Tire Changing - First time

Joined
Sep 4, 2013
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Well, I bought a pair of Angel GT's, a Harbor Fright tire changer w/ MC attachment and a HF Lift. Bike is on the lift, rear tire is off, changer is assembled, and I was raring to go. Home made Mojo Blocks are installed and the tire is not getting any younger. First thing this AM I used my battery op impact drill to anchor the changer to a couple of RR ties I had (well, not really, just your average 6" x 9" ancient timbers about 6' long). Watched the NoMar video showing how easy this is, and set about breaking the bead loose.

I propped the tire up on doubled 2x4's so the brake disc was clear of the ties, and used the HF bead breaker that is on the base of the machine. Piece of cake! Only fly in the ointment was the tire seemed to go back to the original position when I released the pressure. Finished one side, flipped the wheel, and did the other. How easy can this be? I was on a roll.

Measured from the rim to the center (axle) hole on the wheel and then checked the tire changer. First problem. The holes for the adjustable grippers straddle the correct position to center the axle hole under the shaft on the changer. I picked the closest hole and locked them down. My mojo blocks worked surprisingly well gripping the rim as the tire slid away from where the bead was seated. The NoMar video showed a guy who must have been a professional tire changer, someone who has dismounted and mounted at least 250,000 tires. He has a tire that is about as stiff as a flaccid noodle, certainly not like my Pirelli or your PR4. When he pressed the bead down to the center of the rim it looked about as hard as petting your dog, and inserting the tire tool, well, again, easy peasy.

Second problem with the HF changer, the center rod will not go through the axle hole if the wheel is not centered. And of course, the rod is bigger than the axle just in case the wheel were centered. Fortunately, with a few kind words whispered at the changer and a few persuading taps, the arm flexed enough so that the rod's threaded end slid down into the uppermost wheel bearing. Third problem is the blessed changer is way too high for anyone shorter than Uncle Phil. Yes, I had the MC attachment screwed down all the way on the basic changer, and yes, I was standing on the ties to which the changer was mounted. Way too high. No matter how hard I pushed or muttered sweet nothings, I could not slide the tool between the bead and rim. Out came a variety of clamps. A large deep throated clamp and a wood block squeezed the tire and I was able to slide the tool in place and hook the bead over the rim. Brace against the rod and pull it around with one hand. Huh? The whole wheel was turning. Phil had told me that he used a broom handle to hold the wheel still. None of mine looked robust enough so I slid a 2x4 down between two 'spokes' of the cast wheel and commenced pulling. The tire fought back but I won. It seems so easy to recount this, but I was struggling to get the tire off the rim. The lube spray helped but it was clearly not snail snot - that oily mix used on everything to reduce friction to zero.

Hooking the second bead was a much bigger problem. I finally got the tire off the rim and was not sure at this point who was winning. My old tire was significantly softer than the new one. Panic reared its ugly head. Washed the wheel and scrubbed the inside bead seating area of the rim until it was smooth and clean as your baby's bottom. Then I carefully applied lube to the center of the rim and the appropriate places on the new tire. While taking painstaking care not to use too much or too little lube, I remembered watching a guy at a tire place slather on the goop taking as much care as a short order cook buttering toast. The NoMar guy slides the first bead over the rim without breathing hard or breaking a sweat. I resorted to clamps, a tire iron wrapped in a rag and a second tire iron inserted into a leather work glove. I was struggling here but finally got the first bead on the rim. Turned the tire so the red dot was next to the valve and double checked the tire rotation arrow and my tape on the rim. Inserted the tire tool, a yellow 'thing' to hold the bead down and prevent sliding, and tugged on the bar. It slid maybe 2/3rds of the way around and stopped. Huffing and puffing did no good. That new Angel GT dug its heels in and would not budge. Out came the tire irons, lubed them and the tire and started prying the bead onto the rim and inch a a time. Clamps helped a bit. I struggled, I swore (forget the sweet nothings or words of persuasion), I gasped for air, braced my foot against one of the arms of the changer and pulled and pulled. Gave up and smeared some more lube on every surface that contacted another - tire, rim, tire tool, tire irons, my hands, and whatever they touched over the next 10 minutes. Tried the bar again, heaving mightily. Pop! On it went. I was utterly spent.

Replaced the valve core, inflated the tire to seat the bead, check pressure and adjust it, and I was finished - in all ways I could count. I'll balance the tire tomrrow. Time to take a tree down. Easy things come last.

