When did you decide to start changing your own tires and why?

Mike:p

Don’t be a Hero, be consistent.
When did you guys decide that you were ready to start changing your own tires? How difficult is it? I would be terrified that I wouldn't get my balancing right.
 

LarsDunaway

Rat Boy
Staff member
Control Rider
It's not difficult. Take your time, get them balanced (easily verifiable), and you'll save tons of money. Best part is, you can come to the track prepared with whichever rubber you want on your bike and on your spare set(s) of rims. At track days (and many races) I run takeoffs that I get from other people, so it's nice to be able to pick and choose which tires to run when, and not have to rely on vendors after I'm already at the track.
 

wmhjr

Grandpa
Control Rider
It's easier if you get the right tools. But it's really convenience. Don't have to wait to get to the track to get tires mounted, swap take-offs like Lars said, plus sometimes the tire support at the track just gets overwhelmed with everybody wanting their stuff right away. So it's nice to have a sense of security that I'm not totally at somebody else's mercy on a really busy day.

Balancing is really easy - it's the easiest part. You're not building a nuclear reactor.

It's not totally necessary. There are plenty of guys around here for years that don't change their own tires. And sometimes - (those friggin Dunlop GPA-Pros) you'll hear a naughty word or two from me while I'm mounting a new one...
 

mpusch

Micah
After about the third time shopping around and getting quotes for $70-$80 PER WHEEL. So for every two sets of tires you buy, it's almost like you're paying for a third!

My investment in tire changing tools was about $100 or so. If you're going down the route of doing your own tires you have to make a choice. Everything comes down to two variables - Time and money. A nomar or similar machine will change tires pretty fast, but have a higher initial investment. Changing it with hand tools will be cheap, but require more time to do.

With a set of spoons it takes me about an hour a tire start to finish. Remove wheel, break the bead, unmount tire, mount new, seat the bead, inflate, balance. Not too bad, and I don't do it frequently enough to annoy me.

Balancing isn't a big deal, though I really took my time doing it the first time or two. My advice, get a GOOD balancer. Having a very straight bar and good bearings are very important. I don't have one (because I went cheaper and regret it), but Marc Parnes will come up frequently as quality if you research online. http://www.marcparnes.com/Buyers_Guide.htm

If you have a good balancer, I promise you can balance a wheel. The concept is simple, find the heavy spot (it will rotate to the bottom) and then put wheel weights directly opposite to it. A little bit of trial and error to find the correct weight. When it's balanced, it won't rotate and settle to a heavy spot, because there won't be one (at least not a significant one).

Couple shots of my homemade stuff. The piece on the right normally lays flat on the ground so you can rest the rim on it (with a towel underneath) and not worry about the brake rotor or sprocket.



 
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tad158

Astronomer not Astrologer
Because independence...and Darren gave me an awesome deal on a nomar...thanks dude!

And all the reasons above.
 

D-Zum

My 13 year old is faster than your President
You're welcome Buddy!

It's about cost savings, convenience and enjoyment for me.

Cost: I can get tires cheaper from our trackside vendor, or from mail order than I can from a dealer.

Convenience: When I'm at the track, I don't want to have to take the wheels off my bike, take them to the tire trailer and have to wait. My bike is unloaded and ready to go, and I get to then kick back in my chair with an A&W and listen to the amusing stuff that my son comes up with because he's so excited to be at the track. I'm also a bit afraid that when I'm at the track and rushing to get my bike back together to ride, I'm going to make a mistake...forget to safety wire something back together, etc....I take my time at home in my garage so I can enjoy Alex and my A&W.

Enjoyment: I enjoy being in my garage with my bikes, I enjoy playing with my tire machine. Motorcycle stuff is just fun. It's become something my son and I can do together, then enjoy an A&W when we're done working.

Yes....we drink a LOT or root beer. ;-)

Actually his drink of choice is Caffeine Free Coke...aka "Gold Coke".

My philosphy and how I learned to balance tires is to look for the light spot. Micah looks for the heavy spot on the bottom, I look for the light spot on top. (An EXTREMELY minor
difference, mind you..it's just perspective, nothing more). Then, I mark that high spot with chalk and move it to the 9 o'clock position. If it returns to the same spot, then I do it again
to notice how fast the wheel returns the light spot to 12 o'clock. That tells me how many wheel weights I need to affix to the tire at that light spot...You learn to judge based on experience...and it's just a freakin' guess. Initially I hold the weights on with Gorilla tape as I make adjustments.

When I feel the wheel is balanced, then I'll turn the marked spot to 9, 12, 3, and 6 o'clock positions and look for movement. A balanced wheel/tire should not move in all 4 positions (a bit of movement is not cause to start over, it all depends on how anal-retentive you are). If it passes this test, you have it balanced.

Before I take the tire/wheel off the balancer, I'll spin it on the balancer and eye ball the sides for trueness/roundness. Any wobble/bulge would indicate probably a defective tire. I haven't seen it happen in over 15 years, but it's happened.

I do tires for myself and my friends. I'm not going to send them out with half-assed balanced tires.

