More tyre changes

In preparation for a longish trip I replaced the MT43 trials tyres with Continental's TKC80s. These are supposedly hard wearing and being designed for bike machines such as the BMW R1100GS they should cope with the demands palced upon them by a mere Beta Alp 350.



The tread is fairly open but puts more rubber on the road than the OE Karoos which should help longevity. The compound felt fairly soft to my thumb - I hope they aren't too soft!

I'd been told that the difficulty with changing tyres on the rear rim is that it has a ridge. Now I've seen it and could work round it. The trick seems to be to use a lever to push the bead over the ridge and into the hellow to assist breaking the bead. Likewise when refitting i made an effort to keep the bead below the ridge on the side opposite where I was levering. I think it worked. The sunny weather would have helped too. (It was too good to be working really but I know to take advantage of heat to fit tyres.)

While the wheel was out I decided to strip and grease the suspension linkage.



It was pretty easy to dismantle - it's important to loosen the shock bolt first so it doesn't move around. I used a luggage strap between the swingarm and grab handle to support the swingarm. I was surprised to find that all but the shock joints are needle rollers. I wasn't surprised to find a lack of grease.