Changing tyres. Long. Plus product recommendation.

So, over the years it's got harder getting tyres fitted. When I was a
kid tyres were tubed and you simply fitted them yourself, beads could be
broken in vices (narrow tyres), tubes could be pinched with levers. I
didn't get them balanced.

At some point in the 90s I stopped riding ancient pieces of shit and
moved to the tubeless tyre. These needed bead breakers wheel balancers
and all sorts of stuff. Consequently I stopped changing my own tyres; I
would, on occassion take them off and to the shop to save a tenner.

Over the last ten or so years it's been an increasing hassle to find
places that do tyres plus the prices compared to buying the loose tyre
seem excessive. And, more to the point the place I've been using in
Bristol has a different view of what constitutes 'about an hour' to me
(i.e. I think 60 minutes, they think 90-120).

In the days of team ukrm I changed a few tyres for the race bike.
Didn't particularly enjoy it if I'm honest. But, anyway time is more
important to me than inconvenience these days. So I bought a couple of
things on ebay last weekend:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260516152968

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260515752394


And also bought a few tyres;

190/50/17 Pilot Power 2CT rear for the GSXR1000
110/80/18 AM26 front for the K75
140/70/17 AM26 rear for the K75
130/70/17 AM26 rear for the sidecar

Despite the kit coming from Germany it arrived in about four days. Not
bad when carriage was 10 quid for the bead breaker and 8 quid for the
balancer.


So... started on the GSXR. The bead breaker threaded bolt to hold down
the wheel wasn't long enough. Thought about using another piece of
studding but instead knelt on the tyre. Bead broke easily and tyre came
off and went on easily. Didn't use much lube and tyre sealed easily
enough with my small compressor.

The balancer looks fine... until I realised I didn't have a stand I
could use it with. So built a wooden frame and 'bodged' it together.
It worked. Note, I'm not planning to post photos of this any time soon.
If the vendor can come up with a suitable stand for the balancer at
twenty or so quid think I'll buy it.

All in all about three hours to change including building the frame.

Then moved on to the K75 rear. Shit. Bead was a *fucker* to break.
Ended up extending the bar by about two feet. It eventually broke.
Tyre came off easily enough then. Rim was a bloody mess and I'm blaming
it on the 'slime' stuff used to stop punctures. Cleaned up rim and put
on new tyre... sparing with tyre lube. Tyre went on without too much
effort but the bead breaker was useful to push it over before starting
with the levers. However when it came to inflating it it wouldn't seal
the beads, they simply wouldn't slip into position... oh right, that's
what the lube's for... Using some helped. Balanced ok. Probably also
took two hours of fucking around making adaptors and 'stuff' to hold the
wheel down on the breaker and bouncing the tyre trying to get the bead
to seal.

Finally the K75 front. Easily done. About an hour from starting to take
it off to putting it back on I'd guess.

Sidecar's got a few hundred miles left on it. And I want to try it on
the K75 to see what a properly squared off tyre feels like...

So... after thirty years or so I'm back to changing my own tyres and
apart from stuck beads it's nowhere near as bad as I'd feared. I can
happily recommend the kit I bought and feel it's 74 quid well spent.
Hell of a lot cheaper than the abba option at 160 quid plus I think the
bead breaker I've got is good because it gives you a surface to work on
without worrying about disks and what have you.

 

Cool, I know where to come when I need them doing then

 

Feel free at weekends. 10 quid unbalanced, 15 quid balanced. 2 quid
for tyre disposal. Think you've got my mobile number...

 

Exactly what I thought.

 

But but but... that's what TyreTreads charge & they're closer!

 

Not open on Sundays though...

 

Hmm... well I guess I'm happy enough to watch others lose skin off their
knuckles as long as they don't laugh at my woodworking skills when they
look at the balancer frame...

 

I'm not aware of any bike tyre place in the south west that's open at
weekends. Further, I don't think that there are many bike-spares
counters open at weekends.

 

I think I can stretch to that. Biscuits would be pushing it...

 

Protyre is open on Saturdays.

Bristol Kawasaki is open on Saturday and Sunday, and their spares counter is
also where they sell clothing and helmets, so it's quite possible they might
deign to sell spares as well.

 

Yeah... I meant 'sundays' for weekends as further up in the thread.
Plenty of places open on Saturday mornings.

I don't think they do. Or, at least, they didn't used to.

Anyway, they're on my shit-list. They sold me a gasket that wouldn't
fit. I went back with the gasket (and the cam-cover it was meant to be
used with) showing how it didn't fit and their service manager said "it
would be fine". I disagreed and asked for a refund (it was simply the
wrong shape somehow). They wouldn't refund and it leaked oil. So I had
to buy another one, from somewhere else. Won't spend with them again.

 

Alan Russell at A+R Racing - Fiver a wheel, balanced and open on
Sundays as long as you're in the paddock at a Bemsee meeting somewhere.

 

Jeeze. There's always some fucker who will undercut you.

I seem to remember with team ukrm Champ would ask me to change a tyre
and I'd **** off to the tyre fitter in the pits and pay a fiver to avoid
doing the work...

 

Yeah, the fucker caught me like that. Once.