[vleighty]

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I mounted new tires, Bridgestone Spitfires, on a CX500. Front tire is the same as on my '76 wing. The bead had some indentations from the plastic straps used to hold the tires together for shipping. I had a lot of trouble getting the tire to take air to seat the bead because it was leaking out where the dents in the tire were. I ended up heating up the tire and rim and finally got it to seal up and take air. I used Armor All as a lubricant to get the tire on. The bead popped on, but it didn't make the loud pops like the rear tire did. The little guide lines close to the rim are all even, so it seems like the tire was on the rim completely. But when the pressure dropped as I was putting the core back in the stem, the bead came away from the rim. Is this OK? It seems odd to me.

Thanks

 

[jimsjinx]

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I don't think ArmorAll was a good choice. I'd clean it off good wth denatured alcohol, and use liquid soap and water as a lubricant.Air it up again, and leave it for a day or so, to give the tire a chance to stretch and set its shape.jimsjinx

 

[muaymendez1]

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Ive heard many different ideas on mountingg. Some say armor all or any protective is better for the rim than soapy water which could slowly oxidize the aluminum surface.
maqin thing is to air it up to max pressur eand let it sit for a few days. it should true it self out.

i see you are in nebraska. A good idea s bringing it indoors and let it sit in a temp above freezing.

 

[Kit Carson]

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Armor All is not a good thing for tires.

Coming back today from our ride a real nice Ford 350 pulled up beside me, this guy takes care of his truck, it is clean, shined and spotless. Thing is I noticed the tires were all checked on the sides almost like weather checks, but in a more irregular pattern.
I have seen this previously on tires where people use armor all on the tires to shine the tire and blacken it. Somehow it reacts with something, maybe the additives put in the tire to combat UV ? Have no idea but know it does effect the tire compound.

However it is not uncommon on the smaller bikes for the tires to not want to set to the rim without pressure, I have even had to put a tie down strap around them and ratchet it down to expand the tire against the rim enough to get it to seat , just to get air in them.

You might double check the tire size, could be one size narrow, that sometimes causes that too.

I have no idea why they ship tires like that with the straps cutting into the leading edge of the bead. Most of the time though it is only on the very leading edge and does not cross the main bead.

Kit

 

[Wolfman]

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I used to sell tires for a living. Armor All dries out the tires prematurely, it draws the natural oils out of the rubber compounds and after a while you start seeing the cracking that looks like dry rotting. You could see it, a few days after the Armor All was applied, you could see a brown residue on the tires. It was like it was leaching something out of the rubber.

I don't think a one-time use will do any damage to worry about, but just the same if you can clean it off, you would probably rest easier.

Silicone products seem to do well on tires without doing any damage. Just don't get any on the tread.

 

[Rocketman3104]

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I don't want to offend anyone but are you sure it's not a tube-type tire? Putting a tube type tire on a tube less can give you some trouble. Should see it on the side wall if it is tube or tube-less.

 

[vleighty]

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A long time ago I put a protectant on old tires on my cb450. It was like you could watch the splits in the sidewalls open up. Ever since then I have not used it on tires. I did read on Randakks site that protectant was a good choice for installing tires, however.

I'll check to see if it's tubeless tire, but I would be surprised if it is not.

I guess my biggest question is if this is a safety issue, or if the fact that the bead is seated under pressure if that is all that matters. I'll probably deflate it in a couple of weeks to see what it's like after being aired up for a while.

 

[LUV2WING]

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As wolfman said, silicone is good for mounting and seating tires. I have used silicone spray as the only way to get small trailer tires sealed enough to take air.

 

[Walter Manley]

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Are you sure that the rims are tubeless type rims. Not all Honda Comstar rims are tubeless. As an example the ones on my 78 Goldwing are not, but the ones on mt 82 CX500TC are. I don't know what year in-between those two Honda changed to tubeless.

Walter