does anyone here mount and balance their own tires? (2009)

faced w/ the prospect of spending 70 dollars to have 2 tires mounted i googled up motorcycle tire mounting. some ingenious methods like squeezing the beads together w/ lashing straps at 6 points equidistant around the circumference of the tire enables you to easily slip it over the rim.

do motorcycle tires require dynamic balancing or is just finding the heavy spot and balancing opposite good enough?

just wondering if anybody did this themselves. thanx, rick

hi rick,ive always done it myself, even car tyeres,all you need is a bit of soapy water and 2 good tyer levers, you can get 3 quartes of the tyer on by hand before inserting the levers, the trick is not to insert the levers in too far or you will pinch the tube, as for balancing you are right , just find the heavy spot(usually the tube valve area)and add weights opposite, you need free spinning wheels, when the wheel stops in any position its balanced ,i hope i explained this ok

I think tubes were more resilient when I was younger. I put the tire and wheel on my shop garbage can to get it up where I can work on it. Usually after only pinching the tube once I can get it to work. You can balance the wheel on the fork, when it comes up at a different place every time when spun it is about right. If you have no other weights I have pretty good luck wrapping a piece of solder around a spoke, I touch the end with a soldering iron to keep them on. I'm sure this would not do for racing.

I have begun to do so in the recent past, and have had good results balancing with a static balancer.

Lot cheaper and more convenient, plus I know the job is done right using NEW tubes, etc.

I have mounted several sets of tires myself. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. You need a good set of tire levers and some pieces of plastic (I cut them from plastic bottles) to protect your rims from the levers. In order to balance, you need to get yourself a balancing stand or make one yourself. I made one out of scraps of wood that works quite well. You will need to get yourself an assortment of wheel weights, either the old style that crimp on the spokes or the newer style that stick on your rims.

There was an interesting thread over on the Hinckley Triumph Triples site about these beads that you pour into the tire or tube that basically balance your wheels dynamically while you drive. Does anyone here have experience with them?

Usually after only pinching the tube once I can get it to work.

Click to expand...

I had the same issues until I was told to inflate the tube before levering the second bead. I haven't pinched a tube since. (knock on wood). I inflate the tube so there are no wrinkles and the tube seats neatly inside the tire. This makes it nearly impossible to pinch the tube.

I use my truing jig to balance and stick on weights. Be sure to check the tire for a dot for the heavy side and place that opposite the valve stem.

I've read a LOT about Dyna Beads and the like. There seem to be two diametrically opposed camps, those who swear by them and those who don't believe they work.

I am a member of the latter camp.

I tried the DynaBeads on a BMW airhead. They worked great up to about 70 mph. At 75 it would nearly throw you off. I e-mailed the company and they said to add more beads because it was a BMW. That got it to about 80 before it would start bouncing badly. I changed back to weights. I took the tube from the front on the beemer and put it on the rear of the MKIII. At about 55 the rear tire was jumping up and down and made me scared to go faster. I took them out and threw them away. I might try them again on a tractor but not a motorcycle!

I do them myself, not really, I now need a friend to help me. I have some nice tire spoons from my AC car days. I agree about having the thing up high to work on. My back already hurts. I also do it on the trash can. Some times, most times, the final bead is a real challenge to get on. The trick is to get the opposing beads to drop into the drop center of the rim. The last one I did I used some glycerine I had to lube up the beads. Wow. Makes soapy water a thing of the past. Ten times easier to get on. Get some and try it. You can also make your own tire/rubber dressing with it if you know the secret formula. Send a sas envelope and $10 for the recipe. Only kidding.

I don't have as much trouble getting the beads on as I do with the tubes. I usually have been adding air and letting it back out, next time I'll try leaving some air in. About how much do you put in?
I used to do this stuff when I was a kid and I don't recall as much trouble with pinching tubes as I've had lately, seems like I've forgotten part of the skill.

Cookie said:

I don't have as much trouble getting the beads on as I do with the tubes. I usually have been adding air and letting it back out, next time I'll try leaving some air in. About how much do you put in?

Click to expand...

I've replaced tubes and fitted every new tyre (including tubeless) on every bike I've owned over the last 36 years (plus a few more to bikes I didn't own) as I normally ride just about every day, so I've got through quite a few tyres over more than a quarter million miles or so, at around 10,000 miles life for a front tyre and 5,000 miles for the rear for me, on average.

Personally I would never want to try to fit a tyre with the wheel high up off the ground?

I would always lay the wheel and tyre on top of another old tyre on the floor, with the part of the wheel/tyre that is being worked on hung over the edge of the supporting old tyre, as that leaves both hands free to do the work, you can then kneel on each side of the tyre, which helps to keep it inside the rim as you work it on with the levers.

