home mounting tire methods?

[SmithSwede]

It also really helps if the tires are hot.   Makes the rubber much more flexible. 

Leave them out in the direct sun for a few hours.   Or put them over the hot engine of your car with a blanket over them. 

[Sasquatch Jim]

Bigga hamma and KY jelly, unscented.

[Perazzimx14]

Bigga hamma and KY jelly, unscented.

For the tire that are a real pain in the ass:

[Two Checks]

Doesn't that shrink stuff?

[Perazzimx14]

Doesn't that shrink stuff?

Yep it acts like a rim lock

[Lannis]

Ruglide makes all the difference.
Ditch the pam, dish soap, etc.
I bought the smallest container of Ruglide at NAPA, my great grandchildren's grand kids will have some. 

kjf

1. RUglide in a spray bottle.   Lifetime supply for $10.  Won't screw up anything else, it's made for THIS job.

2. Remember to squeeze the beads opposite from where you are prying down into the center well of the wheel.

3. Have a decent platform on which to work.   All the ones mentioned are good.   I use the base from a broken (they all break) Harbor Fright changer, it rotates and it's just the right height.

4. Buy a purpose-made bead breaker.   SO much easier than C-clamps or big mauls.   Watch out for the brake disks when using it; they'll bend for a nothing.

Lannis

[Bulldog9]

Tires are something I have never attempted.... One day, maybe one day, but not today (or tomorrow) 

[bratman2]

I am with Old Mike on this. The zip tie method works and works the best of anything I have ever tried on MC tires. If you can't find them long enough add two together. Do the back tire first and cut them as close to the lock as possible when removing them. Then use the cut set for the front tire. You should not need a tire iron at all if you do this right and use a small amount of good lube. I use a tire bead lube myself. Should be able to find a video of someone using this method on you tube. I would trust this method over an y tire shop mounting them on my new powder coated rims! I have seen too many rims with little nicks and such come out of the bike shops. Ratchet straps can also be used too!
 

[Brand X]

I use different tire lubes, but veg based stuff from Nomar is about the slickest stuff.. Standard Murphy's oil soap is excellent and super cheap.. I leave it in my tire machine bucket  year round, and it thickens up like the nomar paste. Similar to snot, and slippery as it gets. Zero corrosion on painted or unpainted Aluminum rims is a side benefit of using the veg based stuff..  I have a homemade tire machine with bead breaker, standard motion pro levers, Nomar Bar, and different other tire spoons.. Generally I just use my regular car tire machine with Motorcycle adapters, and balancer too.. I have a standard Mark Parnes balancer also. 

[blackcat]

This is what I made to break the bead on the tire:



I use the steps or any unmovable and low fixed location and the toughest tires melded to the rims pop without much trouble:



Cost was zero as this was just some scrap lumber.

[Wayne Orwig]

3. Have a decent platform on which to work.   All the ones mentioned are good.   I use the base from a broken (they all break) Harbor Fright changer, it rotates and it's just the right height.

Wonder what you have hat broke.

I have changed many dozens of tires on my HF stand and nothing broke that I recall.

[SIR REAL ED]

You ain't changed a tire by hand til you've done a semi truck split rim tire by hand. Breaking a bead with a tire maul is not fun... Giving blood while doing the job is mandatory.
Be well,
Larry

Ah, those were the good ole days.  "Back when men were men, women were men, and sheep were just plain nervous!"

I remember them well.  The tires, not the sheep.  Well enough to not want to do that again.  Don't forget to put the tire split rim side down and wrap a couple chains around it before inflating it!  Some people only got one chance to make that mistake.

[wirespokes]

I always stood way back, with the chuck hooked to the valve, when filling the split rims. I found them really easy to work on compared to non-split rims. Only did a couple but they weren't a problem.

[SIR REAL ED]

I always stood way back, with the chuck hooked to the valve, when filling the split rims. I found them really easy to work on compared to non-split rims. Only did a couple but they weren't a problem.

Right you are, actually a great rim design, when in good shape with the right maul, and some lube, not a. bad job at all.  Like all things, it depends upon the amount of rust involved.  Thank god for Red Lead primer.  IIRC, there were no warning labels about drinking paint back them........

What ruined it for me, was my Father's idea of fun was having his kids change dump truck tires that are 120% worn out on a regular basis and replace them with tires that are 90% worn out.  Replacing summer tires with winter tires and vice versa.

I think he invented Wild Guzzi tightwadness even before Dusty and the internet.

[John A]

Right you are, actually a great rim design, when in good shape with the right maul, and some lube, not a. bad job at all.  Like all things, it depends upon the amount of rust involved.  Thank god for Red Lead primer.  IIRC, there were no warning labels about drinking paint back them........

What ruined it for me, was my Father's idea of fun was having his kids change dump truck tires that are 120% worn out on a regular basis and replace them with tires that are 90% worn out.  Replacing summer tires with winter tires and vice versa.

I think he invented Wild Guzzi tightwadness even before Dusty and the internet.

I can dig that.  Then I was ace #1 tire man in the early’70’s at a long haul semi truck place. Tires are mean ugly bastards but they are not very smart.  I learned to try to convince the tire that I was smarter than it was. 

[larrys]

I can dig that.  Then I was ace #1 tire man in the early’70’s at a long haul semi truck place. Tires are mean ugly bastards but they are not very smart.  I learned to try to convince the tire that I was smarter than it was.

Yup. My dad told me when I was just learning how to twist wrenches that it's bad policy to let an inanimate object outwit you.
Be well,
Larry

[Texas Turnip]

Wow! memories of split rims. Most of the old tire shops had a round whole in the roof whee a split rim took off. And then there was the idiot that was sitting on the tire airing it up when KABOOM. He never lived to make that mistake again.

Will tire shops still change the old split rims? I know some of the old shops still have the cage to put the split rim in to air it up.

Back in the 70's I was buying Goodyear All-Traction 400x18 for $12.38 ea in lots of 20 and selling them for $15. Mounting was free for guzzi friends. Two 6" tire irons did the job. Good ole days.NO. When you had a flat at speed you usually laid it down. 

Tex

[wirespokes]

When you had a flat at speed you usually laid it down. 

I talked with an old time racer many years ago who figured a big percentage of bike accidents in the old days were tire related.

[Lannis]

Wonder what you have hat broke.

I have changed many dozens of tires on my HF stand and nothing broke that I recall.

The tip of the tire removal lever broke, and the hand-screw to tighten down part of the top part broke (can't remember what it did).

It's now just the base, with an old bike tire clamped on the rim holders as a pad.   It rotates and has the bead breaker on the base - I have a separate bead breaker on the bench for 3.50 x 18 and smaller tires.

Lannis

[SIR REAL ED]

Yup. My dad told me when I was just learning how to twist wrenches that it's bad policy to let an inanimate object outwit you.
Be well,
Larry

"inanimate?"  Wow!   

Your Dad used much bigger words with you than my Dad did with us.  Most of his communication was one syllable, 4 letters, or less.  Often it was just a shaking of his head, an ape like grunt, then a cuff upside our heads!   

[Chethro]

I made up a cut down plastic 5 gallon bucket with a 2x4 on the bottom which is then inserted into a workmate bench.