Search Mojo tire blocks and No Mar

 

Did this to mine and bought his mojo lever as well. Worth every penny.

 

I just use 3 12 inch tire spoons.

 

Are they aluminum spoons, or steel? I have some 2 foot steel spoons, and they have a SLIGHT contour or raised ridge and they are taking a nice bite out of the rim.

 

I have changed several hundred tires on my No-Mar and have been extremely happy with it.

 

I just use Motion Pro tire irons. If you don't want to scratch your rims, use Motion Pro Rim Protectors, or else get the plastic tire irons from Stubby Tools. I've used them, and while they don't scratch the rims, I'm not overly fond of them. The rim protectors actually clip onto the rim so they don't move around while you're manipulating the tire; they work better than makeshift protectors like pieces of milk containers.

This video shows a tire change. If you skip ahead to 2:10 on the video, it'll show you the rim protectors.

The ones in the video are from Motion Pro; I use a different style (also available from Motion Pro) that look like this:

Other companies make similar rim protectors; I think I have them from both Motion Pro and Tusk.

 

I just use Motion Pro tire irons. If you don't want to scratch your rims, use Motion Pro Rim Protectors, or else get the plastic tire irons from Stubby Tools. I've used them, and while they don't scratch the rims, I'm not overly fond of them. The rim protectors actually clip onto the rim so they don't move around while you're manipulating the tire; they work better than makeshift protectors like pieces of milk containers.

Other companies make similar rim protectors; I think I have them from both Motion Pro and Tusk.

RCinNC, I am curious about the highly acclaimed Mo Pro bead breaker spoons. Do they live up to the hype that says they make breaking the bead a walk-in-the-park. Truth? I'm looking for another set of spoons and want to know if they are worth the money. Thoughts?

https://www.amazon.com/Motion-Pro-08-0536-BeadPro-Breaker/dp/B00CU8ZEZQ/ref=as_li_ss_tl?&linkCode=ll1&tag=cyw0f-20&linkId=fdb3bdaee8e4267a86f644e14f44cf9a&language=en_US

 

If the tire is warmed up, it goes on much easier. Simple way to warm it up (if the warm sun is not shining) is to put a hair dryer inside the tire and then cover the tire up. Getting the tire off the cold concrete helps as well. Leave it for about 20 minutes or so and you will find it goes on a lot easier.
Another vote here for the Motion Pro rim protectors.

 

It looks like you are trying to get the old tire OFF, is that correct? It also looks like the bead has not been "broken" yet, is that true? (Maybe I'm just not seeing it well in the picture.) I have the same HF tire changer, and it has a bead-breaking attachment on the side that will press down on the inner area of the tire just at the edge of the wheel rim, to push the bead towards the center of the wheel, making it loose so you can then use the bar or spoons to lever the tire over the rim.

If you haven't done motorcycle tires before (maybe you have so I don't want to insult you, sorry) but the wheel "valley" where the opposing bead has to go to get room to angle the tire up over the top rim, is a lot narrower than on a steel-rimmed car tire.

Think "out of the box" for minute and here's a trick everybody laughs at but trust me it works slicker than deer guts:

Once you get the beads (top and bottom) broken loose from the rim, take a razor knife/box cutter/K-bar or what ever you have, put a little oil or Ru-Glyde on the blade, and cut the tire all the way around the center of the tread. That way you won't have to fight the opposing bead at all. You can pull the upper bead you are trying to get over the rim up and over really easy. I have been close a couple of times to being able to pull it off by hand, once I get it started, depending on the stiffness of your tire casing. Plenty of Ru-Glyde on the beads for both removal and install.

When putting the new tire on, make yourself some kind of little tent that you can out the tire in with a spcae heater if you have one and get it good and warm. Warm rubber stretches better than frozen rubber.

Hope that helps, and good luck.

 

It looks like you are trying to get the old tire OFF, is that correct? It also looks like the bead has not been "broken" yet, is that true? (Maybe I'm just not seeing it well in the picture.) I have the same HF tire changer, and it has a bead-breaking attachment on the side that will press down on the inner area of the tire just at the edge of the wheel rim, to push the bead towards the center of the wheel, making it loose so you can then use the bar or spoons to lever the tire over the rim.

If you haven't done motorcycle tires before (maybe you have so I don't want to insult you, sorry) but the wheel "valley" where the opposing bead has to go to get room to angle the tire up over the top rim, is a lot narrower than on a steel-rimmed car tire.

Think "out of the box" for minute and here's a trick everybody laughs at but trust me it works slicker than deer guts:

Once you get the beads (top and bottom) broken loose from the rim, take a razor knife/box cutter/K-bar or what ever you have, put a little oil or Ru-Glyde on the blade, and cut the tire all the way around the center of the tread. That way you won't have to fight the opposing bead at all. You can pull the upper bead you are trying to get over the rim up and over really easy. I have been close a couple of times to being able to pull it off by hand, once I get it started, depending on the stiffness of your tire casing. Plenty of Ru-Glyde on the beads for both removal and install.

