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General SportbikesThis area is made for sportbikes in general. Posts that dont really belong anywhere else besides here. Questions can be answered and addressed to fully understand certain aspects. If your question is Manufacturer specific please post it there.
any tips and suggestions on how to make it easy and cheap? i refuse to pay 60 bucks a tire to let a shop do it and yes thats the cheapest around here. ive seen those vids on youtube of the Scudman from the superbike school and he makes it look easy to do at home
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Street Ridden...Track Bound
any tips and suggestions on how to make it easy and cheap? i refuse to pay 60 bucks a tire to let a shop do it and yes thats the cheapest around here. ive seen those vids on youtube of the Scudman from the superbike school and he makes it look easy to do at home
It's a pain. I saved some money by taking the wheel off myself. Ask your local shop how much they would charge if you took the wheel off and brought it in.
I change and balance my own tires. As the previous poster said, some times you can save money by taking the wheels off the bike and just taking them in to the dealer, but locally it will still run you at least $25 per tires plus whatever markup the local dealership puts on the tire itself. With those costs, one set of tires and I've broken even. Better yet, I can buy several sets of tires and swap them at my convenience.
You can do it using a couple of 2 x 4 scraps, or you can use an old car rim as in Adam Glass's great web site. I use the el-cheapo Harbor Freight set-up with the Nomar mount/dismount bar and that works great. I'm to the point where I can have the tire back on the bike in 20 minutes if I hurry. Usually, I take my time so I can clean road grunge off the inside of the fork legs, clean and re-lube the drive chain, check the brake pads and otherwise give the area I'm working in a good inspection and cleaning.
Changing a tire is all about technique - if you're having to force it you're not doing it correctly. That said, the first time I changed a tire it took me all afternoon to change just one. But like I said earlier, I can do one in 20 minutes now.
Short vid of me mounting a new Conti Road Attack on the front tire rim of my R1100RT. It's kind of wordy and the lighting is poor, but you get the general idea of how the system works.
I mount and balance all my (bike) tires, it's trivially easy after you've done it once or twice. Here's how I do it:
Remove the wheel, let all the air out and place it on the ground (on a piece of plywood or something) under my truck. Place a bottle jack on the tire right next to the rim and start jacking up against the frame of the truck. This will pop the bead off the rim, once one part is off you can work the whole bead off pretty easily. Flip the rim and do the same for the other bead, then remove the tire with a couple of large screwdrivers (or tire irons if you have 'em). Some rim protectors help save the rims from chips and scratches.
Put some hand soap on the beads of the new tire and mount it, it's usually much easier than removing a tire. When mounting, look for a blue or white dot on the tire and, if it has one, mount it with that at or close to the valve stem. That dot is where the lightest part of the tire is, so you want to put it at the heaviest part of the rim.
I've balanced some tires and not others. To be honest, I've never noticed a difference. I typically don't balance a new tire right away, but I'll be mindful on the first few rides to feel for any vibrations. If a tire is out of balance, I'd take it off and balance it, if not, I'll just leave it.
There is a shop that I take them to that will do it for $10 a tire if you remove it yourself and $35 if you bring the bike in. I would call around and look for better prices. $60 a tire is a rip. Sounds like someone is trying to fund their crack habit.
Tried doing it myself once and found that paying $20 to someone else is better than the sore hands and headache.
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I can take off, change, balance and remount on the bike both tires in like 30 minutes now not rushing. The first time, it took me like an hour just to do one wheel, I got it down now.
Its so much cheaper now, especially since i can get my tires at cost locally.
Also, constantly changing tires for the track, the street, back to the track, and then sometimes have to change them half way through a track day.
That Harbor Freight tire changer works wonders.
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I mounted a board to my garage wall and use it that way instead of putting it under a car. it works great.
its nice being able to swap out a set of tires in about 1/2 hour.
Last edited by serpentracer : 11-23-2007 at 05:13 PM.
