tire changing

[jcofwmburg]

OK, I'm no mechanic but I feel I should be able to do this. However, past bad experences leave me leery. Usually I manage to pinch the tube while struggling to remove/replace the tire. But paying shop price for the tire and installation is forcing me to consider trying again. I have a '74 R90/6 with spoke wheels. I wonder if this $25 tire iron from Tire Express would help me do this job with a minimum of stress. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. JC

[ccolwell]

No reasonably inexpensive tool will take the place of skill or expensive tire changers. I know this because I have no skill. I spent about $300 for a Harbor Freight tire changer, a No-Mar mounting bar and a balancing tool. All this makes changing tubeless tires pretty easy and I will break even pretty quickly as I go through a fair amount of tires. Even with this, putting skinny tubed tires on the R90S wheels was a pain. You don't acquire the skills without doing this often. $35 per wheel for a change and balance is expensive, but once you factor in your time and a couple of pinched tubes, it becomes more reasonable.

Others will, no doubt, disagree.

[Manfred]

Good article here: http://www.clarity.net/~adam/tire-changing.html

[rdalland]

I recently changed the tires on my R75/5. I found the tube in the front tire had been pinched during the tire installation. The tire change had been done at a dealership. Even the pros pinch tubes on occasion.

I use the tire irons from the supplied tool kit. I have considered buying longer tire irons, but I figure if I need the additional leverage I am doing something wrong. I use them on my K75 as well.

Putting some air in the tube helps to keep it from getting pinched during tire installation. Using the correct lubricant (Napa RuGlyde) also helps significantly.

[osbornk]

I've changed every tire I've ever put on my motorcycles over the last 35 years or so. It's not that hard. Breaking the bead is easy. I take a large C-clamp with two little blocks of wood (one for each side). I clamp the blocks of wood on each side of the tire near the rim and tighten the clamp. I've never failed to break the bead loose. I also use the little tire irons that came with one of my old BMWs. You can grind the sharp edges and corners off a couple of old straight slot screwdrivers and make your own tire irons. The main thing to remember is to keep the tire bead down in the deep center of the rim on the opposite side of where you are removing the tire with the tire irons.

You also want to align the little dot on the tire with the valve stem. That is the lightest part of the tire and the valve stem adds a little weight to make it more balanced. Don't forget the rotation arrow when you install. You don't want to take it back off and turn it over (guess how I know?)

[jlsmith37804]

You need two tire irons, 3 if you feel like splurging. The longer ones are better, the tool kit ones are the minimum required that fit in the pouch. Use the tool kit levers if you are a purist. Tell your knuckles that their suffering is necessary to fulfill the image. Use screwdriver variations if you feel like doing this several times, and have plenty of patches and patience.

The bead breaking tip above is good, I have also used a jack on the tire, pushing against a truck hitch as well, with the tire on its side on the ground. Its hillbilly, but the tire doesn't know it.

Ivory soap (Hey, Marilyn Chambers, RIP, endorsed it!)and water helps lube; use lots of it. Or dig that KY out of the nightstand.
Don't use Dawn or the like as it will eat aluminum. (Found that out in my dirt bike racing days) A valve stem snake is a lifesaver if you have fat fingers. You can rig one up with a metal valve cap and string if you have to. They sell them also. If you don't use one, after you get the valve stem back through the rim, put the cap on it to keep it from pulling through during the rest of the process.

After you get the tube patched and back in,(yes, I know we don't patch tubes. We replace them with new ones straight from the factory) with one bead still not levered on the rim, inflate the tube until it swells the tire outward a bit. This is to get the wrinkles out of the tube. You should have taken the valve core out by now, and not replaced it yet. Let the tire deflate. Soap the bead up again, and start levering it on. The bead should settle into the dropped center part of the rim, in order to have enough clearance to lever the last part on. Don't stick that lever into the tire more than enough to grab the tire bead. This is where you will pinch the tube if you are not careful. Work your way around and pop that bead over the rim.

Soap up both beads again, put the valve core back in, and inflate it until the bead pops back up on the rims shoulders. Don't use excessive air to do this. Sometimes it takes a few minutes for the bead to seat. Once it does, let air out of the tire until it is where you want it.

By yourself a socially acceptable beverage with the money you have just saved and celebrate your newfound skills, responsibly of course.

Less skilled folk will notice the testosterone increase and women will swoon in your presence.

