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DIY Tyre Fitting
Blog Date - 06 February 2012
There's barely a part on a motorcycle I've not removed, fixed or replaced over the years. And yet there's one big part that needs changing all too regularly that I've never done by myself. That's the tyres. I've struggled through fixing punctures in tube type tyres on smaller machines but the tubeless tyres on larger machines appear to have "Specialist Fitment" written on them.
When you see the tyre fitting machine, the white magic paste, the big levers and the hiss of the powerful compressors the whole thing screams this is not the thing you can do in a dirty shed on a rainy afternoon. Yet with age comes experience. I recently had the experience of changing the rear tyre on my 600 Fazer with the help of a friend. I knew it may be possible, but to have someone there who's done it before and to give me the confidence to do it was a huge help.
So now the front tyre was due for replacement. The sensible thing to do is remove the wheel, stick it in the car, drive it to a tyre place and get them to do it for a tenner. Instead I purchased off Ebay a large 5kg tub of white tyre paste and 50 strips of tyre weights, costing £22. Why? Because I want to learn how to do it myself.
With the wheel removed the first, and often the biggest, problem is that of breaking the bead. My mate had a purchased manual bead breaker that works a treat. I ended up with a cut piece of wood, a long metal bar and the underside of my gate to act as a fulcrum. It came as a great surprise when with a little jiggling and wobbling the tyre flopped away from the rim.
Next to remove the tyre. On steel rims like on the 125 there's no real need to worry about scratching the rims, but on the Fazer with it's mag wheels and shiny paint even I, the master of destruction, wanted to keep at least some paint intact. So I hacked off a foot of garden hose, cut it into 3 pieces, ran a Stanley knife along one side and hey presto, 3 very basic rim protectors.
Next I dug out my 2 long tyre levers. Previous experience with push bikes always told me it's much better to have 3 tyre levers, but these stupid things only seem to travel in pairs. If I ever spot a stray one I shall acquire it. Prizing off the first side of the tyre went pretty well, except for the rim protectors (bits of hose pipe) getting stuck between the tyre and the rim. Still hey ho.
The next layer was a bit more of a hassle as the rest of the tyre gets in the way. Of course getting the rim protectors (hosepipe) in is doubly difficult. I struggled and fought, taking some paint off along the way then whilst staring at the wheel in frustrated anger I moved a random muscle, twitched a stray twitch and the damn thing fell off seemingly of it's own accord.
Wahoo! As far as I was concerned at that time I was a professional and fully experienced tyre fitter. All I had to do now was get the tyre back on and that's it, my future is secure. What I did not realise is that it had already taken me over an hour to get this far.
I dug out the enormous pot of tyre paste and a random paintbrush, just like the ones they use at the tyre shop. I carefully and thoroughly cover the tyre bead and put a little on the rim just for good measure. I lay the rim down on a few strips of wood to keep the brake discs off the floor and place the tyre on the rim, making doubly, tripply and quadruply sure the direction of rotation is correct. With the merest of pressure the first beads flopped onto the rim. This is easy peasy lemon squeezy.
I assumed I could simply massage the remaining bead onto the tyre. I assumed completely wrong. Getting the first two thirds on the rim is easy, but that last third is a real bugger. Be sure, doubly sure, that the part that's on the rim is in the groove, that's what I've been told. It takes an age of fighting, changing positions and cursing before the magic moment of seeing that last piece of rubber fall behind the rim. Goddammit that was hard.
Direction of rotation...checked and correct. Where's the yellow dot? Nowhere near the blooming valve, that's for sure. No worries thought I, there's plenty of tyre past on there and the rim should slip around inside the wheel no problem. Hah! Tyre paste is designed to dry and NOT be slippy after some time. If it remained slippy the tyre would spin on the rim while riding or driving. It took another half an hour of pulling, tugging, straining and cursing before I got the dot aligned with the valve. Still, that's less time than the 3 hours I'd spent taking the tyre on and off.
Tired, hot and sweaty and wet from the rain I had a ciggie. All I needed to do next is pump up the tyre and balance it. That's the easy part. With a foot pump I started. Nothing. I pumped more furiously. Nothing. The issue is that the tyre needs pressure to force it onto the rim and create a seal between the tyre and the metal. It needs a good flow of air, enough to overcome the air escaping from the gaps. My foot pump does not have enough flow.
The tyre pump at the garage did not have enough either, I discovered to my cost after carrying the tyre up there. Neither did the electric pump that my mother has, I discovered to my cost after carrying the tyre there. I ended up using the car to bring the tyre to a place where I sometimes work and used their airline to blow the tyre onto the rim. Note to myself and anyone who's going to change their own tyres...you'll need a good flow of air.
Balancing the tyre on my DIY balancing legs was a doddle. Fitting the tyre was a doddle. Was it all worth it? I'd spent 20-odd quid on tyre paste and weights I'll only use once a year, I'd spent the best part of a day wrestling and fighting tough rubber, my shed was a mess and my hands were all battered too. All that to save a tenner. Yes, it was well worth it. I can change my own tyres now and with practice it will go a lot smoother.
Reader's Comments
Neffer said :-
You know and now I know, thanks for the comfirmation, thought I was going mad, great isn't it!
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
Ian Soady said :-
Giant scissors called for methinks.......
16/06/2018 08:36:27 UTC
Ross said :-
I was feeling quite 'pumped-up' about this comment but now I realise it's just spam I feel quite 'deflated'!
www.mobiletyresnot4us.com
16/06/2018 10:08:30 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
I'll delete the advert when I get home. I don't do too badly for spam overall.
16/06/2018 10:18:06 UTC
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