Mounted my first motorcycle tire.

[Guest]

I have done bicycles and ATV tires before but this is a proud moment for me.
I thought I could get away with large screwdrivers, which I did to get it off, but dinged the rims a bit. Went to TSC and bought some spoons to put the new one on and it was a piece of cake.
Only took three arms and a belly but I only had two arms and a belly which made it more of a challenge.
Looking forward to the front one when the new valve stems get here. Someone had put tubes in and I'm taking it back to tubeless.
I figure since I only get around 4000 miles from a tire I'd better tool up.

 

[tom203]

Good job! I got to do my rear tire again soon. Spoons help, rim protectors help,extra arms help would be nice too.

 

[Guest]

learning to do tires is empowering stuff. Fwiw, the tire levers from harbor fright are good and cheap, and cut up milk jugs make great rim protectors.

 

[Guest]

I went to my motorcycle dealers and none had valve stems or spoons. How do they stay in business?
Spoons are the only way and I appreciate the milk jug suggestion.
I'm now going to figure a way to secure the rim to the table to omit the necessity of the belly.
I do have a question about the date stamp.
Reading the posts on the forum most feel the tire should be changed after a certain time regardless of the tread. I agree, but I just recieved these tires from American Motorcycle Tire and the date stamp on the rear is 1416 and the front is 4915. These tires are already 1 and 2 years old. Is it reasonable to judge by the date alone or by the mounting date?

 

[BigD_83]

With your workshop setup, you ought to be able to fab something up to hold the tire securely, then get yourself one of these;

http://www.no-scufftiretool.com/


There are some videos out there of it in use, and wow, they make it look slick as snot

 

[hannibal]

Go by the date of manufacture. Even it a tire's never been mounted, you shouldn't use it after xx years.

I tried to mount my rear tire. After ruining 2 tubes, I gave up and paid a shop $80 to do the front and rear.

 

[Guest]

With your workshop setup, you ought to be able to fab something up to hold the tire securely, then get yourself one of these;

http://www.no-scufftiretool.com/


There are some videos out there of it in use, and wow, they make it look slick as snot

Thanks for that link. I'll be able to fab all of that. Now to do some research on a foolproof bead breaker. I used my vise and a block of wood.

 

[Guest]

Go by the date of manufacture. Even it a tire's never been mounted, you shouldn't use it after xx years.

I tried to mount my rear tire. After ruining 2 tubes, I gave up and paid a shop $80 to do the front and rear.

The guy I had mount the last rear tire wanted $20.00 if I removed the wheel and $30.00 if he did it. No brainer there. No tubes though. Not too bad but I wanted the challenge and become a little more self sufficient.
As far as the dates I was thinking that if you ride enough they'll wear out well before the dates.
I have a riding buddy who is 74 and rides a BMW who changes his own twice and sometimes three times a year. A little off topic but he has had 29 motorcycles and gets a new one at about 90,000 miles. The dude rides.

 

[dorkburger]

I changed a front last winter. Just because I never had. It went well, and was a good feeling.

 

[hillsy]

I've changed a few tyres now using zip ties (google it). Not so easy to get the old tyre off this way but a piece of cake to get the new ones on. It depends on the width / depth of the drop out on the centre of the rim as to how easy / hard this method can be.

 

[Guest]

It is a good feeling, Glen. Everything I do to make them look good and reliable give me joy.

I saw the ziptie method and the hold down strap one too. That would help keep from buggering the wheel for certain.

 

[Guest]

It gets easier each time you do it. Tire lube or a good soapy solution is your best friend. You can get everything you need at Cycle Gear and Harbor Freight. Before I bought a changing machine and balancer I used these.

When I had to do tires by hand, I did them on the floor on some 2x4 to give clearance for the rotors. When spooning the tire on or off take small bites, 4-6 inches at a time and plenty of slickum. Also you should be able to push one side on completely with out using spoons. I do have to help one every now and then get all the way on.

Here is something you may want to get or make. We had a couple at MMI that were made from a steel drum and thread all rod with a bag of Sacrete in the bottom to help make it sturdy.

 

[Guest]

I went to my motorcycle dealers and none had valve stems or spoons. How do they stay in business?
Spoons are the only way and I appreciate the milk jug suggestion.
I'm now going to figure a way to secure the rim to the table to omit the necessity of the belly.
I do have a question about the date stamp.
Reading the posts on the forum most feel the tire should be changed after a certain time regardless of the tread. I agree, but I just recieved these tires from American Motorcycle Tire and the date stamp on the rear is 1416 and the front is 4915. These tires are already 1 and 2 years old. Is it reasonable to judge by the date alone or by the mounting date?

If you just got the tires recently I'd send an email to the seller of tires that you received some older rubber and just see what they say. I received a 2 year old ( plus a month or two) tire but I forgot to look at the tire when it came in, did not discover for several months, too late to complain I think.

