Had a flat today, and it reminded me of some things I do, mostly stuff I learned from others that make it a little easier to keep track of things.
1) Use a marking pen to put a line on the inside of the tire at the center of the tire label on the outside. I just draw a line, bead to bead, around the inside. This way, when you're checking the inside of the tire for cuts, you know easily when you've gone around once.
2) Use this line as the point where the valve goes, so when you mount the tire the valve is at the center (roughly) of the tire label. These two steps mean that when you find the leak in the tube, you can easily check the right spot on the tire by its distance from the label and line, vs. the distance of the hole from the valve on the tube.
3) Michelin recommends starting to insert the second bead at the point opposite the valve, then working both sides toward the valve. Makes sense when you think about it: a lot easier to push the stuff away from the valve down into the "well" so the bead slips over the rim easily.
But, most of you know all this stuff, I hope. Besides, it only works on vintage rims, eh? :-)
harvey sachs
mcLean va