I think this question is borne out of frustration (necessity is the mother of invention sort of thing?) I went into the nearest motorcycle dealer recently (they are KTM but they have a large showroom and service centre and it's only a 2min walk from my house, how ideal would that be for MOTs and servicing eh?) and asked about them getting me a new S22 rear. After quoting me £280 without fitting!!!! I gingerly asked them 'What about fitting?'. Expecting them to say £50 or something. What they said was WORSE. Hmm, we might be able to schedule you in, maybe late August. For a f****g tyre fitting!? I walked out in disgust. To be fair they'd done the same thing to me back in May, when I dropped in and asked to book my blade in for an MOT. They said earliest they could do it was July. My MOT was due mid May... They're hardly gonna get me to be a KTM customer are they... I do like those RC8Rs they have in the showroom... but no thanks. I digress. TL;DR - does anyone on here change their own tyres (and balance them)? I have ordered an S22 from TwoTyres (£185) and I am thinking about getting a set of levers, and one of those cheap balancing stands off ebay (about £35). Tips welcome. Or advice not to bother.
My personal opinion, for what it’s worth: Assuming you’ve got access to a car or van, I’d just take the wheel and tyre to a motorcycle tyre shop and get it fitted and balanced by them with new valve and disposal of old tyre. If they want more than £20 then say no and go to another one. Don’t go to a non-motorcycle tyre fitter though as some of them haven’t got a clue about bikes.
I do my own. The gear costs a bit, but it depends how much space you have and if the convenience outweighs the hassle. Otherwise just pop to your local track day and get them fitted there.
I do my own as I got annoyed at paying over the odds and having to take time out to ride there or drive there to drop wheels off and then go back. The right kit makes it easier but once you've got the knack it's not that bad without. I break the bead with a big g-clamp, use long tyre levers, lots of washing up liquid in water and a twenty quid Warrior Wheel Balancer Kit. Done a dozen or maybe more tyres like this and never had a problem with them.
My son used to race mx and if he ever wanted me to change a tyre mid meeting it went as follows: Start in field A…… wrestle with it to field B……no contact either verbal or visual during this process…..a whaaahooo of success at removal in field C……walk back three fields to collect the new tyre, then the wrestle the poxy thing back to field A whilst trying to install the new boot . At which my boy would look at me with a knowing look and just say “ cheers dad, you owe the guy on the tyre van £45”…… Nowadays with mine….. wheels off, take them to local garage where they know I’ll give them a good tip and leave it to them to pick up laters.. Wouldn’t consider doing it myself nowadays, my tyre levers are in the bottom shelf of my tool box for good reason. Just my thoughts lol… each to their own
I tried years ago with tyre irons and swore never again. Forgetting that pain I decided to have another go. However, for the pair on my tourer I fitted them using huge cable ties, 8 of them. YouTube for technique. After warming the tires with a small fan heater I was amazed how easily they fell on the rims. Wheel balance stand finished off. I don’t think I will pay to have them fitted again unless it’s an emergency. ( I am lucky in that we have an excellent old school bike shop just down the road. ) The freedom it gives you to shop around for the best deals is liberating.
Thanks for the opinion. I would use a service, if there was one local to me, that would do it while I waited. But driving 12 miles and back in the car, twice, (and paying for the diesel) is not feasible for me.
'Local track day' Actually I'm not sure where the nearest track is... probably that one somewhere in the Cotswolds where any bike louder than a bee in a biscuit tin gets banned. I'm going to Donny in August, and it's likely that I will need to change my tyre part way through the day. I know they have a tyre service there, but not sure how much they'd charge, but it's an option. Edit: I noticed you use axle stands. Is the rod going across a coned balancing rod, or is it just the axle out of the wheel?
Happy memories eh? TBH after all the research I've done, I'm coming to the conclusion that tyre levers are the absolute worst tool for the job. The two methods that I'm interested in is the table with the long bar (like @Muffking posted above), or the zip tie method which intrigues me a lot.
Yes, I've seen the zip/cable tie method and I've just ordered a pack of 50x large ties (about 80cm, hope that's long enough).
I wouldn’t have believed the zip tie method unless I had used it myself. It’s incredible. Plenty of lubricant, as in all walks of life there’s no such thing as too much lube
I tried it once with a mate who never stopped apologising after he scratched the wheel a couple of times. It got to a point where we either laughed or cried and finally took it where I should have gone in the first place as a total practical clutz like me. I wasn't prepared to buy the right tools and learned the hard way.
I found it more sympathetic to the new tyres to work around them, gradually cinching them closed rather than going for full closure on each tie at first attempt. I think I did it with far less effort and quicker than the videos I had watched. You can read all kinds of rubbish about how it can damage tyres but if you’ve ever tried to destroy a tyre you’ll know how tough they are. I can recommend this method and as I said above I don’t see me paying a shop again. Good luck with it.
Yep I agree. I saw one video where he tightened each one fully before putting another on. I thought it would be better to tighten each one incrementally.
Quick question for you guys, once fitted do you need some serious airflow to seat the beads. My MTB has tubeless, I had to buy a special booster pump that delivers about a litre of air @160psi to seat the beads
That was one of my initial concerns. I have one of those small Stanley DIY compressor kits from Screwfix and was expecting it would need that. First though I tried my cordless makita compressor and was surprised to find it did the job with no trouble. Not sure I’d want to try doing it with a foot pump though, especially not in this heat
It's a coned balancing rod with a couple of bits with roller bearings that mount on the paddock stand. I'd happily swap to a proper balancing stand though. FWIW the same kit I have is for sale on TDR.. http://www.trackdayriders.co.uk/tdr...re-changer-plus-the-tc963-bar_topic76620.html
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/30319578...oVqmg8XSTm&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY This is the one I use, same thing rebranded sells between £40 - £120, you choose
That’s what I’ll be getting but they can be had for about 35. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234605726979
