I was just quoted a price from a dealer for new tires. The price is more than I can afford at this time. I do most of my own service work but have never replaced tires on a motorcycle. How hard is it to change and balance tires on spoke wheels. What tools will I need?

 

I would like to hear some good responses to this also. It seems to me that if you bought the basic hand tools you should be able to change tires yourself. I would assume that using Dyna Beads would have to be use.

Come on, I know most of you were not afraid to get the screwdrivers out and change your own bicycle tires back-in-a-day.

 

If you've got a friend or two nearby that ride go in on a HF tire changer and share it. I'd use dyna beads for balancing.

 

You can usually save quite a bit of dealer labor by removing and reinstalling the wheels on the bike.

The least expensive tools remove and reinstall the tires from the wheels are tire spoons. Protect the rim from scratches using plastic cut from bottles. Use soapy water (dish soap) as a lubricant. Basically just pry the tire off the rim (just like a bicycle).

To balance the tire you can simply use the axle or a steel rod that allows the wheel to spin freely. Do this several times marking the spot that ends on the bottom (that will be the heavy side). With spoke wheels you can get weights that attach to the spokes. (or remove the existing weights). When the wheel stops spinning at random places then it is balanced.

 

I have a one time used HF bead breaker, spoons and irons I am going to sell. Local metric shop changes and balances if I bring the wheel in for $13.00. Fought one and am sure I would get faster but looking at ATV's one day happened to ask and decided I liked that combo just fine.

 

Try this or look around on you tube, there are many videos on tire changing..............http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XArp...eature=related

 

Damn that's cheap. I change the tires on my dual sport by hand, like mentioned above, spoons and dish liquid as lube.

 

I take the wheels off myself but let a pro mount and balance. The balance is most important to me.

 

I buy my tires from Jake Wilson and take the wheel to the Indy shop and they change them for $20.00 and i use Dynabeads...At this price i can't justify buying a tire changer...

 

I just changed three tires two on my electra glide and one 160/70/17 on my 06street bob,I have been changing my own tires for 35 years or more with a home made bead breaker and nothing but tire spoons and i am here to tell you that it is a total bitch of a job and if you think you can just go ahead and do it you are very foolish i found out on this last wrest -ling match that i have become to old to continue these tire changes anymore so i have decided to save 25 dollars a month so that i can pay to have some one else do it or maybe i will still pull the wheels but have the tires spun on and off by someone with a machine,sure i saved money by purchasing my tires on line for a huge discount but when you dont have the equipment to break a bead,inflate the new tire fast enough to seal a bead your simple tire change can become an all day battle, if you choose to continue to do it yourself have plenty of patience so that when something goes wrong you can come up with practical solutions, you should have a air compressor of at least 175 psi for bead sealing or at least know the old school tricks to seal a bead and these tricks can cause bodily injury if you do not know what you are doing. The last word being i am to old to do it anymore but cheap enough to do it again any way.