How I do Tires

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Whiskerfish
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How I do Tires

#1

Post by Whiskerfish »

Doing your own tires can save a lot of money. Today I did a set and got some pics. The only special tools I have are 3 large tire spoons/irons I got from Harbor Freight I think.

Front tire is narrow enough to fit in my bench vice. For me that is the easiest way to break a bead. I use a hunk of 1 x lumber on the back side to support the rim and do the front then swap it around in the vice and do the other side.
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For back tires it takes a bit more ingenuity. I use my truck as the tire is too wide to fit in my vice.
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Make sure you have wood under the rim to protect it from the cement. And then when you flip it over to break the bead opposite the brake disc you have to raise it up in the air using 2 2x4's or similar to keep the disc off the cement.
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In another thread someone (Sunnbobb maybe?) mentioned using the Sun to make the rubber more pliable. Well that is an excellent point. My Garage was still cold today so I took the tires out to my sun porch and did the actual swap there. It was probably in the low 40's in the shop and near 80 on the sun porch. If it had not been a sunny day I would have placed the tires over a heat register in the house and then done the work in the living room on towels. Warming the rubber makes that much of a difference. I use a couple of pieces of old garden hose split and installed on the edges of the rim to help reduce the tool marks but I still get some. About the only real tip I have here is take small bites. 3 Irons are required in my mind.
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Next comes the balancing. I use automotive jack stands and the existing axles. Give them a spin and see where they stop. Do it several times and see if there is a pattern then add weight to the high spot till the pattern goes away. I have a small collection of weights I got from stripping my rims before taking them to the dealership for a couple of years.
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Re: How I do Tires

#2

Post by KYpondman »

I'm in the process of changing the tires on my 82. The front went fine, but the i have the rear mounted but can't get enough seal to pop it up on the beads. One part falls on the bead and the opposite part won't seal against the bead. Same problem both sides of wheel. Any suggestions? I should say I have run a strap around center of tire to expand it with no success. Let it set in the sun all afternoon and still zip.
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Re: How I do Tires

#3

Post by Roady »

Good instructions and great pics.

Thanks for that ... I need to do my own next time and you've inspired me.

This should go into ShopTalk.

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Re: How I do Tires

#4

Post by Whiskerfish »

Claude you have a PM.
"Agreement is not a requirement for Respect" CDR Michael Smith USN (Ret) 2017
"The book is wrong, this whole Conclusion is Fallacious" River Tam
2008 GL1800 IIIA "TH3DOG"
1975/6/7/8/9 Arthur Fulmer Dressed Road bike
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and a whole garage full of possibilities!!

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Re: How I do Tires

#5

Post by sunnbobb »

KY, the honda mechanic next door told me this trick. Take the tire and wheel and wrap it in a plastic bag. Set it in the sun for about 2 hours. take it out, bounce it on the ground a few times and hit it with air. If that does not work, warm the tire back up and wrap a strong rope around the circumference. Tie the good knot in the rope, insert a tire iron or hammer handle, or whatever and start twisting the rope, being careful to keep the rop centered as you slowly tighten the twist. Then hit it with air. Using either of these two methods, I have never found a tire that will not eventually seat. A flat tie down strap works pretty well rather than a rope too.
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Re: How I do Tires

#6

Post by KYpondman »

Thanks, WF and sunnbobb for the suggestions. I never thought of wrapping in plastic, I'll try that today. I tried a flat strap with no sucess so I guess I'll try the rope.
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Now the world is Weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.


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Re: How I do Tires

#7

Post by jap4lvr »

Im not saying i recommend this but it does work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSDPHjo1 ... r_embedded

If you do try it make sure you pull the valve core out. The air will cool and pull the tire back off the bead if you dont.
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Re: How I do Tires

#8

Post by tirejoe »

Take tire to someone who works on truck tires get him to use master blaster on hard to seat tire. If you was close to me I would seat the tire for you.
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Re: How I do Tires

#9

Post by KYpondman »

Thanks all! After sunday I was not feeling brave, so I took it to my local tire shop. They did the job with no charge (took about 10 minutes). The man said "no charge for air, it's free". It's now all back together.
claude
In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird.
Now the world is Weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.


