Getting the tire to sit even on the rim - Help

[salty_monk]

Ru-Glyde from Napa works great... Make sure the rim is clean before you spoon the tyre on - that helps.

I will generally go up to about 50 PSI or so if necessary. Bouncing them around a bit can help sometimes. Worst case let it down, re-lube & try again.

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

That's great info KC. Thanks for finding that. I think I went to 50psi before losing my nerve to go higher. One thing I noticed. On these older bikes, the tires are really a tight fit diameter wise. On my dirtbikes, I can literally push the tire over the rims with my bare hands. No tire irons needed or sometimes just one to sqeak it over. To get this tire on the 82 rim took 3 tire irons and 30m of sweat induced wrangling. I wish the old stuff was as easy as the my dirtbikes. Are newer street bikes hard or easy to fit the tires over the rims?

I have been able to put Avon Road Riders on with my hands and boot heal, no tire spoons required.
I took a few photos and described it here, starting at post # 245
http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=209217&page=7

Also another trick is to use a rubber mallet and hit the tire right near the spot where you want to bead to pop out, as close to the rim as possible without hitting the rim, that usually helps.

 

[Guest]

Thats pretty amazing KC. I'm not sure I have the weight or strength to use that method but I am impressed. I think it will turn out to be not enough lube and the fact the tire is not hot and flexible like in the summer.

 

[c&c]

Yes I know it an old thread but my question is if you absolutely need to hear the popping sound when it gets seated?
I'v tried it 4 times and I never hear the pop. The rim is slippery so I know it's not sticking and visually it looks perfect all around once inflated.
Max pressure is 41 cold and got it to 50 with valve stem out.
Measured from the rim to the edge of the tire and it's the same on both sides all round.
It's the first tire I change.

 

[lurch12_2000]

Yes I know it an old thread but my question is if you absolutely need to hear the popping sound when it gets seated?
I'v tried it 4 times and I never hear the pop. The rim is slippery so I know it's not sticking and visually it looks perfect all around once inflated.
Max pressure is 41 cold and got it to 50 with valve stem out.
Measured from the rim to the edge of the tire and it's the same on both sides all round.
It's the first tire I change.

No you don't always hear a pop. If it's well lubed and the line on tire looks even all around on both sides then you're good. The last few tires I've changed did not pop. You'll see a line on the tire by the bead that the manufacturers provide on tire. You can lay tire on its side and pour a little soapy water around rim to check for any air bubbles and leaks.

 

[bwringer]

You won't hear a pop on a tubed tire, or with a rim converted to tubeless. They sort of ooze into place.

 

[c&c]

Thanks for the info. No pop for me and the lines on both sides are perfect around the circumference.
I used Armorall protectant because soap is alkaline and can react to aluminium and alloy stuff. Soap also leaves a sticky residue and since I used Dynabeads ( airsoft pellets ), 2oz for rear and 1oz for front. I needed the internal to be absolutely sticky free.
The tires performs like a dream.
Of course don't put Armorall on the surface of the tire.

 

[lurch12_2000]

Thanks for the info. No pop for me and the lines on both sides are perfect around the circumference.
I used Armorall protectant because soap is alkaline and can react to aluminium and alloy stuff. Soap also leaves a sticky residue and since I used Dynabeads ( airsoft pellets ), 2oz for rear and 1oz for front. I needed the internal to be absolutely sticky free.
The tires performs like a dream.
Of course don't put Armorall on the surface of the tire.

I wouldn't use Armorall for anything around the tire. I use Murphy's oil soap diluted because it's very mild, a good lubricant for seating the bead and then will dry NOT leaving a slippery surface. Even if you didn't get any Armorall on the tread surface I wouldn't feel comfortable that the bead will stay slippery and possibly shift on the rim under hard cornering. It leaves a silicone coating. BTW, are your rims marked tubeless? I assume it's on the '81 GS1100E?