 

[Guest]

If you just got the tires recently I'd send an email to the seller of tires that you received some older rubber and just see what they say. I received a 2 year old ( plus a month or two) tire but I forgot to look at the tire when it came in, did not discover for several months, too late to complain I think.

I emailed American Motorcycle Tires this morning and just got their response. He said they cant guarantee date codes on tires because the production runs are huge and far in between, especially on the not so popular tires.
He assured me the storage techniques are to preserve the tires as best they can. 7 to 10 years were his recommendations and he gave me Bridgestone's number to double check with them.
He also offered to let me return the tires for a full refund but I said I'd keep them as I am sure the date will far outlast the tread. I'm happy with that. I'll buy my next set from them.

Rick, what did you buy for a balancer?

 

[Guest]

Just got back from a test ride after the front tire mount and, wow, this bike just falls into the curves. I had to order valve stems to get rid of the tubes the po put in and they arrived a couple of days ago.
I did need to take the front wheel to a tire shop because I could not get the bead to seat. He had a couple of tricks to use without going the ether way. Look at YouTube for that one.

I think I'll go with the Dunlop 491 Elite II on the '83 to try them against the Bridgestones because I think those raised white letters look good on these "L"'s.

 

[fixmybrokecomputer]

Last tire I put on the other day, I used a motionpro bead popper and a big rubber mallet to do the second bead. Just start the bead on one side and put both knees on it to hold it down, insert the bead popper and start hammering away. It was considerably easier than spooning it on with irons and didn't have to worry about skinning up the rim. One day I will pony up for a tire changer of some sort. Maybe a NoMar. As for breaking the bead, I've used my big bench vise on tires that will fit in there. I've recently acquired a bead breaker as shown above that works pretty well. I've also used the motionpro, but that is a little more work. Key is to lube the beads with something and have a nice hot tire.

 

[Guest]

Last tire I put on the other day, I used a motionpro bead popper View attachment 52045and a big rubber mallet to do the second bead. Just start the bead on one side and put both knees on it to hold it down, insert the bead popper and start hammering away. It was considerably easier than spooning it on with irons and didn't have to worry about skinning up the rim. One day I will pony up for a tire changer of some sort. Maybe a NoMar. As for breaking the bead, I've used my big bench vise on tires that will fit in there. I've recently acquired a bead breaker as shown above that works pretty well. I've also used the motionpro, but that is a little more work. Key is to lube the beads with something and have a nice hot tire.

I like that gizmo and when toy money allows I'm going to find a bead breaker. I used my bench vice and a peice of wood to break the bead, awkward but very effective.
My problem wasn't breaking the bead but getting the new one to seat on the rim. The guy at the tire place had an air canister that would release a blast of air instantly. While I held the nozzle on the stem he aimed this canister at the open area of the tire and released it. That got the bead sealed and I was able to seat it with normal pressure.
I'm going to lay the tire in the sun the next time to warm it up as you suggested. That may have done the trick also.

 

[bobgroger]

I like that gizmo and when toy money allows I'm going to find a bead breaker. I used my bench vice and a peice of wood to break the bead, awkward but very effective.
My problem wasn't breaking the bead but getting the new one to seat on the rim. The guy at the tire place had an air canister that would release a blast of air instantly. While I held the nozzle on the stem he aimed this canister at the open area of the tire and released it. That got the bead sealed and I was able to seat it with normal pressure.
I'm going to lay the tire in the sun the next time to warm it up as you suggested. That may have done the trick also.

I use an 8' 2X4 and a 12" 2X4. Put one end of the long 2X4 under your pickup truck, the short one about a foot from the truck between the long 2X4 and the edge of the tire laying on the ground. Work your way around. All about leverage....

 

[fixmybrokecomputer]

I like that gizmo and when toy money allows I'm going to find a bead breaker. I used my bench vice and a peice of wood to break the bead, awkward but very effective.
My problem wasn't breaking the bead but getting the new one to seat on the rim. The guy at the tire place had an air canister that would release a blast of air instantly. While I held the nozzle on the stem he aimed this canister at the open area of the tire and released it. That got the bead sealed and I was able to seat it with normal pressure.
I'm going to lay the tire in the sun the next time to warm it up as you suggested. That may have done the trick also.

When you have a hard time getting a tire to inflate, take a ratcheting tie down strap and wrap around it. Get it tight enough so that it starts to compress the tire in the center of the tread. Then try to inflate it. Many times this will get the beads to seal enough to inflate. Hope that helps someone in the future.

 

[Guest]

Took a chance on GSRicks Harbor Freight bead breaker and with a little modification for Motorcycle, ATV and lawn mower tires it's gonna be awesome! $55.00 good deal.