Who changes their own tyres?

[boxerscott]

I do. Reasons are as follows,

It works out less expensive.

You can do them at home.

No hanging about.

Freedom of choice to take advantage of pair bargains.

other maintenance can be carried out while wheel is off.

No silly wheelrim weights that fcuck with your paint. (They are irrelevant anyway on a bike)

If calipers or wheels not torqued up only yourself to bitch at ( )

latest pair deal for my R1200Rlc £109 inc delivered

maxxis st 2`s From m and P

I had the maxxis super sports on the duc to replace the super corsas. Did I know the difference? No. Did the Bike know? of course not. Any of those tyre only last 5 minutes anyway and when caught in rain you feel like an organ donor on every bend. The inexpensive tyres we ride on today are still better than the premium tyres we used 10 years ago.

Of course I am a yorkie and tight.

[ianc53]

Thanks Chris

Sound, well argued point
What equipment do you need/have to do all this?

Ian

[Paul]

Three old fish knives would do the trick, surely?

Paul

[slparry]

I used to do my own, but I can chuck a tenner at the lads in the workshop and they'll pop them on in their lunch break ..... for a tenner it's not worth the hassle. I got a pair of ContiMotions for my K1200GT for £119

[JamesL]

I do, sort of. Key driver being I'm quite anal and prefer to have tyres balanced (I have 40g or something on the rear of the GS as standard ); and it's now 30 miles to the nearest place which will balance them.

So Dave the roving tyre man takes them off and puts them back on for me for a fiver a pop, I balance them up myself with an Abba balancer and I gain all Boxerscot's benefits too.

PS my last set came from Oponeo.

J

[kfrogzx7]

I do. Reasons are as follows,

It works out less expensive.

You can do them at home.

No hanging about.

Freedom of choice to take advantage of pair bargains.

other maintenance can be carried out while wheel is off.

No silly wheelrim weights that fcuck with your paint. (They are irrelevant anyway on a bike)

If calipers or wheels not torqued up only yourself to bitch at ( )

latest pair deal for my R1200Rlc £109 inc delivered

maxxis st 2`s From m and P

I had the maxxis super sports on the duc to replace the super corsas. Did I know the difference? No. Did the Bike know? of course not. Any of those tyre only last 5 minutes anyway and when caught in rain you feel like an organ donor on every bend. The inexpensive tyres we ride on today are still better than the premium tyres we used 10 years ago.

Of course I am a yorkie and tight.

My feelings exactly, I've done probably a dozen of my own tyre changes now and never felt the need for balancing. I've got, and I think you really need, a bead breaker, some rim protectors and a decent compressor to get them onto the beads.

[nab 301]

I
No silly wheelrim weights that fcuck with your paint. (They are irrelevant anyway on a bike)
.

I've changed my own tyres for decades ( mainly because I like to do other maintenance at the same time) but I disagree with the above , I've had bikes that are almost unrideable at speed cured with balancing on the front and I can generally feel the vibration at the rear if it needs balancing .
Lately I feel tyre construction has changed somehow because I find they're much more difficult to fit and remove , years ago I could nearly walk them on to the rims with my size 12's. Tyre recycling laws have changed here meaning I have to travel to an authorised agent with the old ones and pay for the privilege too.. so maybe in the future I'll be queueing at the fitters!

[boxerscott]

I
No silly wheelrim weights that fcuck with your paint. (They are irrelevant anyway on a bike)
.

I've changed my own tyres for decades ( mainly because I like to do other maintenance at the same time) but I disagree with the above , I've had bikes that are almost unrideable at speed cured with balancing on the front and I can generally feel the vibration at the rear if it needs balancing .
Lately I feel tyre construction has changed somehow because I find they're much more difficult to fit and remove , years ago I could nearly walk them on to the rims with my size 12's. Tyre recycling laws have changed here meaning I have to travel to an authorised agent with the old ones and pay for the privilege too.. so maybe in the future I'll be queueing at the fitters!

Good points for using a tyre fitter. My recycle scheme is feed old tyres to my staffie, then when he finishes with them I stack them and grow tatties in them. Tools needed, bead breaker, tyre levers x3, rim protectors and importantly a good pair of long sleeved welding gauntlets, keep new tyres in warm place before fitting. I do not struggle to get new tyres on. Never seen any wheel rim weights on Marc Marquez`s bikes Loads of you tube vids on how to.

[adam]

I've changed my own for many years and noted that tyres these days rarely need balancing, and some come without balance marks on them. However, wheels often need a balance, so I do these before I mount a tyre, and then jiggle the tyre position so as little additional weight as necessary is needed. I always use Lead weights too, instead of the Hippy Friendly Zinc alloy ones, which are far larger. When I retired, my employers bought me a tyre changer, which is handy, but the bead breaker is almost useless, so I made mine out of some box section scrap, with a wooden 'beak' on it to protect the rim (although a spade with the blade protected by a plastic milk bottle is sometimes effective ) The biggest help I've found is using a tyre bar for stripping and fitting, made by a bloke in Northwich, and using proper tyre soap. A bucket of it cost a Tenner and would last me a lifetime (if my mates didn't keep coming around and saying 'can you stick this on for me' ) Revenge is sweet when I rattle my Air Ambulance tin at them

[nab 301]

I do not struggle to get new tyres on. Never seen any wheel rim weights on Marc Marquez`s bikes Loads of you tube vids on how to

All year bikers may have to change tyres in winter , maybe my kitchen is a tad cold As for Moto GP bikes and balancing weights , I guess the wheels and tyres cost a little more than ours but in return maybe the manufacturers ensure they don't need balance weights . I don't follow racing but I'm sure I read a BSB race report a few years back where a front runner fell back after losing a balance weight ?

I The biggest help I've found is using a tyre bar for stripping and fitting, made by a bloke in Northwich,

is that in conjunction with the tyre changing tool? any you recommend ? I made my own bead breaker and static balancing tool years ago but maybe I need to upgrade from levers for fitting tyres.

[GerryB]

Wow !!!!

I'm shocked at the comments about no wheel weights !!!!

Man oh man , In my opinion , any bike is unstable at speed if the tyres are not balanced .

However , what do I know .

[Britisherspy]

I do all mine and use balance weight, I dont have a compressor but its not often I cant seat the bead with my foot pump. I get a bit red and out of breath though.

[boxerscott]

Wow !!!!

I'm shocked at the comments about no wheel weights !!!!

Man oh man , In my opinion , any bike is unstable at speed if the tyres are not balanced .

However , what do I know .

A bike is more unstable in a state of rest. The tolerances of in balance and out of balance must be wide to effect instability. A new tyre gets balanced and then after 2.5k miles that tyre is then different and will have worn unevenly to some extent. The same wheel balance test would show a difference

If you removed the balance weights from your bike would you know a difference?

BTW I am not talking wire spoked traillie wheels.!

Chris

[adam]

Sorry about the delay in replying, but the tyre bar that I use is called an 'Alloy Mate' (check them out on Google) It's easy to use for stripping and refitting bike tyres, and impossible to scratch your rims. Buying a bucket of correct tyre soap (It'll last a lifetime) is also a good idea.

[nab 301]

Sorry about the delay in replying, but the tyre bar that I use is called an 'Alloy Mate' (check them out on Google) It's easy to use for stripping and refitting bike tyres, and impossible to scratch your rims. Buying a bucket of correct tyre soap (It'll last a lifetime) is also a good idea.

Thanks