Change tyres

[Sphere]

With no experience at all with changing tyres, I told myself: how hard can it be, just buy a new set and get busy. Having removed my 17yo badly cracked Dunlops, I have come to revisit this idea. But it seems to be a useful skill to learn nonetheless. My shopping list consists of:

- set of small tyre irons, preferably with plastic tip (so I'm less likely to accidently bend/damage the coated wheel rims)
- or some pieces of garden hose?
- bucket of tyre grease/driehoek groene zeep
- talc powder

Hummm, anything else? I guess I need to make something to support the wheel while I try to massage the tyre on there, perhaps out of MDF and line it with old inner tubes.

[Sphere]

Useful linksabout tyre changing I found so far:

http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/2676711#141691803_PzDvm (home cooked solution that looks professional, not cheap)

[Diesel Dave]

If your at home get the biggest pair of tyre levers you can lay your hands on.

An assistant helps a lot too.

Here's my method.

Let the air out by unscrewing the valve a little
Find a nice piece of dry grassy area to work on as this saves rim scratches.
Use your weight to break the bead away from the rim on both sides, I like to use the heels of my shoes boots and press down with entire body weight.
At the opposite side to the valve get the tyre beads as far down into the central well as possible and get your assistant to hold them there, get a tyre lever either side of the valve hooking just the bead and not the tube.
Lever the bead over the rim; if it's too hard to do then your assistant has not held the beads in the well - shout at him for a bit until he does his job properly.
Travel around the beads taking more small bites at getting the edge over.
Once the entire bead is over the edge push the valve into the rim and pull out the inner tube.
The second bead can usually be done by hand without the need for levers.

Clean out all the rust and replace the rim tape (rubber band, gaffa tape or whatever).

Lube up your new tyre with tyre soap if you can get it, ordinary soap if you can't (WD40 works too), I like to chalk up the tube and insert it into the tyre before fitting.
Pop the first bead over the rim by hand and swivel the tyre around 'till the valve lines up with the hole in the rim.
Pop the valve through the hole and secure with the nut by just a few turns.
Start pushing the second bead over the rim, I never use levers for this bit but again use the boot heel, when it starts to get hard to do make sure the bit you have done is seating in the well, Continue around with your assistant standing on the completed bit to stop it popping back and finish at the valve.

Band the tyre on the ground a few times, pull any trapped grass out and make sure that the valve stands upright and not leaning over - if it is then shuffle the tyre around the rim to correct.

Inflate to 40 psi to seat the bead and check it's 'datum' line around the rim to make sure it's even, them bleed out the excess pressure to where you want it to be.

Job done.
Dave

[sbrumby]

Some time ago I made some levers out of car drive shafts. Cut these down to lever shape with an angle grinder, but do this a bit at a time so not affecting the temper. Weld the new end to some strong bar, so they are not so heavy. You will find the thin end will never bend.

[Stuart]

Bloody hell, Sam They sound like some levers Imagine trying to stuff a couple of those in your tool kit for a run to Hamm I bet you use them for your tractor tyres or something
My method of changing tyres is to cover them with light solution of washing up liquid and try not to pinch them tubes against the rims. Best thing is to get shot of those Avon tyres on your enfield and lessen your chances of a blow out.

[coachgeo]

Tire changing info. Not sure if that site requires membership to see pics or not

[Sphere]

Thanks for the links. I think I will try without dodge rams and what not. I used an electric saw to cut the tyre in half, then just tore it off. Hopefully mounting them will be possible without tools. Would be nice to see the bike semi-decent at least once, before the demise starts

[oldbmw]

Looking at all the little tyre levers available i decide to treat myself to these.

They will go well with the 24 and 30 mm spanners needed to change rear wheel. Not sure where to fit the trolley jack though

[Diesel Dave]

No need for the 30mm Larry, you only need that for chain tensioning.

The rear wheel is quick release and leaves the brake and chain in situ.