The harbor freight tire changer will ruin the paint on the rim. I prefer the 2 tire tool method. Ifd you need a precise ballancer at a good price ($50) send me a PM. Here is a detailed writeup on tire changes
Tire replacement instructions:
Caution: Performing tire replacement could create a dangerous condition for the rider if the tire is not mounted properly. Read the motorcycle service manual to get the proper instructions on wheel removal and installation. The service manual also has tire replacement procedures. If you still wish to use this guide do so at your own risk.
1 Remove wheel from motorcycle
2 Remove valve core with valve core removal tool
3 The tire bead breaker can be purchased from harborfreight.com ($40-60). Note: the brake discs are fragile and bend easy. Do not exert any force on the discs, they are expensive, ($200+ ea). Use 2X4 as a means to raise the wheel so that the discs do not contact the ground. Cover wood with a piece of carpet or equivalent. Carefully push tire bead from rim. Repeat on other side.
4 Lubricate tire beads both sides with soapy water.
5 Place wheel on carpet covered 2X4 so that the discs are off the floor
6 Kneel down on the tire at the 6 o'clock position so that the tire is forced into the center of the rim. This step is important, as the tire is smaller on the inside diameter than the rim diameter. Therefore the tire needs to be in the center of the rim in order to give it room so that it can be slipped off the rim at the opposite side.
7 Place rim protectors (side panels from a Tropicana orange juice gallon container, do not use milk containers) between the rim and tire bead at the 11, 12 and 1 o'clock position
8 Stick the tire removal tools at the 11 and 12 o'clock position.
9 Push the 11 o'clock tire removal tool downward and the tire will go over the rim lip. If this step is too difficult you are doing it wrong, go back and read step 6.
10 Now that the first segment of the tire is over the rim lip press down on the second tire removal tool until another segment of the tire is forced over the rim lip.
11 Remove first lever and place it at the 1 o'clock position in between the tire and rim lip
12 By now, you should be able to pull one side of the tire off the rim lip. If not, use the tire removal tool and rim protector to expose another tire segment.
13 Use more lubrication on the tire bead still on the rim
14 Take 3 rim protectors (panels) and stack them one on top of each other.
15 Hold wheel and tire vertically and place stacked panels in between the tire bead and rim lip at the 12 o'clock position
16 Take the tire removal tool and place in between the tire and rim lip
17 Move (rotate) the tire removal tool so that the tire is forced off the rim lip.
18 Exert downward force on the tire segment that came off the wheel lip by placing your knee on the tire segment. Hold the rim with other hand as it will come out and hit the floor. If knee pressure is not adequate, use of rubber mallet may be necessary. Hit only the tire bead where it is just on the wheel rim lip.
If replacing the valve stem, follow steps 19-23 (note: this is used for metal stems only)
19 Remove valve stem by cutting off with razor with blade
20 Take rubber grommets off the metal valve stem and place the outside rubber grommet into the rim hole.
21 Place the valve stem onto the grommet.
22 Place the second grommet over the inside valve stem threads, followed by the washer and two nuts. Note: use a thread, locking compound such as Locktite on the nuts.
23 Tighten nuts securely
24 Start the installation of the new tire by looking at the tire rotation arrow and making sure that the arrow points in the proper direction of travel in relation to rim travel.
25 Apply lubricant to tire bead, both sides
26 Place tire on rim and start at the 6 o'clock position.
27 Push the tire by hand around the rim as far as possible
28 place rim protectors under the tire bead that could not be pushed on by hand.
29 Use tire irons to push the tire bead over the rim lip
30 Start the installation of the second tire bead at the 6 o'clock position and by use of hand force slide the tire bead as far as possible along the rim lip. Make sure that the tire bead at the 6o'clock position is in the center of the rim
31 Place rim protectors under the tire bead that could not be pushed on by hand.
32 Use tire irons to push the tire bead over the rim lip
33 Remove rim protectors and place wheel in upright position.
34 Inflate the tire. Caution: Keep fingers away from the tire bead and rim lip. Face wheel and tire so that the center of wheel (both sides) are facing away from you.
