Tire Change - Old School

[cota95]

I have a No Mar tire changer and have a boat load of tires (if you are lonely buy a tire changer). I changed tires on 2013 recently and the OEM Bridgestones were some of the most difficult tires to remove as I can recall. The PR3s went on easy enough and I can only hope the difficulties I had removing the Bridgestones was brand specific and not related to the FJR wheels.

Glad to know that it just wasn't me-what a ***** to change!

 

[Fred W]

The pictures that ionbeam missed of my old's cool tire setup was the 2x3 bead breaker. Here it is in action on a wheel mounted on the steel wheel tire stand. The gray 2x6 is nailed to the sill plate and spaced away from the wall at the top by a piece of 2x4. This gives a nice solid fulcrum to lever against when popping a stubborn bead. Before this setup I used the same lever underneath the trailer hitch at the back of my Jeep. But with that the car likes to lift up when you are really prying on a stubborn one.

 

[Fred W]

Curious...I've looked into the beads but have never used them yet. If the beads are so hard to get out, in that they don't pour out of the tire, why not just put the beads in the new tire and then mount it? Why do they have to go through the valve stem?

With beads floating around inside it would be very hard to get a good seal when inflating / popping the bead back on the rim. The surface of the tire and bead should be pristinely clean.

 

[fljab]

Last winter I spent some of my tax refund on a Cycle Hill changer. It was just under $500. It does a nice job bead breaking and of holding the wheels up at waist level for the tire mount / demount. The big bar they give you works great for demounting, but I still usually find myself spooning the new tires on the rim rather than using the mount bar as it is just easier to do that way. Plus it takes me longer to setup the Cycle Hill as I don't have the space to leave it set up and have to bolt it to a spot in the floor each time and then put it away when done. Certainly not worth the $500 for someone that only changes tires once or twice a year.
I've considered selling off my Cycle Hill and going back to my tried and true old school methods.

I have the exact same balancer as you; I set it up on sawhorses.

I have an old Coats 200 tire changer that came out of a local unauthorized HD shop over 20 yrs ago. I picked it up used for $200 a few yrs back and it's changed some 50+ tires since I've had it. It is nice to have, but it takes up valuable floor space when not being used. It doesn't fold up or is easy to store, so I just have it mounted on floor anchors as out of the way as possible.

Sometimes I think that I'd be better off with a more compact setup; something I could stow away, but works well when I need it. I like the 14" wheel idea, but my old legs and hips don't like crawling around on the floor that much, so would want something that mounts higher up.

 

[fjrob1300]

While in Mexico I needed the services of these young fellows.

 

[Ron13Feejer]

I'm way past old school due to my neck injury. I use the new school method:

 

[El Toro Joe]

I'm way past old school due to my neck injury. I use the new school method:

Maybe when I win the lottery

 

[leedavis]

Old School: 3 MotionPro long (16") tire irons, HF bread breaker, HF big c-clamp, HF wheel balancer, HF stick-on weights. No mounting stand - I do 'em on my shop work table. Technique is everything, especially with stiff sidewall tires like Roadsmart.

 

[Pterodactyl]

I paid about $500 for the No Mar. The first 6 months I change and balanced 18 tires. If I could find a shop that will do them for even as low as $25 each, then the machine is paid for.

The No Mar can be mounted on the receiver on the back of a pick-up. It is not uncommon for a group of friends to buy one to share. Split, say four ways and the cost is not so bad. I have a friend who was the one man BMW dealership in Fairbanks , AK for 47 years. He's changed over a thousand tires (they're all still stacked by his cabin) using tire irons, the wheel sitting on a stack of pallets and a big C-clamp to break the beads. At 79 he can still do it as fast as I can on the No Mar. Yes, it's all about technique; and not being a sissy like me.

 

[lnewlf]

Old school for CT's as well. 2 pairs of hands is a must though.
Too cheap to buy one of those high falootin tire changers.

Only need one pair if...

You have a way to secure the wheel-I cobbed up a wheel holder that clamps in my bench vise and holds the wheel vertical and is easy on the backbone..

I welded up a clamp using cheapo Harbor Freight C-clamps and some bed iron.. it will squeeze about 90 degrees of the beads opposite the tar arns..

I used to do about 20 a year, charge for the service was pizza and beer.. wonder where all the riders went?

Sounds very interesting. You have any pictures of the set up? I still do it on my hands knees with the wheel on 2x4's on the ground. I always tell myself I'm going to get a 14" wheel, garden hose, etc like Fred's set up but I never get round to it. Your set up sounds like a good winter's day project, though.

To dumb to do pics

Basically, I welded a 7/16" threaded rod onto a 2" piece of angle iron....clamp the angle iron in the bench vice [after the vise is used to break the beads] and swivel the vise so the rod sticks out straight from the bench. I use some washers and a nut to clamp the wheel on the rod and slide the angle iron thru the vise jaws until the rim is up against the bench. Can't get away now.. C-clamps to squeeze the beads together on the top and the tire drops into the deep part of the wheel -tire irons and pieces of leather gloves to protect the rim and it's easy peasy.. As they say, installation is the reverse of removal..

