Anybody change their own tires?

[ThrottleJunky]

I do it on my dirt bikes, but not sure if it's any more difficult to get a tire off these rims. I have a set of basic tire irons. Thinking of buying two new Dunlops and doing it myself.

[bikerphil]

Not a big deal if you have done it before, not any more difficult on these rims than other bike rims. Your rims are tubeless, only the 78's and some early 79's have tubes.

[Radioguylogs]

Go for it

I do it on my dirt bikes, but not sure if it's any more difficult to get a tire off these rims. I have a set of basic tire irons. Thinking of buying two new Dunlops and doing it myself.

I learned to do it myself 2 years ago. I have done 4 out of my 5 bikes myself.

The one I took took to the shop cost $75 to mount/balance.

The ones I did myself were no problem. A couple of times the tire was tight to get over the rim, but I was successful with no damage to the rims. It can be a workout, though.

I do use the rim protectors.

I just had a chance to try Scott's (3 Phase) recommendation of RuGlyde as a lubricant. There is no going back for me. I had corrosion problems using dish soap and the RuGlyde fixes that problem and works better anyway.

[ThrottleJunky]

I learned to do it myself 2 years ago. I have done 4 out of my 5 bikes myself.

The one I took took to the shop cost $75 to mount/balance.

The ones I did myself were no problem. A couple of times the tire was tight to get over the rim, but I was successful with no damage to the rims. It can be a workout, though.

I do use the rim protectors.

I just had a chance to try Scott's (3 Phase) recommendation of RuGlyde as a lubricant. There is no going back for me. I had corrosion problems using dish soap and the RuGlyde fixes that problem and works better anyway.

Good to know. I normally use dish soap.

[motoman]

I do it on my dirt bikes, but not sure if it's any more difficult to get a tire off these rims. I have a set of basic tire irons. Thinking of buying two new Dunlops and doing it myself.

I'm sure if you've dealt with rim-locks on dirt/moto-x bikes, you'll find street bike wheels/tires are way easier to mount/dismount as they don't have rim-locks to deal with. Laying wheel on a couple shorty 2"x4"'s, brake rotor facing down on the shorty pieces of wood blocks,makes for way easier to remove bead of tire off wheel. Wheel supported same method, makes for way easier to seat that bottom bead by walking on mounted tire around a circle. Leave valve stem core out until after both beads pop and seat in place. This gives a higher volume of initial air to pop bead in place.....Install valve stem, air up to 42psi...mount on bike and go ride. Also, when mounting tire back on rim, keep ALL that crap off tire and wheel, as it it will make it really hard to seat that bead in place in order to inflate.

[motoman]

Also, for balancing those tires, wheels weights are 'old school', and most bike shops today offer that as a second choice. Ride-On is what is used.....80z. bottle does both wheels with 40z. in each wheel with valve stem removed. Saw an actual demonstration of product some7yrs. ago in which this product was used. After product installed, motorcycle was ran the full length of a 2"x10" with nails protruding boards full length. Ride-On immediately went to and plugged those punctures, after which only 2p.s.i. was lost from tire. It also perfectly balances tires. I've used it now for some 6yrs.and removing old tire for replacement, just wipe out inside of tire with a rag to eliminate the product.....easy-peasy. There still may be a visual demonstration by Googling Ride-On.com.

[bikerphil]

If you find corrosion or stuck on rubber on the bead mounting surface, it's a good idea to wire wheel that crud off before mounting the new tire. No slow air leaks that way.

[Rettic]

Mojolever

I have been doing my own tires for years now. Got tired (Pun intended) of messing around with tire irons so I found this awesome tool: https://www.mojotiretools.com/mojoweb.htm. With a $80 tire change stand from ebay and the mojo lever I can change the tires in minutes. Even changed the rear tire on my buddies Rocket III with little effort once we removed the brake rotor. Well worth the investment if you are changing tires often.

[TADracer]

Here is what I do.

Needed:
Tire irons, Two pieces of 4x4 about 24+" long, dead blow hammer, soapy water, old leather glove, two patio chairs and some beer (optional).

Remove:
Place the tire on side between the 4x4s with brake rotor between the wood pieces. Remove valve stem. Smack the tire all around with the hammer and then step on the tire to break the bead loose (might need to do that on the other side too). Cut fingers off of old leather glove to use as a rim protectors. work tire off of rim with tire irons. Drink some beer.

Replace:
Clean rim seat all around (and it is a perfect time for touching up rim paint if any). Change valve stem gasket if tubeless tire. Spread soapy water all around tire bead and rim and work the first bead onto the rim. Rotate tire until dot aligns with valve stem and work second bead onto the tire with irons and protectors (this is the hard part). Dead blow hammer and some foot work may come in handy here too. Drink some beer.

Balance:
Place two patio chairs back to back and insert lubricated axle into wheel and suspend between chair backs so tire can rotate. Spin wheel and mark heavy side. Tape weight to opposite side or at 1/3 points from heavy side is seriously out of balance. Spin again to confirm (drink beer while watching the wheel spin). Once balanced, permanently install weights.

I've done several tires like this and yes, it is a bit of work but it surely beats paying high prices to have a shop do it. Also, while doing a tire change it opens up the workings enough to do some maintenance you might not normally care to do such as adjusting the swing arm side play, inspecting brakes and linkages, changing fork oil checking the drive shaft splines and u-joint.

[ThrottleJunky]

I received my first of 2 new Shinko 230 tires today! The second one (front) is coming from a different warehouse so unfortunately won't have them for the weekend.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey TJ,

Tad gave some good advice. I've got a few more pointers. Instead of doing the native indian tire bead dance, I use a large "C" Clamp, and spritz some fluid/windex or such once the bead is a little exposed from the rim to help futher lube it to assist in the bead breaking process.

The bead/wires are tough and stiff, and I learned to ENSURE that when you are first trying to tire iron the edge either OFF or back on, to make sure that the opposing tire bead is DEEP in the recess in the center of the RIM. IT often tries to slide/ride up onto the outer edge of the rim, but that reduces the amount of slack you will have to get the bead up over the rim edge!

Then when going to inflate, using a ratchet strap around the circumference of the tire can help squish/spread the beads outwards onto the wider part of the rim to allow it to catch and hold the air. Also squirt/apply the lube to the rim/bead just before inflating, this helps the bead to slide ALL the way out and up against the rim/bead. See the front tire change tech tip for the fine line just above the tire bead edge that should show ALL the way around the rim edge when the tire is fully and properly seated against the rim. Instead of over inflating the tire to try to get the bead up beyond the line marker, letting some of the air out so that it has like 20 lbs or so, and then vigorously bouncing the tire on the ground like a basketball can help beat/push/pump the bead all the way up to the indicator line.

T.C.

[spectra]

I tried doing a set and well after ****ing up a tube..............I said enough and found a local mom and pop shop who does it for 20 bucks.......I took in 2 wheels and tires and they say oh the rims are bare so we will mount both for 20 total........I couldn't have been happier.

[Geezer]

I've changed more bike tires in my life than I can count. The one thing that most people forget to tell you is that you have to collapse the tire into the opposite side from where you're working with the tire irons.

I have 2 sets of the old car tire irons from the days before tire changing machines and I have one of those strange curves Euro style irons. Those short ones they sell in bike shops are useless. If it's giving you too much trouble, then you're doing it the wrong way.

Also guys that change tires with screwdrivers should be publicly flogged...

Geezer