Tire Change DIY or Not?

[ozijake08]

Fair Dinkum some of these posts are utter crap, don't waste your money an any item that says it will protect your rim like i stupidly done. they do protect the rim but make the diameter of changing your tyre around the rim even larger they get jammed , pinched and caught, making the the process impossible.

the trick is quality good spoons, keep that bead in center of rim and some thin cow hide strips and a lube like NoMar and it is a piece of piss

[ozijake08]

Also stick those wood blocks where the sun dont shine  that doesnt work

[subxero]

1 hour ago, ozijake08 said:

also for the guys that say they cant as it gets to tight and yes it can ,  a little trick is to use a G-Clamp on opposite side, to clamp the beads together and squeeze the beads together in  the middle of rim. that is the trick to changing your tyres get that bead in the center of the rim any way you can or it will be as tight as hell. as soon as you do this you will realize how simple tyre changes can be and will never pay someone to do them for you

I don't doubt that this works but if you simply put the tire on like normal and once you get about 5/8th of the tire on the rim or when the tire starts to get tight, just put some pressure on the tire with the spoons like you are putting it on and then at the same time push down on the tire where it is already in the rim and the tire will suck right into the middle and give you the little bit of clearance you need to finish it off easily.   

[bgrodeghier]

I've been changing my own for over 15 years with no problems. I started using spoons and a few years ago picked up a mojolever, which works slick for removing and installing. I still use a spoon or two in addition to the mojolever. Balancing is done manually, and on my sport bike I've hit 160+ at BIR many times with no vibration. I do balance my enduro knobbies too as unbalanced they'll cause excessive vibration at higher speeds (45+). I made my own weights for the enduro tires by welding a few pieces of 1/2" round stock together using some 1/8" round stock, the weights look like a pontoon boat with no deck and weigh 3.5-4 ounces. If you're a do-it-yourself kind of person I highly recommend learning the skill.

[ss-racing66]

9 hours ago, ozijake08 said:

... and a lube like NoMar and it is a piece of piss

Ummm,  is that a good thing ?    

[M1Garand]

Going back to the OP question.

If you have only 1 bike and changing tires are months apart, I can see how you might just wanna drop them off, I was this guy years ago. Now with multiple bikes, the cost adds up pretty quick.

I have since got a stand, spoons and improved my technique. There is a learning curve however I now wonder why I took them to the shop to begin with. 

it takes longer to drive to the shop, drop the off and return home than it does to change them.......well not always but sometimes. 

 

 

 

[Decreasing Dave]

3 hours ago, M1Garand said:

Going back to the OP question.

If you have only 1 bike and changing tires are months apart, I can see how you might just wanna drop them off, I was this guy years ago. Now with multiple bikes, the cost adds up pretty quick.

I have since got a stand, spoons and improved my technique. There is a learning curve however I now wonder why I took them to the shop to begin with. 

it takes longer to drive to the shop, drop the off and return home than it does to change them.......well not always but sometimes. 

 

 

 

This me as well.  Once my son started riding with me, bike maintenance doubled to include tire changing.  My best friend owns a dealership in Arizona so I used to bring my stuff there for the guys to change in their spare time, on the clock of course.  Never used to cost me a dime.  I would buy them a cheap pizza every now and then.

Then I moved to California.....

Dave

[culpspecial]

My experience is that removing the old tire is the hard part. (Before I got a tire changing machine) So I used the old block of wood with a mallet to break the bead.  One of my old friends could mount a tire usually with his bare hands and soapy water.  The trick was getting the tire bead in the groove so he would partially air the tube to get it straight and left the air out. This does not work on old tires that are stiff.  I can mount 30x3.5 by hand when new but 10 year old are almost impossible. (This happen a couple of weeks ago when I needed some mounted tires to look at a project). I have found some of the sport tires are pretty stiff and hard to mount.  But the dirt tires are usually pretty easy by hand. I don't balance the tires on my dual sports.  I leave the factory weights on the larger bikes (KTM 990, 1190,BMW1200GS wifes bike and the smaller KTM 690 and BMW 450X don't have any weights at all). Some tire mfg have marks that show the heavy side of the tire that should be opposite the valve stem for balance.

[Dumpdaveinfl]

It’s not hard but one suggestion is Murphy tire soap sold thru Napa. I just did a set of Millville 2s. Longer to get them off the bike than change the tire.

[6bt]

Has anyone used balance beads for tubeless tires?

[DEATH_INC.]

