Mounting & balancing tires yourself: Difference between revisions

'''BrianM, making it look easy (and it is...)'''

====Preparation====

'''Note:''' See links to other articles at the bottom of the page.

*tire lube (DO NOT USE DISH SOAP)   

Not shown, above, is the valve core tool. I like 11" tire irons personally, as they're just long enough to forgive sloppy technique, but not long enough to give enough leverage to easily bend a rim. Note, I do NOT use tire lube of any sort as I don't find it necessary. But, it does make the task a bit easier... so if you're going that route, buy some purpose-made tire lube. Don't try to make due with something, and '''DO NOT''' use dish soap and water, as that stuff can, and will, eat at the tire. It's designed to attack grease (oil), and tires are a petroleum product. I've seen a few nasty looking tires that had gooey, melty rubber from dish soap.  

====Removing the wheel====

*[[Supporting Your Bike While Servicing|Support the bike]]. Do one wheel at a time for better bike stability.

At this point, if you bought the tire from the bike shop, you can take it there to change; they'll probably charge you 20-30 bucks to replace.  

====Removing the old tire====

This is so you can break the bead. I'm using the [http://www.ibmwr.org/otech/beadbreaker.html 2x4 method]. It's cheap, easy and works well.  

Other methods of bead breaking include using a car jack, C-clamps, and [http://media.putfile.com/tyre-change running over the bead] with a car. The 2x4 method works best, if you have somewhere you can do it.  

Once you get the tire started off the rim, you can usually just push it the rest of the way toward the rim center. Turn the rim over and repeat on the second side.  

To remove the tire, you need to push the ''Opposite side'' (still on the top, just on the other side of the tire than the one you're currently working on) of the tire into the Drop Center of the rim. This is the narrow part of the rim in the middle, before it steps up to the bead. Doing this allows the tire to shift enough for the bead to slip off with the tire iron. If you leave the opposite side up on the bead seat part of the rim it will be much harder to remove the tire, and much easier to cause damage to your wheel. Once you have the first bit over, it's just a matter of repeating the process with the other irons. Make sure you don't try to take too big of a bite, as this is where you get into trouble wanting to use extra strength, and the rim will bend.  

After you make it about half-way around, you should be able to just pull the bead off the rest of the way with your hand.  

Now for the second bead. Working from the ''Same Side'' as before, with 1 tire iron, you should be able to put it all the way through...  

Push down firmly...  

And pull the tire off with your hand...  

[[Image:mount balance 11.JPG|150px]]

====Inspecting rims and new tires====

At this point, I like to clean up the rim, inside and out. Mine happened to have what seemed like some sort of glue on the inside. It took some strong solvents to get this stuff off. You want to make sure the seat area (which is the Flat landing just off the edge of the rim, on the inside) is clean and fairly nick/ding free. Bends, dings, nicks or junk in there can contribute to a slow leak... and who wants to deal with that? You should also check the wheel bearings by just putting a finger in them and spinning... they should rotate smoothly and easily, without any gritty feeling. If they feel gritty, it's time to [[Replacing the wheel bearings|replace them]] before riding again.  

The valve stem itself is also something you should inspect. Bend it and look for cracks anywhere in the surface, but mostly right where it gets narrow to go back through the rim. It's easy to change right now, and more work if it fails when you don't need to change the tire. Replacing it is simple: just cut off the old, use the core removal tool to screw onto the stem, and pull it through from the inside of the rim until it seats. Get the shortest one you can find. Angled ones are a bad idea (need to be replaced more often) and I'm not a fan of the screw-together metal stems, mostly because they can be a PITA to get to fit correctly, and to remove later when they eventually fail. I tend to just change mine every 3 or 4 sets of tires. The stem is the same standard size as those used by cars. You should be able to get one at any tire retailer. They may just give it to you. Tireflies and other heavy caps will lead to premature stem failure. ''If you run anything but plastic caps, you'll likely be doing replacements a lot sooner.''

I also like to check the static balance of just the rim, as the valve stem never seems to be the heavy point any more. I do this on the cheap, with the axle and a couple of jack stands. You can spend lots more money to do the same thing and never feel a difference. Don't spin the wheel, that'll just take more time to slow down. Instead, rotate the wheel 90* and let go. Do this a couple times, and the heavy spot will always fall. If there isn't a heavy spot, then it won't rotate from where you let go.  

