With a new one sided razor, cut it from the top or bottom. Put it back together and bring it to a tire changing place. They have plenty of those for metric cars. That, or go to a car dealer like Honda and match the bodies.

The air plug in the rim. Will need a tool to spin on the cap, like a T-handle, dip in dish soap and pull.

Putting air in now not seating..... at 40psi.

What is the psi required to seat front tire 120 70 17 what is safe?

* Last updated by: Stratovarious on 11/7/2025 @ 12:26 PM *

I finally got it to fully seat at about 50 psi,
had ear plugs on, popped both sides.

This is what is frustrating about the manual, paper and pdf,
some 700 pages and very scant actual help imv.

You need an actual service manual. The owners manual isn't going to give much info other than proper tire pressure and maybe how to adjust the drive chain. IDK, does the owners manual even talk about changing oil or air filter?

I wasted way too much time trying to find out from vendors
and manuals, etc, IS THIS THE RIGHT STEM???? No one can
really say, the manuals say NOTHING about my sprockets
or how to change them, particularly the front, which
socket sizes, which size nuts, nothing useful that
I can find.

You can always order and return if it seems a poor fit. That's what I did. Order two or three sizes and return the ones that don't fit. I ordered cheap 90° valve stems for my busa and all I had to go on was that the seller described them as fitting the Hayabusa. They fit.

So here's the rub on the stems, I've ordered stems and as mentioned
they are tough to get out, maybe pushing them in isn't
so hard or won't ruin them, I don't know, not something
anyone even talks about, do I ruin my stem by pushing it in,
and then left with a bike with no stem cause the one I'm guessing
at size-wise doesn't fit. and then I measure and hope
I can eventually find the right fit.....and get it delivered.

If you're ordering rubber valve stems, I'd order OEM. It's probably going to take a long time for delivery on OEM parts.

Did I post a link to my tire changing tutorial? There's no need to pull a rubber stem out. You carefully cut it beneath the outer flange avoiding scratching the rim. The stem will break off once you cut enough away, the ball drops out of the other side.

I finally got it to fully seat at about 50 psi,
had ear plugs on, popped both sides.

Congratulations!!! 50 psi is probably about what mine take to snap onto the beads too. Feels good doesn't it? Tell me the truth, was taking off and mounting that new tire a total bitch? I think it is. I guess you got your valve stems in too. Nice work!

Thanks Hub, I think I get it.

Thanks Rook,

I actually don't have an owners manual, I get the terms
mixed up, I have factory svc paper copy, and the PDF.
Another instance; I searched Axle to get front axle nut
torque, got zero, went google to some forum and came
up with 94 lb ft, same as rear axle nut. :shrugs: I've
had dozens of service manuals over the years, I find
Harley's terrible and this one much worse, there may
be some magical info in there, but not stuff I can use,
I'll have to get a cheap Clymer and Chilton's , I need
guidance lol, I'm not exactly a Mechanic.
---
Yeah that tires a bit of a chore. I had both in the sun
for a good bit, it's 90f + - here so that helped,
I only did the front so maybe it's easier than the rear.
The project took 4 to 5 hours I had a time understanding
and manhandling the axle/brakes, fender interface, but
luckily I didn't have to do it all 5 times which is
sometimes the case with my projects. :smi
--
I didn't change the stem, though I had a set delivered
on time, and I also got 26'' zip ties, didn't use
them either, in fact I didn't even use my soap
to remove the tire, I would up using the spoon/bead breaker
set, I figured, I need to see whats up with that set up,
and I had good confidence that the bead breaking aspect
of those spoons would work, I had little doubt and
the worked flawlessly.
I had that rim upside down, sideways, inside out, knees,,
elbows, flailing, I was surprised at how it worked,
at the end I said fg it, I bet I can rip the rim out
of the tire when much of the tire bead was off and
it worked. I had one piece of 2x8 and a piece of
carpet on the ground.
Putting the new tire on wasn't to tough, I did use
soap for that.
--
But then yeah, remounting wheel was a bad experience
but it worked out in the end.
--
I did read through your excellent tutorial, and
watched a dozen videos in preparation, and
in the end, I wound up just winging it and
it worked out.
----
I took the bike out for a short shakedown run,
when finished, this afternoon,
and had not ridden this bike with a good tire
on the front until today, it corners so much
better than it had since the day it arrived,
(a month +- ago).
--
Backing the bike out to get it into the warm
sun, before breaking it down, I ran over a
a water puddle and immediately
noticed the front tire leaking air (bubbles)
talk about timing.
--
Sore back, and about ready for a beer.....

