[Duane_in_Florida]

Riding home from the office Wednesday I notice a bump in the ride. I first thought it was the road, but it hung in there as the surface changed. By the time I got home (about 20 miles) there was no question in my mind that something was going on with the front tire. Parked it and rotated the front tire around to find a noticeable bump just off center about the size of a baseball. I noticed nothing unusual in the ride that morning.

The tire has about 12,000 miles on it, but other than this issue still has good tread...I would estimate another 5000 miles based on current wear rate.

Has anyone else seen anything like this? It is clealy a belt separation, but appeared very suddenly. Can I drive it to the dealer to get it replaced? Dealer is about 75 miles away, almost all highway. A blow out at 70 mph would not be fun. How hard is it to pull and replace a front wheel (not the tire) on an LT (never tried this)? If so I could just haul the wheel in and have them replace the tire (although I do need an oil change too). Bike is sitting in the garage for now.

 

[jkersh1]

Search around the forum, there's a recent thread on front wheel R&R. The owner's manual also has the procedures and torques. It's not as easy as the rear, but not hard. You can do it with the tools in the tool kit (other than the torques).

Considering everything that could go wrong, I'd pull the wheel, and take it somewhere. Doesn't have to be the dealer.

 

[Duane_in_Florida]

Ordered the tire from Motorcycle Superstore for local delivery next week. Will have it done at a much closer shop that I can hopefully ride to.