My pre-owned Harley Davidson Superlow XL883L I'm a recent owner of a pre-worshipped superlow that I got last month from a fellow Bhpian @Dust_Harl. I'm using it as a daily driver in my small town (Chitradurga) and have already logged 800+ km on it.
The bike is in great condition but the other day while riding the rear wheel just lost air rapidly while driving luckily I managed to stop it. Got the puncture guy (i thought it was flat) but on inspection, he found that the tyre had weathered completely at one place and simply given way! on his advice, I drove the bike back to my home at about 10kmph (he said since it's a radial it was perfectly safe unless I hit the potholes which could damage the alloys and the bearings).
Back home (was really a nightmare trying to control the bike-it was just swaying this way and that- about 2kms) I called up Arvind (@Dust_Harl) and told him about the incident. He was surprised that the rear tyre gave way this soon but immediately shared his RSA no. so that the bike could be towed to Bangalore and briefed me about the possible costs involved.
I called up the service manager Hemant and he said that tyre burst/damage is not covered under RSA and unless the vehicle has mechanical/electric faults causing its immobility the RSA would charge me the towing charges! so the final tally I was looking at according to him was-
Rs 18000/- for the scorcher 11 tyre
Rs 2000/- Tyre changing charges
and Rs 10000/-odd as the towing charges!
Needless to say, I was shocked and miffed at the total amount and having to spend more than a day to get 200 km to Bangalore and back.
Researched a bit on YouTube and Google and found that there were more tyre options and that though the procedure was complicated to change the tyre, it was not impossible. Downloaded the tyre replacement and wheel alignment videos and went to my trusted car mechanic and showed him those and asked if he could do it. (he's pretty skilled in cars) He agreed.
Then started hunting for tyres both online and offline. Found that though there are a few options online (cheaper by Rs. 600- Rs. 1000) it would take about 15 days to deliver the tyre to my place. Now I wasn't willing to wait that long. So decided that I would put the MRF RevZ 150/60/R17 use it in the city and drive down to Bangalore when time permits and switch to options from Michelin or Pirelli.
The MRF dealer that I first visited was closed so moved to another place where I found that the dealer dealt in multiple brands and he has a catalogue which listed the Michelin Street pilot 150/60/R17 at an MRP of Rs. 6,600/-. This spiked my interest as the Michelin speed rating was an H (210 km/h) against the W (270 km/h) of the scorcher 11 and the risky T (150 km/h) of the MRF. Also, the load rating on it was the same - 300 kg for the scorcher 11 as against the 200 kg of the MRF. So decided there to go for the Michelin and asked for the final price and whether it would be available the next morning. The dealer didn't confirm the price but assured delivery the next day.
The next day (a Sunday) went to collect the tyre but it had not arrived from the transport office. So I drove down to the office and got the tyre (also got the original bill for it there!) The dealer price for the tyre was Rs 4055/-! he wanted to charge me the full MRP but I argued and settled the bill for Rs. 5600/- which was also the CSP on the list (customer selling price) the MRF was for Rs. 3700/- (online Rs. 3100/-).
On the way picked up my car mechanic Mr Praveen, his assistant, the hydraulic jack, tools and the torque wrench. We did a quick rewind of the videos and set-up.
-jacked up the bike on a hydraulic jack using a plywood piece in between as a spacer. (ideally, two jacks are needed and one in them should be for bikes- we didn't have these)
-stabilized it on a jiffy stand
-removed the first slip-on (needed to nut on support bracket and on the slip-on. also needed to loosen the bracket on the upper pipes and in the process needed to remove the upper and lower heat shields of the first slip-on)
-removed the upper metal and lower plastic belt cover( realized later the lower cover could be removed by only loosening the bolts and sliding no need to remove all the bolts)
-removed the brake calliper (supported it on the rear foot-peg-not to be kept hanging)
-loosen the safety pin and loosened the axle and removed the drive belt.
-removed the axle and slowly lowered the tyre.
-had to remove the brake disc and the belt sprocket.
-took the tyre to a wheel alignment centre and had it replaced and air refilled
-unfortunately nowhere in Chitradurga bike wheel balancing is available so had to skip it.
-redid all the steps in reverse to refit the tyre.
-greased the axle and using the torque wrench tightened it to 60 pounds per inch.
-using a steel tape did the wheel alignment
-checked the belt stiffness using the 45 degree technique (I think the belt is a bit loose though)
and Viola! it was done!
The entire process took two hours +1 hour for tyre replacement! but the bike was on its feet! My mechanic charged me just Rs. 500! Though I offered him more he just refused. I know two skilled people 3 hours in no place equate to 500 bucks but that's the beauty of living in small towns.
So for 6K my bike was up and running. The grip feels amazing and I have already finished the customary 100 km break-in period.
Another amazing thing was, Arvind called up and stated that he had arranged a Metz tyre and could drop it on the way IBW goa in the next two days! Now, who is this thoughtful? I thank him profusely!
Realized a few things in the process-
-Buying and maintaining a Harley (or any other high-end bike) are two entirely different things (like in a luxury car).
-A Harley can be fixed outside (provided you have the parts. Though it looks complicated there are tons of references on the net.
-Getting the external people to be careful while working the chrome can be tedious. We need to be on our toes or they could easily scratch the bike.
-Tyre dealers have huge margins! (1.6k on 4.05k! Even more, if i had paid the MRP)
-I made a great friend in buying this bike. A big shout out to fellow Bhpian @Dust_Harl. He's been amazing taking time, having patience and going out of his way to have things sorted even though he's part of the deal was over. Thanks a ton, mate!
And it's a long long post hope you guys don't mind. Posted here in Dhiraj sir's excellent thread as didn't want to create a new thread. Any inputs from the seniors are most welcome.
Last edited by Aditya : 20th December 2022 at 18:16.
Reason: Extra spaces removed; typos
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