When putting the new tire on, make yourself some kind of little tent that you can out the tire in with a spcae heater if you have one and get it good and warm. Warm rubber stretches better than frozen rubber.

Hope that helps, and good luck.

Yes, bead is broken. I can get the tire off if I wanted, I just don't want to destroy the rim. I've done tires on my klr which was miserable, my gsxr which wasn't awful, but the metal on the vstrom rim just seems to melt off in contact with a steel spoon. Yes, tires go on alot easier warm. I appreciate everyone's input

 

I have not done my tires yet but plan on doing so in the near future. One tip I am considering is to take some paracord, large zip ties or something and use them to squeeze the sides/beads of the tire together. That should/could make it easier to keep the bead in the center of the wheel while getting the opposite end over the rim. Anybody experience with this?

Motion Pro bead breaker tire irons and the rim protectors are on my shopping list.

 

I've tried stuff like the zip tie method, and found it to be way more trouble than it's worth. It"s a lot less effort to just kneel on the tire to push the sidewall into the center channel while you work that side of the tire onto the rim. It's always easier to mount a tire when it's warm, but I've mounted tires in the winter when they were just warmed up by letting them sit in the house for a couple hours.

That video I posted earlier in this thread is what got me started changing my own tires; those techniques are really effective if you do them correctly. They work even on stiff sidewalls like the bias ply E07's.

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1st thing, get the rim protectors. There are the Motion Pro variety. I seem to have the best luck with these.

Then make a cardboard tire oven. Set tire on little wooden blocks and put cardboard box over the top. Cut a hole in the top of the cardboard and insert the WalMart $9.99 hair dryer. Ignition.

Bake at 130 degrees for half an hour. Some of those bias ply tires are TOUGH !

Of course (in the summer), you can simply lay the tire in the sun to warm it up. An asphalt driveway is the snizzle for that.

A good tire lube is also very handy - and some little wooden blocks cut from 1x2's to put opposite the tire tool, in order to keep the tire down in the drop center.

 

It's not the HF stuff usually, it's your technique. I used HF for many years changing tires on 3 bikes + some friends bikes with not marring. There are many videos on-line to review. It takes patience but you quickly gain the skill to zip right thru it. I did by a MOJO lever eventually. Hang in there, you'll get it. Some here will rip HF stuff I know.

 

Honestly the tire tools are less than 1/2 the equation. Technique is the lions share of getting tars installed

 

Agreed. It's a skill you have to build. You absolutely should NOT be damaging yourself, your tires, your tools, or your wheels. STOP and THINK if you're getting frustrated or starting to apply too much force.

I carry three lightweight 8 inch tar arns in my tool kit and can break the beads on tubed and tubeless tires and do a complete tire change with them. (Seriously, some of the deadly stupid crap you see around breaking beads is mind-boggling.)

I use squares from beverage bottles as rim protectors, and have never gouged a wheel or damaged a tire. At home I use one longer Motion Pro tire iron to speed things up, but it's not necessary.

There are skrillions of good (and lots of dangerously awful) Youtube videos out there, but tire changing is one area where I think in-person coaching might be a really good idea if you're not grokking things right off the bat. I've shown several riders how to change tires using the simplest of tools. I've used a No-Mar, and considered buying one, but it takes up a lot of space and there's little advantage in speed if you know what you're doing with simple tools.

There's still a fairly steep learning curve, and you have to build some experience... most people I've coached decide they could probably handle it in a pinch, but will continue to pay me or someone else to mount their new tires.

Before getting all mixed up with motorbikes, I was a fairly avid bicyclist. I think perhaps that experience with smaller tires and tubes really helped. Motorcycles are the exact same thing, just scaled up immensely. I've never pinched a motorcycle tube, probably because I got all my tube-pinching out of the way on bicycles at $4 a tube instead of $20. You have to learn the angles you can't exceed, and develop a sensitivity to trapped rubber.

 

I use Mojo blocks on my Harbour Freight rim wrecker, er, I mean tire changer. I also use this: https://no-scufftiretool.com. Works well, no scratched rims so far.

 

Thats what used to be called a MOJO lever.

 

9" lever/spoon are all you need to mount/dismount motorcycle tires and most passenger vehicle tires. Again it not the tool its technique. A longer lever increases the risk of damage from improper technique. If you are forcing a bead on/off a tire you are doing it wrong.

Heating tires, gobs of lube and gigantic tire irons are no match for proper technique.

