During the winter months I’ll take a glance at the tires to and from work. This time of the year the roads are muddy and wet and lately when I look at the tires they are covered in dirt or mud.

The treads are worn through so bad it a freakin’ hazard to be riding on it. The front tire is not bad and can easily see the tire wear.

Lesson learned, take the time and wipe down the tires for inspection. I noticed the loss of traction on the mountain curves as I would occasionally slide.

If I were doing a Centramatics commercial this would be a good sample. I took the rubber down to nothing and still no cupping. The tire looks balance.

To add insult to injury, I ran over a small nail at some point.

The previous owner must have had used an impact wrench that had way more torque then the electrics and air Mac Tool impact wrenches I have. The Mac Tool impact wrench has taken out every bolt or nut I’ve thrown at it. Not this time.

I had to use a 4 foot extension breaker pipe to release the lug nut. That sucker was on tight. I’m not sure if the previous owner felt additional torquing was needed to sandwich Centronics balancer in securely.

Since I no longer have a bike jack I had to remove the rear plastic fairing piece, support cross bar and the reposition the amplifier housing to make room for the wheel removal.

It’’s not too bad of a job. The Centronics balancer has to be removed and installed first when taking the wheel off and then back on.

Maintenance Note: rear tire replaced at 41,088 miles.