Mounting tires on F800GS question....

So I'm going to mount some TKC-80's on my F800GS. I notice that on the front and rear axles have hex head openings on one side. They're huge! what size are they? Do I need a hex wrench for them? Any specific tools I need for a tire change on this bike?

Thanks,

The hex portion of my spark plug socket fit the front. I didn't even bother with it on the rear.

I didn't need anything.

On the front, the pinch bolts will hold while you losen up the hold in bolt. The manual says to do it in reverse, but I don't see any particular reason why it would need to be that way.

On the rear, the chain adjust slider was part of the axle, or at least came apart together.

David

It's not part of it, but it will come off with it.

Good idea on reversing the order on loosening the pinch bolts.

Thanks guys. I'm not going to bother with balancing them. I'm just going to throw them on and ride. Did you guys balance them?

I didn't balance them. Seem okay. YMMV.

David

Did yours come apart in seperate pieces?

My axle came out with the left side chain adjuster attached, wasn't sure if it was stuck or designed that way, so I looked up the part and it's sold as a single piece.

Regardless, no hex needed.

I always balance street tires (meaning being ridden on the street),always have, an besides it only takes about 5 minutes to do.

You could probably get away without doing it, as others have reported doing...er not doing . You'll KNOW if you needed it when you get to highway speeds and one end is bouncing like you're riding on small washboards, but that's usually a fair amount out of balance. If you're just out a little you'll probably not even notice, my rear TKC took less than an ounce of wheel wieghts to balance. I've heard out of balance tires will wear quicker, and uneven, maybe cause cupping sooner, but I can't say since mine are always balanced. And besides that would be a hard one to quantify with different conditions and amounts out of balance.

It's so easy to do so why not? But if you don't you'll probably never notice unless it's way off.

I'm with Dave on this one. A rotating mass should always be balanced. Don't be lazy.

My TKC's took a lot of weight to balance them. Basically I kept the stock weight and ended up adding more as it was in same location. I know without it I would for sure feel it. I had a heck of a time with the rear battlewings getting them off. Then in my haste I realized I hadn't completely deflated the tube so it wasn't letting the bead break etc. I will blame it on first time changing a motorcycle tire.

No, you're right, I was thinking about the other side, which fell out when I took the nut off.

I ordered DynaBeads. Easy installation. Better than weights.

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/HowItWorks.htm

https://www.bestrestproducts.com/c-100-dyna-beads.aspx

I put on a set of Conti Trail Attacks. They needed quite a bit of weight to balance. Will try balancing the wheel by itself next time, just to see what's up.

Does anyone have experience with the DynaBeads?

Agreed.

Balancing is so easy and fast, why not do it?

If I'm not swapping tires back and forth alot (thus balancin alot), I sometimes pull wheels off after 5-6k miles just to re-balance them. :huh

I do in tubless tires. I ran them on my 1200GSA and loved them (both TKC's and Tourances). I'm not sure if it would be a good idea to use them in a tube though. I use slime in my 800GS as well with every tubed tire bike I've ever had, with great success. It balances the tires and give some decent flat protection.

I bought Slime for my F800GS sock DS tires and read on the label that it's not recommended above 65 mph. Since I'm on the street 70% of the time including freeway I decided to keep it for flat repair rather than all the time.

Are you running it all the time?

Thanks!

RobStar

Removing the valve core takes care of this issue.

I run it all of the time and have maintianed speeds over 80 mph for long periods with no problem. I usually put in about 2/3 of the recomended amount (just something I worked out over the years).

There's a whole thread on dynabeads somewhere here, search for it. There's a ton of differing opinions and at the ends there's even a video showing how they work. Having said that, I put a new rear tire on my Uly and never bothered to balance, but that's a road tire...never noticed any vibration.