Should I change my own tires?
 

I've changed the tubed tires on my dirt bike, it was a PITA but I manged to do it. I've got several tire irons and was gonna try a DIY bead breaker using a couple pieces of wood. It doesn't look too bad from the videos I've seen, I may have to get someone to balance them, but other than that it doesn't look too hard. How many of you guys DIY?

Dirt bike vs sport bike is way dif beast. ;-) Here's one thread to refer to...https://cbrforum.com/forum/general-t...-tires-127810/.

Most of us sport bike riders that have been around long enough, have tried it by hand at some point. But, w/o an HF or Nomar setup, to me, its not worth the trouble to do it by hand. I'd rather just let the guy down the street change 'em on his Nomar for $20 or take 'em to CycleGear.

Yea, I was just gonna give it a go tomorrow since I don't have much going on. If I fail then I'll take them to the shop on Monday, I was thinking of using dyna beads to balance them. In all the vids on youtube they're always doing the front tire w/ irons, I'm sure the rear is harder and requires a lot of little bites w/ the irons to get it on.

Well I went ahead and did it today, the front tire gave me some trouble coming off and on the wheel but other than that no real issues. Just gotta get them scrubbed in and will be good to go. I tried static balancing the front and it seemed to be perfect w/ no weights, didn't bother messing w/ the rear. If they feel out of balance when I'm riding I was just gonna do dyna beads so I won't have to pull the wheels off the bike again.

Dyna Beads - Hell yeah I use em now all the time

I use big azzed c clamps to break beads on mine and hand sanitizer to slide the
new tires back on easy cheesy

You my friend just saved yourself 120 bucks :) well done

Thanks, I was gonna pull of the wheels and take them to the shop but having the tires and some tire irons already I couldn't wait. Never heard of using hand sanitizer, probably good b/c it will evaporate quickly, I just used soapy water.

I'm too afraid to do tires myself. I'd do anything else but them. Luckily my local shop cuts me deals because I spent a hefty sum there when I first got my bike on parts and gear. So I usually get 10 to 20% off everything I buy. I think it was like 30 bucks last time I had them change my rear tire.

Yea I was, till I did them on my dirt bike awhile ago. Dealing w/ the inner tubes and it being my first time doing it made it very frustrating and I pinched the tubes a bunch of times. After that experience and looking at some youtube vids showing how easily it can be done I gave it a go on the cbr. It's just something that you have to do a few times and then you get the hang of it I think. $30 for changing the tire on the bike is a good deal though, my local shops were $30-33 when I brought just the wheel and new tire in.

I change my own tires just about always. It's not hard just be very careful with your rotors and make sure the wheels and tires are not installed backwards. I use the wood bead breaker method (although I will certainly try a c-clamp next time!) and some regular old irons and use Windex for the lube.

I started using dynabeads and they work just fine. I still have them in another bike. Since then I tried the stick on weight method and I just make an axle or use the stock axle in between a set of jack stands and just find the heavy spot, add weight to the other side and then just keep spinning it over and over and adding/removing weight until it's perfect. It's actually super easy and usually takes very little weight. I track my bike and can vouch that this method works fine even up to speed. I have always had nice even wear on my tires.

On that note I recommend getting a spare set of wheels (at least the rear) so you can have a backup set ready to go (although nothing is wrong with using a self-vulcanizing tire plug in the case of a nail) or if would like to be able to quickly change from a high performance set of tires to a longer wearing tire. Either way, use a good torque wrench on everything (don't over torque) as well as thread sealant wherever appropriate.