Rookie Question on DIY Tire Changes: Bar Code Sticker on the bead. Remove it?

[Silverstreak]

Greetings all,

I am a new member and have a rookie question about mounting new tires on my bike (VFR 800F). I've mounted tires before, in my younger days, but never had a bar code sticker on the bead before. My question: Do I leave the sticker on or take it off? Initially I was going to remove the sticker before mounting it but I wasn't getting a clean release / smooth surface on the bead when I picked at a corner on the sticker. I didn't want to use and wasn't sure if rubbing alcohol would harm the rubber. The sticker isn't super thick or anything, and seems like it may not be a sealing problem anyway. So, any ideas? Just trying to avoid a slow leak / messing up the rubber unnecessarily. It smells like they put the sticker directly on the bead for a reason, but I'm not registering why. Am I concerned over nothing?

Any help / feedback would be most welcome. Spring is coming late this year, I've got a few weeks before I need to pull the trigger.

Best regards,
Phil

[Patmo]

I always remove it, but I’m not sure it’s necessary. There’s so much pressure on the tire when they are inflated that I doubt very seriously that any kind of leak would occur.

[dpippin]

Greetings all,

I am a new member and have a rookie question about mounting new tires on my bike (VFR 800F). I've mounted tires before, in my younger days, but never had a bar code sticker on the bead before. My question: Do I leave the sticker on or take it off? Initially I was going to remove the sticker before mounting it but I wasn't getting a clean release / smooth surface on the bead when I picked at a corner on the sticker. I didn't want to use and wasn't sure if rubbing alcohol would harm the rubber. The sticker isn't super thick or anything, and seems like it may not be a sealing problem anyway. So, any ideas? Just trying to avoid a slow leak / messing up the rubber unnecessarily. It smells like they put the sticker directly on the bead for a reason, but I'm not registering why. Am I concerned over nothing?

Any help / feedback would be most welcome. Spring is coming late this year, I've got a few weeks before I need to pull the trigger.
Best regards,
Phil

I always leave that sticker on the tire and have had no problem.

[RichGrab]

I have no experience mounting my own tires. Having said that, if you're set on removing the sticker, use a product like GOO-GONE. It's non-toxic and will remove all kinds of gummy labels. I used it to remove a huge body panel sticker on my 2001 VFR. The post crash replacement had the sticker - and the other side did not.
Good luck and ride easy.

[OSU55]

Depends. Most of them I've had (I change 10-12 tires a year) that sticker is really adhered, and I just leave it. A few have been a bit "loose" and I removed them.

[NinjaBob]

I have always left them on.

[Wills28904]

Leave it on, doesn't effect the bead.