 

[JamesWhut?]

I second this, you are probably pinching the tube with the tire. Insult to injury, you've probably also probably holed the tube too. Sorry.

 

[bwringer]

Please, please don't use Armor-All as a tire mounting lubricant.

Or WD-40.

Or Windex.

Or dish soap -- that stuff is remarkably corrosive to aluminum.

Or bear grease.

Or antifreeze.

Or saliva.

Or silicone spray.

Or KY Jelly.

Or any of the 1,001 other hillbilly substitutes I've seen.


What should you use? Surprisingly, the answer is to use tire mounting lubricant.

RuGlyde is about $15 for a gallon (pretty much a lifetime supply for most people -- my first jug lasted 10 years) at any Napa auto parts store, and it's wonderful stuff. Plenty slippery, non-corrosive, and it stays slippery just long enough before turning a little bit tacky. There are several others, such as the paste sold by No-Mar, or this spray.

In a pinch, you could also use a solution of a pure, mild vegetable soap such as Murphy's Oil Soap (Murphy's actually makes a tire mounting lube based on their famous soap). However, plain Murphy's won't have the anti-corrosion additives of a proper tire mounting lube, and may not be the correct solution strength to stay slippery long enough.

Mounting motorcycle tires needs to be taken seriously -- get it wrong, you die.

Use the right stuff. It's cheap and it works better.


I've never figured out why the compulsion to squirt wildly inappropriate substances onto new motorcycle tires is so freakishly strong.

 

[Guest]

DON'T PUT SILICONE ON YOUR TIRES, break the whole thing down lube the whole thing, and hit it with a full flow which is very difficult with a tube, take out the valve core. Some air chucks will not work without a core, find one that will.

I take all sorts of liberties, they all require my tires to hook up.

Toddk

 

[c&c]

RuGlyde ... Ill add that to my list of products to get. Thanks

 

[c&c]

I've never figured out why the compulsion to squirt wildly inappropriate substances onto new motorcycle tires is so freakishly strong.

The answer is pretty simple. PPL use what they have on hand because it's the last thing on there minds. You get the tire, you go to mount it and then you realize you need lube.
The best would to have a sticky on changing tires. Maybe there is one I don't know.
Any lube that is non corrosive, dries out fast and does not leave residue is OK.

 

[cowboyup3371]

The best would to have a sticky on changing tires. Maybe there is one I don't know.
.

Ask and you shall receive - Basscliff has this posted on his site and it even includes the reference to the RUGlyde:
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/storagecliff/images/tire_change_tut_by_catbed.pdf

 

[Guest]

Everybody has their own way, more or less, to do this, JamesWhut comes the closest, IMO, to what is going on here. Since you're using a tube, if you look at a typical tube, the base of the stem has a reinforcement molded into the tube. What sometimes happens is that the reinforcement gets wedged in between the tire bead and the rim, pushing the bead of the tire at that spot away from the rim, creating the lack of proper alignment. What I used to do was to use the round (or hex, whatever) lock nut that should have come on the stem by unscrewing it to the point that, at the end of the valve stem, creates a 'pushing' surface. After you've spooned the tire on, before you put much or any air in the tire/tube, use the lube you choose at where the stem is located on the rim, inside the tire bead, both sides. Then push the stem/nut arrangement in as far as it will go. If it resists, you'll know that that was the problem, just continue pushing in on the nutted stem until it sort of 'releases'. That insures the tube and the stem reinforcement is fully and symmetrically inside the tire.
Hope that helps. (using the stem nut also keeps the stem from going all the way into the tire if it releases suddenly.)

 

[JamesWhut?]

You can do pretty much the same thing simply by "waggling" the tire back and forth (or left and right from the rim's perspective) to get the tube out from between the tire and rim and more or less centered inside them. A bicycle guy taught me that after I gnashed my teeth from ruining 2 tubes for a KLR in a row.

I still hate tubed tires.