K11 Owners Group

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Does anyone have experience in changing and balancing your own tires?

If so what equipment is necessary and what is the best process you have found so far?

Thanks
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2008 GS Adv
1983 Honda CB1100F, Aussie Model, Red/White
1983 Honda CBX550F, Red/White

[RAL88]

After getting a great price for tires off the internet and then paying through the nose to have them mounted and balanced I decided to do it myself. I got the tire changer and the motorcycle attachment from Harbor Freight and a tire balancer off of E-bay that I can put on my saw horses and balance the tire with. It paid for itself in three tire changes. The process is pretty straight forward though it does take some muscle and it would help if you had an extra arm but you learn how to do it with only one person. Do a seach on the net on motorcyle tire changing and you will find a lot of info.

Rich
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Rich

"If it ain't broke, take it apart and make it work better"
*************
'96' K1100LT-SE
'97' R850GS-R

[Milton]

Can't say as I'm experienced doing it, but I have done it. I personally don't think it is as hard as some people make it out to be.

Just finished installing front and rear Michelin Pilot Road 2 on my bike. Haven't ridden them as yet as there is still a bunch of work I am doing to the bike right now. Hopefully I'll be back on this weekend. But here is what I did.

Get 3 18 inch tire irons. Don't use the little 8 inchers, just not worth it.

Use a C-Clamp to break the bead. Just put the tire on a piece of wood, I used a piece of OSB board big enough to lay the wheel on, and break one bead flip it over and press the other bead off.

I purchased 2 hard plastic rim protectors, which worked really well, but you could use cardboard from an old box to protect your rims as you lever the rubber off.

Get some tire lubricant, makes the job much easier. As you are leveraging the rubber off just make sure the tires rim beads are pushed into the center part of the tire -- gives you more room on the leverage side.

Mounting is just the opposite. Just make sure the rim beads are pushed to the center of the wheel so you have enough room where you are leveraging the rubber back on. And use some type of lubricant. Some people recommend not to use soapy water as the soap can remain on the tire as residue and cause the tire to slip in the wheel under hard acceleration or hard breaking, I find that somewhat hard to believe but I can't speak from personal experience. I have used soapy water and never experienced tire to wheel slippage, but I can't say its not possible.

I did both wheels without any help. The rear was very easy and the front was a little bit more difficult.

Haven't balanced them as yet. I think I will try Dyna-beads to balance the wheels this time. I'll let you know how they work.

Good luck.

Milton S.
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Jethro Tull: Thick as a Brick!

1992 K100RS 48K. Dead for now.
1998 Triumph Tiger 43K->56K. Doin it in the dirt.
1978 Honda CB400T 32.5K. For my boys.

[abreeze]

I use the NOMAR tire changer in my shop. Its a manual system, poratble for track days, and very fast once you get the technique. The NOMAR system is very delicate on rims. NOMAR sells some basic systems, which is fine for a single bike owner. I think the whole systems go for about $1000, which is great for a shop or collector.

Tire changing is a technique....so keep that in mind, no matter how you do it.

Ive got a front tire coming for a K11RS next week, ill try to post so tech pics next week...

I do not work for or am a paid sponsor for NOMAR. disclaimer.....
http://www.nomartirechanger.com/

[John Clauss]

We have a tire changing room for my local "club". Club is in quotes becasue we are a loose group with no heirarcy other than a president when they collect the milage forms for the MOA. Anyway one of the guys owns a business and he has set up a tire changing room with a tire changing machine (human powered) a bead breaker, and a wheel balancer. Even sweeter is that when I order tires I have them delivered there, ride the bike over and home, and by the time I get home all of the slippery crap is off the tires. Membership has its benfits.

We also have a NOMAR which sits idle in the corner. Most of us agree that its an over priced piece of crap that does not work well with others. There is a technique, sure. We have watched the video, and three of our members were tutored by NOMAR people at a bike show. Its still a pice of crap for most applications. That said it works OK with my wheels. However if you have a variety of wheels a regular machine will work fine and if you are careful you will not scratch the wheels.
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1997 K1100LT
1975 R75/6

It will bring you so close to nausea, it will make you sick! - Big Al

[Rider]

