12-JUL-2008
Brand new tires are nice to look at...
The tire manufacturer code indicated that the rear tire was made in France on the 49th week of 2007 (DOT-6UCW-887T-4907) and the front tire was made on the 24th week of 2007 (DOT-6U7D-887T-2407), that put them into about December 2007 and June 2007 respectively.
Just to be on the safe side, I registered these 2 DOT codes on the Michelin web site in case there is a recall.
04-JUL-2008
Tire valve stem
Just to document how the valve stem was installed as I'll replace the valve stems when I replace the tires...
12-JUL-2008
Rear tire
The Michelin Pilot Road rear tire has these 2 lines: 1 at the center and 1 to the left of it, that run along the whole tire. Also, they didn't mark the light spot of the tire with yellow or red paint like others...
The tiny one on the center is just mold release line as it's slightly raised. The one to the left looks like small indent that runs the whole circumference of the tire. It's only on the rear tire, not on the front.
12-JUL-2008
Close up
I found the following info on the web. I guess it's not supposed to be visible when new but mine just showed up:
"Pilot Power/Pilot Road Technical Information
Anti Static strip
When a motorcycle is in use there is a build up of static within the machine. It is necessary to ensure that this is dispersed during usage.
In order to facilitate this there is a carbon black strip built into the tyre during manufacture. This strip is moulded into the tyre before curing using carbon, as this is a good conductor of static electricity. This strip is practically invisible on a new tyre, but can appear as the tyre wears, especially if the usage of the motorcycle is not high. There is no detrimental effect on the performance of the tyre either before, during or after this strip has become apparent. The positioning of this groove is slightly ‘off centre’ and can be seen in the diagram below."
10-AUG-2008
Jack up the front wheel...
Finally I had to replace my tires. The old set was Bridgestone BT-57 and lasted 10400 miles. Now I can try the Michelin Pilot Road that everybody was talking about as they're supposed to be much better than the Bridgestone BT-57. We'll see...
I put a piece of wood under the engine and used a scissor jack to jack up the front wheel. Now both the front and the rear wheels are off the ground.
10-AUG-2008
Both wheels removed...
The removal of rear wheel was pretty straight forward. However, to remove the front wheel, I had to remove the front fender, the right side brake caliper and loosen the left side brake caliper before the wheel can be slid out.
10-AUG-2008
Does my garage look like a mechanic shop?
10-AUG-2008
Chain adjuster
The chain is still really good as it only has about 8000 miles on it...
10-AUG-2008
Tire balancing
My friend Vu was helping me to balance the tire and clean the slippery mold release that came from the factory.
13-JUL-2008
NoMar tirechanger
mounted on the receiver hitch of my Toyota 4Runner.