No Mar tire changer

I sure like the looks of this thing but don't have $900.00 to spend on it. I do have the cheap Harbor Freight model that I have never used. I think I've bought tires 3 times since getting it and always end up getting lazy and taking the rims to a local shop to have them mounted. Part of the problem is that I haven't take the time to bolt down the changer. I really like this hitch mount setup and may look at building some sort of adapter like that for mine.

http://www.webbikeworld.com/Motorcycle-tires/motorcycle-tire-changer/

A friend and I bought the HF tire changer, going to save some serious $$ by changing our own tires.......riiiiiiight!

We changed a rear tire on a 1500 Gold Wing. Took the two of us an hour to get it changed and balanced, and that's not counting dismounting and remounting the wheel. Those tire sidewalls are some pretty stiff material!

Next, we took on a rear tire on a friend's Kawasaki Vulcan 2000. You know, one of those super wide rear tires...that was an impossibility. We gave up after an hour. The three of us together couldn't get the old one off. So, we took it to a local independent repair shop. He has a pneumatic changer built just for mc tires. Took him about 10 minutes to change and balance it. And he charged $20. So, guess who does all my changing now?

The HF changer gathers dust in the corner. I figure that an hours worth of struggle for 2 guys isn't worth saving $20.

That's kind of been my thought also. Heck...I bought this thing but every time I get ready to install new tires, I end up taking the rims to the local Honda shop. They charge me $25.00 per wheel to mount and balance and I figure that is reasonable enough and saves me a LOT of time and effort.

I have the Harbor Freight tire changer with the motorcycle attachment... I use it all the time and haven't had any tire I can't change,.. dirt bikes, atv's and street bikes... they all come off and go back on pretty easily. There are a couple things you can do to make life easier though...

I bolt the stand to a 2'x4' piece of plywood so it doesn't fall over

breaking the bead is simple using the bead breaker (except on ATV tires,.. PIA)

use slick'm or some slippery agent to help the bar spin the tire off.

Those are the simple tasks... installing tires requires bit more technique.

Look for the dot and line it up with the valve stem.. note orientation of the tire.

Lube it good and spin the bottom of the tire on fully... do the same for the top of the tire.

Learn what end of the bar to use for each specific task.

Use of clamps to keep the tire beads off the outer edges of the rim make the tire go on easy.

I've saved hundreds of dollars changing tires myself and always take the time to check brakes and clean components while I have things apart. Also torque everything back up. I don't get a good feeling a shop monkey takes the time to check anything...

For balancing I bought a balancer from http://www.marcparnes.com now I don't have to pay MSRP for tires, or pay shop rates to have them mounted and balanced. Dealers and small shops seem to like to slaughter us on pricing for tires and service...

My only problem with doing tire changes is I need to keep my mouth shut as I have people asking me to do theirs...

I have the Harbor Freight tire changer with the motorcycle attachment... I use it all the time and haven't had any tire I can't change,.. dirt bikes, atv's and street bikes... they all come off and go back on pretty easily. There are a couple things you can do to make life easier though...

I bolt the stand to a 2'x4' piece of plywood so it doesn't fall over

breaking the bead is simple using the bead breaker (except on ATV tires,.. PIA)

use slick'm or some slippery agent to help the bar spin the tire off.

Those are the simple tasks... installing tires requires bit more technique.

Look for the dot and line it up with the valve stem.. note orientation of the tire.

Lube it good and spin the bottom of the tire on fully... do the same for the top of the tire.

Learn what end of the bar to use for each specific task.

Use of clamps to keep the tire beads off the outer edges of the rim make the tire go on easy.

 

I've saved hundreds of dollars changing tires myself and always take the time to check brakes and clean components while I have things apart. Also torque everything back up. I don't get a good feeling a shop monkey takes the time to check anything...

 

For balancing I bought a balancer from Marc Pane (spelling?) now I don't have to pay MSRP for tires, or pay shop rates to have them mounted and balanced. Dealers and small shops seem to like to slaughter us on pricing for tires and service...

 

My only problem with doing tire changes is I need to keep my mouth shut as I have people asking me to do theirs...

