The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
Technical Discussion => BMW Technical Q&A, Primarily R65 => Topic started by: rob650 on June 26, 2009, 05:25:06 PM
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Time for some new skins for mine. Everyone charges $30 minimum per wheel to mount and balance. I see bead-poppers and tire balance tools are available to buy, is it worth it? $ is an issue right now, but still considering investing in the tools if it's a relatively easy task to do my own tires. Thanks.
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I take mine in to a motorcycle tire specialty shop in Tucson,AZ. (Southwest Moto Tires), about an hour and a half drive from home .
Charge is $20 per tire for mounting and balancing .
My tires get replaced about every 4-5 years, and in my situation, I don't have any excess room in the garage for a tool set-up that doesn't get used much .
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it's fairly easy if you can break the bead. i can do my dual sport pretty easily. street tires are a bit more difficult to get the bead broken, but if you've got the stones you can cut the tire off the rim. you're going to recycle it anyway, right? some cheap tire irons and a compressor are really all you need, and you could use a gas station compressor in a pinch.
i don't normally have to balance my tires. just put the big dot by the valve stem.
here's a link to the best tire changing tutorial...
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50717
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I have always done mine and having the Harbor Freight changer with MC attachment makes it a lot easier...
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it's fairly easy if you can break the bead. i can do my dual sport pretty easily. street tires are a bit more difficult to get the bead broken, but if you've got the stones you can cut the tire off the rim. you're going to recycle it anyway, right? some cheap tire irons and a compressor are really all you need, and you could use a gas station compressor in a pinch.
i don't normally have to balance my tires. just put the big dot by the valve stem.
here's a link to the best tire changing tutorial...
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50717
That's a great link,but i don't think i would want to have sandels on my feet!!!!what if you caught your foot inbetween the tyre and the rim as your removing/putting the tyre on,OUCH!!! :'(
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I have a new rear tire in the garage waiting for my motivation and a hot sunny day to coincide. Warming the rubber will help a little.
I use a large vice to break the bead at home, not sure if I could ever manage it out on the road and I never want to find out.
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I do my own. I have a Harbor Freight changer, a Mojo bar, some irons, rim protectors, tire lube and a Parnes balancer and weights. There are techniques that you need to develop.
If you buy all the stuff you will be into it for about $300 so if you only change one set of tires a year it may not pay for you.
Here's a photo gallery that might help you:
http://www.pbase.com/fredharmon/tirechange
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That's a great link,but i don't think i would want to have sandels on my feet!!!!what if you caught your foot inbetween the tyre and the rim as your removing/putting the tyre on,OUCH!!! :'(
well, i do normally wear real shoes, but i'm not as good as ned, either.
it's certainly easier to do the whole thing with a stand, but i've tried to learn how to do it with 2 short tire irons and nothing else, in case i got a flat tube on the road. tubeless tires are fairly easy to plug and don't generally need to be field stripped.
as for breaking the bead on the cheap, you can fashion a bead breaker out of some leftover lumber or other household miscellany.
http://www.webbikeworld.com/t2/bead-breaker/motorcycle-tire-bead-breaker.htm
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=homemade+bead+breaker&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
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Yep I do my own with a kit of 2 tire irons, a milk crate to put the wheel on and a balancer Justin made up a while back.
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi101.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm70%2Fmrridden%2FP3170034.jpg&hash=cdabf19d1007f5090c04dad5823760c20a4b8bda)
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I would like to fit tubeless tires for ease of road side repair and may do so one day after reading some new evidence recently.
The fabulous 135 MPH Krauser MKM 1000 was a BMW special built in small numbers in the early 80’S It was approved and warranted by BMW and had German TUV approval. In other words it was a properly certified motorcycle. Now here’s the thing, it was sold with tubeless tires fitted on snowflakes.
The following is from a road test report on the Krauser MKM 1000 written by Dave Minton and published by Motorcycle Sport in Nov 1982 :-
“Unlike a BMW, the Krauser is equipped with tubeless tires which might seem unremarkable were it not for the fact of BMW’s positive assertion favouring tubed tires coupled to special rims designed to resist bead displacement following a puncture. Aha ! then these specially designed rim profiles of BMW are in fact eminently suited to safe use with tubeless tires. If they were not then you can bet your sweet life that the TUV would have penalized Krauser for their misbegotten deceit. “
I know this topic has been done to death but this was news to me at least.