RETIRED and LOVING It!!! anim-cheers1
82 GL1100 Standard (gone to Gson in Oregon) action1
84 GL1200 standard with Hondaline bags.
84 GL1200 dressed naked with everything to return to naked.(gone to Gson in Oregon) action1
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Re: How I do Tires

#10

Post by Whiskerfish »

Good guys!!

action1 action1 action1 action1 action1 action1
"Agreement is not a requirement for Respect" CDR Michael Smith USN (Ret) 2017
"The book is wrong, this whole Conclusion is Fallacious" River Tam
2008 GL1800 IIIA "TH3DOG"
1975/6/7/8/9 Arthur Fulmer Dressed Road bike
1975 Naked Noisy and Nasty in town bike
and a whole garage full of possibilities!!

Psst. oh and by the way CHANGE YOUR BELTS!!!!
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Re: How I do Tires

#11

Post by FirstYearDeek »

jap4lvr wrote:Im not saying i recommend this but it does work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSDPHjo1 ... r_embedded

If you do try it make sure you pull the valve core out. The air will cool and pull the tire back off the bead if you dont.
I showed my father-in-law how to do this on a Jeep tire when we were in Colorado. He just about pooped when I pulled out the lighter. It works fine, only for emergencies, though and it's better start with a teeny amount of starter fluid and work your way up if the bang isn't big enough to seat the bead. Obviously it's very dangerous and a good way to ruin an afternoon.

I never tried on a MC tire, though I've always had tubes so that would complicate things.

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Re: How I do Tires

#12

Post by Whiskerfish »

Recently a discussion on the main board came up and they were talking about lube to use when working on tires. For these Comstar Aluminum rims you DO NOT want to use Soap. Soap can cause extensive corrosion on Aluminum in a very short period of time. Randakk has more on the Subject here: http://www.randakks.com/TechTip62.htm

Anyway somebody mentioned Armour All Protectant. I just wanted to mention that I tried that today and it worked fantastically. I was very very pleased so it gets a full thumbs up from me tumb2 tumb2
"Agreement is not a requirement for Respect" CDR Michael Smith USN (Ret) 2017
"The book is wrong, this whole Conclusion is Fallacious" River Tam
2008 GL1800 IIIA "TH3DOG"
1975/6/7/8/9 Arthur Fulmer Dressed Road bike
1975 Naked Noisy and Nasty in town bike
and a whole garage full of possibilities!!

Psst. oh and by the way CHANGE YOUR BELTS!!!!
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Re: How I do Tires

#13

Post by cowboy450 »

If you have access to an old style bumper jack it works like a charm for breaking beads. It has to be the type with the removable base that you jack with the lug nut handle. Put the base on the tire, hook it to the bumper like you are jacking up the car and commence jacking. I know, that doesn't sound good but what can I say?
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Re: How I do Tires

#14

Post by robin1731 »

Whiskerfish wrote:Recently a discussion on the main board came up and they were talking about lube to use when working on tires. For these Comstar Aluminum rims you DO NOT want to use Soap. Soap can cause extensive corrosion on Aluminum in a very short period of time. Randakk has more on the Subject here: http://www.randakks.com/TechTip62.htm

Anyway somebody mentioned Armour All Protectant. I just wanted to mention that I tried that today and it worked fantastically. I was very very pleased so it gets a full thumbs up from me tumb2 tumb2

I've been using amour all protectant for quite some time. It does work very well. And it comes in a spray bottle so it's easy to apply. You can also buy a big bottle of it to just refill the spray bottle.
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Re: How I do Tires

#15

Post by jbcaddy »

robin1731 wrote:
Whiskerfish wrote: Anyway somebody mentioned Armour All Protectant.
I've been using amour all protectant for quite some time. It does work very well. And it comes in a spray bottle so it's easy to apply. You can also buy a big bottle of it to just refill the spray bottle.
please forgive my newbee ness. when using armour all or any similar product, make sure you do NOT put it on the tread portion of your tires. it can put you down quickly. just like the new tire coating that can be so slick when first riding on them. JB
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