Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Do you change your own tires?

Well, I am happy to say that I have worn out my first set of tires in the first year of owning my bike. I am going to put some of the dunlop white walls on, and while I am sure that the local shop will give me a decent price, I am sure I can find them cheaper online. My question is, how hard is it to change the tires at home. I have changed my own dirtbike tires, but this is my first cruiser. Is it something to do myself, or should I have a shop do it? Do the chrome wheels scratch easily, or am I going to be able to pry on them with a tire iron and be OK? I see that some weight has been added to one side, is the wheel what needs balancing, or is this something that is adjusted based on each tire? Thanks for any help.

I pull the wheels and take them to my buddy's Harley shop. He orders them for me but because I pull the wheels he doesn't charge me labor.

What tubes do you use?
Do you put in new tubes each time you put on new tires?

No. I had a flat front last year or the year before, new tire, old innertube. Nothing catastrophic. Replaced the rear tube the next time I put on a new rear tire. Probably every two or three tire changes at least? I'm not sure what the "official" guideline is. The odd thing is my tire guy had to order the tube since it's different from the ones he usually puts on (I guess Harley valve stems are straight and ours have a 90 degree bend.

There's no doubt that with a little patience, changing a tire is quite doable for the home mechanic. As usual, good tools make all the difference and a couple of decent tire irons go a long way to making it easy (Examples shown are available through www.fasteddysports.com ).



To protect the chrome, use a 6" chunk of garden hose split down one side and place it on the rim where the tire iron hits. Then, just go at it like you've done with your dirt bikes, making sure to line up the red dot on the tire with the valve stem.

I take my wheels in for balancing (usually required after every tire change) but some members here balance their own.

I think Moe does his own too.

I've never used them but those balancing beads are intriguing.

Yeah... what about those?

I do my own but I own a tire machine. I always did my own though, even before the machine. After you put the tube in, if you are using a tube, put some air in the tube before you put the 2nd bead on the rim. This will prevent pinching the tube. Then air it up and deflate it several times. This will allow the tube to seat itself in place.I usually replace the tube with the tire but I didn't always.

Work Bench
All thread
nuts/washers
15"cage wheel rim
three tire irons
Marc Parnes balancer
oem rear rim strips
Bead breaker - Adam Glass' interpretation
Compressor
Bucket with 2 inches of water a goodly shot of dawn.
Wire wheel to remove the rim rust.
Floor Jack


Pertinent Reading

Started changing out my tires in April 2009. Currently staring at spooning on my tenth tire.

Recently bought a Kastar valve stem fishing tool. After changing out five rear tires I finally figured out that the rear valve stem is a pita, worthy of a 20 buck layout.

Tips:
Use three irons
Small steps with the irons
Keep the opposite, mounted bead in the well (makes more room for the bead you are trying to pry on)
A third hand holding the stationary iron (instead of your knee) and also helping keep the bead in the well, saves a lot of colorful metaphors.
Buy the nylon rim protectors for anything other than steel rims.


The job is straightforward. Seems like a lot (as in time not money) to tool up for it too. You will change out a couple of tires before you realize how easy it is.

In a perfect world, balance the wheel, then mount the tire by placing the red dot over the valve stem. Perfection is a dream...Chances are you will still need to balance the wheel after you mount the tire. Thus, Find and mark the heaviest part of the wheel, then treat that as the valve stem for red dot alignment.

If you change out your tires every .... since you said you wore out your tires in one year, mounting your tires would be cost effective. Mounting a set every 4 or 5 years is a wtf am I doing this for? type deal...

I often have changed my car and truck tires at home, because I buy them on ebay, and mount them on new rims (the first time), take them to be balanced, and mount them on the car at home.

I always change the dirt bikes tires, cause I don't balance them.

I buy my street bike tires (usually Avon's) on line, and used to change them at home, but the shop charges me $20 to balance the tires/wheels (as long as I bring them in off of the bike), and only charges me $25 to mount and balance.

I sure ain't gonna do it to save $5!

I recently replaced the front tyre and forgot about the red dot/valve thing. When I took it for balancing, the tyre guy said it didn't make any difference, they had experimented with that. It's the wheel that needs balancing, the tyre is usually perfect.

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/motorcycle.htm
This is how I balance the tires on my bike. Yes its the bead balancing system with out a doubt the best way. No wheel wieghts to sling off or glue to ugly up your wheels. My tires last on average 12,000 miles. Thats on Bridgestone spitfires. Mine rides smooth as glass.


Front
80 - 120 mm tire width 1 oz
130 mm tire width 2 oz
Rear
130 mm - 240 mm width 2 oz
250 mm - 360mm tire width 3 oz
195 - 205 car tires on the rear 3 oz

Easy as that.