The ST1300 centre stand is very well balanced to support the bike with BOTH wheels off! it makes it easy to work on, well relatively that is...
it’s common to do 1 wheel at a time by jacking the front of the bike high in the sky, remove the wheel, replace the worn tyre and re-install. Then repeat the process for the other side...
Due to fact that I need to take both rims for tyre replacement, I had to devise a method to get both wheels off safely, w/o killing myself or the bike...
By removing the REAR AND FRONT fenders, I gained more than enough clearance to allow easy removal.
I used a jacking just to brace not lift, the sump while removing the front wheel.
I then put the axles back in and blocked the front axle with a car stand.
Only when taking the wheels off the bike can you really appreciate how worn (scalloped) and irregular the tyres look and feel (sorry poor night-time photos)
Even after 12,500 km the Pilot 3’s still have tread and I could probably squeeze another 3-4 k out of them but I don’t feel its worth the risk to save a few bucks...
My shed is to small to get a full size photo of the entire bike showing no front or rear wheels.
These tyres were fantastic for this bike and I am looking forward to the new generation Michelin Piolet 4 ($519) which will be installed on Friday.
...and if this hasn’t all bored you to death, I also discovered that those very irritating black tar dot marks, that stick to the rims and chassis, DO come off after soaking in WD40 and persistent scrubbing with a nylon brush, rag and elbow grease.