 

9" lever/spoon are all you need to mount/dismount motorcycle tires and most passenger vehicle tires. Again it not the tool its technique. A longer lever increases the risk of damage from improper technique. If you are forcing a bead on/off a tire you are doing it wrong.

Heating tires, gobs of lube and gigantic tire irons are no match for proper technique.

Never underestimate the value of an extra-long tire iron, as more leverage in the tire-iron throwing contest !

 

Zip ties! Haven’t used them to demount a tire yet, but they work great for mounting one. The last 705 I put on my Strom damn near fell on the rim! Do a search on YouTube. I thought it was a bunch of hooey when I heard about it, but trying it made me a believer.


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RuGlyde tire lube is fantastic!!! A little goes a long way. Simple window cleaner works as well.

 

My typical tire lube is just dawn dish soap.

 

RuGlide is a spray bottle is even better. A light must of RuGlide in the right areas is all you need. I bet I use a teaspoon or less per tar.

after my NoMar tire lube got knocked I’ve and spilled on the floor I bought a gallon of RuGlide. A couple hundred tar later and I still have better than a 1/2 gallon.

 

I use the No-Mar lube. Take some and thin it out in a pan on the stove with some water and then put it in a spray bottle.

A small paint brush to hit the drop centers, and a bit of spray on the rubber.
😊😊😊

 

Sounds super scary. Been using dish soap on cars, trucks, trailers and bikes for years. But now you have me concerned that it is going to eat my aluminum pans .

 

Don't be. If it hasn't done anything to your tires or wheels yet it ain't going to.

 

I only changed one tire myself and that's because it was still good when I gave up riding. I would have continued doing it and I'm
certain it would have gotten easier with practice.

All I used were the plastic Stubbies tire "irons." I was taking off a Shinko 705 and installing a Pilot Road 4 Trail.

It was a little work, but for one time only, I think I did alright. My reason for going with the Stubbies was to avoid scratching due to my inexperience. I didn't want to try tire changing and having the awful result of destroying the rim while learning. There are better tools for sure, but at a price.

 

And now you have a decorative tree ring!!!

 

I just use hand tools, motion pro aluminum bead breakers and a pair of motion pro 11“ steel irons. Watched this video a half dozen times, it’s all right there (except I don’t do the kickstand trick):

The first time I tried to use homemade milk jug protectors. Waste of time, I’ll accept a few tiny scratches.

 

Half on. Few bangs with a mallet and some mothers car wash it slid right on

 

Are you saying the 1st bead took hitting the tire with a mallet to get it over the rim? It should push right on with just a little effort.

 

Some of those first beads do not cooperate.
Just sayin'.

 

Old leather gloves work for bead protectors too.

 

With a motorcycle tire, if you're being forced to bang on the tire with a hammer, or using a three foot tire iron, then you're simply fighting against yourself to get it done. Any time I'm changing a tire and I feel like I'm really struggling, then I stop what I'm doing and reset. If the bead won't go over the rim, then I know that I'm simply not getting the opposite side of the bead into the drop channel. I'm either not kneeling hard enough on the opposite site, or I'm not positioned correctly, or it needs a little more lubrication on the part of the bead and rim on the side of the tire that I'm trying to work over the rim. The first time I tried to change a tire, on a Road King, I gave up in total frustration and took it to a shop. But I knew it could be done, because plenty of guys did it themselves. And in spite of what some guys on line say, there are no motorcycle tires out there that are too stiff to mount by hand, using regular motorcycle tire irons, and that includes E07 Dakars and K60's. I can see how a smaller guy might have trouble with a K60, mainly because it helps to have some bulk when you kneel on the tire to force the bead into the drop channel, and those bias ply ADV tires have thick sidewalls and it makes them a little harder to compress the sidewalls if you aren't a bigger guy.

 

I can see how a smaller guy might have trouble with a K60, mainly because it helps to have some bulk when you kneel on the tire to force the bead into the drop channel, and those bias ply ADV tires have thick sidewalls and it makes them a little harder to compress the sidewalls if you aren't a bigger guy.

I remember well, the summer evening I did that first tire change using 10" levers. Even though I was using somewhat proper technique, at 5' 6" and 145 lbs., it can be a challenge to do all the correct moves simultaneously while keeping the wheel, the beads and everything from squirming around on you. I was sweating for sure.

 

I've changed hundreds of dirt bike tires. Only one set of street bike tires. Shinko 705 on my 2012 vstrom 650. It was not easy and I scratched the rims pretty bad. Tried to keep the rim savers In place to no avail. The best advice I have heard is to stop and reset as soon as you start to struggle. But by then the scratches are there. I bought some dunlop trail mission tires for my 2014 1000. Paid 30 bucks ea to have them installed in 15 min. I like to do all the work on my bike and feel ashamed for paying someone to do it. I'll try again on my next set.