(http://)
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I've heard/read the debates (heated at times) over the years about tube vs no-tube and this is the first time I've seen any mention of a production vehicle officially using the snowflakes in a tubeless configuration. Some highly regarded folks have believed all along that it's OK and this just lends more credence to that camp.
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Well I suppose Dave Minton could have been mistaken but it seems unlikely he would have made a point of this without checking it out. Minton and Motorcycle Sport were not trivial names at that time in fact the magazine was known as the "Quality Monthly". In addition to the quoted text the specification table at the end of the test states " Front Tire 19 X 3.50 V Metzeler Perfekt tubeless and Rear 18 X 130/80 Perfekt tubeless.
Having said all this Google as I might I can't find another confirmation of the Krauser being specified with tubeless tires. Someone out there must know for sure.
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I haven't been, but may start doing so in the future. While I now do all of my own wrenching on my BMW and KAwasaki, I like to try to help out the small, independent bike shop that I go to for annual inspections, etc.
While I could mail order tires and struggle with them in my garage a bit and save some $$, if he goes out of business I've got a longer drive to the big shiny plastic HonSuzYamaVictorKawiMart, where they can't give you a simple 10 minute state safety inspection without a 3-week waiting list for appointments, and if your bike is more than 5 years old they've basically forgotten how to service it. We;ve got a couple BMW shops in our state, but they are all at least 1 hour drive from my home - so if it helps keep the local guy in business who gives me a discount on tires, I don't begrudge him the extra $20 or $30.
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Barry, is there anything in the article stating they are being ran tubeless or just that the tires are tubeless? I'd hazard a guess that all of our tires now say "tubeless" on the side of 'em even if we have tubes in 'em...
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I've always done my own tyres and punctures - I'd be embarrassed if I had to get someone else to do it.I have motorcycle adapters to fit the Corgi tyre machine I had at my workshop....I really would have liked to keep the tyre machine,but I had to sell something with the business...and there is only so much room in the shed.
I just do them on the floor with 2 or 3 levers - I have some short (100mm) levers,and a couple of longer ones for the tighter parts.Sometimes I get a tyre shop to break the bead on the BMW wheels,or else I use the vice.I have two sets of wheels,one tubeless,one with tubes.
The BMW wheels are easy - you should try fitting tyres on my dirt bikes with 2 rim locks!
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I take your point Justin it's certainly a possibility.
I think though that Dave Minton may have made an issue of the tubeless tires because he knew about the BMW stance where as other journalists didn't. He still writes for Real Classic Magazine and he still owns an Airhead and a Krauser MKM 1000. Maybe I should write in and ask him.
I have the original magazine but also found the test reprinted on John Beemers site.
http://www.beemergarage.com/documents/mkm1182.pdf
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After carefully reading the paragraph regarding the tires it does sound like this particular model did indeed run tubeless. Seems I remember back then that tube-type tires were the more prevalent item, unlike today, and this article pointing out that the rims are suitable for tubeless tires (and the bikes certification) kinda gives the distinct impression that the snowflakes are suitable to run without tubes.
I would imagine that the BMW shysters may very well have had something to do with the official corporate line that tubes must be used. It's possible the rims WERE originally designed and specified for tube-only operation and later it was found that they worked fine without them. This not pacifying the bottom-feeders they might have decreed the rim must be ran with tubes in order to absolve BMW from any kind of future liability if one failed. Of course, this is all speculation on my part. I might very well be inclined to try going tubeless on my '81 R100 at the next tire change...
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The guy I got my r65 from tried to replace his own tires and when I picked the bike up I noticed a brand new tire leaning against the shed wall with a nasty gouge in the bead from his installation attempt.
Brand new and useless...
I decided to have my new back tire & tube installed by the local KTM shop (they also deal used BMW).
They quoted $20.00 if the wheel is already off the bike.
That was for removal of the old one, mounting of the new one and computer balance.
It was a no brainer for me. I let em do it.
