So I'll be buying some new tires for my laced wheels. Dealer wants lots of money so I plan on doing as much as I can by myself. Just wanted to know what route others took to replace tires and how difficult it would be to makethem run true without having all the expensive equipment.

 

Take the wheels off and take it to an indy for tire mounting. Most of the bike shops around me charge about $20-$40 for mounting and balancing if you just bring the wheels in off the bike. I've changed bike tires a number of times, and it's a pain in the ***, even worse with tubed tires, so the price for mounting is well worth it.

If you do install the tires yourself.....the tires themselfs will seat on the rim pretty well on their own, so if the rim runs true to begin with, you should be fine. Trickier part is try to get the right amount of balance weight in the right spot so you don't end up with unecesary vibration at high speed. And the real pain in the *** part, is prying the rubber over the rim withouth damaging the tube. If your just using tire spoons, I can also garauntee that you'll end up with some bloody knuckles by the time your done.

 

I have a Harbor Freight tire changer that I bought on sale for 29 bucks just to get the bead breaker. I have 3 tire spoons that I paid 5-10 bucks each and a couple of rim protectors that set me back about 5 bucks. That is my list of equipment other than a compressor and a piece of old carpet to work on.

I spoon the tires off, spoon the new ones on. I line the sidewall dot up with the valve stem for a balance method. So far that method had been working for nearly 20 years for me, because I have never had to pull a wheel and get the tire balanced due to having one end up a vibrator.

 

I ordered tires from www.motorcycleproshop.com Then, took the wheels off the bike, and found an Indy that mounted and balanced both tires for $30. Put the wheels back on, and all was good. Total cost for 2 new Metzeler tires on the bike and rolling: $235.00

 

I have been doing my own tires for almost 35 years. I have punchered a couple of tubes, but would never have a shop do it.

Check out the following website for some tips. I have used the 14" car rim method, but found a plastic milk crate is just as good

http://www.clarity.net/~adam/tire-changing-doc.html

 

Thanks for all of your input. I know of a shop a few miles away that could mount and balance I think all of your responses gave me enough confidence to tackle the rest of the job myself. Thanks for the help and I'll submit another post with pics when I get it all done.