Make sure that both sides of the tire beads seat properly on the rim.
Balancing wheel and tire assembly instructions
The instructions listed below are for the Scudmans balancer but can still be used (somewhat) with a conventional balancer that uses 2 cones which are pushed into the bearings.
The seller of the balancing tools assumes no risk as to the usage of the balancing tools. The user of the balancing tool is responsible for their proper usage. Read all of the instructions carefully before attempting to use the balancing tools.
Note: This balancing tool must be used with some type of stand. The stand may be as simple as two CBS blocks, two chairs or two jack stands.
Note: Remove any wheel spacers on the outside of bearings as the balancing will be compromised.
1 Using a clean lint free rag to remove any dirt or grease from the wheel bearings
2 Remove any old wheel weights
3 Place the balance shaft through the wheel
4 Place one of the wheel balancing bearings on the balance shaft
5 Place the second wheel balancing bearing on the balancing shaft end opposite the other balancing bearing
6 Place the wheel with the balancing shaft and bearings on the stand of your choice (see above) so that the bearings rest on the stand.
7 Observe the wheel as the heavy part of the wheel will rotate to the 6 o'clock position
8 Cut off two segments of the wheel weights
9 Using duct tape, tape the two wheel weights opposite the heavy side of wheel at the 12 o'clock position
10 Slowly, rotate the wheel 90degrees and release the wheel. If the weights rotate to the bottom remove one of the weights and repeat step seven. If the wheel weights rotate to the 12 o'clock position add more weights until the wheel stops randomly. Since this tool is extremely sensitive perfect balance is difficult to achieve. Cutting of weights is permissible but anything less than 1/2 of a weight is generally not noticeable at legal speed limits.
11 Once the wheel stops at random points the wheel is assumed to be balanced
12 Remove the taped weights
13 Clean the rim where the taped weights were located
14 Remove the tape from the weights and attach weights to the rim in the same spot that was used to achieve a balanced wheel
15 Install wheel and tire on bike following manufacturers installation instructions.
I don't mind paying someone to do work on my bike, but I wish they would treat my stuff like it is their own when they do.
My last oil change resulted in a nice swath of scratches/black paint on my swingarm (both sides). My thinking is that whoever did the service did not know how to use a stand. I have spools, yet it looks like they did not have the stands adjusted right and they tried to lift from the middle of the swingarm. In the end the bike shop fixed my bike, but I lost a lot of trust in them. Sure they fixed it, but I was without my bike for a couple weeks while they did. Not looking forward to having someone change those tires....
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Perhaps go to another shop?
In this video posted above (YouTube - Mounting a Motorcycle Tire), the guy is spraying furniture polish all over the new tire, albeit the inside, but still it looks incredibly slippery if it gets on the contact patch.
In this video posted above (YouTube - Mounting a Motorcycle Tire), the guy is spraying furniture polish all over the new tire, albeit the inside, but still it looks incredibly slippery if it gets on the contact patch.
Soapy water has been used for many years. Cheap and effective.
In this video posted above (YouTube - Mounting a Motorcycle Tire), the guy is spraying furniture polish all over the new tire, albeit the inside, but still it looks incredibly slippery if it gets on the contact patch.
Well, I've got about 1300 miles on that tire before I had to put the bike away for the winter, and in 33 F temps I didn't have any problems. One of the great things about the furniture polish is that it dries really quickly, but not as quickly as a commercial bead lubricant (which I've used).
^ man stop wasting money on special lubes for mounting tires.
just put some dish soap and water in a squirt bottle. or rub it on with a rag.
thats all you need.
Ray i would consider if you have time just doing all your own maintenance, i do all mine and find the ZZR is incredibly easy to work on with very minimal skill or tools needed for basic things i.e. oil change, chain lube, chain, slack, air filter...etc
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Street Ridden...Track Bound
who mounts and balances their own tires?
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