Anyone out there ever tried changing their own tyres? Found this on youtube , looks quite simple , check out the link below.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XArpY_hSdk

The local bike shop wants to charge £20 per wheel so long as there not on the bike and the tyres cost much less on e-bay too.

Thoughts anyone?

P.S. Sorry about the experimental post , but wasn't sure how to do a link , first time for me . Quite proud of myself , now just need to get the hang of piccies

 

£20 a wheel off the bike sounds excessive

mine did it for £20 on the bike balanced and set up and everything, one local shop only charges £12 off the bike

you need to shop around


cheers
Steve

 

I always change and balancemotorcycletyres at home and uses a couple of methodsfor breaking the bead. The front tyre is placed in a 125 mmgapbench wise and the bead is thenbreaked very easily. For breaking the widerrear tyre I use a large metal wooden clamp, or a1.5 meter longdrill rod, which tip is pushed intoa hook on theconcrete floor. The drill rod has a 12 mm bolt welded on its side at 90 degrees, which is used to break the tyre of the bead.

The tyre is then removed from the rim by aclevertool, see http://home.comcast.net/~prestondrake/mojoweb.htm

Finally, the tyres are balanced within a gram or so by the use of http://www.marcparnes.com/Universal_Motorcycle_Wheel_Balancer.htm

The stuff abovewilltake som timeto finance by using them vs. the cost at a tyre shop,but it is veryconvenient to be able to do the work at home when I want and also to know that the tyres are perfectly balanced.

 

For the number of times I need to change tires and the work involved, I pay a local shop $35 CAD to do it for me.

I used to change them myself with traditional tire irons but I scratched the rims more than once.

Purchasing good equipment as R1000 suggests is a great idea if the number of times you're likely to use it makes it cost effective.

 

Thanks for the tips and links R1000 , changing my own tyres seems do-able think I'll give it a try . Only need to do the front at the moment , so I can break myself in gently.

Point taken Giffin , but my rims are scratched up pretty good already so I'm gonna have to repaint them at some time anyway and hopefully I'll save in the long run with regard to the equipment

 

I've seen an amature races change hsi tires much liek in that youtube clip. Except he used an old oil drum as a work bench. It took him just as long as in the clip and looked very easy. He didn't even bothered ballancing it, as he said it wasn't really needed. I don't knwo how he figuredout where the light spot on the tire was but, looking at the youtube video, I guess they are marked.

 

Yeah , Imo , there is a mark on the tyre-wall apparently , but I'm not sure what it looks like , will have to search the net unless someone on here know's , maybe R1000 can tell us the secret??

 

The tyre could be marked with a yellow dot on side, which indicates the lightest part of the tyre if it is a Michelin tyre. This should be locatednext to the valve. I'm not sure all tyre manufactures use the same convention though, I've e.g. read that there could be a red dot on some brands and that this could mean the heaviest part of the tyre...So, one can never be very sureabout this and there is no guarantee that the rim is heaviest where the valve is.

Anyway, premium brand tyres are so wellfabricated that one could change tyre and normally just keep the balance weights where they are. When I change tyres at home, the location and mass of the balance weight will almost always be the same as before.

 

Thanks for the answer R1000 , interesting , tried to find some info myself , but so far no luck. The mystery continues.

 

i always fit my own too, with tyre levers using rim protectors. I usuall use the wifes car and some **** pile carpet to break the bead. I only ever balance the front, as its usually that one you feel.
Thanks for the info on tools though people, looking like an investment coming on! My local bike tyre fitting shop chrges £5 for balancing, front or rear! and they lend you paddock stands and tools to remove your wheels!