How many people mount their own tires?

[TheEdge900]

I am likely going to need to get new tires in a few months and was wondering how many people have mounted the tires on their own? In the past I have changed tube tires on dirt bikes and tubeless ATV tires, but never a tubeless motorcycle tire. If you do mount the tires on your own how do you balance? Weights? Ride-on? Both? I know you need tire spoons to mount, but is there a trick to break the bead? My dad used to have a bead breaker for the ATV tires that was just a lever arm and a chain mounted to a plate.

 

[Old Can Ride]

I am likely going to need to get new tires in a few months and was wondering how many people have mounted the tires on their own? In the past I have changed tube tires on dirt bikes and tubeless ATV tires, but never a tubeless motorcycle tire. If you do mount the tires on your own how do you balance? Weights? Ride-on? Both? I know you need tire spoons to mount, but is there a trick to break the bead? My dad used to have a bead breaker for the ATV tires that was just a lever arm and a chain mounted to a plate.

I brake my bead with the duck foot I have mounted on my kickstand. Works great. You can buy some nice tools to break the bead, but the kick stand works great. Bill uses his center stand to break the bead. Either method works great, and you must have a center stand to do either method. I use 3 tire spoons that make the job a lot faster to do. Make sure you get the direction of rotation correct. Line up the dot on the tire up with the valve stem. Tires come pre balanced from the manufacture, and the dot lined up with the stem gets most tires close to perfect balance when new. I have not used any weights sense I started using Ride On. Take all weights off the rims and through them away. Ride On gets the tires in perfect balance, as liquid seeks it own level. Ride On has increased the mileage I get on a set of tires. As you wear rubber off the tire, Ride On is constantly seeking the perfect balance. I use the same air pump used by Bill, it is the Slime 8 Minute pump. Pump can be purchased at any Wal-Mart.

I carry three small ratchet straps with me at all times, in the video Bill uses the straps to inflate the tire by raping the tire, and he uses the strap to tie the tire to the kick stand. A lot easier to do with ratchet straps. My saddlebags work as perfect counter balancers, bags on front wheel in the air, bags off the bike back wheel in the air. Bill does the same thing here, bags off rear tire in the air.

Bill Bragoo with Adventure Rider has this video on how to change the tires. Same way I do it.

[video=youtube;V0nrZadIQxA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0nrZadIQxA[/video]

 

[turbodieseli4i6]

I bought a bead breaker from Harbor Freight. Motorcycle Bead Breaker
That and a cheater bar worked for me. I let Ride-on do the balancing part.

 

[turbodieseli4i6]

Take all weights off the rims and through them away.

I recommend making bullets out of the weights, or you can send them to me.

 

[Big Thump]

I went in with two other riders on a Professional Hydraulic changer. Only a little over $300 a piece, and the spin wheel balancer was a another $100. Makes it much easier when we have to change the rubber, plus we can all change our car tires too. Hard part is to find close friends that have a large area to keep the equipment.

 

[670cc]

I change mine myself, except the Goldwing tires. I have used tire levers in the past, but now have the harbor freight motorcycle tire changer with the Mojo blocks and Mojo lever. Total cost of that setup was about $225. Haven't used it yet but will soon.

For balance, I use a Harbor Freight balance stand. It works quite well.

There is an almost identical thread or two about this already. I will try to dig them up.

http://nc700-forum.com/forum/tire-tech-talk/4711-tire-changer.html

 

[mpgandfun]

I've done mine since picking up a set of 24" spoons.

 

[bamamate]

I used a flat blade shovel to break the bead. Saw this on youtube. Place the shovel on the tire next to the rim and jump on it. I put on rim proctors in case the shovel rubbed against the rim. Worked well. I spooned the PR3s on with 3 spoons. Rear wasn’t hard. Front was a bit of a bugger but doable. Shinko 705s arrived yesterday so I’ll see if I can spoon them on as soon as the Ride-On gets here.

 

[Harald]

I've been doing my own tires for many years. I used to sit on the ground or use a 5 gallon bucket and spoons to do tires, but decided to upgrade to a more high tech solution. There's lots of info on the net about building your own equipment, but here's a good one I like:
No-scufftiretool
I did buy their version of the Mojo bar, which replaces spoons and makes the job much easier.

Here's my hitch mounted tire changer with included bead breaker:

It was made from salvaged materials and only cost me about $10 for the threaded rod and associated hardware. In the past, I've used a bottle neck jack under a car frame to break beads or jacked the car up and then placed a 2x4 between car frame and tire to break the bead when the car is lowered. My home made one works much better!

I also made a balance stand:

It was also made with salvaged parts for free. The key is freely rolling bearings to allow the wheel to spin with no friction. I use the axle from the bike to rest the wheel on this stand. I should note that this is the same type of technology that's used at the racetrack and is proven to work at 200 mph. I haven't heard of any racers that use any goop that claims to balance tires.

Doing your own tires saves lots of money if you ride a lot. Tires can be bought online for MUCH less than from a dealer and then installed at home at your convenience.

 

[TheEdge900]

Thanks for all the info. I think I will get a set of spoons and try the kickstand method, if that doesn't work I will get the harbor freight bead breaker. I am anticipating needing to replace tires every year or so on the NC, plus my son and I are getting back into dirt biking, so getting the tools will save a lot of money in the long run. I have been running Ride-on for the past year in my bikes, trailer and my 4x4 truck, but the tires were previously balanced. Will try on the bike without balancing with weights this time.

 

[treybrad]

Yep. I have the Harbor Freight manual changer and balancing stand. Quick and painless, takes longer getting the wheels off and back on the bike than it does to actually change the tire. You can usually score the whole unit for ~$100 on sale.

trey

 

[dduelin]

I should try this. I used tire irons and spoons to change and repair tubed tires on my BMW but with the ST1300 and NC I buy tires online and my Honda dealer mounts them for $20 to $35 a wheel. That's cheap but I change tires often enough to have paid for the HF tool and for a made-up one as pictured. I have a balancer that hangs from the ceiling.

 

[bigjeff]

I use a harbor frieght bead breaker, but use BBs inside the tire for balance. I know.....google it.

Here is a brief video that demonstrates the principle:[video=youtube;eq263AYgyYg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq263AYgyYg[/video]