do you install your own tires?

[rob650]

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.

[Bob_Roller]

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 .

[sixfifty]

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

[Justin B.]

I have always done mine and having the Harbor Freight changer with MC attachment makes it a lot easier...

[beemer]

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!!!

[Barry]

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.

[Crossrodes]

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

[sixfifty]

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

[MrRiden]

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.

[Barry]

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.

[Justin B.]

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.

[Barry]

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.

[nhmaf]

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.

[Justin B.]

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...

[Motu]

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!