Just mounted Michelin commander II's on the dyna and what a pita doing it manually by yourself. Anyway finally got em mounted but the sides are kinda close together and not seating when trying to inflate. I've tried ratchet straps on center of tire to push side walls out but no luck so far.

Anyone else have this issue and how did you fix it? Thanks

 

 

Personally I've used a 3/8ths inch to half inch rope and a hammer. Cinch the rope tight around the tire and hammer's handle, then twist the hammer until the tire conforms to the rim. A ratchet strap may be too wide and they don't cinch as far as you need.

 

Put a tube in them before you mount them. Air it up and let sit for a day in the sun and the side wall will be further apart instead of squished into the middle then mount them.

 

Changed many tires myself either because I had to or for a while could not afford to pay someone with the right equipment . No fun some time . Try it when it is real cold. Now I let them do it. For many years father in law insisted we did the farm tires our self also that was fun.
I do not recommend the either trick.

 

have you got tire lube in the drop center of the rim and on the rib of the tire ?? Have you cleaned any of the old tire lube reissue off the bead seat of the rim.?? Michelin can be a bear to mount.

 

I know it's common sense, but do you have the valve core removed? I've seen a lot of people try to seat the bead with the valve core still installed.

pretty sure you're talking about 'ether'. in the military, at my first duty station, I was helping change a tire on a piece of heavy equipment. the tire was taller than me. split ring type. the sgt was having all kinds of problems getting the bead to seat. tried ether a couple of times, but never quite got the 'woomf' blast needed. so he used more. a little too much. the split ring came off and ended up going through the roof of the building. luckily, no one got hurt. it was a couple of years later that they started mandating tire cages.

 

exactly! and a cargo strap or something wrapped tight around the center with plenty of soap and water in the bead are-like stated.
use a real air compressor that blows air in , not a contractors pissor.

 

I had a hell of a time seating Commanders on my CVO touring rim for some reason, I had to go to the tire shop and let 5hem use the blast tank as mentioned. It is very frustraying. Good luck

 

cargo strap placed like this