Dave

[Crazymanneil]

Don't forget balancing. You can buy the stick on lead weights on ebay. Can't find the website that describes wheel balancing (theres a few of them now though) but they put a mark on the tyre in the factory at the heaviest point (I *think* tho would need to check!). You put tyre on rim with this opposite the valve and balance from there. Set wheel up on homemade stands with ball bearings supporting the axle. Ball bearings kept lightly oiled only (no grease) to reduce drag. Spin wheel a couple of times and let it settle and heavy bit will be at the bottom. Stick a weight on the rim at opposite side, spin and settle again. Repeat til it settles randomly and you know she's good to go.

Wifey wants to write something so here's the -

*wife version*
Translates to watching husband spin a tyre with funny bits of metal attached rather than taking it to the nice tyre man who works in Donaghadee.

[oldbmw]

No need for the 30mm Larry, you only need that for chain tensioning.

The rear wheel is quick release and leaves the brake and chain in situ.

Dave

Yes I know, was just exaggerating a little

However I have been considering those little feet for the centre stand for soft ground, and wonder about making up a set that can be turned over to give an extra inch or two height. That way the rear wheel can be pulled without the three armed trick of leaning the bike over. I cheated last time and put it on a plank.

[Sphere]

Today I mounted two new tyres to my freshly powdercoated rims. With the help of Nanko, a wood clamp and brute force it took a little under 2 hours to mount 2 tyres. Tyre grease was very useful to aid in slipping the tyre over the rim. A little garden hose and 300mm iron completed the endeavour.

The front wheel is pretty much finished except for a slight drag somewhere in the revolution, but the rear wheel has not been assembled to my satisfaction. I have a QD wheel, but one part of the axle assembly does not match the drawing I have. I'm also left with a flanged ring (spacer?) that fits inside a big ring, but can not be mounted anywhere in combination with that ring.

I am looking for detailed pics of a QD wheel, to see if and where I went wrong. My Bullet is a '92 model.

[Diesel Dave]

Do you have the speedo drive coming off the rear wheel?

I'll assume that you don't.

The first thing to check is that the carrier bearing is properly positioned and the hollow stub axle can spin easily without binding.

Next focus on the wheel itself, It's not unknown for the spacer to be the wrong length between the bearings and when you tighten the axle it puts pressure on the bearings and causes binding and premature failure. Make sure that the spacer seats between the inner races before they bottom out in the hub.

I have found ne example where the stub axle had spacers inserted to maintain clearance or the drum would bind.

Cheers
Dave

[Sphere]

My speedo is front wheel driven. The hollow axle cannot spin freely and seems to be wedged between the two bearings. I suppose this means I need to by new bearings again, because removing the bearings is not possible without applying a fair amount of force.

What is the "carrier bearing" ?

[oldbmw]

Sphere, hope this helps. taken from the parts book
Click on it for full size picture. ( better yet copy it and rotate it)

[Sphere]

Hey Larry, thanks for the pic! It looks still different from my wheel, and the pics I have. One is from the Snidal manual, another is a harcopy of a derived version of the Snidal (possibly others) manual with a different pic. My rear hub has a flanged portrusion through the dustcover on the righthand side. All the pics I see encourage you to put stuff on either side of the dustcover but that's not possible with my hub.

[Stuart]

Here's one that had me wishing I had Sam's Levers with me. When I got to Hamm early I had to help help change a wheel. The problem was how to get said wheel to the place that could do repair the punctured tire Did it eventually go into the car? Answers on a postcard

[Sphere]

Any with detailed pics of a QD wheel?

[oldbmw]

Any with detailed pics of a QD wheel?

the one I posted is a qd rear wheel, although fairly modern ( 2005)

[Sphere]

The flanged ring is probably similar to (3) in oldbmw's image, and is intended to provide clearance between the spacer and the grease seal. Otherwise the distance piece will crush when the nut on the other end is tightened.

Mystery solved, thanks for the help Pics of the finished product (wheels) are below.