Mount your own tire? Can I pick your brain??

[Walküre]

Hi, just received my General Altimax 205 - 60/16. Haven't found any worthy souls willing to mount it for me, so I'm thinking about mounting it myself. I've seen that a few have, but no real good info.

If you mounted your own, can you give me any pointers, warnings, etc, etc? I've mounted car tires on car rims by hand before, and M/C tires on M/C rims before, but never C/T's on M/C rims...and I wouldn't mind learning from other's experiences and mistakes...

Thanks,

Roger

[Challenger]

I mount all my own tires on the garage floor on a carpet, Disk brake removed for prtection. (No frills) the car tires actually go on a lot easier than the MC tires. I balance by sliding axle into wheel and clamping the axle to the work bench with C clamps. spin tire and mark where it stops several times, weight it and retry, usually one beer per tire does it. I have had a couple MC tires mounted and balanced at a dealer and never got any better wear pattern or ride out of them. YMMV.

[MP]

Have you tried taking just the tire and wheel to a tire shop that does MC tires, and just tell them it is for a trike if they ask?

MP

[Valker]

I have a local car tire shop mount mine. Their machine works great on it. Takes about 30 seconds.

[Walküre]

Have you tried taking just the tire and wheel to a tire shop that does MC tires, and just tell them it is for a trike if they ask?

MP

Hmmmm....hadn't thought of that! Might try it, but I've asked just about every tire shop in town, so I might have to go "out of town", or run the risk of ridicule!  

I've pretty much decided to build my own, after driving 90 miles to HF, and them not having their tire changer in stock...I was a little pi$$ed. Ok, a LOT pi$$ed. Walked out without spending a penny.

I think I'll make one like the Tire Stripper (http://www.tirestripper.com/) - I like everything about it, other than the fact that they are sold out, and don't intend to make them anymore!! I might break down and buy a bar, but probably build that, as well. There are a few out there, to copy.

I'm fortunate, that I have a lot of machine tools - lathe, etc. I don't have a mill, but I think I can make one without it - I do have a milling attachment for my lathe, and it works on smaller stuff.

Thanks all, for the suggestions...

Oh yeah, where do you find tire irons? I tried Pep Boys, and was very surprised that they didn't have them...

R

[Smokinjoe]

I've been runnin' a car tire on my Valkyrie since 1999 at first I had trouble finding someone to mount them so I built this ...



I've since found a shop to mount and balance for $25.00 with me taking the wheel to him...It's much easier for me to just pull the wheel and take it to him however this set-up in the pic ...Worked...And I had about $35.00 in after buying ( 2 ) tire irons.

[Walküre]

Well, it started out checking a bolt or two, but ended up...well....YOU can figure it out!



Like the story about bacon and eggs for breakfast - the hen plays a big part, but the pig? He's committed!!

I'm now committed. I am getting ready to build a changer, based on Tim R's over on VRCC - he did a great job! But, in the meantime, I finally found a gent who will mount my DS C/T on my rim, and balance, for $36. I'll probably do that, as the tire changer isn't a day or two job, probably a month! But, it will surely take the edge off winter!

Here's a pic of Tim's changer:



If you are interested in a MUCH bigger copy, with a LOT more detail, you can look at it here, then "right-click and save as".

http://crbest.com/valkyrie/tim03.jpg

Thanks to Tim, for sharing his changer! And thanks to all for responses and suggestions.

R

[Walküre]

Rims are done, turned out pretty good, even if I say so myself...Now, to change the tire!!





The local dealer SAYS they have the correct valve stem...going shortly to see if that's true.

R

[Smokinjoe]

You have two Valkyrie's ?

[Walküre]

You have two Valkyrie's ?

?? I have the red and black one. Tim, who built the tire changer, owns the yeller one...

Is that what you meant?

[ValkThree]

I always mount my own tires - cars trucks lawnmowers  

Breaking the bead is the hardest thing, once that is done the rest is a slam dunk.

I just lay the wheel on the driveway and lay a 2x8x36" board on the tire up close to the rim edge. I then drive my car or truck up the ramp I just created and the bead pops.
Flip the wheel and do the other side (I leave the disk on but lay a couple 2x4 blocks under the rim so the disk does not touch the ground.

http://www.mufflerbelt.com/TireChange/tirechange.htm

Once this is done I pull the tire using a couple tire irons. Sometimes soaping the tire bead help with removal.

Install is about as easy as it gets. I soap the beads and simply push the tire on - both beads at the same time works best.
I may need to use the irons on the last 6" of bead but sometimes it will go on without even that.

Thing to note is I always use dish soap full strength as it's most slippery and free (wife buys the stuff)
I never use run flat tires so the mount up much nicer.

On a RF you may have to do the beads one at a time but still as long as you soap up the beads good it will drop right on.

I run my CT's (wing and valk) at 26 psi, so far tread life has been 50k per tire.