demon

Dropped the bird off at the local honda dealer last night. I'm going to let them change the tire. Think I will buy some front and rear stands in the near future. As soon as the Dunlop 220 wears out on the back, I will put an Avon on it and have a matched set.

That's the one I saw on TV. Let me know how it works. A person could buy this for the same price as one rear stand and use it for a lot of different things. :grin:

Anybody got one laying around?

I bought the bike used, and the previous owner removed the center stand and chucked it along with the stock exhaust.

Yea, the stability issue is what really gets me. If it were the rear, I could set the swingarm down on a crate and get some stability. I have a 6 year old son who likes to play around in the garage when I am at work, and it would devastate me if the bike fell on him. I can fix the bike, but I can't fix the kid. I will probably take the bike to the dealer for the front install. Anyone have a bike lift jack from sears? Saw one on TV and it looks pretty good for $115.00.

Just got a new tire for the front yesterday and I am wondering if I can safely raise the bird to remove the front wheel. My bike does not have the center stand and I don't own a front bike stand. All I have is a hydraulic floor jack. Will it hurt the oil pan if I place a piece of wood between it and the floor jack. My local dealer will install the tire for $10.00 - $15.00 if I bring him the wheel. He will charge me $35.00 if I bring him the bike. Just trying to save $20.00. Donnie

Nice to hear everyone likes the Avons, I am putting a 45ST on the front of the bird next saturday. Can't wait until the Dunlop wears out on the back to have a mached set.

Can't you apply the mag tac to the bag instead of the tank where the magnets are located or will it not stick to the bag?

My front end only wants to push while riding 2-up real aggressively. My front tire is shot and the pushing should go away with new rubber. The only time I have experianced a bar wobble (not a true tank slapper) while braking on the bird was when I locked the front wheel up in front of the house doing about 25mph when the nieghbor's dog ran out in front of me :evil: . Other than that time, the XX is rock solid (unless you are on the gas and all bets are off :bigshock: with all the tire spinning and light front end). Just my .02

That does look good, at about a third of the work :grin: Think I'll start rubbing on the wheels in a week or so, if the rain keeps up. What kind of seat are you running? looks like a Corbin gunfighter.

Just wondering if anyone has stripped the paing off there wheels. I was talking to a friend last week who has polished the wheels on his gixr 1000. He thinks my wheels are rough cast on the spokes and the inner part of the rim where the paint is not smooth. This would entail a LOT of sanding to smooth things up. Just wondering if it is worth it.

welding rod :headscratch:

I think I am going to order an Avon front tire. When the rear wears out, I'll match the front. From what I've seen on this site, evertone loves the Avon 45/46 tires. Think I'll give them a try. Thanks for all the info.

I have to agree about the Bridgestones, A riding buddy put one on the back of his 97 XX and it's about wore out at about 1900 miles :-o

What do you recommend- Avon, Michelin, Dunlop, Pirelli? I'd like to get decent mileage but not in the 7000 mile area.

Thanks for the info. This is the first bike I have owned with sport touring tires, and I just might not be used to the weight and handling properties of the XX yet. I have only had the bird for about 4 months and am a former GSXR 750 owner(please don't think bad of me :oops: ). The 220 has about 800 miles on it and is in great shape. I will probably go with a 220 on the front, I don't like to mismatch tires. Just wondering if anyone has any cupping problems with the 220's on the front? The cupped 205's seem to push in corners when riding aggressively even though I have shimmed the shock 6mm. When riding 2 up, moderate lean angles are almost scary. When I get on the front brake pretty hard, the front tire sounds like a dirtbike tire :shock: but it doesn't vibrate much. Thanks again for the info. Donnie

When I bought my 99XX, the dealer threw on a new back tire and threw in two helmets. It has a Dunlop D-220 on the back and a Dunlop D-205 on the front. The front is about wore out and cupped out pretty bad. I don't do a lot of flat road riding and am wondering if a Dunlop D-208 or a Michelin Pilot HPX would be OK to pair up with the 220 on the back until the back wears out. I am looking for more traction in the corners and on acceleration as the 220 spins up pretty easy and the cupped out 205 doesn't really inspire confidence at any decent lean angles. I have noticed a lot of people run Avons here. Everyone happy with them and do you think switching tire brands front/rear will affect handling? :?:

Thanks Joe. Like you, I am in no hurry. I used sandpaper, rubbing compound, and aluminum polish to polish the lips of my wheels. The sanding was the hardest part. I think I will use a paint stripper like aircraft paint remover and then polish the wheels. Love to see the pics and the steps you took to do the job. I'll post some pics of mine soon as I can get a digital camera.

Thanks for the info. I'm going to check on price diferences on chrome for the wheels and polishing. In the past, I have polished items on cars and clear coated them. It's not hard to keep a shine for a long time this way, I guess the clear coating seals off the aluminum and doesn't allow oxidation to occur.

I have polished the lip on my wheels of my 99 bird. This took about 3 hours and a lot of rubbing. I am wanting to polish the whole wheel and am wondering if anyone has any suggestions. Will chemical paint strippers eat up the tires? Any help would be appreciated. :worship:

I got my Akrapovic pipe through Lockhart Phillips. You can get all kinds of replacemint parts for the Akrapovic (sticker, outer sleeve, hangers, repacking, etc.). I love the sound, it's not too loud and has a good growl at higher revs. My bike is black and with the titanium can it looks good.

Try looking into the Akrapovic 4-2-1 exhaust. I love mine. Titanium can looks great, saves about 20 pounds, and adds about 7-8 horsepower. You'll find a lot of people running the Akrapovic on the xx and everyone I've talked to loves it.

I shimmed the rear of my 99XX with slotted washers last night. went smoother than I thought. Really haven't ridden it in the twisties since, but around town it seems more flickable. I was wondering if you had to adjust the headlight as mine seems a bit low?