Okay, got my Michelin T63, 130/80/18. It's a great looking tire. LRPct will be happy 'cause it's skinnier than the 140 Karoo Traveler.
Here's my balancing process because at 75mph on the hiway I didn't want my wheels out 3-4oz by adding rim locks. Definitely wanted a rim lock so I can run 15lbs offroad, and if I get a flat it's a lot less likely to pull the valve stem out of the tube. Worst case we've ridden them back to camp a handful of miles with a flat.
Hard to believe the $150 Karoo tire has 750 miles on it. Sheesh. For $63 if the T63 only lasts that long I'm still twice as far ahead.
The new tire unmounted:
I would love to have one of those fancy balance stands to do my wheels. For cripes sakes I've got another streetbike too. But alas, the cheap bastid that I am, here's my makeshift static balancer. Couple of crates, leveled up, with aluminum strips to set the axle on. It does actually work.
I removed the plug and rim strip, inserted the super liteweight Motion Pro rim lock (2.5oz) and taped weights on to check the balance.
2.5oz of tape weights will get me close enough to mount the tire for final balancing. Unfortunately you can't buy lead tire weights anymore in CA. F'ing nanny state that it is. So the steel ones are a giant PITA to work with, but got them curved enough with a large flat punch and a 4lb balpene hammer on the vice.
Now the'll stick onto the valley in the rim between the spoke nipples:
With about 4-5 times around with duct tape I have secured, protected weights and spoke nipples. The weights don't stick up much higher than the spoke nipples. Nice smooth surface for the tube to ride on. Used an exacto and cut out the holes for the rim lock and valve stem.
Both of these tires were the most difficult to mount and dismount of any set I've ever done...and I've done a TON of them over the years. The Karoo just would not come off the rim once I had one bead off and the tube out. I finally got it bent over to the outside of the rim and beat on it with a rubber mallet. It finally came off, I wasn't gonna give up. I was dripping with sweat.
I got one of those Bridgeston Ultra HD tubes, the 4mm job, and it's quite a bit more difficult to feed into a stiff new tire. Helluva time getting the valve stem through. The new tire was also very difficult to mount, extremely tight. I use windex for lube, standard tire irons.
Finally got everything mounted up and the final balance took a half oz. I bent the tape weights the other way and applied them between the spokes. Secure and works awesome.
Here's the two tires again. Now the Karoo looks like a beef tire and the Michelin looks like a normal knobby.
I'm ready for Death Valley.