I don't have too much to add to the above information. I have been swaping my own tires for years ever since I had trouble finding a shop who could mount a tubed tire without pinching the tube. The inevitable result of a pinched tube would be a flat way out somewhere and some practice using the short irons, patch kit and pump that came on the Airheads. Now, with tubeless tires I have long irons, rubber lube, a bead breaker and balancing equipment to make life more pleasant.
About all I can add is to be sure you mark the direction of rotation of your front tire before you remove it from the forks so that you can get the directional tire mounted properly and the wheel back in its original position. And when you are airing the tire the first time with good tire lube on the beads, be sure the concentric ring around the tire above the bead is the same distance from the rim all the way around the tire on both sides. If you don't get the bead fully seated you'll have a wheel that gives a jiggily ride no matter how much you balance it.
Good luck,

Ed
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2007 650 Burgman, 2003 400 Burgman


Some days you get the bear, some days the bear gets you.

[Jim]

This webpage gives a lot of info on changing tires: http://www.clarity.net/~adam/tire-changing.html

Really good balancer here: http://www.marcparnes.com/index.html

If you have the Harbor Freight changer, then you probably need one of these: http://home.comcast.net/~prestondrake/mojoweb.htm

Just checked Mitch's website - looks like he may have some Mojolevers available now. The new Mojoblocks look like a winner, too.
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Jim
1997 K1100LTSE 94,000 - still has gremlins!
1995 R100RT Classic 16,650 crashed - repaired!
1992 K75RTP 46,000

"We shall not all die, but we shall all be changed."

[Geoff]

I used to change my own tires. Now, I just pull the wheels off the bike and let a dealer handle the mounting/balancing while I wait.
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2000 R1100RT
2008 H-D Electra Glide Ultra Classic

[Off the grid]

[Scott_Anderson]

For the price of Gas now , and my closest dealer 75 miles away, I think I can buy some tools and do it myself now.

[abreeze]

[markmack]

This is a good step by step. Plan to try it someday.

How to change motorcycle tires and how to use the Harbor Freight motorcycle tire adapter without scratching the heck out of the rims.
K1200LT Tire Changing (Front)
Contributed by: Chuck Johansen
http://www.bmwlt.com/forums/articles.php?action=viewarticle&artid=7
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markmack
R100RT 1979..First road bike, spoiled me on BMW's and a touring fairing, moved had to sell.
K75C ..Spoiled me on the K motor, smooth, sold.
K1100LT 1993..Best tour bike for me.
K1200LT 2003..Happy wife..Happy life.

[red]

Thanks for all the great input and resource locations. I received my tires yesterday and will be replacing them within the week.

It was nice here for a while, but this coming week it is supposed to snow. This unfortunately is a typical spring in Calgary. The mountains are nice, but they bring snow any month of the year. They also bring Chinooks in the winter, which are real nice.
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2008 GS Adv
1983 Honda CB1100F, Aussie Model, Red/White
1983 Honda CBX550F, Red/White

[kirkkw]

In my opinion the HF tire changer is well worth the money even if you use it only as a bead breaker.

I use a long Coats tire mount/demount bar with red Coats plastic ends. The bar and ends are about $135 total. I use the bar to demount the tire and levers to mount the tire.

I make clamp adapters for the HF machine - you can see them at

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=206737&page=3&highlight=harbor+freight+tire+changer

Ken
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1996 K1100RS, 1976 CB750A, 2017 Triumph Trophy, 2020 R1250RT, 2022 RE Classic 350

[Jim]

the HF tire changer wasn't designed with any thought of ease of use, or wheel protection. Hell, it probably wasn't designed - it's probably a knock off of something else. But the price is right.

The lever that came with the HF is too short, and is metal both ends. The Mojolever is three feet long, and has nylon wheel protection both ends. If you have an HF tire changer, or are thinking of getting one, Mojolever will make the HF tire changer work with you, instead of against you. http://home.comcast.net/~prestondrake/mojoweb.htm

Mitch now has Mojoblocks. These are designed to protect rims from the jaws of the HF changer. Again, only nylon touches your wheels. http://home.comcast.net/~prestondrake/mojoblocks.htm This is a good thing - saves your wheels from a trip to Bondo - who apparently may or may not return them. We're still waiting to hear about that...

I have no financial interest in the Mojo company... I would rather buy from/support an enterprising fellow biker when I can.
_________________
Jim
1997 K1100LTSE 94,000 - still has gremlins!
1995 R100RT Classic 16,650 crashed - repaired!
1992 K75RTP 46,000

"We shall not all die, but we shall all be changed."