[Polarbear]

Been changing tires on my bikes since the early 70's. Today I use "rim savers" too, especially on my older /7 rims. I have the HF Tools tire changer too and its under a 100$, complete, but the No Mar "bar"(another 100$) works a lot better and I got one of those. The HF Tools changer is weak and I welded it in a few places to reinforce it and now its bombproof and does not wiggle, when the tire goes on the rim. My buddy just bought the NoMar Tire machine and its top notch equipment. MY HF Tools TC may be cheap and I had to modify it some, but its a fine tool to have....Randy:usa

[PGlaves]

Over the years I have changed hundreds of motorcycle tires by hand. Lots with tubes, recently mostly tubeless. Then last summer we took our tubed-tire F650s to Alaska. Prepping the bikes I pinched/poked holes in the tube 5 times before I figured out why. Slow learner maybe.

Over the years I had purchased several tire irons. I discovered that the pair that worked the best mounting my tubeless tires were a very poor choice for tube type tires. They extended too far into the wheel cavity when hooked on the rim. And they snagged the tube when this happened. So I dug out my old Motion Pro curved irons with a little "hook" about 1/8" from the tip. These don't extend in too far, and I had no further tube pinching issues until I tried using a machine I had never seen before in Anchorage. Then I got to do it twice. Once with the new tube, and then again with the new new tube.

[44006]

Also been doing my own tube type tires for 40+yr
3 irons easier than 2
rim protectors cut from plastic oil bottles
Most important is warm tire if at all possible makes job much easier
If flat on the road get at it while tire is still hot/warm
Otherwise warm in sun/hair dryer/near heater etc.

[jcofwmburg]

OK, thanks to all. I have seen the HF tire changer with motorcycle adapter online for about $110, that may be an option. Other than that more patience, more lube (Mairilyn died?), a warm tire and another tire iron looks like a good way to go. My problems as I remember were caused by the bead slipping off the BMW irons and my digging back into the tire to recapture the bead. I'll discuss this with my favorite mechanic (my wife, the ex-wrench, not wench) and decide what is best.

[pffog]

Use to wrench for a living back before tubeless tires. Changed thousands with just tire irons and a 2x4 frame. Only pinched a hand full of tubes, and they were dirt bikes with rim locks in place.


Only saw it mentioned once, the secret is to inflate the tube with a couple of pounds of air, just enough to make it hold its shape when laying on the floor, but folds on itself if you pick it up. This keeps it up in the tire and away from the rim.

[Kirbster919]

I admire all of you for doing the work yourself. My local (20 minutes away) dealership changes tires for $20/wheel, so I'm happy to pay the man.

[PGlaves]

I admire all of you for doing the work yourself. My local (20 minutes away) dealership changes tires for $20/wheel, so I'm happy to pay the man.

Out here that is a bit difficult. The nearest town is 53 miles away. The nearest dealership is 400 miles away. And when it is Sunday or Monday, or when the tire goes flat halfway between Tok and Chicken, Alaska (yes, it really did) - the $20 guy might not be quite so convenient.

[BubbaZanetti]

Out here that is a bit difficult. The nearest town is 53 miles away. The nearest dealership is 400 miles away. And when it is Sunday or Monday, or when the tire goes flat halfway between Tok and Chicken, Alaska (yes, it really did) - the $20 guy might not be quite so convenient.

I have the exact opposite situation. I usually park my bike on the street behind my house, take the tires off and leave it on a milk crate all day while the tires are being changed down the street. 20 bucks a tire is a great price for nyc, but it looks like someone's jacked my bike's rims in the meantime.:laugh


this is something i'd like to become proficient at though. maybe i'll try it with the new bike on the sidewalk.

[osbornk]

I admire all of you for doing the work yourself. My local (20 minutes away) dealership changes tires for $20/wheel, so I'm happy to pay the man.

For some of us, it's not a matter of cost. it's a matter of being hard headed. I grew up without much money and we had to do it ourselves or do without. I'm still in the habit of doing what I can myself. I've owned a house since 1968 and last year was the first time in my life I paid to have one painted. I've never paid anyone else to mow my yard or trim my shrubs. My parents were depression children and they taught me to do stuff myself and save my money "just in case". I find it very difficult to change after 60+ years.

