Harborfreight tire changer?

[bowa1]

Just bought the HF tire changer w/ motorcycle adaptor today, going to put some widewhites on my '06 RSV this weekend. My question ..... is there enough clearance on the HF changer to leave the brake discs on the rims or do they need to come off? I was planning on carefully working around them. I haven't taken off my wheels yet but just looking at the changer it looks like it'll be very tight fit with the rotors on the rims. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks, Larry

[Stoutman]

Hey Eric,

Yes, I have the motorcycle adapter - I don't see any way to use it without this. Point to remember: When you get it, it seems they all come with the rim clamps installed backward! You will have to pull them off and turn them around. Our rear wheel just barely fits in this thing, with the brake disk sitting right down on the support arm (or within a hair's width of it). This is not a problem, since the clamps hold everything in place and prevent any twisting or pressure on the disk. I only mention it because I initially thought it would not fit!

Goose

 

Hope this helps. Note, when I bought my tire changer the rim clamps were installed correctly. Be sure to check yours.

[BuddyRich]

Don't remember how I did mine. But you will need some rim protectors. You can get those at HF also

[bowa1]

Hope this helps. Note, when I bought my tire changer the rim clamps were installed correctly. Be sure to check yours.

Thanks, mine are on correctly but I did notice the display model's were on backwards.

[bowa1]

Don't remember how I did mine. But you will need some rim protectors. You can get those at HF also

Thanks, I bought a NoMar mount/demount bar so I won't need the rim protectors. I can see how they'd be needed without the NoMar bar though. Larry

[kbran]

Thanks, I bought a NoMar mount/demount bar so I won't need the rim protectors. I can see how they'd be needed without the NoMar bar though. Larry

I did the same thing and it sure does make a diffrence, not only the NoMar bar but the paste made a big diffrence mounting the tires, so much easeier and no scratching.

[V7Goose]

I had to remove one of the disks from the front wheel to do that tire. Good luck,

Goose

[bowa1]

I had to remove one of the disks from the front wheel to do that tire. Good luck,

Goose

Thanks Goose, I have the front one mounted, balanced and back on the bike.... did it this afternoon after I got off of work. The discs definitely needed to come off, no way were they going to fit on my changer. No big deal, just have to make sure you have a good quality torx bit to avoid mucking up the rotor bolts (real easy to do if you're not careful). This was my first tire change, it was a piece of cake with the NoMar mount/dismount bar (along with watching the video/demo). I'm headed back out to tackle the rear wheel. FWIW, when I removed the front wheel, I checked the balance of the original tire (6,000 mi. on the factory Bridgestone) and it wasn't all that close...clearly a heavy spot. Not sure if the selling dealer does this when setting up the bike or if it's straight from Yamaha..either way it's balanced correctly now!! I bought a balancer from NoMar, it works like a charm!! Thanks for the reply, Larry