Tires
 

Hey guys I just realized its time to listen to the mechanic and change my tires along with sprockets and chain... has anyone done this. Should I have the mechanic change the tires? or is there a way I can get new tires on. Thanks[sm=helpout.gif]

RE: Tires
 

Plenty of people here have changed their own tires, it's not too hard if you have the right equipment. Front and rear stands to start with. You can get by with a floor jack and the side stand if need be. Buy the tires online (Cheaper) and pull the rims off your bike and take them to you dealer for mounting and balancing only. Should be much cheaper than just taking it in. WHile the tire is off the rear, throw on a new sprocket, easily done with an impact, same with the front. Then either cut or break the chain, and replace that. You can buy a chain tool for $100 or so or you can do it the old fashioned way with a torch and some punches/hammers to reseat the new link. Again, way cheaper than having it done.

RE: Tires
 

Getting the wheels off isn't to bad as long as your comfortable getting your bike in the air. If you don't have stands your best bet would be to hang the bike if you have something strong enough to hang it from. Have the dealer do the mounting just because you will have to have them balance them anyways and then you don't have to worry about bending your rims while prying tires on/off. There are plenty of kits you can find on ebay or sites like kneedraggers.com to get a chain n sprockets from but I would spend the extra $$$ on the chain breaker rather than try to put the chain back on w/o the right tools. Sure cutting the old one off is easy but putting the new one back on won't be.

RE: Tires
 

Definitely get the dealer to mount and balance rims. I would recommend replacing both front and rear sprockets as a set with the chain. If you only replace the rear one, however, here's a tip: Once you break the old chain (a grinder works well - just grind the heads off of two rivets holding a link on and use a punch to knock the link out), use the master link from the new chain to connect the two chains together & position the connection so its up top, not below the swingarm. Then with the rear tire raised, simply pull on the open end of the old chain and this will route the new chain around the front sprocket without having to remove the sprocket cover.