My mistakes: * Buying the HF tire changer - should have spent more than a thou and bought one like Uncle Phil. Let the machine sweat and huff and puff.
* Thinking this was going to be easy.
* Not initially swabbing about 15 lbs of lube on every surface within a 12' radius of the tire changer.

What went right: After it was over, the wheel sure looked sweet with a brand new tire on it.

I'm looking forward to the front wheel....about like a case of chicken pox.
 
Joined
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I've surrendered, i pull the wheel, take it with a new tire to my local, independent shop, and for $25.00 they flop it on there nifty machine and dismount, mount the new tire, and balance. It takes longer to get to the shop than it takes for the tire swap. The days of levering tires on rims for me, are over. I like the fact the rims stay nice without tool marks from slips. Chunk.
 
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Uncle Phil

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The fronts are usually a lot easier than the rears. Also, A friend of mine made me some 'helping' hands out of wood to keep the tire from reseating on the rim. But manual is manual and I've done a lot of them! I remember on one BT020 I literally jerked the HF changer out of the floor (concrete anchors) before I got that one off. And if push comes to shove, you can always use a SawZall and cut the tire off - carefully of course ... :D
 
OP
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The fronts are usually a lot easier than the rears. Also, A friend of mine made me some 'helping' hands out of wood to keep the tire from reseating on the rim. But manual is manual and I've done a lot of them! I remember on one BT020 I literally jerked the HF changer out of the floor (concrete anchors) before I got that one off. And if push comes to shove, you can always use a SawZall and cut the tire off - carefully of course ... :D
I have one and a great selection of blades. And, I'm pretty good with it. Once cut a car in half with it. (Old Volvo 122). Many many moons ago.
 

paulcb

- - - Tetelestai - - - R.I.P. - 2022/05/26
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Thanks for posting this... just reconfirms my feelings about changing tires. I do all my own service on my ST1100, but I'm more than happy to pay my local guy a few bucks to change my tires... they're just not worth the hassle to me. I wrestled a tire machine for several years at a gas station in college... figure I payed my tire dues back then.
 
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Like I said in a previous posting about tire changers, They don't make tire changers. They make exercise equipment, thinly disguised as tire changers.
P.S. I don't want to do any more VTX1800 rear tires. Lube them up, install, balance, ride. And the torque spins the tire on the rim, moving the balance point. Isn't that snot supposed to dry up after a while?
 

docw1

Bill Rankin
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I dunno. I have a HF changer and the Mojo blocks and the No-Mar bar and I can get my PR4s on and off pretty well. I will admit that the first few times were a bit tough, especially with the Bridgestones. I use liberal amounts of the No-mar lube on both the rims and the tire. I can usually pop the first bead onto the rim by hand. The second bead usually takes some persuasion. I don't seem to have much trouble getting the clamps on and the center rod in. I think you'll find it gets a bit easier as you do it more.

Bill
 
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Enjoyed your write up. Just wished you had made a video. :)
Might have been X rated for the language. And Joe would not have allowed posting that.

I dunno. I have a HF changer and the Mojo blocks and the No-Mar bar and I can get my PR4s on and off pretty well. I will admit that the first few times were a bit tough, especially with the Bridgestones. I use liberal amounts of the No-mar lube on both the rims and the tire. I can usually pop the first bead onto the rim by hand. The second bead usually takes some persuasion. I don't seem to have much trouble getting the clamps on and the center rod in. I think you'll find it gets a bit easier as you do it more. Bill
Does your center rod fit through the axle hole on the rear wheel with the wheel bearings in the wheel? Only the threaded end of the rod fit in my center hole. The rest of the rod is too large in diameter. I will probably drill new holes at the correct position for the clamps/mojo blocks. I sure hope I don't get enough practice changing tires to make this easy. At my current rate, a pair of tires every two years is more than enough.

Thanks for posting this... just reconfirms my feelings about changing tires. I do all my own service on my ST1100, but I'm more than happy to pay my local guy a few bucks to change my tires... they're just not worth the hassle to me. I wrestled a tire machine for several years at a gas station in college... figure I payed my tire dues back then.
I was too, but driving maybe 20 to 30 minutes, leaving the tire, and going back to pick it up in a couple or few days was getting old. And until now I was doing one wheel at a time. But, I have to admit that I did not push the service places to do it while I waited if I made an appointment at their convenience.
 
