MadScientist

Not necessarily motorbike related but depending on the size I've used battery terminal spreaders, external snap ring pliers, and chain pliers

Holy crap, that signature might be a little, um, excessive?

Wow you really have patience and/or a really dirty camera. I did this on the 5g and thought about making a guide, but I have trouble being bothered to stop and take pictures. Not to mention figuring out what things might be important to have pictures of. My guide would read something like: Take everything the fook apart. Throw out nearly everything made of rubber. Order everything that is worn out. Get busy with other projects and store it all for 6 months. Put partially back together. Discover parts are missing. Order more parts. Find missing parts. Curse. Reassemble.

FJ12 - What brand do you have on the trailer? Sounds like they are external mount. Have you ever checked their accuracy?

Dae's Post in the Angel GT mileage thread shows a very cool TPMS that I want to have on my bikes. Rather than necromance this thread from 2008 or this one from 2011, I thought I would start us off fresh. So, who out there is, or was, running a TPMS on any of their bikes? How do you like it? Is it precise? I don't really care exactly how accurate it is, as long as the inaccuracy is predictable. If you are using an external type, how heavy are the transmitter caps and will they interfere with anything if mounted on a 90 degree valve stem. I don't expect a whole lot of responses, but please don't recommend hand held tire pressure gauges. Since most of my bikes are driven daily, the prospect of getting the pressure gauge out, moving the bike so the stems are accessible, measuring, and washing the brake dust/road grime/chain lube off of my hands is unattractive. $100-200 for a TPMS would be worth it to me for the time spent and also provide a warning system for slower leaks while on long ride. advrider alerted me to the existence of the FOBO bluetooth/smartphone TPMS. This is now a frontrunner, assuming it fits my 90 degree valve stems. Riders say the sensors weigh about 10g and they are 26mm diameter ~19mm tall. I've emailed FOBO for more info, but if anyone is using this, feel free to chime in. Upon doing some calculations: (Rear Wheel) The radius from wheel center to cap is ~190 mm The rotational speed of the wheel is ~ 980 RPM at 70 mph With a 10g weight, gives a centripetal force of about 20 N (~4.5 lbs-force). This is ideal and neglects gravity (frictionless with horizontal axis). In reality, the centripetal force is cyclic and changes when Earth's gravity pulls with or against the centripetal force. I didn't measure the front wheel, but it looks like the radius will be larger, so the force greater. All that crap aside, I think this may require re-balancing. Anyone out there re-balance? I did neglect the weight of the original valve cap, which makes this a bit worse. Even so, the cap/sensor now applies this as shear force to the end of the valve stem. I'm now thinking that 90 degree valve stems might be a poor choice for mounting the sensors.

+1 on Skids question. I'm also genuinely interested in terms of feel and operation. Super high precision bearings are great and all, but is it actually noticeable and not placebo. If I went up to the bike and squeezed the lever, would I really be able to determine if they were "knockoffs" or the premium product based on feel alone? The price difference is really insane. I can imaging them feeling better, but not 3x the price better. Been running that exact brand for 2 years on the 599/Hornet now, silver lever with silver adjuster. I've heard that the colored anodizing fades after some time. The pivot portion of the levers is anodized black, regardless of the lever and adjuster though and it hasn't faded at all. There was a bit of slop in the levers, maybe slightly more than stock, that I fixed with a thin brass washer on the pivot shaft.