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I have a No-Mar, and once I started using a strap to hold the wheel in place and another to hold the "Yellow" thing in place changing, tires on our Limited's were fairly easy.
Last month I went out to change the rear on my 2021 Road Glide and I fought to just get the old tire off. Then I failed to get the new tire on. Was able to take my rims it to a friend's shop and he mounted both for free.
Hated to do that since I didn't but the tires from him, but he wouldn't let me pay.
Looks like I need to start letting the shop do my tire work or find a better machine. Has anyone used a Rabaconda on a late model RG?
17" HD rim with spoke mount rotors on a Rabaconda manual tire machine. The painters tape was just to mark the abs side. Yes, I know I could figure this out via the color of the bearing.
Notice how the spoke mount rotor is contacting the frame of the Rabaconda.
Another point of view of the spoke mount rotor contacting the frame of the Rabaconda. This particular wheel also had chrome caps on the floating rotor fasteners.
17" HD rim with spoke mount rotors on a No-Mar Jr Pro manual tire machine. Plenty of room. No contact.
Another point of view of a spoke mount rotor on a No-Mar machine.
I have a No-Mar, and once I started using a strap to hold the wheel in place and another to hold the "Yellow" thing in place changing, tires on our Limited's were fairly easy.
This is a great tip! I've followed your advice and purchased (2) 1" x 4' lashing straps. This makes the tire changes easier for me also. I don't need to crank down on the Posi-Clamps and the second strap keeps the Yellow Thing tool from rotating around with the tire.
Another tip I picked up from someone on this forum relates to the drop-center of the rim. I've always made sure the tire was in the drop-center of the rim, but I was just pushing the top side of the tire into the drop-center. I never really made sure both the top and bottom of the tire was in the drop-center.
To help me maintain both the top and bottom of the tire is in the drop-center, I purchased (2) Irwin Quick Grip Heavy Duty 12" Bar Clamps, Model Number: 1964712.
Originally Posted by Vernal
Last month I went out to change the rear on my 2021 Road Glide and I fought to just get the old tire off. Then I failed to get the new tire on. Was able to take my rims it to a friend's shop and he mounted both for free.
I've never had an issue removing a tire with the No-Mar machine. Installing the new tire can be troublesome.
Originally Posted by Vernal
Looks like I need to start letting the shop do my tire work or find a better machine. Has anyone used a Rabaconda on a late model RG?
Hence why I purchased a Rabaconda. The duck head with the ratcheting system is their special sauce. I'll report back on my next tire change when I receive the new taller magnetic blocks.
Hence why I purchased a Rabaconda. The duck head with the ratcheting system is their special sauce. I'll report back on my next tire change when I receive the new taller magnetic blocks.
I totally agree with that statement.
The Rabaconda ratcheting duck head, with the No-Mar Posi-Clamps would be a winner....
17" HD rim with spoke mount rotors on a Rabaconda manual tire machine. The painters tape was just to mark the abs side. Yes, I know I could figure this out via the color of the bearing.
Notice how the spoke mount rotor is contacting the frame of the Rabaconda.
Another point of view of the spoke mount rotor contacting the frame of the Rabaconda. This particular wheel also had chrome caps on the floating rotor fasteners.
17" HD rim with spoke mount rotors on a No-Mar Jr Pro manual tire machine. Plenty of room. No contact.
Another point of view of a spoke mount rotor on a No-Mar machine.
Ahhh...that's an issue. But it seems the extended blocks will resolve that.
I have a No-Mar machine now. Looking for a pneumatic motorcycle tire machine. Eventually I will find one.
One thing I need to remember, a warm tire is much easier to get on and off with these manual machines than a cold tire. I used to use tire tools on the floor of my shop. I like my No-Mar machine.
The Rabaconda ratcheting duck head, with the No-Mar Posi-Clamps would be a winner....
Yep! I had exactly the same thought. I've even communicated this to No-Mar. They don't want to copy what another company has done and the "duck head" is a patented design. No-Mar is a stand-up American company. I haven't had the time to experiment, but I'm guessing that I could get the Rabaconda ratcheting duckhead to work on a No-Mar machine.
Originally Posted by Goose_NC
I like my No-Mar machine.
I like my No-Mar also. It does work, but it's never as easy for me as what I see in the videos and I do understand about keeping the tire in the drop-center, making room, so one can get the bead over the rim.
It's worth the effort to me. I change tires whenever I want, purchase the tires online at a discount and I'm not paying someone to scratch my rims. Plus I get to help out my friends. Win-Win!
They sent me those spacer blocks, and they cured the problem I was having.
Looks like they sent me the exact same spacer blocks. No height adjustment. It's impressive they got the spacer blocks to me so quickly, but unfortunately I'm not very impressed with these blocks.
1. I'm guessing they made a mistake and sent me 2 boxes of blocks and each box contains 2 blocks. So they sent me a total of (4) spacer blocks.
2. The quality of the Rabaconda machine and the welds seems very good to me. Unfortunately, these spacer blocks look like they had the low man on the totem pole manufacture them. Of the (4) blocks I received, only one seems to have the threaded handle align properly. A huge disappointment. I'll widen the hole with a dremel.
The spacer block.
The threaded rod/handle does not align with the hole.
Check out the weld on the nut. The nut isn't flat on the steel, hence the alignment is off.
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