On 7/24/2018 at 3:38 PM, Joe Bradley said:

20 years ago, I spent 4 hours on my street legal XR 600, riding from Las Vegas, to Los Angeles with unbalanced wheels. The bike just about shook my fillings out.

Really? I've had bikes for way too many years (30+), and always changed the tyres (tires) Myself on road, track and dirt bikes (both for the road and dirt), and NEVER balanced them, and NEVER had any issues.

[adrian_vg]

On 7/24/2018 at 11:56 AM, Decreasing Dave said:

You put the baby powder in the tire before inserting the tube.  It keeps the tube from chaffing on the tire and helps with lining up the valve stem in the hole by allowing a little bit of tube slide within the tire while mounting

Dave

Aha! Good tip, thanks!

[adrian_vg]

On 7/24/2018 at 1:45 PM, OnPipe said:

Past couple years I’ve been running Tubliss. However, prior to that I was using grease on my tubes. Grease that baby up, and it slides right in. Almost a guarantee you will never get a punch flat with a greased up tube. 

Grease me up Willie! 

Any particular kind of grease?

I'm thinking grease might dissolve the rubber (maybe) eventually. Or in any case make a smaller mayhem when you try to replace the tube out in the bush and it picks up gravel and whatnot while you handle it.

[Spud786]

On ‎7‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 6:18 AM, Bobatsea said:

Worked in the family motorcycle shop for years. We did then and still do tires/tubes the old way. On a peice of carpet with some good spoons, rim protectors and hand soap/water in a spray bottle. Could do a set of Harley tires that way in 30mins. (Don’t think I could still do it that fast)

The only modern equipment you need for a motorcycle tire is a balance machine. You will not be able to balance as well as the machine.

The automated balancers is exactly why Ive not had a dealer balance a tire in the last 15 years, the accuracy is lacking. I do far better with a static balancer and 20 minutes labor, than the automateds.

it wasn't one shop , but multiple shops, they get it close, but that's about it.

Edited July 28, 2018 by Spud786

[LandLubber]

1 hour ago, Spud786 said:

The automated balancers is exactly why Ive not had a dealer balance a tire in the last 15 years, the accuracy is lacking. I do far better with a static balancer and 20 minutes labor, than the automateds.

it wasn't one shop , but multiple shops, they get it close, but that's about it.

Strange. We never had a complaint and I always did my personal wheels on the machine. We did have ours calibrated on a regular basis.

[EmpireofDerp]

Yes, easy. You need some spoons, maybe a bead buddy and some rim protectors and a torque wrench. Also for this bike i had to purchase a 32mm socket for the "spindle screw" which is fancy Euro talk for axle nut.

[EmpireofDerp]

A comment on manual balance of tires. I have a Triumph 675 track only bike.  I go to Jennings florida track a lot which is really hard on tires  so I only get about 2 track days on a set.. I change my own tires on a manual changer. I also balance my own tires with a balance stand and axle.  i run about 135-145 on the straights and have never felt any out of balance and I just get it close when I put the weights on. I have been to many AMA Superbike races and talked to the Dunlop tire guys and they balance manually and just get it close. I also do my street bikes with no problems . I dont balance my dual sport tires because I just ride the dual sport between trail heads and dont go over 50 

You don't run rim locks? Because mine at 45mph shudders like a hentai actress without a couple ounces on the front rim.

[EmpireofDerp]

I I wasn't sure what the KTM 690 R has for tire sizes and 21F/18R (not like a 16" rear) so IMO it's worth learning how to do them yourself unless you don't mine paying the $$$ and want them balanced.
I like to heat them in the sun or CAREFULLY in front of an open on a chair.
Milk crate, soapy water, good tire irons (2 x Motion Pro irons and a spoon).
Usually about 10 mins once off the bike
And I found this helped [emoji4]
[/url] Are you buying the tires from a local shop and mounting/balancing is extra?
 
 
 
 

But you put the tube in wrong. [emoji57]

[EmpireofDerp]

I go through one set of tires a year up here in the Northwest as our season isn't all that long.

What? The whole point of having a dual sport is to blast around all winter when the woods get so greasy you just can't get it up. Unless you're in snow country somewhere.

[LSHD]

Warm tire and plenty of lube turns an impossible job into easy, or at least doable. Three or more spoons is also nice, but two should work. Get the bead down into the middle of the opposite rim and suddenly the tire isn't impossibly tight at the rim on the side you are trying to get it over.