Change Tires at Home

[Ham42]

I do all my bike tires always have.

 

[britman]

I have really gleamed quite a bit from the responses to this thread. I am really rethinking my whole approach to motorcycle tire changing. Having looked at various setups and from reviews here, I believe Harbor Freight will not be getting my hard earned cash, it is ok I think they will survive. I am going with a smaller ring style bead breaker and mounting rack that I am going to build a base for this winter, being on the tall side and looking for the best leverage possible, I can set to my height. That alone will be leaps and bounds ahead of the five gallon bucket or garage floor with a blanket routine I have used in the past. I also believe my limit will be the front tire on the Rocket or rear on MG Touring. The vintage bikes with tubes and other smaller mc tires should benefit greatly from this new procedure. I am still on the fence about the MoJo lever, that is a lot of money for a piece of steel with plastic end pieces. The Avon on the rear of the R3 still has plenty of meat so I will cross that bridge when I come to it. (I stop and think about the poor bastard from a local tire shop who wrestled with putting a car tire on the rear for well over two hours when I went through my "Dark Side" phase.) As Mr. Eastwood put so plainly in one of his movies, "A man has to know his limitations." As a number of you have posted, I enjoy doing the work myself. It is a good feeling when you see no air bubbles from around the rim or spokes and the tire hits that sweet spot on the static balancer. It is not all about the money saved, but just knowing you did the job yourself.......

 

[Jag]

Tire Sealant and Balancer | Flat tire prevention | Ride-On Tire Protection

Works like a charm for me.

If you do use ride on make sure you use the formula for balancing (more is required for balancing) also order a little extra because you can’t get it all out of the bottle, and warm it up with hot water so it flows nicely from the bottle.

 

[TheKid]

By the way, I do have a guy that charges 4 bucks per wheel. I give him 10. Last tire shop went from 20 to 30. Started doing myself again, then found my 4 buck buddy.

 

[TheKid]

The No-Mar tire changer is very nice, but expensive

 

[FE_rex]

I've hand-changed tires on walk-behind and zero-turn mowers (the worst), ATVs, utility vehicles, trucks, tractors (f&r). Commonly used starting fluid to bead tires. I cannot describe the joy I feel now that I can pay someone to do that. I am just really happy they don't charge me what I think it's worth

 

[Idaho Red Rocket 3]

I do all my bike tires always have.

Please tell the forum how you do the rear Rocket Standard/Roadster tire change. Maybe we can learn something good from you. Please include some pictures if you can.

 

[Ham42]

The only trick I got is longest tire spoons you can find for leverage. I use 2 spoons and 1 straight. I do have a bead breaker which makes things alot easier. Plenty of lube going back on. After a few sets it gets easier and quicker. Tractor supply has some irons that are good.

 

[rjsjota]

In the winter or cooler weather, I leave the new tire near the wood stove. Getting the old one off is the hardest part. Mounting should only be done with a good mounting lube. I use a bucket of Camel tire lube. Too slick and it will slip on the rim after mounted.

I agree with everything you just said about warming the tire, using Camel slippery gel lube (I have Cameal "Tru-FLate Tire Mount "STUF" Part No.12-095"), and the warning about the tire slipping on the rim.
Here is what I have found.

To remove the Rocket Roadster rear tire, I first remove the brake rotor (to allow the wheel to fit onto my plastic bucket with a thick towel draped over it for cushioning), then use a big "C" clamp to break the beads, then drill a hole in each sidewall, then "sawzall" cut all around both sidewalls. A cutoff wheel takes care of the bead wires (be careful the cutoff wheel doesn't touch the rim!)

Mounting the Roadster rear tire by hand is a little difficult, but if I use a slippery tire gel I can do it using regular tire irons and rim protectors. Before airing up the Roadster rear tire I remove all of the slippery gel, using "Ruglyde" watery tire mounting lube. I leave a thin film of the watery lube behind, then air up. i learned the need for this step when my tire rotated 180 degrees on the wheel in a 2 hour ride the next day (or it could have been 540 degrees, or even more, who knows?!) but it didn't lose any air, luckily. I wash it off now, to avoid that problem.

I find that getting the first side of the Roadster wheel inside the rear tire is more difficult than any other motorcycle I have changed tires on. On other bikes, a bit of lube and a push with the hand, or both hands, and the rim is inside the tire. Not so with the Rocket rear. The method I use is to put lots of gel on the tire and rim, place the tire on the ground, put the wheel on top, stand on the wheel and use a tire lever to persuade the rim inside the tire. This risks damaging the sealing surface of the tire bead, but I don't have a better idea.
I don't know why getting the first side of the rim into the tire on this bike is so hard...perhaps the rim outside diameter is deliberately oversize?

In contrast, the Roadster front tire remove/replace is a piece of cake. I use the regular watery "Ruglyde" tire mounting lube, hand levers and rim protectors to remove and install, with no problems, like a regular bike. I remove both rotors first so the wheel fits onto my bucket, and to make manipulating the tire levers easier.

 

[Idaho Red Rocket 3]

Yeah that sound pretty hard to do. On the other hand, taking my wheels to the dealer for dismount/mount and balance for $20 per wheel is real easy for me.