I've also had an off-balance front at VIR back in August 2005 (don't ask me why I remember dates like that). On the front straight my front end would feel not quite like a jack hammer, but a pogo effect between like 90-110 mph indicated. Then it would smooth out again at 120. I took the wheel off and took it to the tire trailer and Chris Moon put it on his balancer. It was 3/4 ounce off. Yet another reason I decided to start doing my own tires.
 

Motofun352

Control Rider
I change my tires by hand with a similar setup to that above...a couple of tire spoons, some motion-pro rim protectors and a balance stand is all it takes. I can pull a wheel, swap the tire, balance it and reinstall in about 20 minutes. The secret sauce is also important. I use "Ruglyde" that I bought at a NAPA store. A little lube goes a long way to making the job easier. (OK, I tee'd that one up... Tom...this is your clue for a witty response):p
 

tdelegram

Control Rider
Despite Jack throwing up softballs for me to swing at, I also have a no-mar and prior to my no-mar and trackday tires I did 100's of dirt bike tires. The nomar is great but at this point I only use it to break the bead and then traditional tire spoons from there. As Darren notes above balancing is a breeze and although he makes his perfect you just need to get it good. The hardest part is getting a few different sized weights and getting the sticky goo off the rim from the old weights. I use the no-mar vegetable based lube dissolved in water for lube and I also put a warmer on the new tires to soften it up and that makes it much easier to mount, without the no-mar I think I would also use a warmer prior to breaking the bead. Finally, like D, I end up doing friends tires from time to time as well as small trailer tires and my Harley tires. The non-track tire carcasses are much stiffer than the Pirelli's I run on track and require a little more time and patients. One thing that hasn't been covered is aligning the colored dot on the side wall with the valve stem. There is a reason for this, but just like all the lube Jack uses I don't know why.
 

Motofun352

Control Rider
Another trick, when I have the tire off the rim for the first time, I put the rim (with no tire) on the balance stand and find the rim's heavy spot. It often isn't where the stem is. I mark this spot on the inside of the rim then put the lite spot of the tire at this point. I can often get away with no balance weights this way. Of course you still have to check the completed tire change just to make sure.
 

mjkuhno

Member
Despite Jack throwing up softballs for me to swing at, I also have a no-mar and prior to my no-mar and trackday tires I did 100's of dirt bike tires. The nomar is great but at this point I only use it to break the bead and then traditional tire spoons from there. As Darren notes above balancing is a breeze and although he makes his perfect you just need to get it good. The hardest part is getting a few different sized weights and getting the sticky goo off the rim from the old weights. I use the no-mar vegetable based lube dissolved in water for lube and I also put a warmer on the new tires to soften it up and that makes it much easier to mount, without the no-mar I think I would also use a warmer prior to breaking the bead. Finally, like D, I end up doing friends tires from time to time as well as small trailer tires and my Harley tires. The non-track tire carcasses are much stiffer than the Pirelli's I run on track and require a little more time and patients. One thing that hasn't been covered is aligning the colored dot on the side wall with the valve stem. There is a reason for this, but just like all the lube Jack uses I don't know why.

Any interest in selling the NoMar?
 

Thunderace

BIG JIM
Control Rider
I have been changing tires at home with a Harbor Freight changer with a No-Mar bar for many years. A long time ago I picked up a tire changing kit from Aerostitch which had a pretty nice balancer and titanium tire irons. I hardly use tire irons any more, but the balancer is used all the time. One little trick that I just figured out this winter is to put some electrical tape on the wheel just before the wheel weights go on. When you remove the wheel weights the next time, the electrical tape pulls off without leaving any of the double sided tape residue. Of course, put duct tape on top of the wheel weights as an added security measure.
 

meanstrk

Control Rider
I started doing my own years ago when someone botched up the balancing on one of my street bikes. After that I decided "Never again will I allow someone else to screw my tires up."....

Started with spoons and moved to a Harbor Freight changer with MojoBlocks to protect the wheel and later bought a Derek Weaver full on machine, which has been one of my best garage investments to date. I do my race tires, street tires, truck tires, car tires, trailer
 

Eddie

Member
motion pro spoons, ruglyde, a dirtbike tire changing stand, and a balance stand from Amazon.
that's my current set up.
I bought the harbor freight one, but can't seem to get it dialed.
Once you get used to the spoons, it's really not that hard. Take small bites, and get the spoons in the tight sections BEFORE it gets tight.
I think that "yellow thing" would help too, might get one of those.
I too like to be 100% ready when arriving at the track...and the A&Ws in the garage ain't bad either...
now someone help me out with this dang throttle cable!!
 

mjkuhno

Member
I started doing my own years ago when someone botched up the balancing on one of my street bikes. After that I decided "Never again will I allow someone else to screw my tires up."....

