How to change and balance rear tire

Great write up...however, at the age of 15 my father made me do a complete tire change by hand on my firebird. I had to break the old tires off.....and get the new ones on, then take them to get balanced and put the tires back on the car. :nono: ya screw that.....if a tire needs changing, I'll take the wheel off and off to the shop we go. 20 bucks to swap off the tire and balance the wheel....is 20 bucks WELL spent.:biggrin:

 

I admire self sufficiency. If you have the skills, & time go for it. I change my own dirt bike tires, but I don't know if I will tackle my VFR tires. Hopefully my shop will do a clean job.

 

Same here. No BS, I've changed dozens and dozens of dirt bike tires. Got so fast at it that I would even flip my back tire (hooks up like a brand new one) after Saturday's MX, GP to get ready for Sunday's H&H, H.S., E.S. etc...
First time I changed a street bike tire, (Honda '78 750ss) WTF, bloody knuckles, took forever... getting off and putting back on. Royal pain in the ass. Nowa-days I'm the guy that will come over, drink your beer and help (laugh at) you do yours but I'll take mine in.

 

Failed attempt at mounting a rear tire on my '07

+1 on that. I figured since some folks in here acted like putting on a tire wasn't a big deal, and was fairly simple with a few simple tools, I'd give it a try against my better sense and that of many rider friends of mine. Note the word 'try'.

Everything went OK until I got to the point where I had to get the second lip of the tire over the rim. Perhaps the tires I am putting on are extra tight/stiff (BT-021's) but there was absolutely no way that I could do it by myself because I couldn't keep one edge of the tire from slipping off as I worked on the other edge. Not enough hands. Worked on it for a couple of hours. Called my brother over for help and he and I tried for another hour. Couldn't get that last 12-14 inches over the rim. Reviewed all the instructions I've found on the web to make sure I wasn't missing some little trick, but from what I can tell I'm not. I also thought that maybe I got the wrong size tire, so I checked that, again, but I did indeed.

I'm heading to Cycle Gear tomorrow morning to have them finish it for me. I'm sure glad I didn't spend 100 bucks on a tire-balancing tool.....

So, my advice to anyone who hasn't done this before is to, at the very most, take off your own wheels and remove the old tires. That part isn't too bad. Going the extra step and mounting the new tire, at least in my recent experience, can be very difficult if not impossible without better tools and some help.

Its worth every bit of 25-35 bucks to have someone else with the right tools do it for you in 10 minutes while you wait in my opinion. A lot of shops, like Cycle Gear here in Little Rock, will mount and balance your tires for free if you buy the tires from them. Thats what I'll be doing on my next set.

Regards,
H.C.D.

 

Let me share me experience with the last time I had tires mounted by the dealer....

So I'm currently 1k miles away from home so I only have a limited amount of tools in my trailer, enough to do oil changes and some other light maintenance(this was on my previous bike with no center stand)....I rode the bike in with my new tires strapped to the back....i wait a couple hours and ride away. Its about 30 miles home but I ride about 100 just to get used to the new rubber. Towards the end I start to get more comfortable and push it a tiny bit. When I get home I decide to check their work. Man is the chain tight, i was pissed. So I go to the trailer get out the tools and remove the cotter pin in the axle. As soon as the wrench touches the nut it begins to turn.. THEY DIDNT TIGHTEN MY REAR AXLE!!!!....so yea i am very hesitant to let anyone work on my bikes ever. When I'm home I do all maintenance on my own, here tire changes are a little tough though I think I found someone with the tools to help me.

So it might not be worth the money to have it done.

 

Yes, you need to be sure that the shop you go to does decent work. Lots of guys here use the local Cycle Gear and I've never heard of any problems. I'll probably take my own wheels off and remove the old tires in the future, and just let them mount and balance the new tires. That way I make sure all the lug bolts, axle nuts, etc, are properly torqued.

Regards,
H.C.D.