the other two "fingers" back also. Anyway, with the wheel rim held firmly on the machine, it was a much nicer on my back than when I was working on wheels on the concrete driveway. I was really impressed with how clean that 52 year old rim is on the inside, I've seen what look like really good rims on the outside before, then once I've removed the tyre, the inside looks like a moonscape, but not with this rim, it had hardly any rust at all, a testament to being sat inside all it's life, I guess?
T350 tyre change 13 Aug 2021 4 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
I ratted thru my garage for probably 20 minutes looking for the new tube that I'd bought a few weeks ago, before I eventually found it on the kitchen table. I'm surprised that the wife let it stay there. I'd never used this brand before, but once again was very impressed, it is a very thick heavy duty tube.
T350 tyre change 13 Aug 2021 9 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
I inflated it a bit to stop it from twisting, and it was easy to insert. I couldn't find a dot anywhere on the tyre to line up with the valve core, so it was either on the other side, or not there at all? Anyway the tyre went on easy, and I was happy with the fitment and the look.
T350 tyre change 13 Aug 2021 6 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
Now the next problem is part of the reason I haven't installed this tyre earlier. You see, the speedo drive doesn't work. While the wheel is in immaculate condition for it's age, the speedo drive mechanism is seized solid, and I don't know why. The speedo drive mechanism is contained inside the brake plate, and luckily I have a spare, off my original bike. Sadly it's not in very nice condition.
T350 tyre change 13 Aug 2021 7 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
I stripped it down to take a better look. You can see in the prior pic that the remains of the brake cable had welded itself into it's holder via electrolysis (no, not hair removal, corrosion) so I drilled it out using a range of drill bits, going up .5mm with each change. by the time I got to 7.5mm, the remains of the old sleeve broke free. Excellent. It still have a couple of mm of corrosion and moss to get rid of though, so I stripped everything off.
T350 tyre change 13 Aug 2021 7a by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
And went to town with my wire wheel attachment on my pedestal drill, the old "Facebreaker" (if you don't know my history, I needed facial reconstructive surgery after it flung a CB750 clutch plate into my face when trying to clean some rust off, in November 2019) and a few other devices, and was happy with the result.
T350 tyre change 13 Aug 2021 7b by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
I reassembled the wheel back into the forks (much easier on this bike than on a CB750 etc) and cleaned up my mess. By now it was 6pm and dark, but I was happy with the result. I'll do the T500 seat tomorrow.
T350 tyre change 13 Aug 2021 8 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
