Changing tires

My Guzzi needs a new rear tire and being short on money I decided to attempt changing it myself.

$10 for a set of tire irons (vs $25 to mount and balance at the shop) and it only took me about 10-15 minutes to get the tire off. That was surprisingly easy!

I was expecting to struggle with it since it is a 170/60/17 radial but it wasn't hard at all.

I find the Harbor Freight manual tire changer to be very useful for self mounting tires

Good to know. How about getting the new one on?

I haven't tried that yet, It will be here on the FedEx truck tomorrow.

Judging from taking the old one off I don't foresee any problems. A spray bottle filled with soapy water to keep the tire and rim lubricated helped it slip off easily.

I only manually do tires when I am broke. And I will only do 16" tires at that. However, my friend bought a tire changer thingie because he was tired of getting ripped at the Harley dealer, so now I can go over there and change them. It's like the HF unit, but probably a bit fancier.

The important thing to remember is to have the bead in the groove of the wheel when you're trying to get that last part over the rim. That's where I always screwed up the non-16" tires.

I've only done it on spoked rims and often pinch the inner tube causing me to start all over again with a new tube.

Changing motorcycle tires is pretty easy, once you get the bead broken. I much prefer changing dirt tires mounted on dirt wheels without the stupid tubeless rim safety bead, but can do radials when I have to.

How are you planning to balance them?

Balancing is highly over rated. You can balance them by (per the HD shop manual) putting the axle in a vice, put the wheel on the axle, spin the wheel and add weights until it stops at random spots and not at the same place each time. A lot of people don't bother balancing at all. I've run tires without balancing at all and could tell no difference.

Tubed tires are harder.

I figured tubed tires would be easier. Taller, less-stiff sidewalls, etc.

I will likely balance it on the axle, I'm not too worried about it since it is the rear, I would be more concerned about balancing the front.

I got the new tire on, it was a little harder to get on than getting the old one off but not bad at all...probably 5 minutes to get it completely seated.

Next time I will invest in some better rim protectors, I used pieces cut out of a milk jug and they were a pain to position and keep in place.

Overall it was pretty easy, I could probably change the next tire in the time it takes to drive to the nearest bike shop and back (20 miles round trip).

These were the tutorials I used from youtube, breaking the bead was easy with a long 2x4 and a shorter piece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYa9EEG3rOM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNrhMUPxI3o&feature=related

I "balanced" it by putting the wheel on the axle and spinning it a few times. It stopped at a different place every time for 5-6 spins so I figured that was good enough. I'll see how it feels when I ride it.

pic of old and new tires for fun:

Easiest way to balance it is to buy some Dyna-Beads. I used 2oz. in my front tire and 3oz. in my rear tire(car tire). google them...they really work!

Just took it out for a ride, no balance issues. I put a 160 on since the wheel is a bit narrow for the 170 and it handles a bit better.

Should have done a burnout send off for the old carcass.

I'm keeping the tire on the bike now...it's worn to the cords. but, It's been from Hell to Paradise and to the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will be hanging on my garage wall by this weekend.

side note, is your new tire a Shinko Raven?

Sure is...Raven on the back and Shinko Advance on the front. So far I am very pleased with them, especially for the price.

"Static balance" (letting spin and settle on an axle) is all we ever used at my old shop. It's actually more accurate than dynamic balancing in an expensive machine; the only reason it's been pushed out of favor is because it takes a few minutes more on each tire.

I think spinning the wheel on its own axle, be it in a vice or in the swingarm, is probably a bit less accurate than a dedicated static balance rig, only because there's probably a bit more friction with the bike's axle. But if you're not feeling anything weird, I'd consider it done and not give it a second thought.