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Last summer I had my front tire replaced as it was almost bald. I chose a Shinko Tourmaster based on reviews I read here. I like to lean but truth is at my age the leans are less dramatic and saving a few bucks by having a tire last a few more miles is appealing. Luckily according to many of those same reviews you can get both with the Shinko.
Recently I was cleaning my bike and took a look at my rear tire and found that my tire had about 5 of these large deep cracks
I contacted my local shop about changing out the rear and never heard back so decided to give it a go. With much help in this thread from some knowledgeable guys here
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Here was my first tire change
I bought the Shinko Tour master 230 in 120/90/18 for my 82 GS 750E with mag rims.
Revzilla had the best price in a quick search and I had the tire in under a week.
My shop when changing my front tire told me the wheel had a tube so they replaced the tube. I dont know if the front and back rims are different but not knowing I ordered a tube for the rear. I didnt want the bike torn down and then have to wait on a tube. Upon stripping the rear tire .. there was no tube and I didnt need it.
I picked up the Motion pro bead breaker iron set
On the one side the two irons work together as a simple lever to break the bead on the tire and on the other is a nice gentle spoon for removing and reinstalling the tire. The tool is steel and hefty and about 16" long. On first getting it .. the irons were confidence inspiring. I checked all the edges that I would be using thinking that they would have been left sharp but the spoon and bead breaker end were nicely rounded.I was prepared to take a dremel to them to soften any sharp edges and there were none.
I also bought 2 sets of the motion pro Rim protectors
I am glad I bought two packages because 2 rim protectors would not have been enough. In the GS thread I noted above someone suggested bottles or hose. The hose sounds like it would have worked great but I had already bought these. If they break I will go to old garden hose.
Having said that .. these held up like a champ. They click on to the rime with a very solid Click and they stay put. I leaned all over these things with the irons, applied a ton of force, inserted the irons from all different angles and basically .. these should have cracked moved slipped or something but they performed flawlessly. They click in place so firmly that removing them takes some effort. While the Irons exuded confidence the rim protectors I assumed would be a one use item .. they were far from that and are safely, marred and dirty, back in the shed for next time looking as solid as they arrived. Good 20 bucks spent.
On to the change
Taking off the rear wheel was all of 20 minutes. I took it off to do the chain swap and a few other things so I had a working knowledge and it went quick and I am slow.
My old tire was so stiff with age that when I first bought the bike I had ridden with 15lbs of air because I felt the tire and it felt rigid and I didnt actually take a gauge to it. I knew it was going to be a pain to get off.
I put it in the sun for about 15 minutes and in that time I filled up a spray bottle with some dish soap and water. I took the wheel to the shade and sprayed the tire around the bead with the soapy water and ... time to try the bead breaker .. First shot .. POP!
I went around about 3/4 of the rim just to make sure it was free everywhere but the first attempt had popped the bead. Flipped over same thing. The little bead breaker lever at the end of the motion pro irons worked as advertised.
I put my rim shield in place and using the spoon ends of the irons the one side was off the rim with some effort but ... pretty easy. I was glad for the long irons. I looked at some shorter ones but in hindsight .. 16 inches is about as short as I would want to go.
The second side .. well that thar was a trouble. I really could have used a third spoon even if it wasnt as hefty as the ones I had just to hold the tire after you pried it. When I do it again I will buy a single 14 or 16 inch spoon. You get one under and turn up the tire and then get the second but you kind of have to remove one to move further along the rim .. and I didnt have one. It doesnt have to be as heavy as the motion pro set. After you get your second lever to pull up the tire you can use a lesser spoon right next to it to stop the tire from trying to go back into the rim. Then remove the hefty spoon to take another bit further along. All the sets I have ever had for bicycle changes came with three levers.
This video show a good use of the irons and is generally a good video on tire change but he is doing it on a much wider tire. Anyone here that was a bicycle nut like I was knows that changing those skinny expensive road tires are a ton more difficult than changing a 1.75 or 2.0 mountain bike tire. You dont even need tools with the mountain bike tire but those thin road bike tires will snap plastic spoons. Same goes for these old GS skinny rims. So my advice... three spoons is a must just to hold the pried spot before removing one of the heavy irons to move along the rim.
I had finally gotten the tire off using his Knee method and the 2 irons but .. I am not light weight and it took a fair amount of effort to knee off the tire.
