Mount & Balance XB Wheels at an Independent Shop?

[go cytocis]

I am sure this has been discussed in the past on a thread I can not find using the search function so I apologize if the question is redundant.

I am wondering if anybody has experience taking loose XB wheels into an independent tire shop for mount & balance?  The HD shop would have me believe that they are the only ones with the specialized adaptor to fit the XB wheel onto the tire machine.  Sounds suspicious to me.  Any real-world experiences that confirm or reject this 'advice' HD gave me would be appreciated!

Typographical errors by iPhone

 

[08levin]

Took mine in to a local shop that has free installation if you bring in the wheel loose. No mention that they needed a special tool, or maybe they had it? I I ad to guess, there is no special tool. I think HD is pulling your chain to try to get you to have them do it.

 

[rhpaw]

Yeah.. Its fine. No special HD voodoo needed.

 

[jriffe108]

Mount them up at home yourself. Break bead with spoons, just work the tire a mil at a time all the way around, it will let loose. Use Spoons to remove old tire and tie string in about 6 equally spaced spots around the new tire and she will slide right on. String must be tight enough to bring the beads together, 7/8 of the tire will slide on, use some Windex or dawn to coerce the last 1/8 on. Use #71/2 shot, 1-1.5 oz in front, 3-3.5 oz in rear for balance.

 

[anrkizm95]

do it your self

 

[Chetjay]

Nice vid!

 

[go cytocis]

Thanks for the DIY instructions jriffe & anrkizm; you overestimate my skill & patience! Haha! Years ago I used to change by own tube type tires on an old XS650 & R75/5, but as long as there are indies around that’ll do the mount and balance for a nominal fee, I think my tire-changing days are over. Although I have noticed home mounting machines becoming cheaper & cheaper. Perhaps I will give one of those a try one day.

In the meantime, thanks leven, rh, & squid for confirming that HD was wrong. What’s that saying about Lawyers, Politicians, and HD service techs?

 

[d_adams]

No-Mar tire changer, I picked mine up a few years back and it's worth it's weight and then some. I think I figured it as paying for itself within 3 full sets of tires.

 

[thrstrmech]

Great video, my local sportbike shop charges 15 bucks for each wheel/tire mounted and balance when the wheels are brought in off the bike...30 bucks later, no tax, just a labor charge, one happy customer
Handy to have the tools, if you're strapped for cash and also want to have piece of mind that's it's done right, DIY a great alternative.

 

[2004xb12s]

I just want people to know that changing a sportbike tire is NOT easy to do. Unless you have someone to show it all you will do is waste time money and probably ruin the finish on the lip of your rims. Please just take it to a shop. Cyclegear does them for $15.

 

[user_deleted]

I just want people to know that changing a sportbike tire is NOT easy to do. Unless you have someone to show it all you will do is waste time money and probably ruin the finish on the lip of your rims. Please just take it to a shop

well said, sire. the rear being 180/55-17 can be a real bitch to not only "break the beads" loose but to lever if off. not for the inexperienced to do correctly w/o scratching and gouging the rim.

 

[go cytocis]

Yup, just pulled the rear wheel and I can confirm that the bearings & hub sure don't look any different than any Japanese sport wheel I have ever seen.  Should be no problem getting it on any tire machine.

Thanks for the accurate and knowledgeable 'advice' HD :-/

 

[BuellyBagger]

I just want people to know that changing a sportbike tire is NOT easy to do. Unless you have someone to show it all you will do is waste time money and probably ruin the finish on the lip of your rims. Please just take it to a shop

or u could take it to ur local HD dealer and have them take the finish off ur wheels and then offer (to the guy who paints cars for a friggin living and has touch up paint sometimes literally coming out of his ass) touch up paint to fix the gouge in his wheel.

 

[anrkizm95]

I just want people to know that changing a sportbike tire is NOT easy to do

its pretty easy once the tire is off it takes about 15 min once you do a few for the price of having someone else do it you can buy the bead breaker,rim protectors and irons from jake wilson.my kid did his first one this summer took him an hour most of that was balancing and peeling all the tape he put on off.dyna beads takes care of the balancing and i dout he'll use tape again.

 

[snrusnak]

I agree 100% DIY. I took my wheels(truck) to a "pro" to make sure I didn't damage my wheels and got them back scrathced. Not just the bead but they ran the damn impact off the lug nut and it skipped across the face of the wheel. When I brought it up they conveniently pointed to the sign that said "not responsible for damage to wheels".

I will do it myself from now on as I spent all that money to avoid damage and it was a waste. I'll be attempting the bike tires myself in the upcoming weeks/months.

 

[netty2424]

Anrkizm, I agree that is a great video and very helpful, but they don't show the rear. The front is doable as i was able to do mine, but the rear not so much. The sidewall is so thin and that bead is so thick relative to the height of the sidewall, it's almost impossible to manipulate the tire over the wheel. I almost killed myself trying to do the rear and ended up chipping the amber off my rear wheels in several places. I used this same video as a resource.

Finally bit the bullet and took it up to the local HD, which this HD doesn't typiacally touch Buells. Told them I had a road trip the next day and they put it on.

Anrkizm, you have way more experience than most on things like this so I trust that it can be done, but I would recommend for those who don't have the experience, take it to a shop. I think I walked out the door for just under $20. I spent twice that in tools and twice that in time.

Just my experience.

 

[anrkizm95]

but the rear not so much. The sidewall is so thin and that bead is so thick relative to the height of the sidewall, it's almost impossible to manipulate the tire over the wheel.

set the tire out in the sun for a couple of hours.next time i do my rear tire i'll post a video a lot of it is knowing where to place the irons.

 

[user_deleted]

agree with you brian. all i know is i sure as hell struggle getting the old rear tire off the rim. but that's me.

 

[netty2424]

set the tire out in the sun for a couple of hours

Nice trick! That's why you got 5 stars!

 

[go cytocis]

Just returned from my favorite indie shop that does the rubber on all my other bikes with a BT021 mounted & balanced on the Buell's rear wheel for $150 CDN all in.  And without any mention from the shop about any difficulties mounting a Buell wheel on the machine.

Certainly good value in my opinion.  But hats off to those with the skill and patience to mount their own tires at home!

Typographical errors by iPhone