Topic: trash parts are gaining ground

[Redline it]

these newer small part shops carrying china products are gaining on us. i can't be the only gullible one to buy limited parts, like inner tubes. double tough performance quality tubes at about 20-25 bucks each, i bought 3, the first one, a  rear tube lasted 10 miles and the valve core mount just pulled out. i don't use the outer stem nut to secure the stem to the rim, i use that nut to bear against the valve stem cap, i always have with no problems, is that wrong? of course riding a big bike like a 400f 1976 has some considerable power to rip these out, not. walked 5 miles to home to pick up an assembled rear wheel/tire that is from the early 80s to swap out on the side of the road. 40+year old tire and tube, still inflated from the last flat, from a framing nail, that i can't complain about, that got me home. so it's getting harder to find anything on the legit side. better stock up  on good parts if you can find them, before they're gone. name brands, where are they at? guess i'm gonna have to carry spare tubes, good ones, tire irons and a can compressed air and not fix a flat can. hey i gotta scuba "spare air" i can charge up, maybe a couple cubic ft of plain breathing gas.

that rebuild in the front room is getting behind, still haven't got the motor in yet, wiring harness is slowing me down on the routing. that bike has some hellacious sized tires on it. maybe that's the trick, i usually run the small avons in the 400s.

[PeWe]

I use both nuts locking  each other a few mm out.
Enough stem so it can be inflated.

This to avoid stem to be ripped off when pressure is low etc.

I bought some Michelin tubes on sale.
Grind ends rounder and polish the tire irons a must to not pinch the tube.

[Redline it]

i used the one nut on the underside, is that mot the thing to do?? where'd you get the michelins?  i found wonderlich america that sells airstop michelins my front is an shinko 300x18 so the smallest the site has is 100/120x18 so is that's the one for the front? and my rear is shinko 100/90x18 so the same 100/120x18 is that the one to get too? i hate to have to send back tires in the mail.

[RAFster122s]

Amazon carries a small lithium ion battery powered inflator that is compact and good for maintaining and providing road side or trip top up or refill when changing a tube. It is good for bicycles and motorcycles, pretty useless for cars or trucks.


CYCPLUS 2600mAh*3 Air Compressor Tire Inflator, 150 PSI Portable Air Pump for Car Tires Digital Tire Pressure Gauge DC/AC Charging 12V Air Compressor for Car Motorcycle Bike with LED Light
https://a.co/d/38ebW2M

It has three 2600mAH cells is the A2 Plus model.
HondaMan recommended it not too long ago.
It's currently priced pretty high at $59, I bought mine earlier this summer for $35 on sale.
I don't trust all the knock offs Amazon lists as you often find the batteries of many supposedly same capacity are nothing but a lie with inferior cells or simply outright lies of lower capacity cells claiming to be higher. So, I would either wait for Prime Day or shop around for the CycPlus brand.

[Kaze]

"trash parts are gaining ground"
Man, you said it. Bought a carburetor rebuild kit off Amazon and the float needles were different shapes! Returned that nonsense.

[PeWe]

Tubes from xlmoto.se, Sweden since I live there.
They have sale on various products now and then.

The recommended way is as the pics with both nuts outside.
There is a  protective metal washer on  tube side.  I use vulc tape to keep it there when installing tube. A very  thin piece stretched around the bottom of stem over washer.

[willbird]

When I was a kid my dad stressed inflating a tube type tire the first time, then deflating it ti let the tube relax, then inflating it again. He claimed that would eliminate any folds or wrinkles in the tube. Cannot prove that it works or not but I have always done it that way.

[calj737]

There is an old, wise adage: Buy once, cry once. Pay a cheap price, get cheap parts.

Personally, I can't unerstand "severe budget spending" on tires, brakes, tubes and engine oil. Cheap out on any of these and the potential for catastrophic damage is exponentially higher than the consumable price delta.

I am not suggesting to spend the highest price, but FFS, spend what your life is worth to ride a motorcycle SAFELY.

Sermon over.

[RAFster122s]

IRC used to be pretty good stuff. I would bet it was an anomaly.
I would try them again.
But like Calj says, spending more for critical parts is important and I generally stick to that philosophy be it for car or motorcycle or just about anything... provided I can swing paying the price.
Sometimes you accept a slightly lesser quality part and buy a replacement sooner as result. I did that on a front tire knowing it would have 1/2 the life of the expensive Dunlop I wanted. Just wrong time of year that fell when I needed tire. The tire I went with is OK but not spectacular and I haven't regretted it yet.

[Redline it]

There is an old, wise adage: Buy once, cry once. Pay a cheap price, get cheap parts.

Personally, I can't unerstand "severe budget spending" on tires, brakes, tubes and engine oil. Cheap out on any of these and the potential for catastrophic damage is exponentially higher than the consumable price delta.

I am not suggesting to spend the highest price, but FFS, spend what your life is worth to ride a motorcycle SAFELY.

Sermon over.

severe budget spending... i'm too all for paying higher prices. sometimes i'll buy the higher priced parts figuring it's gonna be higher quality, but finding real higher quality parts can be challenging. there's a guy on ebay that has a wearhouse of new tubes. i buy 1 and it shows up with 3 dry rotted cracks clearly visible it was top of the line name brand. finding any parts locally used to be 3 top mc shop 10 minute drives, yamaha, honda and kawasaki. all gone. online it's such a gamble. people are snakes, more and more. i told the guy on ebay i wasn't sending it back any other way than cod. he said keep it. and he blamed his shop employees for not inspecting it. right. i'll bet his shop is him in his garage of pure junk tubes he got for a dime on the dollar. or less. i feel like giving the wanna be shop the benefit of the doubt and try one of other tubes, even though i know it wasn't an error on my part. i probably changed tire at least 50 times no problem. other than double tubing a 450 treleborg 6 ply with the pins rim lock with 20lbs psi on a 250 husky, Mexical 250. had rear flat and didn't know it, and at the beginning of the 23 mile straight asphalt  section, i'm going at least 65 or 70mph laying on the tank. and chunks of the heated tire started slapping me in back and the strips of tread, until they flew off, melted and almost in flames. trying to make it the next pit. 5 miles of that and it was over. the remains were dripping off the rim. it was too much rubber, that caused the flat. at 17 privateering it. i made all the calls in prep. i was co-rider for kenny miller on that one. i felt bad. the next year and a half i used stock 450 irc tire and tube on a IT250E and then the F model  still at 18 to 20 psi. 3.25 metzler on the front at 18psi and first in class 21 for the first 3 events we smoked the factory teams. it sewed up the championship. i'm sorry i just love telling that story. i used "bad brad henson" as co rider, and i had him start every race, we'd swap at the halfway points. that strategy worked. along with a special pre-ride technique. if anyone is who is not johnny camble and they wanna win, in baja, i'll tell them how we did it.