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I was too, but driving maybe 20 to 30 minutes, leaving the tire, and going back to pick it up in a couple or few days was getting old. And until now I was doing one wheel at a time. But, I have to admit that I did not push the service places to do it while I waited if I made an appointment at their convenience.
This is why I started changing my own. Half an hour down there, drop it off, drive home, then drive back down to get it when done. Plus, they always came up with about 10 small extra charges that raised the price 25%.

I really liked the idea of an HF changer and either buying or building a No-Mar bar, but I could not justify the expense at the rate I go through tires ( slowly). I tried the tie-wrap method, and it worked like a charm. I don't think I even broke a sweat! I made my "tire snot" from a recipe I got on here, and it worked a treat. I think the most important thing to remember when using the tie-wrap method is to leave the tire, with the tie wraps on, out in the sun, to warm and soften it. My biggest expense was the tire balancer. I just mounted a pair of tires for the Helix , and it went smoothly.
 

Mellow

Joe
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Well, let me tell you, I have the no-mar and I still cringe when someone calls and brings over a BS Battleaxe... they call them that for a reason...

I started w/HF changer and just didn't like all you had to do to get it up to par w/no-mar so I sold that and got the no-mar. I've stopped counting but have done in the neighborhood of just over 300 tire changes for myself and others, maybe more than that... and I still have issues from time to time with some tires. I've done car tires, truck tires, scooter tires... lol.. the scooters were tough.. anyway, I'm sure the HF will work fine with a few mods and some practice... you have to weigh the cost with how many times you'll actually use it... if it was just for myself I would have stuck with the HF and done those mods.
 
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I do everything with spoons and a homemade bead breaker. It's always an adventure, but it sounds like an adventure anyway, even with the "changers".
 
OP
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Well, let me tell you, I have the no-mar and I still cringe when someone calls and brings over a BS Battleaxe... they call them that for a reason...

I started w/HF changer and just didn't like all you had to do to get it up to par w/no-mar so I sold that and got the no-mar. if it was just for myself I would have stuck with the HF and done those mods.
Care to share what mods you thought of that would make the HF easier to use? Yes, I made my own mojo blocks (had a large block of nylon or hdpe from an industrial customer that used it as a guide when drawing steel wire down in size). And I bought the NoMar Bar.
 

Mellow

Joe
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Care to share what mods you thought of that would make the HF easier to use? Yes, I made my own mojo blocks (had a large block of nylon or hdpe from an industrial customer that used it as a guide when drawing steel wire down in size). And I bought the NoMar Bar.
Those are the ones I know of... since I didn't keep it long I'll have to defer to those that have one on what works best.
 

docw1

Bill Rankin
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this is the center bar I use and the settings are for the rear wheel, which I had on yesterday. The front wheel uses the next hole out. the wheels seem to fit ok.
 

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Byron

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Instead of using a broom handle to keep things from spinning use a strap around a set of spokes and one of the arms. This will leave both hands free. Remember to remove it before adding air. With practice you'll find what makes it easier for you. Be careful with the Yellow Thing, because it is solid under the coating you can apply enough force to have it bend the lip of the rim if your not careful to keep the bead in the valley when mounting.
 
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I have the "old style" HF changer with Mojo blocks, and a Wicko tire bar (the Mojo bar is a copy of this). I bet I have done least 3-4 hundred MC, scooter, ATV and car tires using this thing and there are some fundamental rules to abide by:

Be sure the thing is anchored properly.
Heat and lube are your friends.
Keep the beads in the center.
If it is too hard, either you are not doing something right or you are trying to mount or dismount a Bridgestone..
 
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:plus1: on the heat and lube are your friends :yes: and Keep the beads in the center (most folks that have trouble forget or miss this important step).
While I have spooned on Pirelli and Michelin tires with nothing more than (3) motion pro 15 inch tire irons in my garage, at my age I much prefer to remove the wheels and take them down to my local buddy and let him use the machine on it.
I'll leave the wrestling tires for the younger kids these days.
 
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Glad you won the battle. The newer harbor fright mc changer has the rectangular box section welded on rotated 90 deg. Some solid chunks of delrin cut to drop in the box section, some drill press/band saw love to shape the clamps and cross bolted them worked ok.

The center drop bar doesn't work with an ST wheel, find a beefy rod that fits.
The tire mount/demount bar is worthless, get a mojo nomar etc.
The gallon jug of liquid mounting slime, from the auto parts store, makes breaking the bead easier.
The nomar paste works better for rastling the new shoe on.
 
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