Changing tires (DIY)
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 28,523
Likes: 3,953
From: Vermont
What do you guys use to seat the bead? I had a trip to hell and back and still couldn't do it. My local Mavis did it for free and they had a hard time with the front tire.
I am going to keep doing this as needed but need to figure a way to seat the tires. I tried everything under the sun with no luck.
I am going to keep doing this as needed but need to figure a way to seat the tires. I tried everything under the sun with no luck.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 4,214
Likes: 661
From: Prior Lake, MN
What do you guys use to seat the bead? I had a trip to hell and back and still couldn't do it. My local Mavis did it for free and they had a hard time with the front tire.
I am going to keep doing this as needed but need to figure a way to seat the tires. I tried everything under the sun with no luck.
I am going to keep doing this as needed but need to figure a way to seat the tires. I tried everything under the sun with no luck.
Maybe try a chuck that can lock onto the valve stem, leaving both of your hands free to wiggle the tire around on the wheel as air is pumped in.
Road Master
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 908
Likes: 117
From: Texas....6ft from the sun
Bookmarking this. Tired (pun intended) of paying indie for this. Good info on seating the bead, what about breaking one from the old tire? Another question, I have a new rear rim and the current tire on the bike has about 3000 miles on it, any drawbacks to pulling that tire and remounting it on the new wheel? And tricks to mounting stems?
Last edited by Sturgis67; Apr 17, 2019 at 09:02 AM.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 2,095
Likes: 304
From: mid Michigan
Take two 4x4's place under truck Reese edge,
Set edge of rim on them so rotor or pulley is in the middle of boards.
Jack truck up by ball under side.
Cut a angle on a two by four, make it the length to fit under Reese or bumper.
Place board along rim edge and release Jack.
Should be set up so it only moves about three inches max.
May have to rotate tire and hit it in couple spots.
Pushing with hands if needed and it should come off.
Do other side.
The vavles stem you need a tool to screw on the end to pull it threw. I'm on the same vavle stems with 128, miles on bike.
Set edge of rim on them so rotor or pulley is in the middle of boards.
Jack truck up by ball under side.
Cut a angle on a two by four, make it the length to fit under Reese or bumper.
Place board along rim edge and release Jack.
Should be set up so it only moves about three inches max.
May have to rotate tire and hit it in couple spots.
Pushing with hands if needed and it should come off.
Do other side.
The vavles stem you need a tool to screw on the end to pull it threw. I'm on the same vavle stems with 128, miles on bike.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 4,214
Likes: 661
From: Prior Lake, MN
Bookmarking this. Tired (pun intended) of paying indie for this. Good info on seating the bead, what about breaking one from the old tire? Another question, I have a new rear rim and the current tire on the bike has about 3000 miles on it, any drawbacks to pulling that tire and remounting it on the new wheel? And tricks to mounting stems?
Stems are easy. Consider installing angled metal stems- they bolt right on and are a easier to hit with an air chuck. I used the FOBO TPMS, and used their T-stems. Way easier to add air.
Standard rubber stems just pull on till their "bead" seats on the rim.
Check out YouTube, there are a lot of videos on all of these things.
Tourer
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 428
Likes: 35
From: Calgary Alberta Canada
A few more tips that have helped me. The dyna beads are always a pain to get through valve stem. I have take to putting new tire on. Popping beads. Then break bead on one side slightly , use tire spoon to move tire away from rim . I insert the dyna bead hose into rim/tire gap and let beads shoot in. Takes seconds. Then carefully remove hose (making sure no residual beads stick to rim. Add air and bead pops back in . Done. Have done 20 or so like this and works great every time. If you need a low cost balancer instead of Dyna beads (which i recommend ) you can use the axle from the wheel. Setup two jack stands. with tire sitting on axle between them. Spin tire. Mark spot on bottom where it stops. spin again. If it stops in same spot that is heavy spot (test for a few spins) . Then I usually just tape a bit of tire weight on and spin till it stops randomly. Apply weights permanently. Has worked good every time. But I still recommend Dynabeads. LOL Hope that helps.
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Road Master
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 1,172
Likes: 709
From: Indianapolis
There are plenty of bead breakers out there. I made one out of old 2x4 and about $6 in hardware from Lowe's. But, the motion pro bead breaker levers look interesting. However, I have a welder now and I'm thinking about making a new one that's more like a tire changing stand.
Tourer
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 340
Likes: 21
From: NashVegas
I ordered Motion Pro bead breaker from Revzilla. The bead breaker works great. When I picked up the 3rd bar I just ordered an extra spoon bar.
https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/...aker?rrec=true
https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/...aker?rrec=true