Tire Changing Question

[Jammer]

Question on changing tires on my Gixxer.

Honestly I'm tired of the 3.25 for the less expensive gas. The $80 an hour now to get my bike worked on. My inspection for my Gixxer alone is coming up in June. I need new tires. I'm thinking of trying out the Battleax. I've had Dunlop all this time.

Two part question. If I change the tires myself. What dangers are there other than possibly breaking the tire bead? I'll need two tires with a labor rate with the tires on the bike of 60 + 40. 100 bucks for me. Suz got a nail in the back of her 06 Gixxer for there's another 60. For that money in labor I can go get a bike lift. Tire irons are about 25 for two of them...even if I pay 40 for two I get the tools myself.

Here's the second part question. A friend has his Concorse tire changed at a local repair shop. I was told by him that his tire was put on wrong because the guy normally works on Harleys. That made no sense to me. I mean a tire really is a tire. You have direction and at best balancing. Yet he still maintains the guy put the tire on wrong. I saw him riding his bike so the guy couldn't have broken the bead. Any clue of what this guy could have been speaking of? Provided that he was correct in the first place.

Suz, that's wife Suz brings up a good point. There are times when we will get the bug and go blasting down the highway. For safety she wants the tires put on right. Like I was asking..any dangers of putting tires on..things I should know about to do it the right way?

Sincerely...

[Clint]

There's no danger per se, but it can be a PIA to get the bead broken and the tire off and on. You have to be very careful not to bend your rotors or ding up the wheels. The only way you can really screw it up is to mount it in the wrong direction or not seat the bead properly. You should at least try to do a balance using the axle in some jack stands.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by RowdyRed94

There's no danger per se, but it can be a PIA to get the bead broken and the tire off and on. You have to be very careful not to bend your rotors or ding up the wheels. The only way you can really screw it up is to mount it in the wrong direction or not seat the bead properly. You should at least try to do a balance using the axle in some jack stands.

Red thanks for seeing my thread. First I saw Harbor Freight has a changer..just 40 bucks. Now the No-Mar has one...but they want 595.00 for it. The Harbor one I'm thinking to not scar the rims is to put some plastic to not bugger up the rims. Any suggestions?

[inspiron]

I don't know about Penn, but some places have "do-it-yourself garages" that you can rent by the hour.

Order the tires through a respectable on-line dealer. Removing the wheels from the bike is fairly easy (remove the brake saddles, remove the axle nut). Remove the valve stem (here's where the special tools are useful), break the seal and remove the old rubber. Grease up the rim, slide the new tires into place, replace the valve stem, and fill'er up. Then you should balance them - you don't want any vibrations when you're flying down the freeway at 75 mph.

Don't forget to check your brake pads while you've got the chance. It's a lot easier to replace the pads now when the wheel is off anyway then to have to go through the whole process again later.

You'll need:
- Center-stand or racing stand.
- A good set of metric tools, including a torque wrench.
- New valve stem.
- Weights (for balancing the wheel).
- Grease.
- Tie-downs to hold the bike while you're torquing the axle nuts.

[Clint]

You'll have to decide how many tires you expect to change in the next few years. I'd love to own the No-Mar, but I'm not sure I can justify it.

[KD57]

I changed the tires on the Harley last year, the front was easy, 21 inch, but I gave up on the rear and had it done at the shop. There is also a pre-balance mark on Dunlops, (maybe others), place the valve stem at that mark. Very few people know to do this, it's not a big deal, but helps reduce the weight needed to balance. My recommendation is cought up the money and let the shop do it. As far as that guy having the tire put on wrong, there is really only one mistake that can be made, and that is placing it in the wrong direction.

[omegajim]

I've been kind of lucky that way. There's a local shop and I take the rims off the bike and they charge me $15 to install and balance a tire.

Then I put the tires back on the bike, which is a good time to check the brakes.

[Clint]

I used to have a shop like that. Now they want $45.

[omegajim]

Well, I do have to take the old tire back.

$45, yikes.

[Rickster]

$45 per tire is closer to a ride in price in my area.

There are a few shops that will do it for $25 if you bring them the tire already off the bike.

I've also herd that some shops will mount for free if you buy your tire from them, you wind up baying a few dollars more for the tire itself, but the total cost is less. This is of course assuming they have the tire you want in their inventory.

Clint, the 3 shops that I heard mount for free are Hitching Post, and MotoPrimo here in the Cities, and a bit closer to you, Larson's in Cambridge.

A guy I work with just bought one of the No-Mar's, and offered to change my tires for me for a 6-pack per tire. I think I'll take him up on his offer, but I plan on making sure no beer gets drank till after the tires are changed. Lol

[Clint]

Thanks. I'll check into that next time.