Tire change success

[greenyone]

The NoMar bar. I decided to go with their bar over the Mojo bar. From what I read they are both great, but NoMar offers free replacement on the plastic tips when they wear out. Not to mention they send you a tub of tire lube and an extra set of plastic ends from the get-go.

 

[Alfatango1]

So you didn't wait until the last minute to get a new tire mounted did you? ha ha

 

[greenyone]

That's actually a bent rim and old track tire from my old wrecked CBR-F4. But yes..I generally like to get my moneys worth out of some rubber.

 

[Ebeo1]

grrenyone great write up [up] I have been contemplating getting that tire changer. Can you use the same stand to change out car tires or do you need a different one?
What do you use to balance your wheels my major hold up is my concern to correctly balance my tire.

 

[greenyone]

Ebeo1, the motorcycle attachent comes off so that you can do car tires. I've never tried it though. You can probably find some Youtube vids of people doing it.

I bought a Marc Parnes static balancer. It's basicaly just a machined rod with centering cones and bearnings on the end. It works great. You just put it through your wheel, snug up the cones and place the bearing ends on some jack stands. Then just give the wheel a spin and it should stop with the heavy spot on the bottom. So you start adding weight to the opposite side until there is no heavy spot anymore. I've heard that a good static balancer is usually more accurate than the shop spin balancers that never get calibrated.

www.marcparnes.com

 

[IYAOYAS]

Great thread! Maybe I will give this a try, I usually just carry in my wheels, but if I can save 80 bucks every time I replace tires, I am in.

 

[upthemaiden]

I'd like one of the HF setups, but I really don't have a ton of room to spare in my basement. I figure someday when they go on sale for like $40 each for the 2 pieces. I'd also like to get one of their wheel balancing stands, but $60 for a rod and a couple pieces of bent sheet metal seems a little out there. I'll wait for it to go on sale too.

Currently I just use a metal rod on 2 saw horses and let the wheel bearings do the work. I make sure to take my time and give it a couple extra spins since the wheel bearings I'm sure have more resisitance than the bearings on the stand, but before I balanced mine it still would stop in the same exact spot every time, so I know they spin easy enough to let me balance it that way. Wish I had a lathe to make some cones and just come up with something on my own!

Edit: I also like to get everything I can out of a tire. I've spent half my time riding over the past 2 days just spinning my tire on back streets just to make sure nothing goes to waste [up] Of course you've gotta make sure you leave enough to make it back home.

 

[greenyone]

I think everything was close to $300.00. I went halfsies with my bro on the equipment. So at $150 it will pay for itself in no time. Plus when you have friends who are willing to exchange cases of beer for tire changes..it's a no brainer.

 

[upthemaiden]

Got my tires on last night. 4.5 hours, a new record. Sounds like a lot but it's way better than the first time I did it. Plus it would've gone quicker had I remembered to order some rim savers when I ordered my tires. I had to take my time and be gentle.

I only took it for a spin around the block but it's amazing how much easier a bike tips into a turn when the tires are actually round.

 

[greenyone]

upthemaiden, I'm in the Pittsburgh area too, so any time you want to come over and use the tire changer let me know. Just bring beers.

 

[upthemaiden]

Awesome, I didn't know you were around! I only knew about thunderxb, 50dro, and Willie P(who'se been very quiet on here lately).

I forgot that the first hour or so was just me cleaning up the basement so I could actually get some room to work, so the whole change only took about 3.5 hours. That's a little better even.

What part of town are you from? I live in Bloomfield, grew up about 25 miles north.

 

[greenyone]

I'm in Plum Boro. Right near Oakmont. My brother is a Bueller too (in Monroeville), but I don't think he has an acct on this forum.