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$20 per tire is a steal in this part of the world. Every place I know of wants at least $40 and one place is asking $60. If I had to do someone elses tire I'd probably charge 'em $100. Still, not hard to do it you hold your mouth right. Just ordered a new front and rear for Theresa's R1100R that need to be mounted & balanced before we head off to the national rally.
Justin, what kind of deal do you have on that tire balancing unit? Send me a PM if you don't mind.
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I mount my own tires just 'cause I'm kinda stoopid and can't stand to pay for something that I can do myself. Monte
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The first 10 miles really freaked me out with the new Metzler on the back.
When I picked my wheel up from the bike shop the mechanic warned me about how slick it will feel at first and he was absolutely correct.
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I always use an aggressive detergent (like Greased Lightning) and scrub the mold release off the tire after mounting.
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I always use an aggressive detergent (like Greased Lightning) and scrub the mold release off the tire after mounting.
i use some simple green cut with warm water and a scrubby pad (nylon, like for dishwashing).
that seems to help a bit.
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I did my own just recently and used Dynabeads for balancing.
http://www.innovativebalancing.com/
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I would love to hear if you like the dynabeads! Interesting concept that seems logical except at low speed where it may not matter?
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I always hit a gravel road with new tyres - it gets the mold release off quickly...and is a lot more fun than scrubbing by hand,or riding slow.I don't want to ride slow and gentle with new tyres.
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So..I received my new Metzler front tire its a lasertec 100/90v18
Took it over to my local shop for mounting and balancing and the tire absolutely will not go on the rim?
I've talked to several people using this tire on the 18" snowflake rim so why wont the one I got work? Defect?
The installer is a guy that does tires all day everyday and it the same guy that mounted my rear tire last week....
He is also a seasoned airhead guy so he is familiar with what I'm doing.
I got it from Dennis Kirk so I called them and they said that I should return it so they can evaluate the situation.
You all ever run into anything like this?
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I would not want to insult the gentleman so offer this only as a thought...
The bead of the tire -opposite the first spoon application- must be in the valley formed by the wheel rim's construction.
Other than that, all I can add is that in my experience, Dennis Kirk will treat you right.
Monte
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Of course now that it's been determined the tire wont work I looked at it closer and it also looks like the tire is warped to boot?
Anyhow I've already boxed it up and gave it to
UPS ...another 2 weeks of rolling around on a dry rotted wrong size chinese tire, yeah....
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I finally got around to fitting my new rear tire. The new one went on to a clean and polished rim like a dream after sitting in the sun for a few hours. Even the beads seated easily at 45 PSI.
Getting the old one off was an absolute pig of a job I had to improvise to break the beads by lifting the car with a trolley jack and with some suitable bits of wood under a jacking point I carefully used the weight of the car. Can't recommend it on safety grounds but it did the job.
Could I fix a puncture at the side of the road ? Maybe with a new supple tire on clean rims. Not a chance with that old tire.
(http://)
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Small G clamp a tyre lever and the small piece of plywood I carry to pop under the sidestand on soft surfaces (to protect the rim) make up my (easily carried, levers fit up inside the frame tube) tyre changing kit. I use Bridgestone BT40s which are pretty tight to get on and off, So,,,, I prefer shorty tyre levers so that I can't put excessive force on the tyre and damage it. Adequate lubrication, technique and a little practice are the secrets to tyre fitting.(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi212.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fcc60%2Flarstorders%2FDSCF1972.jpg&hash=04821be5e7ccb47ebb75b85f6049d5415b7511bd)
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi212.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fcc60%2Flarstorders%2FDSCF1973.jpg&hash=864a47067b5f5a2da507ea182b04c97f17784d6b)
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G cramp is a nice idea. I'll try that next time.
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i just got done changing my rear bridgestone battlax with a new tire of the same.
breaking the bead was miserable, i had to put the tire on the ground and use the kickstand from one of my other bikes (in conjunction with some tire spoon manipulation) to get the bead broken.
cleaned up the rim, and most of the new tire went on fairly smoothly, although i had a hell of a time getting the inserted bead into the dish so i could do the opposite side.
that is one stiff tire. i have to change the rear brake pads before i put the tire back on, so maybe i'll do that tomorrow.
my wife asked me two or three times why i didn't take it to the local dealer. i told her i need the exercise.