Stupid tire changing questions...

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Omega Man

Omega Man

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Sin City, Nevada
OK, so I got my tires, the Dynabeads will be here tomorrow, now for some questions...

Tire tools: will screwdrivers and shop rags be enough to do the job? If I go buy tire tools and those protector things, I might as well just pay to have it mounted.

Bead breaker: do I really need one? I'm all of 230lbs. and I find it hard to believe I can't just stand on the tire to break the bead.

I'm just talking about the front tire here, I plan to do that one myself and pay to have the rear done.

~O~
 
If you do it the way you said by standing on it do NOT put the dyna beads in. Wait till you have the tire seated. Then pour the beads in very SLOWLY through the valve core. Take the stem out and have the valve at the six o'clock position.
 
Using screwdrivers will damage the rim a little. Scratch, that is.Tire spoons are only about $10 at Northern tool, or Harbor freight. Well worth the expense, imho. Takes me about 5 minutes to swap a tire out on mine with the spoons, once I get it off the bike. You can prolly break the bead by standing on it, and walking it around...that's how I been doing it...and I've got a tire machine! :smilie_happy:
 
Large "C" clamp makes a pretty good bead breaker, or I've used a bumper jack hooked as usual to a bumper, with the bottom plate placed on the tire. It works well if it's really stuck. May need some 2x4's under the wheel to keep the brake rotors off the pavement.

jm
 
I've always pulled the wheel then have them mounted and spin balanced.
Spin balance because I feel that's the right way to balance them.

The shops make money on the tire so bringing them in to mount will cost more than if you bought from them, especially if they're going to remove and reinstall on the bike.
 
Lubricant! You'll need some soap.

I did mine the first time and the bead was super stuck. I pinched the tire in a vise all the way shut and still couldn't break the bead. Took me a couple hours to do each tire. Then I had to tie a rope around the tire and twist it tight with a stick to get the new bead seated.

Now I take off and carry them to the motorcycle shop that will do it for me if I buy the tires from them. (mount, balance, new stem) It' only costs $25 more than what I paid from ebay shipped to my door. A no brainer for me.
 
Wise choice. One screwdriver slip can gouge the bead and it may never hold air. Get the right tools or have someone with the tools do it. BTW if I do my own I use a lot of dish soap to lube the bead.
 
I use Palmolive dish soap, also. Put a little in a cup, add a little water, stir well. Then I use a foam brush, and brush it around the tire bead, and a little on the rim. Never had an issue with corrosion on any of the rims I have. An old racer's trick is to smear Palmolive on the inside of your slicks...it keeps them from leaking air thru the rubber on wrinkle-wall slicks.
I'm comfortable doing my own tires, but I have the tools, and enough experience to do it safely. It's not hard, but you can certainly damage the rims if yer not careful, as well as stretch the beads of the tires.
 
Omega Man":3qmhflg4 said:
I'm going to have to tell them to use as little whatever to wet the bead because of the dynabeads. I had planned to ask for the lube on the drive splines.

~O~
Click to expand...
You can just let the air out when you get them back to put in the beads. Not likely there will be enough moisture in there to affect the beads even if the slobber on the soap. Since it is applied to the bead surface of the tire not much actually gets inside.
 
Well...I borrowed a real lift from the son-in-law,



and I think this might work for a bead breaker.



I'll just see in the morning just how I'm going to handle this. You see, this place has taught me to fix stuff for myself. I'm not totally inept when it comes to wrenching, when I was 15 the first thing I ever fixed was my 56 Chevy...I removed and replaced the entire rearend by myself(with a hammer and a cresent wrench). I've decided to buy some tire spoons and go for it if I can break the bead. I plan to remove the brake discs first, break that bead, and GO FOR IT!

I'll take some pics as I'm sure this will be good for a laugh. Oh yeah lastly, I found this pic in the camera...



~O~
 

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