Since I'm tired of paying huge amounts of money to get my tires replaced so I'd decided I'm gonna do this myself this time around.

I'd read a number of articles and watched a few youtube videos on how to do this. I looked at all sorts of 'devices' that a supposed to make removal easier. Of course there are regular 'tire tools' which which have a curved end and are essentially like a big heavy duty screwdriver. But they won't pinch your tube. And can catch the edge of your tire to pull it off the rim.

Removing the tire seems to be the toughest part. Supposedly putting a new tire on is much easier.

So how best to remove a tire?

As I was thinking about this I had an 'a ha' moment. Why the heck don't I just cut the tire off? I know there are steel belts near the tread and other tough things like that. An angle grinder with a metal cutting wheel would take care of that. Maybe just be carefull and not get too far down of a cut. Then pull out a good sharp knife and just cut the rest of the way down being careful not to scar the rim. Shoot - bet I could have the tire off in 5 minutes?

What do you guys think? Any downside to this?

 

I've bought tires online and in stores and have changed my motorcycle tires for thirty years on all my Japanese dirt bikes and a few Japanese cruisers over the years. But, on my Harley's it's another story and I've tried. The Harley tires have a lot stiffer side walls and it's a real knuckle buster breaking the bead and removing the tires from the rim using tire irons on Harley's.
I remove the wheels and tire from the bike and take the wheel with the tire still mounted along with the new tire to a shop and have them mounted and balanced, the Indy here in Lake City charges me $20 to mount and balance Harley tires. I grease the axles and bearings, check the brake pads, reinstall etc. $20 for mounting and balancing versus trying to cut the tire off, it still will be hard to remount the new tire, not to mention balancing.

 

Cutting through the bead is a son-of-bitch. I have $8000 worth of tire equipment at my shop and have only had to resort to cutting 2 tires out of well over 1000 tire changes. Cutting them off is a dirty, stinky, time consuming job but it can be done. I don't recommend it though. The belts in the bead are the hard part and you have to be super careful using a cutoff wheel that close to the lip of a wheel. A knife will get you nowhere in a hurry...

 

I order tyres for my Harleys and Buells through my local Yamaha dealer and take the wheels to them, have a coffee and joke about them being my favourite Harley dealer! I gave up fighting big tubeless tyres many years ago, they can put up quite a fight and it is easy to damage the bead of the new tyre, so they don't seal too well.

Some members have bought their own tyre changing machine, which is the better way to go if you feel the need. There are threads in here about them.

 

I was gonna change the tires myself since the loco harley dealer wanted too much. Then my friend how said he was gonna bring a motorcycle jack to me but then kept forgetting.

So called my local Honda/Yamaha dealer to ask what they charged.

So this weekend I'll be getting new tires slapped on. Only 50 buck more than if I'd done it myself and I don't have to wait for my friend to bring a jack by - yada yada.

And yeah - when I was there at the Honda Davidson dealer checking things out I mentioned how it was a hell of a lot more reasonable than the loco harley dealer. They said yeah bunches of Harley riders are now going there for the same reason. And they didn't have an 'attitude' either.

 

You need to shop around, sometimes a metric motorcycle dealer has the best price, sometimes the HD dealer, sometimes an independent shop.

Who didn`t have an attitude?

 

Tire spoons or irons. Buy a set of 2 to 3. Under 16 inches ok. Many are about 11 or 12 inches. It's hard work. I break beed w hydro jack under car over tire, next to wheel but not on it. Use spray bottle of windex or 20% murphys and water. Spray easier than a brush at pro shop where it's used all day.

Fight off difficulty is between bringing in a tuna and a swordfish. Getting tire on between swordfish and wrestling a bear. Not for everyone. More convenient for me when possible.

Practice on and off with the old tire to get the feel without ruining a new tire!

 

Even an auto shop with a rim clamp tire machine can replace the tires.

If you have tubes, make sure you do them right. Use a decent amount of talcum powder in the tire cavity when stuffing the tube. Blow the tube up only enough to make it's shape, and put it inside the powdered tire. Mount the tire as you fish the stem, then inflate the tube to about 10PSI or whatever you need to seat the beads, then deflate completely. Refill again to correct pressure, and deflate again. Fill one last time and you should be good to go.

 

The guys at the Harley shop had the attitude. Their service desk guys were having a 'conversation' while me and two other customers were waiting for them to finish. I finally interrupted and asked 'you guys gonna wanna help us out here or what' and they finally 'helped us.'

I wound up going to a place called Killeen Power Sports (Texas) which does Jap bikes but turns out they do Victory and Triumphs too.

The mechanics in the service area are actually lots of Harley riders but they work on all sorts of bikes. I talked to two them while having a smoke. Any how it was a lot cheaper.

There was also a place called 'Cycle Gear' in town that would put on a new tire and balance it for 25 per wheel if you bought the tire from them. You do have to bring the tire/wheel off the bike since they don't remove the wheels. I was going to do that but got tired (no pun intended) of waiting for my friend to bring me a jack. Cycle Gear evidently is all across the US.

And as one of the posts mentioned - some tire shops can do this kinda stuff. There was one near my house that said if I bought over the wheels that they could put on a new tire. But they weren't set up to balance it. They only wanted 25 bucks for both wheels.

Anyhow have new Michelin Commanders on my bike.

 

Harley tires have gone up a lot. Not sure if they all have. I bring the wheel in and have them put a tire on. Getting 5ire off wasn't as bad as getting new one on. Though I imagine it gets easier with experience.

I have thought about a machine.

Also need air compressor with enough ***** to pop the bead back in.