To avoid pinching the tube, inflate it slightly so that it just assumes its shape, as that helps to stop the tube being folded over itself by a lever, which is why the tube gets pinched. Don't push the levers further in between the tyre and rim than is absolutely necessary, and with the wheel laying flat, don't pull/push the levers much past the vertical position, if the levers are heaved all the way over until they are nearly horizontal, then there's much more chance of them pinching the tube.

I picked up a used Harbor Freight tire changer from Craigslist a bit ago. I haven't modified it or bought the better lever yet.

There's a bunch of info on how to mod the changer to make it better (just like all HF stuff).

http://www.pbase.com/fredharmon/tirechange

One thing I miss is the good levers I used to have. I've been using some cheap Chinese made ones and I had to file the edges because they are sharp. Perhaps a decent set of levers would also make some difference.

K81's on Dunlop steel rims are easy to change! Modern sportbike tires are another matter altogether. I take those to the shop.

I used to use soapy water as tire mounting lube, but it's not a good idea as the water will rust out the rim and spokes. You can buy real tire mounting lube at NAPA, or use WD40 like I do now (a tip from another forum - works great).

Debby

Cookie said:

One thing I miss is the good levers I used to have. I've been using some cheap Chinese made ones and I had to file the edges because they are sharp. Perhaps a decent set of levers would also make some difference.

Click to expand...

I got a pair from HF and they are some 20in long. Plenty of leverage but it helps to smooth them.

I change and balance my tires.

Like others here have said, tube tires on steel rims are pretty easy to mount and dismount. Since I change tires on my Triumph pretty regularly, I made up a tire mounting stand and bought a Marc Parnes tire balancer. The balancer works well on the Norton rims, too.

Here's a pic of the stand, back when I was beginning disassembly of the rear wheel for re-lacing:


Here's a pic of the balancer on the same wheel while truing it:


The tire stand is just a junk car rim screwed to a 5 gallon bucket, with a split garden hose on the rim edge. Really works well for the modern 17 inch bike rims, but handles the 19 inch ok.

If you do a web search, you can find pretty detailed step-by-step instructions for mounting and balancing tires, with pics.

I used to struggle with the second bead until my buddy pointed out I was doing it all wrong, trying to get the second bead over the same rim. The proper way is to get it over the other rim. The wheel is then captured between the two beads. Turn the wheel 90 degrees out of the plane of the tire and it pops out. Reverse the process to install the new tire.

Another buddy build a bead breaking press out of scrap hinges and 2X4. It is screwed to the wall over his workbench. It lets you work standing up and gives 8:1 leverage.

Dishwashing liquid is an excellent lubricant for installing a new tire.

Static balancing is perfect for motorcycle tires. Dynamic is only needed for tires with significant width like car tires. Clamp the axle horizontally in a vice and slip the wheel on it so it spins freely. Slowly spin the wheel and let it come to a stop. Mark the low point with chalk. Repeat a bunch of times. You should get chalk marks close together to mark the heavy point. Wind a length of plumbing solder around the opposite spoke. Repeat the spinning and marking. Nibble the solder with nippers or add more until the chalk marks are randomly scattered around the tire. Take the pieces of solder off the spoke and replace with a single piece the same length. Touch the coil with a soldering iron to weld it together so it can't unwind. The last step is likely unnecessary. I've done this for a half a century without losing a weight on dirt or pavement.

New tires are a slippery as goose poo from the mold release compound. This will put you down on the first corner. And it doesn't wear off until you do go around a corner. Catch 22 if there ever was one. Some bike stores make you sign a release and tell you to "take it easy for the first week" or some such nonsense. Pick 1 of 3 cures:

1) Wipe the tread with acetone

2) drive on a gravel road before you try a corner

3) take a belt sander to the tread. This is my favorite. Put the bike on the center stand so the new tire can spin. Hold the belt sander against the tread at 45 degrees so the tire spins and scuffs at the same time. This is an opportunity to create some real bad-ass "chicken strips" to impress the crotch rocket owners at Starbucks.

manxman said:

Dishwashing liquid is an excellent lubricant for installing a new tire.

Click to expand...

Its a zombie thread from 2009

They add salt to detergent to thicken it, so when the washing up liquid dries it leaves a salt deposit perfect for promoting rust, other dedicated rubber tyre lubricants work as well and no salt.

I know "Dishwasher Salt" is used to regenerate the water softener in dishwashers but using salt as "thickener" for dishwashing liquid? That doesn't made sense in my chemistry training. But the story would work well to sell special tire lubricants.

No, came from my Chemistry A level course.

https://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Science/Question422885.html