I had put store brand fix a flat in my tire. %#&@*(&#&*#(
Not only was I dealing with goo all over my hands and making everything slippery and nasty, once I had finally removed the tire I found that the fix a flat had solidified in small sections on the aluminum wheel. I clean what I can with soapy water but that just removes the gooey parts. I hit hardened spots with a scrub brush and nothing. I read the bottle and it says clean up with mineral spirits .. used 1/2 can and didnt do a thing.
Finally it was a bucket of soapy water and #3 steel wool and a ton of elbow grease. I wanted to be sure the bead area was clean as could be but generally I didnt want hardened green stuff in my rim. It took about 45 minutes to get the rim internal cleaned. Wont be adding fix a flat again!!
It was late and I was anxious to at least get the tire mounted. Getting the tire on the rim was easy for the first side was fair work but getting the second side on was in no uncertain terms .. HARD! I had my wife stand on the rim on one side as I tried to lever the tire on and lifted her and the rim with the Motion pro iron. I am happy to report the iron did not bend!!
Use heat! I should have just waited until the next day but rushed .. put that tire out in the sun at LEAST 45 minutes to let it get soft . It will save you a lot of muscle. I rushed it .. and for no good reason. Sun was already going down and cooling out and waiting until the next day to really get the tire warm would have helped a ton.
Got the tire on but didnt fill it.
Hmmmmmm I didnt look up how to seat the bead. I have one of those cheap 2 gallon compressors and nothing was happening. I sprayed both sides of the tire with the soapy water but the air was just escaping.
Ran back to the forum and someone suggested a ratchet strap. WALA! brilliant. I sat the mounted tire and wheel in the sun for 40 minutes and then I sprayed the tire at the bead on both sides again, turned up the pressure on the little compressor as high as it would go and wrapped a ratchet strap around the circumference probably much harder than I needed to .. in an instant I had 38 lbs of pressure.
I took a lump hammer and hit the tire all along the tread around the entire tire .. because I had seen someone do that once and have no idea why .. and deflated the tire to 30lbs.
Went out and put about 15 miles solo and another 15 with the wife. Went out this morning and no lose of air. DONE
I probably saved about $100 bucks because I had to buy the tools but next change should be the price of the tire and balancing beads which will save a ton. More importantly .. you get these old bikes so you can fix em yourself and now that I worked out some of the bugs .. I will never have a tire done at the shop again.
THANK YOU again to the awesome GS board members who held my hand through the process! Without their advice I never would have gotten this done and would have had to limp into the shop defeated!!
Recently I was cleaning my bike and took a look at my rear tire and found that my tire had about 5 of these large deep cracks
I contacted my local shop about changing out the rear and never heard back so decided to give it a go. With much help in this thread from some knowledgeable guys here
Here was my first tire change
I bought the Shinko Tour master 230 in 120/90/18 for my 82 GS 750E with mag rims.
Revzilla had the best price in a quick search and I had the tire in under a week.
My shop when changing my front tire told me the wheel had a tube so they replaced the tube. I dont know if the front and back rims are different but not knowing I ordered a tube for the rear. I didnt want the bike torn down and then have to wait on a tube. Upon stripping the rear tire .. there was no tube and I didnt need it.
I picked up the Motion pro bead breaker iron set
On the one side the two irons work together as a simple lever to break the bead on the tire and on the other is a nice gentle spoon for removing and reinstalling the tire. The tool is steel and hefty and about 16" long. On first getting it .. the irons were confidence inspiring. I checked all the edges that I would be using thinking that they would have been left sharp but the spoon and bead breaker end were nicely rounded.I was prepared to take a dremel to them to soften any sharp edges and there were none.
I also bought 2 sets of the motion pro Rim protectors
I am glad I bought two packages because 2 rim protectors would not have been enough. In the GS thread I noted above someone suggested bottles or hose. The hose sounds like it would have worked great but I had already bought these. If they break I will go to old garden hose.
Having said that .. these held up like a champ. They click on to the rime with a very solid Click and they stay put. I leaned all over these things with the irons, applied a ton of force, inserted the irons from all different angles and basically .. these should have cracked moved slipped or something but they performed flawlessly. They click in place so firmly that removing them takes some effort. While the Irons exuded confidence the rim protectors I assumed would be a one use item .. they were far from that and are safely, marred and dirty, back in the shed for next time looking as solid as they arrived. Good 20 bucks spent.
On to the change
Taking off the rear wheel was all of 20 minutes. I took it off to do the chain swap and a few other things so I had a working knowledge and it went quick and I am slow.
My old tire was so stiff with age that when I first bought the bike I had ridden with 15lbs of air because I felt the tire and it felt rigid and I didnt actually take a gauge to it. I knew it was going to be a pain to get off.