Oh yeah, forgot,
The spoons/bead breaker set (two actual pieces)
is Motion Pro, about 60 bucks, the worked verywell,,
and I also included a couple of much smaller
dirt bike spoons in the project but could probably
done ok without them.
---
I bought he Motion Pro rim protectors, but for me
the were completely useless, they kept falling out,
as I had the rim in all kinds of different positions.
It turns out in my case; wtf would I need them for,
as there's no way to scratch the visible part of
my rims unless I tried it blind folded.
---
I found a couple of areas of oxidation which looked
to possibly be from being parked for sometime where
water had settled, rained on, hard to tell but the
rim/tire definitely had a leak/s.
I sanded those areas smooth and graduated the sanding
outward in both directions, hoping to get a good seal,
and also scrubbed off a considerable amount of rubber
around the rim in general, as the tire from what I
understood was original, so like, having been on
the rim for 12+ years.
Hopefully that leak will no longer be....
So, yeah, was it tough, I think so, cause I'm starting
to really drag a@@ now... worn out. :smi

I'll have to get a cheap Clymer and Chilton's , I need
guidance lol, I'm not exactly a Mechanic.

i got a Chilton's for my Toyota Carolla and it was all but useless. The Kawasaki service manual is the best I'm aware of in conjunction with asking questions and searching tutorials online.

Backing the bike out to get it into the warm
sun, before breaking it down, I ran over a
a water puddle and immediately
noticed the front tire leaking air (bubbles)
talk about timing.

I hope that's a tire puncture otherwise I fear it's damage to the bead surface of the rim.

I bought he Motion Pro rim protectors, but for me
the were completely useless, they kept falling out,
as I had the rim in all kinds of different positions.
It turns out in my case; wtf would I need them for,
as there's no way to scratch the visible part of
my rims unless I tried it blind folded.

Scratching the visible part of the rim is cosmetic but scratching the inner bead surface causes leaks. You can't put a tire on with tire irons unless you use rim protectors.

You got the front on and IMO, the front is more difficult than the rear. The tire is leaking though. I never had a tire leak after installing a tire. I was painstakingly careful about not scratching a rim and I still got a couple very minor nicks in the bead. Not bad enough to detect a leak with water.

You got yourself a set of rims to practice on now.

...or you can take them to a shop, ask them to polish the front beads and install tires on both. OR you can ride around with tires that leak because you scratched the beads installing your own tires. I told you man, this is really hard work if you try to do it right. People are talking like it's no big deal but it really is a hundred times harder than anything I've ever done on a motorcycle.

Lots of us are made for riding and we weren't made for wrenching. Stick with us but for all your enthusiasm, you might just be the latter. I'm just telling you because I care about your life and this (as you know) can be quite dangerous even when everything is in perfect mechanical order. I think you should be a rider Stratovarious and leave the wrenching to a trusted shop. ...at least for now. Get the basic maintenance stuff down. You're gonna fuck yourself up if you ride a bike you're doing high level maintenance and mods on. Just trust me, I've been down. It hurts physically and it really hurts inside when that bike is lost. Just ride.

The Bead Protectors and Bead-Breaker set are Both from
Motion Pro, the bead protectors as mentioned were useless
to me, and imv if there is going to be rim
(seating area) damage done to the rims,
it will come from using a 'typical' bead breaker
as there is no way I can think of to use the rim
protectors before the bead is broken.
If you watch Motion Pro's video, or other videos
on using 'a' or their bead breaker/spoon combo,
that will likely be obvious, plus, the video
I just watched from Motion Pro uses a rim/tire
that already has had the bead totally broken from
the rim.
So, yeah, bead protectors, largely cosmetic,
protection, not so much seal protection imv,
the Motion Pro Spoons/Bead-Breakers
on the other hand are keepers, a smart purchase.