Tire changing hardware - recommendation?

 
Can anyone recommend any gear that would make changing my tires notably
faster, short of a full-on tire changing rig? Do those "fixtures" you set
the tire on make much of a difference?

Mike


--
Mike W.
96 XR400
99 KZ1000P
70 CT70
71 KG 100 (Hodaka-powered)

 

A powered tyre changer is a wondrous device. Makes the job incredibly
fast and easy, which is why workshops use them.

Without one, whatever you do is going to involve a certain amount of
struggle and muscle.


--
BMW K1100LT  750SS  CB400F  CD250  CB125  SL125
GAGARPHOF#30 GHPOTHUF#1 BOTAFOT#60 ANORAK#06 YTC#3
BOF#30 WUSS#5  The bells, the bells.....

 On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:15:10 +0100, chateau.murray.takethisout@dsl.pipex.com
(The Older Gentleman) wrote:


Just last night I changed the front tire on my wife's 500 Interceptor.  It took
longer to remove and replace the wheel than it did to change the tire.  From
breaking the beads to airing up the new one was probably less than 5 minutes.

You just gotta have the right stuff and know what you're doing.

I use three tire irons, a home-built bead breaker, and a Harbor Freight
motorcycle attachment just to hold the rim steady.  I used to do it on a piece
of plywood in the driveway.

http://home.earthlink.net/~jhunt1x/tires/breaker.htm

--
Jack

 The Older Gentleman wrote:

Some aren't so wondrous.  The last powered one I used tore part of the
bead off a brand-new Pirelli.  I was familiar with the machine since I'd
used it about a dozen times before.  Granted, it was designed originally
to handle car tires.  Personally, I would only use one to remove a very
old, very hard tire.  (But first I'd try the sledge-hammer technique.)
For anything in decent shape, I now do it by hand with either a portable
bead-breaker (not sure where I got it, maybe JC Whitney, maybe
MotionPro/BikeBandit that cost me about 30 bucks, basically a glorified
c-clamp but safer than a c-clamp for the rims) or a stand-up JC Whitney
bead breaker that I think I paid USD 59.95 for.  Plus some 17" irons and
rim protectors.  Strictly manual except for setting the bead on a
tubeless.

The hardest parts for me are breaking the bead and setting the bead
which is sometimes tricky even with shop air.  I find a three-gallon
compressor that I can lift with one hand works just as well as shop air.

It's a little different but I don't think much harder for a dirt tire
with a tube and lock bolts.  Only ever did one of those but didn't use a
machine at all.

With fairly new tires, once one has had some practice, I tend to
dis-believe that any struggle is necessary and certainly not much muscle.

I know a guy who changes big truck tires for a living.  He does all that
with machines and says bike and scoot tires are harder.  But you
wouldn't think so to watch him.  He's scrawny, weighs about 140 pounds
and has very skinny arms but learned hands and eyes.  He uses the shop
machines only to break and set beads.  Doesn't even use a screw-driver
in a vice like some of those guys.  Has two beautiful smooth old hand
irons.  To get a tubeless off or on, puts a little box or cushion on the
floor (not for him, for the wheel) then kneels down and works the irons.
  He looks closely at his starting position and uses both hands to feel
the shape of the tire as he manipulates it.  Sometimes he doesn't like
what he feels and just re-positions and starts over.  Of course he uses
lots of tire soap. I've seen him do the whole thing including new valve
in less than ten minutes.  The guy's an artist, but I imagine that after
a couple of hundred changes most ordinary people would start to approach
his time.

His irons are beautiful, thin and shiny, donkeys-years old.  He only
uses two.  They put the ones MotionPro makes to shame even though they
don't have as much curve at the end.  Neither he nor I know where one
could buy comparable ones today, maybe at a garage sale/flea
market/auction where the seller doesn't realize how hard good irons are
to find.

 
*************************************

***************************************

  Using my bench vise, I can break the bead on all but the "ultra
wide" tires.  I then twist the wheel inside the tire (against the
vise's grip)  to break the other side's bead.

  Your bead breaking set-up would allow me to avoid that tough second
step in my procedure.   Good job!  I like it.   If you don't mind, I'd
love to build a copy.
 I am going to build a tire changer attached to a section of 2" square
tubing, and use it mounted in the receiver of my work truck.

  Street tires are so much easier and quick to change than knobbies,
that they are almost a joy to deal with.
  I use WD40 for a tire lube.  Since it is basically naptha, it almost
completely disappears within an hour.

  I use three tire irons; two 9.5" irons and a 15" iron (to hold the
bead in the middle of the rim.)  At the correct height, I can sit on
the longer iron, while I work the bead in place with the two smaller
irons.
 To protect the wheel from the tire irons, I use generic white nylon
rim protectors. I think I got mine from Parts Unlimited when I sold
them at my shop. These rim protectors look like long wheel weights as
much as anything else. I move them around the rim as I work. They are
about $6 each.

Good Tire Changing to You.



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