[[Image:mount balance 12.JPG|150px]] 

It's important to note that tires are directional, due to how they're constructed. The arrow is plainly shown on the side of the tire, like this (to the left)  

Also notice the DOT code. It's a 4 digit code that lists the week and the year the tire was made. Mine is 3205, so the 32nd week of 2005. More than 3~4 years old, and tires start to go 'off', get hard and aren't any fun to ride on (worse than the stock Dunrocks on the 250!) You should also look for a round dot, about the size of a dime, on the tire. This is an indicator of the lightest spot on the tire from the manufacturer, though not all brands have this (my Avon did not)... you'll want to line this up with the Heaviest spot on the rim that you noted earlier.  

====Mounting the new tire====

When it comes time to put the new tire on, you should be able to just walk the first bead over the rim without any tools other than your body weight. Though, if needed, you can use a rim protector, tire lube, and tire iron to help, as I needed here:  

Then push the first bead into the center of the rim, put some lube on the bead that is still outside the rim, and slowly work the tire on with your irons... It is important that you put the bead that is already all the way on the rim into the center of the rim (the deepest part), and not against the side of the rim on the far side. This will give your tire more slack, and will make it less likely that you'll have to bust your fingers trying to get the second bead on.  

There are no pictures of this process, as it's impossible to stop without having the tire work its way off the rim. Here's Leon to give you a good idea of how it works. Keep your knees on the part that's already on the rim, the first bead in the low center part of the rim, work your way around with your tire irons, and it should only be difficult the last little bit.

With the tire on the rim, it's time to seat the bead with an air compressor. Those cheaper units that just provide an on-demand supply (often in blue boxes at gas stations), do NOT have enough oomph to do the job. You need a good source of air, but that's usually easy to get ahold of at any sort of shop doing any sort of work, or (my favorite), the old time gas station/garage. They always have good air.   

 

One tip, if the above methods don't work, is to use a ratcheting tiedown wrapped all the way around the tire and compress the tire down into the rim (this will force the beads towards the lips). Then you can seat the beads with air, as usual.  

You'll then want to look for an even ring all the way around the rim, on the tire (there's usually some rings molded into the tire to make this task simple). If it's not even all the way around, the bead is not fully seated. Now, put the core back in the valve stem and fill the tire up. I usually go over what I normally run until I get it back on the bike. Always easier to let some out than to add some back.

And it's time for a final static balance, the same way as before:

[[Image:mount balance 15.JPG|150px]]

You'll most likely need some weight to balance everything up. There are 2 main kinds of weights: clamp on and stick on:

[[Image:mount balance 16.JPG|150px]] 

Static balancing is good enough for professional roadracers, so it's certainly good enough for the average street rider. If you feel better having your wheels dynamically balanced by a machine, you can take it in to a shop and pay for that peace of mind.  The primary advantage of the balancing machines seems to be that they're faster -- static balancing can take a while (5-20 minutes per tire) to do correctly.

[[Image:mount balance 17.JPG|150px]]

And with that, you're done mounting and balancing. Time to just put the tire back on the bike and go for a ride. I hope this helps some folks who are interested in saving the rather stiff prices charged for mounting tires. You can easily buy all the tools needed for less than what it'll cost to have a shop do the tires for you.

====Reattaching the wheel====

Now reinstall the wheel (exact reverse of above). Be sure to use a new cotter pin. Be sure to reattach the brake and use the [[Torque Values|proper torque]] on everything. If the rear wheel gives you trouble, try this:

Sit on the ground behind the bike. Hold the wheel up with your left hand, or your feet, and feed the axle in with your right. When it starts to hang up (and it almost always does), tap (not whack! just tap) the head of the bolt with a hammer while moving the wheel up and down a little with your left hand.

====Links====

[[Hints & Tips: Tire Changing|Hints & Tips:]] tire changing

An in-depth article from [http://www.clarity.net/~adam/tire-changing.html clarity.net].

This is a [http://www.webbikeworld.com/t2/bead-breaker/motorcycle-tire-bead-breaker.htm DIY Bead Breaker.]

[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8635543758286799977&q=tire+change This one] is on a tubed tire. It's slightly different. Also, he obviously doesn't care what his rims look like... heh.