Re: changing your own tires.....

[bpw]

If there is another bike nearby, stick the wheel under the kickstand to break the bead, works super easy.

Its also sometimes possible to pry the bead off with a tire lever, depends on the tire.

A c-clamp makes a great bead breaker.

I don't bother with a stand or anything like the harbor freight tire changer. Figure I may as well get used to doing like I'm on the side of the road for practice. (though I do use my big tire irons when I am at home)

 

[OldFatGuy]

I could post pics sitting around the campfire last Friday night...

Unfortunately, I didn't think to take any pictures when I had to do it on the side of the trail a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Kestrel]

I don't bother with a stand or anything like the harbor freight tire changer. Figure I may as well get used to doing like I'm on the side of the road for practice. (though I do use my big tire irons when I am at home)

I didn't bother with a stand, either. Two 2x4s on the ground to keep the discs from touching and kneepads for comfort's sake. I think it's likely easier *without* the stand as you can use your weight to push the tire down. I still can't believe how easy the entire thing was.

 

[Karbon]

I didn't bother with a stand, either. Two 2x4s on the ground to keep the discs from touching and kneepads for comfort's sake. I think it's likely easier *without* the stand as you can use your weight to push the tire down. I still can't believe how easy the entire thing was.

yep. if you have the right levers and technique its a snap really. Just go easy on the bead. My last tire change took me a bit longer as i was using old oil bottles as rim protectors. Also sport touring radials are a bit stiffer than your typical sport tire.

 

[mweitz]

only ones I can't do are the fiddy tires, small m-fers!!!

Old thread.

I read this a long time ago and it kept me from doing the tires on my fifty. I did them last week and truthfully, it was easier than the big bikes and I put a fairly stiff sidewall tire on (MX51's).

The key is using 3 tire irons I think. I picked this up from Thumpertalk and it works quite well for dirt tires. So far I've done 4 or 5 with no pinched tubes and only a little swearing in the beginning when I didn't understand the mechanics of putting the bead in the dish.


Part 1
[youtube]qw0B2gIwbBg[/youtube]

Part 2
[youtube]mTatadVNA-c[/youtube]

Part 3
[youtube]pjJXE73rGvk[/youtube]

 

[dOGHAIR]

I changed my rear tire the other day on my VFR, I decided to get edumacated at the point where I was stuck trying to get the new second bead on. As someone stated earlier, the key was to get the bead down in the valley. The video I found that showed me the way has the guy kneeling on the tire to keep the bead down. He uses Pledge as a lube (I read today that people use lemon pledge as a leather treatment so it is now on my shopping list)
He also shows a simple bead breaking setup with a few 2x4s but after reading in this thread about using a c clamp, I think I'll go that way next time.
Anyways, the video helped me a lot and I got to change my tire with 2 med length tire irons. It's a silent movie set to "Requiem" which I enjoyed.
Can we embed google videos here?
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7546109776315225781#

 

[WeekEndWarrior]

Karbon, wanna do my tires?

they come with a twelve'r

 

[mweitz]

I'm curious, has anyone done streetbike tires with the spoon type that Motion Pro sells?

 

[Dorkhedeos]

If there is another bike nearby, stick the wheel under the kickstand to break the bead, works super easy.

Its also sometimes possible to pry the bead off with a tire lever, depends on the tire.

A c-clamp makes a great bead breaker.

I don't bother with a stand or anything like the harbor freight tire changer. Figure I may as well get used to doing like I'm on the side of the road for practice. (though I do use my big tire irons when I am at home)

Kickstand doesnt work all the time. The sv kickstand is a great beadbreaker, but it wont break other sv beads for some odd reason. C-clamp doesnt seem to work for sv beads either. The harbor freight bead breaker is worth its money. Its 20 bucks and itll break pretty much any motorcycle bead. That combined with 2 of these

and you can change any tire easily.

 

[SM610]

When I'm at the race track and need to break a bead, I use the jack from my truck/car. Place the foot of the jack on the tire at the edge of the rim, and the bumper at the top of the jack. Crank till it breaks the bead! Don't forget to put some cardboard under the wheel to prevent damage.

 

[Kestrel]

I'm telling ya, the 2x4 method is golden. Sometimes (often, anyway) you need to break the bead in a couple of places. The 2x4 setup does this with much less effort than the C-clamp, car running over, kickstand methods etc. The aforementioned lever that DorkHedeos posted is the one to use. Grab 2-3 of them, some scrap wood, and then go to town on those wheels.

And if you want a balancing setup? This is cheap and works great.

http://www.ibmwr.org/otech/balancer.html
http://www.airheads.org/content/view/172/49/

Looks like this in the end..

As the instructions dictate, you basically take a metal plate and drill four holes in it.. Drill a big hole in the center for the axle to slide through. Drill two smaller holes next to that large one, and bolt two bearings side by side. And lastly, drill one at the top and run some string through it. Put the axle of the bike through the plates and statically balance the wheel. Takes up no storage space whatsoever, and will cost you about $20-25 bucks to make.

 

[Hooli]

Aaron, looks like you gained some weight since I saw you last.

I'd LOVE to have a tire changer at home...in fact, it will be my next major purchase after I move. Don't forget the other necessities: air compressor for inflating the new tire and a bead breaker.

 

[wstick1]

kicking you in the nuts next time i see you Hoooli.