Hello All, I just ordered replacement Tires for my 650 i ended up with metzeler 888 ultra marathons 100-90-19 for the front and 140-80-15 for the rear.

For Inner Tubes I found
Inner Tube for 100/90-19 Tire | Part #ZZ21720
For the Front

Now for the questions.....I am having a hard time finding the rear size...i found one : Color - PV-78
Size - 140/90-15
Sku #305639

Will this work even thought its 140/90 not 140/80 ....sorry to be a total newb but appreciate the input


Thanks Yall

The people at Revzilla were comfortable selling the 140/90/15
tube to be installed in the 140/80/15 Metzler . The guy at the Suzuki shop was comfortable with it, too.
Don't forget about the rim strips... I did, and it's not cheap at the dealership..
And if you're wanting to balance the tires with the beads, get them now, with the tires, tubes, and get free shipping.

You don't really have to break the bead as such since these aren't tubeless tires, it is pretty easy to push down to the drop center.  A couple tire irons and something to protect the rim and you're golden.

JUST A LITTLE HEADS UP,the tires have a red or yellow dot on the sidewall ,this is the lighter side of the tire and should be lined up with the valve stem,( the heavy side of the tube).After you insert the new tube you can slightly inflate it, just enough to make it rounded this may help to keep it back from the rim when putting on the final bead.I often use large screwdrivers as tire irons they provide better leverage and the handles a better gripe,BUT  I do take a grinder ,and radius the tips and remove any sharp edges.I use 6" c clamps as   bead breakers, they also are used on my car/truck to push the wheel brake cylinder back to make room for new disk pads.

I get you on the tire dots...  

I've read about Metzler 880 for years and figured that is the way to go - of course now they are discontinued - do they even make 880 for front?  The 888 seems to be harder compound and worse rain performance.  What's the next best for Savage, for a stickier tire?

I'm a low-miler and I don't mind paying up for a stickier tire with lower life.  Might just scrounge the last 880's but I don't really want to get them from Ebay.   Leaning to Shinko now, bargain pricing doesn't hurt.

Got Shinko 712's from Bikebandit..  I did the front tire and got it BACKWARDS.  Too tired to fix it yet.  Wore out my arms, two tire irons is not enough. It's kinda fun but sheesh - so outta shape.

I used "Motion Pro BeadPro Forged Steel Tire Bead Breaker" - a pair of fork + spoon-like levers that can scissor the tire out the bead and the other ends are decent tire irons with smooth bend end.  Need one more iron.

Decided to use tire balancing and sealant liquid, instead of the beads.

EDITTED LATER - had some ice cream and got a burst of energy. Man, that felt good and I got the wheel turning the right way on the bike.   Looks like I need new pads and brake cleaning too .

You can use Dyna Beads in a tube...or tubeless.

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

MadSavage wrote on 05/28/19 at 23:11:38:


I really like the Shinko 230 tires on the Savage - good choice!

Is it normal to get a tire that is 2 years past the manufacture date?....unfortunately it does occur.  My 2010 Honda NT700 had a factory rear tire that was dated 2008 - so even the factory will mount a 2 year old tire on a new bike.

If you bought your tire from an online retailer - they likely had the tire shipped from a "warehouse" that was close to you, and they have no idea how old the tire was they shipped to you (and the warehouse employee are probably rotating stock and shipping older tires first.

Since you will likely wear out two rear tires for each front tire - your front tire is likely going to be on the bike for a long time and will likely last for 10,000 - 15,000 miles..........unless you ride enough to wear this tire out in 3 years - I would suggest you contact the seller and request a newer tire.

When I ordered tires for my ST1100 from Bike Bandit the front and rear tire came from different warehouses (rear tire was a common size the front is a bit less common) and the front tire was 4 years old when it arrived.  I contacted Bike Bandit and they had a newer front tire shipped from a different warehouse, and they sent me a shipping tag and arranged for the "old new" tire to be picked up at their cost.

I used Dyna beads in a tubed tire before I made a rig to balance my tires, and they seemed to work fine.  If you are going to mount your tires yourself and don't have any way to balance.....I guess it is fine to use them.  One reason I stopped using them is that sometimes when you mount a tire.....it is badly out of balance and I like to let the air out and rotate the tire on the rim to see if I can use less weights.  (Tires often have a spot on the sidewall that is the lightest part of the tire and it is mounted in alignment with the valve stem - but on a spoked wheel the heavy spot is not always at the valve stem).