X2, too easy. It may also save your bacon if you get a center tire puncture, but I've not had one so can't attest to that.

Our local HD Dealer has it in bulk and sells it as an option when customers have tires changed there too.

 

Another vote for Ride On here. Does a great job at balancing and has the puncture protection to boot!

 

Some stuff I've posted before, maybe some of it will be new to you.

None of the tires I've used the past few years had a dot. I just rotate the tire around the rim on a static balancer till I find the spot with the least out of balance, then seat the bead there. Can make an ounce or more difference in out of balance before weights, if you use those. I use stick on weights temporarily to find out how much it really needs, then I'll use a bit more than that of Dynabeads. I suspect the folks that say they don't work didn't use enough; some wheel/tire combinations can be off substantially more than the Dynabead figures for various tire sizes. You can use this method well enough just putting the tire and axle across a pair of jack stands to find the heavy spot; if you're using dyna beads or Ride On, it's not that critical.

I've found the fatter Harley 16-19" tires to be easier than skinnies, like the 21" front on my 1200C. Helps to put some wood blocks or plastic jars (like quart oil containers) in the tires for a day or two to spread them, and just sitting them out in the sunlight for a few hours can soften them.

Tire changing is a good time to at least check the bearings. I pop a plastic seal off (easy with a tiny screwdriver, press back on easy - I've never damaged one) and have a look inside. Any grit, the bearing comes out. I believe in plenty of grease, at least half full of quality synthetic grease from a major brand, not the 1.99 tubes. I've found flimsy looking plastic ball cages in wheel bearings for Harleys; I donate them to the trash barrel. I do the same check for new bearings, have found several with barely any grease, and if it's clear like Vaseline, I clean it out and use the good stuff. You can do bearings without the fancy tools, but I've done several and think my Pit Posse is worth it for how easy it makes it. It's important on Harleys to put the correct side bearing in first, that sets it up for proper disk brake to caliper alignment, not the same on all Harleys, that's check the manual time.

If you're working with tubeless, seating the bead can be a chore and require a lot of air volume delivered fast. You can get air chucks designed for maximum flow with the wheel valve out of the stem, but I just took a normal little cheap chuck, removed the valve opener, and drilled it out bigger; makes a huge difference in air flow over a standard chuck. I also have a 200psi compressor, usually don't need to do something like put a rachet strap around the tire to get a tubeless tire seated, like I've done with smaller compressors.

And finally, if you're using tubes, never re-use the old ones. Rub talcum powder (baby powder) over the tube and inside the tire before installing the tube. The rub strips for spoke wheels are cheap, get new ones. I never use rubber valve stems, either, just metal, and I get tubes with metal valve stems, too. I had an old rubber valve stem break off when I tried putting air in a bike I'd just bought, in my garage fortunately. Rubber stems flex with every acceleration and braking, and will eventually harden to the point you hit the brakes hard and the stem snaps off. Or when you're trying to put air in it...

See above for balancing. I have 3 new tires for my Ural in the garage right now, rub strips, and metal stem heavy duty tubes. The wheels have several spoke weights, taking all those off and going to use Ride On for balancing, and sealing the tubes. I didn't get Russian tubes this time, the ones that came with the bike are pretty porous and it needs air frequently; the Ride On should stop that. Check your bearings, too, those old style with separate seals can get dirty. Good news is, just clean and re-grease them, probably will be fine. And while the pusher wheel is off, it's a good time to lube your driveshaft splines, that's one of the relatively frequent maintenance points to keep a Ural running good. Those are fun machines, especially if you have small children or a dog.

 

Seeing as this is the Evo section, I'll point out that Evos have REAL wheel bearings-that is, Timken tapered roller bearings. Grease them at every tire change and they can easily last the life of the motorcycle.


I've seen the bearings that Harley uses for wheel bearings nowadays. They're about the size and strength of the wheel bearings in my bicycle.

 

My sentiments, too. You can get sealed bearing replacements for the tapered roller bearings, but... why would anyone want to? I'd rather put tapered rollers in my newer Harleys, but that wouldn't be as simple.

 

10 minutes tops!!!

 

I've talked to more than a few shops and wrenches that hate anything that comes out of tires except air. .......but then again I'm almost as old as Graham.

 

Ride On sticks to the inside of the tire and self balances. Zero mess! You can drain all the air out of a tire and change it and won't get a drop of it on you. When you look @ the tire once you take it off you'll see it formed to the inside of the tire. Doesn't make a mess or get all over you and your tools like Dyna Beads......

 

Thanks for the clarification.

 

No problem! I found out about this stuff a few years back and fell in love with it. I run it in my Harley and my sport bike. A lot of people like to lump it in with Dyna Beads but it's a completely different animal. It self balances like Dyna Beads but also protects against leaks and punctures which Dyna Beads doesn't and it doesn't make a mess. So you don't have to worry about pissing off your mechanic or getting charged extra or messing up your fancy rims.