I put it in the sun for about 15 minutes and in that time I filled up a spray bottle with some dish soap and water. I took the wheel to the shade and sprayed the tire around the bead with the soapy water and ... time to try the bead breaker .. First shot .. POP!
I went around about 3/4 of the rim just to make sure it was free everywhere but the first attempt had popped the bead. Flipped over same thing. The little bead breaker lever at the end of the motion pro irons worked as advertised.
I put my rim shield in place and using the spoon ends of the irons the one side was off the rim with some effort but ... pretty easy. I was glad for the long irons. I looked at some shorter ones but in hindsight .. 16 inches is about as short as I would want to go.
The second side .. well that thar was a trouble. I really could have used a third spoon even if it wasnt as hefty as the ones I had just to hold the tire after you pried it. When I do it again I will buy a single 14 or 16 inch spoon. You get one under and turn up the tire and then get the second but you kind of have to remove one to move further along the rim .. and I didnt have one. It doesnt have to be as heavy as the motion pro set. After you get your second lever to pull up the tire you can use a lesser spoon right next to it to stop the tire from trying to go back into the rim. Then remove the hefty spoon to take another bit further along. All the sets I have ever had for bicycle changes came with three levers.
This video show a good use of the irons and is generally a good video on tire change but he is doing it on a much wider tire. Anyone here that was a bicycle nut like I was knows that changing those skinny expensive road tires are a ton more difficult than changing a 1.75 or 2.0 mountain bike tire. You dont even need tools with the mountain bike tire but those thin road bike tires will snap plastic spoons. Same goes for these old GS skinny rims. So my advice... three spoons is a must just to hold the pried spot before removing one of the heavy irons to move along the rim.
I had finally gotten the tire off using his Knee method and the 2 irons but .. I am not light weight and it took a fair amount of effort to knee off the tire.
I had put store brand fix a flat in my tire. %#&@*(&#&*#(
Not only was I dealing with goo all over my hands and making everything slippery and nasty, once I had finally removed the tire I found that the fix a flat had solidified in small sections on the aluminum wheel. I clean what I can with soapy water but that just removes the gooey parts. I hit hardened spots with a scrub brush and nothing. I read the bottle and it says clean up with mineral spirits .. used 1/2 can and didnt do a thing.
Finally it was a bucket of soapy water and #3 steel wool and a ton of elbow grease. I wanted to be sure the bead area was clean as could be but generally I didnt want hardened green stuff in my rim. It took about 45 minutes to get the rim internal cleaned. Wont be adding fix a flat again!!
It was late and I was anxious to at least get the tire mounted. Getting the tire on the rim was easy for the first side was fair work but getting the second side on was in no uncertain terms .. HARD! I had my wife stand on the rim on one side as I tried to lever the tire on and lifted her and the rim with the Motion pro iron. I am happy to report the iron did not bend!!
Use heat! I should have just waited until the next day but rushed .. put that tire out in the sun at LEAST 45 minutes to let it get soft . It will save you a lot of muscle. I rushed it .. and for no good reason. Sun was already going down and cooling out and waiting until the next day to really get the tire warm would have helped a ton.
Got the tire on but didnt fill it.
Hmmmmmm I didnt look up how to seat the bead. I have one of those cheap 2 gallon compressors and nothing was happening. I sprayed both sides of the tire with the soapy water but the air was just escaping.
Ran back to the forum and someone suggested a ratchet strap. WALA! brilliant. I sat the mounted tire and wheel in the sun for 40 minutes and then I sprayed the tire at the bead on both sides again, turned up the pressure on the little compressor as high as it would go and wrapped a ratchet strap around the circumference probably much harder than I needed to .. in an instant I had 38 lbs of pressure.
I took a lump hammer and hit the tire all along the tread around the entire tire .. because I had seen someone do that once and have no idea why .. and deflated the tire to 30lbs.
Went out and put about 15 miles solo and another 15 with the wife. Went out this morning and no lose of air. DONE
I probably saved about $100 bucks because I had to buy the tools but next change should be the price of the tire and balancing beads which will save a ton. More importantly .. you get these old bikes so you can fix em yourself and now that I worked out some of the bugs .. I will never have a tire done at the shop again.
THANK YOU again to the awesome GS board members who held my hand through the process! Without their advice I never would have gotten this done and would have had to limp into the shop defeated!!
Gone but not forgotten 1985 Rebel 250, 1991 XT225, 2004 KLR650, 1981 GS850G, 1982 GS1100GL, 2002 DL1000, 2005 KLR650, 2003 KLX400
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