Started with spoons and moved to a Harbor Freight changer with MojoBlocks to protect the wheel and later bought a Derek Weaver full on machine, which has been one of my best garage investments to date. I do my race tires, street tires, truck tires, car tires, trailer

Ron - remember how I was whining on StalkBook that someone dinged up the fluro-yellow powdercoat on my Triumph rims? Well, that same wanker also left the wheel weights (which had black gaffing tape on them, so they must have been hard to see on the yellow wheels) on the rims and then added weights to get the tire to balance. I didn't even think to remove the weights in advance because they're so obvious - and was distracted by a friend when I was leaving and didn't check. Ugh.

Now in full search mode for a tire machine. Just ordered a balancer so I don't have extra ballast on my who-even-knows-if-they're-balanced rims.

What is with some people!!!!????
 

HondaGalToo

Control Rider
I started changing my own a few years ago. First attempt was with a cheap, no name brand tire changer, couldn't do it. Discovered No-Mar. Makes changes a breeze for me. I just lack the strength to use tire irons only. I like the convenience of doing changes when I need them, or flipping a rear, whatever. I got the No-Mar static balancer, easy to balance. Have a compressor to set the bead. Easy. Like D-Zum, I like showing up to the track prepared.
 
I am stunned at 70 to 80 dollars a wheel to mount and balance tires..we bring the new tires and the wheels to our guy and he charges us 50 bucks to unmount, remount and balance .I am happy to pay it because it's easy money for him..and he is always fair with us on anything we might need.....that is for both wheels mind you..I guess if I had to pay 150 bucks to mount tires I would do it myself as well.
 

bmart

Control Rider
Hi Mike. I think that you might be WAY overthinking it. I know plenty of guys who never balance. I do with a static balancer, just like the pros. :) It isn't very hard. You could do it with the lights off.

When I started doing more than a few thousand miles a year I bought the equipment to do them myself. I do it manually with spoons, which takes about 10 minutes/tire to remove, clean, install and balance. It it very easy and the manual tools take up very little space. I have mine, including the balancer, in a box that used to hold printer paper.

The dealers nearly always either scratched the rims or took forever to do the job (not to mention the drive time), all at a ridiculous price for the work being done. Many went to installing only tires bought at retail at their shop. It was all just too much.

I bought a few wavy levers, a manual bead breaker, and a balancer and was rolling. :)

You'll never look back, but learn how to do it right. If you're using any muscle at all, you're doing it wrong. It is that easy.
 

Otto Man

John
Control Rider
It all depends on how involved you are in the sport. There is definitely a point you hit where you realize "I am spending way too much on tire changes", so what I did was spend even more than that ( lol ) and got my own setup. I've had this for a few years now and love it.

https://www.derekweaver.com/bikers-...m894xs-motorcycle-atv-car-truck-tire-changer/

Lots of factors went into the decision to pull the trigger on something like this, but the big things:

- I already had the air compressor to run it
- I have the garage space
- I will use it enough to justify it
- Arriving to the track with your bike ready to rock (no tire changes needed) is just one less thing I have to do once I get there.

I didn't jump straight to this, I first bought a harbor freight setup. It was mediocre at best and I gouged my rims a bit as I learned just how much that setup sucked. I considered the No Mar, but quite frankly the (comparatively) little price jump between those and a full setup like mine made it a no brainer, not to mention I already had a good air compressor. After the struggles with the HF changer, I was done with doing it by hand.

I also have a lot of wheels. I have 3 sets for my R6, dedicated rains, practice set, race set. I also have a spare set of wheels for my ZX10. If you don't have multiple rims I am not sure that getting your own changer would be nearly as beneficial. However, as a CR I am always in need of tires, so it's been a blessing to have the ability to change tires so I can fully maximize tire life. For example, if I have a bunch of tires at 50% life or so and the forecast is a 0% chance of rain, I'll take off the rain tire and have 3 rear wheels mounted with the take off tires. So even if I only get half a day or so out of a tire before it's gone, I'll just swap wheels at the track. It's the little things like this that have made having a tire changer awesome for me and allows me to wear down my tires evenly (left/right balance), thus maximizing the use out of them.

As you can see, the underlying message is that you have to be way more involved in the sport than the average Joe for having a tire changer to really start to make sense. I plan on doing this for the long haul, and part of being in the game for the long haul is minimizing your routine expenses. Yeah it sucked buying that machine upfront, but that machine will literally provide a life time of tire changes for me. That's what made it an easy choice.
 

meanstrk

Control Rider
Ron - remember how I was whining on StalkBook that someone dinged up the fluro-yellow powdercoat on my Triumph rims? Well, that same wanker also left the wheel weights (which had black gaffing tape on them, so they must have been hard to see on the yellow wheels) on the rims and then added weights to get the tire to balance. I didn't even think to remove the weights in advance because they're so obvious - and was distracted by a friend when I was leaving and didn't check. Ugh.

Now in full search mode for a tire machine. Just ordered a balancer so I don't have extra ballast on my who-even-knows-if-they're-balanced rims.

What is with some people!!!!????
flou yellow wheels on my. Brand new paint job on those wheels too, and he did not have a car in the world.

I am tempted to sell my machine just to upgrade to one with a good bead blaster.

I do still have a manual bead breaker that I have not used in years I would sell. I should take a pic of it and list it up.
 
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