You're a better man than I am....I'll pay my local guy the $20 for mount and balance. I do all the checks and maintenance on my bike while the wheel is off because I feel a lot like you do when it comes to someone else "doing it all right". I just have more peace of mind knowing that I've personally checked everything myself. And since I get to watch the guy mount and balance my tire I even know that this portion was done correctly. Best of both worlds.

Too bad you're not closer to me, I'd bring my wheels to YOU!!! :rotf:

I can say I don't change tires for fun... It's more like I have a lot of things that need tires constantly. Paying MSRP for tires isn't a option... and doing business with dealers and shops isn't in my best interest.

For a small investment ($100 for the tire changer and $100 for the balancer) I'm free! The stuff pays for itself the very first tire change. If I only changed tires once every two years I probably wouldn't bother with changing them myself... after all,... it is work.. and that's something we all try to avoid.

I bought 3 quality tire irons, put some pieces of milk bottle plastic along the rims, with good results. I also built a "box" so the disc isn't touching anything. I use a old bumper jack in conjunction with said box to break the bead. I'm using the tire balance beads, so no balancing needeed.

I mounted my Harbor Junk changer to a 6' 2X10. Just park one wheel of the truck on the other end and it's not going anywhere. I don't use the bar that came with it. I just use 3 tire irons and some little chunks of plastic to protect the rim.

Did have to make some plastic standoffs for the 3 jaws on the changer, otherwise you need to take one of the rotors off the front wheel. Built my own balancer, crude but it works. NAPA has a gallon of tire mount lube for $6.99, don't like the idea of using soap. I saw one clip on the web where the guy sprayed the bead with furniture polish:confused24:??

After the first tire, it not a bad job at all.

have the HF changer and a Marcparnes balancer, works great for me. The first time is the most difficult, after that it gets much easier. Also change my car tires and have a HF balancer and that works quite well also.

I bolt my changer to a corner of the driveway. Once the wheel is mounted in the changer, I can pop a tire off and a new one on in just a few minutes, but it is important to use a tire lube like Ru-Glide on BOTH the old tire and new one to make it easy to slip over the rim. I like to do my own work, and even if my local shop only charged $20 to mount a tire, it would not be worth it to me to waste the time hauling it down there, not to mention the cost of the gas wasted too!

Goose

The no-mar changer looks like a good tool at a fair price.

BUT it is out of my price range too....

Maybe I could find eight other guys locally that would put $100 each in to purchase one.

Let's see... an hour travel time to get to someone who will do motorcycle tires... an hour waiting for them to do the work... and hour drive back home... $20 in gas... $50 in labor.

No thanks. I just pull out the HF tire changer. I don't have it bolted to anything. I use my feet and hands to steady it and mount/unmount the tires. And I can do both in the time it takes just to drive to the other place... and keep $60 to $70 after tax dollars in my pocket!

I do like the idea of bolting it to a long 2x10 and parking the truck on it. That would make things easier.

Reading old threads, trying to decide about mounting/unmounting my own tires.

Would this work?

http://www.farmandfleet.com/catalog/product.aspx?i=495193&h=080602002

The local "shop", a dealership, will charge me $80-90 to change both tires, if they are dismounted. Seems kinda pricey.

Heck, I've changed dozens of bicycle tires, how hard can it be?

This is the same one but only 45. I had one in CA. It works good. But you'll need some rim protectors.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=34542

Reading old threads, trying to decide about mounting/unmounting my own tires.

 

Would this work?

 

http://www.farmandfleet.com/catalog/product.aspx?i=495193&h=080602002

 

The local "shop", a dealership, will charge me $80-90 to change both tires, if they are dismounted. Seems kinda pricey.

 

Heck, I've changed dozens of bicycle tires, how hard can it be?

That looks like the same one Harbor Freight sells (HF is cheaper, I think). But you need the motorcycle adaptor to use it with bike wheels.

Goose

Found the HF one with motorcycle adaptor for $69 plus $24 shipping on E-bay.

That seemed pretty reasonable so, it's done.

Now, I just need irons, bead lube, gear lube and oh, knowledge on how to do this!

Ahh, but that's where y'all come in.