I recently ordered (14) sets of BSA tires hoping that out of (56) tires I could find (8) that were good.............. Seems like all of the "good" tire mold numbers in the order had either large bores or were more than .004 out of round.
Tires from mold #11 seemed to be the best by far. Most had .096 bores and many were within .002 to .003 on the concentricity gauge. The issue I found with them was that each of them had one small bump in the center tread and some had some flashing on the inside rim of the tread. I know tire sanding isn't recommended but I used a mandrel with thin aluminum tape around the threads (which snugged the fit up nicely - cant remember who on here recommended the aluminum tape but thank you!) and hit them lightly with wet 800 grit paper and also removed the flashing when needed. This didn't seem to hurt the out of round numbers and in some cases improved them.
Seemed like most of the mold #1 tires were awful, large bores and had a large chunk missing on the inside rim of the tread. There were a handful (don't remember the mold number) that seemed to have a small shoulder on the inside hub bore (car side). A .097 pin gage would fit into the outside hub but hit the raised shoulder and wouldn't go through, and a .096 would fit from the inside.I plan to go back through and spend more time studying each mold number tire later.
My sort process was .096 bores in one pile and the .097 bores in another. Then I put each of the .096 tires on a concentricity gauge and sorted by run out. The .097's went back into the bag saved for use later with larger aftermarket axles. When picking tires I started with the smallest run out .096 tires and spun them on a polished BSA axle then picked the ones that seemed to spin the best. What other things/tests should I be doing when sorting tires?
I have read posts with both "pick the best tire, there are bad tires in every mold" and others with "use tires from mold numbers x, y, z". So I went with smallest bore and least run out. Anyone else have ideas/recommendations on the sorting and tire selection process?
Tires from mold #11 seemed to be the best by far. Most had .096 bores and many were within .002 to .003 on the concentricity gauge. The issue I found with them was that each of them had one small bump in the center tread and some had some flashing on the inside rim of the tread. I know tire sanding isn't recommended but I used a mandrel with thin aluminum tape around the threads (which snugged the fit up nicely - cant remember who on here recommended the aluminum tape but thank you!) and hit them lightly with wet 800 grit paper and also removed the flashing when needed. This didn't seem to hurt the out of round numbers and in some cases improved them.
Seemed like most of the mold #1 tires were awful, large bores and had a large chunk missing on the inside rim of the tread. There were a handful (don't remember the mold number) that seemed to have a small shoulder on the inside hub bore (car side). A .097 pin gage would fit into the outside hub but hit the raised shoulder and wouldn't go through, and a .096 would fit from the inside.I plan to go back through and spend more time studying each mold number tire later.
My sort process was .096 bores in one pile and the .097 bores in another. Then I put each of the .096 tires on a concentricity gauge and sorted by run out. The .097's went back into the bag saved for use later with larger aftermarket axles. When picking tires I started with the smallest run out .096 tires and spun them on a polished BSA axle then picked the ones that seemed to spin the best. What other things/tests should I be doing when sorting tires?
I have read posts with both "pick the best tire, there are bad tires in every mold" and others with "use tires from mold numbers x, y, z". So I went with smallest bore and least run out. Anyone else have ideas/recommendations on the sorting and tire selection process?
