Mounting tires... can't get bead to seat

[AlfromNH]

I just went through the same exercise today.  It took 130 psi to finally get the front tire (a Heidenau) to bead...

 

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

I forgot to mention bouncing it on the floor.

[georgesgiralt]

Ha !
You should have told us it was a Heidenau ! Boy, these tires are hard rubber ! I had a tremendous trouble mounting my front K34 last November ! I ruined two tubes ....
But fortunately, I had no trouble sitting it as I used a lot of proper tire soap (to install it in the first place...)
Glad I'm not alone ...  8-)

[Barry]

130 psi  

I think I'd chicken out long before getting to that point.  At the very least I'd be covering the wheel with blankets to absorb the explosion !

[AlfromNH]

Ha !
You should have told us it was a Heidenau !

I'm the OP, and I'm not mounting Heidenaus, I have Bridgestones.

Anyway, I tried inflating them with the valve cores removed, still no go.   I'm going to try some real tire mount lube next I guess.

Rob: I tried bouncing them, also tried a ratchet strap around the circumference. Haven't tried sunshine 'cuz I'm a few months from that being a viable option.  

[montmil]

On my 1981 R65, I dis-mounted the old and mounted the new Spitfires all by my lonesome. A bit challenging but did complete the job.

After the nicks n' scratches on my hands had healed, and the entire wasted day was a distant and unpleasant memory, I made a "note to self"... Next time we go with an indy bike shop with proper motorcycle tire mounting equipment.

The R100S' new Spitfires required a simple drop off and pickup. Done. The Triumph Trophy 900 is next in line for new shoes and those tires will be mounted the same way... painlessly.

Another upside to paying for the tire mounting is that should anything go wrong, it's on the shop's dime.

[AlfromNH]

Success! I can now say from experience that real tire lubricant works better than Windex or dish soap.

All the references to RU-Glyde said to get it at NAPA. what I saw there was a 5 gallon bucket for $65, I had a hard time rationalizing that one. A little more research, and I found it at Pep Boys in a 1 gallon jug for $12. Considering I used about 1/4 cup mounting 2 tires I guess I have a lifetime supply anyway.  

[Justin B.]

Thanks for all the suggests, guys. My tire chuck is the type with the center pin that needs to be depressed to flow air, so I can't fill the tire without the core. I'm going to get a better chuck today and try tht method.

Another note: I just noticed my rear tire is labelled "BT-45R", the front is simply "BT-45". R doesn't mean radial, does it?

The only time you may need to make sure air gets in FAST is if your are trying to get the beads to seat with no tube.  I have also had some tires take 100 PSI to seat.  You may try deflating the tire, putting some tire lube on the bead, then try seating again.

[Justin B.]

Well, that's what I get for not reading the thread all the way to the end!  RU-Glide is good stuff...

[crandall]

I spray WD40 all over it and pump up to 100psi. Then a good wash of the tyres.

[mrbuck]

For what it is worth...
     Back when I was a R&D engineer at Firestone Tire Co., it was my job to build and  test tires made from experimental materials and designs.  This required me to test ride hundreds of tires over the years so I spent a lot of time at the Firestone garage having my test tires mounted.
     First and  foremost, the tires  were mounted but not inflated and placed in a steel cage to be inflated with a remote air hose that attached to the valve stem while the technicians moved away to a safe spot to inflate the tire which was bias ply and were only inflated to 26 psi. The material used to facilitate the bead seating was Murphy's soap which I believe is still available.  
     The general wisdom of the tire engineers was that when a tire is inflated over 80 psi  IT BECAME A BOMB!  thus the steel gage.  One of our indoor test labs was completely destroyed when an aircraft tire on a simulated landing test at approx. 125 psi exploded and took out a concrete block wall which was replaced by bridge grating with explosion pads to reduce the concussion of any future sudden deflation.

Just saying, fellows.  Be careful.