I've had 15 or 16 bikes and I've never had one worked on or serviced at a dealer (other than resetting my ABS after a battery swap). I know I've spent days figuring out something that could have been corrected in a few minutes by someone who had a clue.

[barryg]

We allways here about old school bikes, but not old school riders. The rider mechanic. After 60 plus years it looks to me U have a proven system to maintain Ur bikes, I wouldn't change now, osbornk. :usa

[BubbaZanetti]

I've had 15 or 16 bikes and I've never had one worked on or serviced at a dealer (other than resetting my ABS after a battery swap). I know I've spent days figuring out something that could have been corrected in a few minutes by someone who had a clue.

i was AMAZED at how simple resetting the ABS was with two pieces of speaker wire. your C is a lot like my (former) S layout wise. if you ever run into that trouble again, let me know, doesn't take but 20 minutes.

and yeah, i'm with you, i'd rather learn how to do something and have that knowledge for the rest of my life while saving some money. i often go to dumb extremes, especially in an urban environment, to do my own work.

[osbornk]

i was AMAZED at how simple resetting the ABS was with two pieces of speaker wire. your C is a lot like my (former) S layout wise. if you ever run into that trouble again, let me know, doesn't take but 20 minutes.

and yeah, i'm with you, i'd rather learn how to do something and have that knowledge for the rest of my life while saving some money. i often go to dumb extremes, especially in an urban environment, to do my own work.

The resetting of the ABS was on a K75RT. They had to hook it up to a computer. Three is a way they say to do it with a wire but I didn't have the nerve to try it and destroy the brain. However, the brain later went bad (per the mechanic) and I should have tried it then as there was nothing left to ruin.

[GlobalRider]

Usually I manage to pinch the tube while struggling to remove/replace the tire.

If you pinch it "removing" the tire, no big deal. You should always replace your tube with a new quality tube. I use HD MX tubes.

If your rim is flat on the ground (horizontal plane), then your tire iron should never go beyond 90° when flipping the bead over the rim edge. Going beyond pinches tubes!

Use approved tire lube and you won't struggle. I bought a tube from BMW; it looks like clear gel.

Use the right tire irons. They don't have to be long; they have to be smooth and flat. I use a pair of 9" Melco TL/85 (http://www.thomasmeldrumltd.co.uk/tyretools.html) from Thomas Meldrum that I bought in 1975.

[44006]

"OK, thanks to all. I have seen the HF tire changer with motorcycle adapter online for about $110, that may be an option............"

$110 should buy 2 tires suitable for R90/6 for sustained speeds up to +_85mph
(search JC Whitney for motorcycle tires - ChengShein 3.00x19 rib front and 4.00x18
universal treadrear tube type tires are equal or better than oem for bike that vintage
and easy to change)

Tire changer a waste for owner of bike that vintage - you need to be able to do this
on the road with tools in your kit

Maybe I missed it in this now lengthy thread but make sure you are using Tube Type
tires and not tubless tires - tubless tires or those once labled "tubless on tube" are
very difficult to mount and dismount from tube type rims because the tire bead is
wider and stiffer

Also old stock or hard old swapmeet tires are much more difficult to mount than
new pliable rubber

Use 3 irons and a knee - finish at the stem putting tire on and start at the stem
taking off - squash tire flat and into drop center part of rim with knee - lever bead on
walking three levers along taking about 2 inch or less spacing each move - no sweat

A good bit of spit and or snot will lube on the roadside (helps to put the gawkers to work)

when you put the stem through the rim put the nut on stem just a little bit so stem
is loose in hole but will not pull through - if you tighten the nut first the thickened part
of tube near stem will get trapped under bead

[carockwell]

1. The tire lube you can buy from NAPA works MUCH better than soap and water
2. Continental tubes are the best and are stiffer so they are not as prone to pinching
3. Get a "Bead Buddy" from Aerostich or a local dealer. It works like an extra tire lever that stays in place.
4. Make sure that the tire bead is in the "well" on the opposite side of the rim as you lever the bead over the rim.

[alkoivisto]

Dennis Kirk sells original equipment Continentals look-a-likes made by Duro for about $90 a pair plus frt. Put a set on my son's R60/5 last spring. Don't expect much more than 3000 miles from rear and maybe 6000 from front. 3.25x19 front, 4.00x18 rear. They look nice though. OEM Continentals + $250 a set but may be worth extra bucks when you figure in tread life and less frequent tire changes.