 

[escapefjrtist]

I'm way past old school due to my neck injury. I use the new school method:

Power tire changer less the balancer will be in my next garage.

Nice!!

--G

 

[FJRay]

I sure like my Atlas power machine. I still use irons on spoke wheels cause the power machine loves to eat tubes. I average around 60 tires a year so the power machine is a real back saver.

 

[CraigRegs]

I use a setup quite similar to that shown in ionbeam's post above. 3 Motion Pro irons. For breaking beads, a 4' 2x4 bolted to a wall stud provides leverage and a 16" 2x4 loosely bolted to the lever provides pressure. All the rest is just a matter of choosing the right swear words.

 

[canucklehead-biker]

I've have a Cycle Hill changer, but before that I did it old-school: a short and a long 2x4 to break the beads (used the rocker panel of the truck to pry against) and 3 regular tire irons I got from Princess Auto (Canada's Harbor Freight). Rear tires for the FJR were (are?) a bit of a pain, especially when it's cold, but it's certainly doable. Only tire that ever defeated me was a ME880 Marathon rear for my neighbour's ST, but that may have been because it was something like 10 below zero and that was one stiff mother!

I'm with FredW - the Cycle Hill is good, but setting it up and taking it down is a pain if you can't leave it set up all the time. I will be going back to old school with the KLR, mostly to stay proficient at it for when I have to fix a flat in the middle of nowhere. The Cycle Hill is good for tech days when there's usually a bunch of tires to do all on the same day.

 

[Road_Runner]

Curious...I've looked into the beads but have never used them yet. If the beads are so hard to get out, in that they don't pour out of the tire, why not just put the beads in the new tire and then mount it? Why do they have to go through the valve stem?

With beads floating around inside it would be very hard to get a good seal when inflating / popping the bead back on the rim. The surface of the tire and bead should be pristinely clean.

The Dyna beads would fly out the unseated tire bead, especially when the tire is laid flat to attempt to seat the bead on the rim. Not saying it could not be done, but it could be messy. Also, I will add to Fred W's comment above by saying that seating the tire bead is not too difficult when everything is in place... but it is impossible when anything is not.

 

[101stpathfinder]

...Probably will stay with the Cycle Gear Store in Mesa, AZ for $25 a tire, but really nice to see the process!

In New England there are many shops that simply won't install a tire that you didn't buy from their shop. Then there are shops that will install a tire purchased someplace else but punish you by charging $60/wheel or more if you carry the wheels in. It is almost impossible to find a shop locally that will change a tire for $25 and do a competent job. I do have a good relationship with a local dealer that has in the past changed tires for $15 - $25/wheel but he is an hour drive each way.

Agreed ... and with long rides I found myself having new tires mounted in place of half worn tires. Trying to find some shop that would mount used tires

is difficult enough. The cost drove me to mount my own and I only have one half worn front left now!

 

[gixxerjasen]

How in the eff do you guys have time to wear out 60 tires a year???

 

[FJRay]

How in the eff do you guys have time to wear out 60 tires a year???

I'm lucky to wear out one set per bike but I have a small independent shop and a fair part of my work is tires.

 

[Bungie]

While in Mexico I needed the services of these young fellows.

How is the front knobbie working out for you on the FJR?

Oh, and did they swap out your FI for that Mikuni?

 

[builderwill]

Old school for CT's as well. 2 pairs of hands is a must though.

Too cheap to buy one of those high falootin tire changers.

Only need one pair if...

You have a way to secure the wheel-I cobbed up a wheel holder that clamps in my bench vise and holds the wheel vertical and is easy on the backbone..

I welded up a clamp using cheapo Harbor Freight C-clamps and some bed iron.. it will squeeze about 90 degrees of the beads opposite the tar arns..

I used to do about 20 a year, charge for the service was pizza and beer.. wonder where all the riders went?

Sounds very interesting. You have any pictures of the set up? I still do it on my hands knees with the wheel on 2x4's on the ground. I always tell myself I'm going to get a 14" wheel, garden hose, etc like Fred's set up but I never get round to it. Your set up sounds like a good winter's day project, though.

To dumb to do pics

Basically, I welded a 7/16" threaded rod onto a 2" piece of angle iron....clamp the angle iron in the bench vice [after the vise is used to break the beads] and swivel the vise so the rod sticks out straight from the bench. I use some washers and a nut to clamp the wheel on the rod and slide the angle iron thru the vise jaws until the rim is up against the bench. Can't get away now.. C-clamps to squeeze the beads together on the top and the tire drops into the deep part of the wheel -tire irons and pieces of leather gloves to protect the rim and it's easy peasy.. As they say, installation is the reverse of removal..

Very cool. Going to have to try this in a couple of weeks. Been meaning to swap out a couple rears for awhile. This sounds way better than kneeling on the floor.