used to ride a lot more and could change tires in a jiff when i was using a set every other weekend or three. now? tires last several outings before they are toast. fer the 125 i finally spooned off those retarted eco-friendly abominations Michelin calls Enduro Comp tires last night...ran 'em near ragged too to remind me to never get another pair... two tires, 30 mins. no pinches or scratches on them silly black wheels either. gettin' slow in my old age. how's yer times? share some tips or questions?
30 minutes for me is about right. That's from when I throw the bike on the stand to when I take it off. I can't kneel on a tire anymore, after my patella fracture and ACL surgery, so that slows me down. I could still do it in 15 minutes, if I wanted to really hustle (But I don't) and didn't care how my knee felt! Rim locks on same side as valve stem (KTM's come that way now) make it so you can load the tube in the tire before you mount it, saving time. Using a dead bow hammer to wack the last bit of bead on, helps to avoid tube pinches. I have to say I'm a little hamfisted, so I scratched my black rims.
yeh- i always keep the bead lock under the rim strip and load the tube in tire first with a bit of air in it so it keeps shape and saves pinches. also if there's a scohce of air in the tube the vavle stem pops through all by iteself if ya get it right.. i'm one of them take off both beads then flip the rim a 90 and yank, guys. i'd could be faster too but not without marring things up some, i use a short 3 gallon bucket as a stand... some guys are wicked fast and neat on the ground. pretty awesome to see. forgot to mention but last night i noticed the tubes on the WR125 were heavy-duty from the factroy, nice touch.
If you need a little more practice.....I've got a front Bridgestone and rear Maxxis I got on rec from George that need mounting....no big hurry....
9:45 last week on the 125...front and rear 756's...rim lock over the strip....little bit of air in the tube...tons of baby powder in the tire...and tons of wd 40 on the outside...on the florr is the only way to go..oh no hammer...and i am a old 40...
2-5 beers per tire Still new at it and haven't had to mess with one away from the garage yet. The last 2 have involved converting to Tubliss systems so had to clean up the rim and drill a little bit. Am completely content if it just seals on the first attempt
Two to five beers sounds about right for me. I am always doing all kinds of other crap while I have the bike on the stand. Walt
Clank! I like tinkering on these things too while I'm messing with the rubber. Beer seems to work as a nice lube too! Got to stop and have a smoke before I start swearing or chucking tools Stupid tires!
El Maestro Everyone has seen this, but fits the thread...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVl6grp3Sww
send em up! but, if they fit the 125 i cannot guarntee the tread'll be 100% when they come back and it could take a while.
I just bought some knobbies for my kids mountain bike. Get this........ a Kendal foldable dual compound mountain bike tire that is made with some kevlar. Rear was $55 and the front was $52. How crazy is that? The guy in the bike shop insisted on giving me tips on mounting it. LOL. It took all of 2 minutes. I used a 3" plastic tire iron. If only life were that easy swaping MX tires.
panaracer is our sponsor, has been for eons. them folding tires are nice. light too. dont even need tools on tube type rims. just rip 'em off and slap 'em on. i've run 'em literally to the cords and beyond and chunked 'em good out here and still made it in. amazing technology. shop around and find the deals on folders. they can be had for under 30$ sometimes. lemme know next time and ill do some sourcing for ya and try and get ya a better price.
You guys just make me sick with these storys of tire changes! Seems that I have terrible luck or just plain lack of skill when it comes to changing tires. I usually pinch 2 out of every 5 I change. That gets pretty damn exspensive. So here lately I've been spending $15 to have the tire put on instead of paying $15 dollars for a new tube. I tell ya what will really piss ya off- pinching 2 in a row! I've done it!
Thanx Norm I have never seen that one. Hey does anyone recognize that tire stand or do you think it's home made? I love the bead breaker too. Pretty compact I like it.
been there! one of the keys for me is after the bead is broken and while taking it off, or when spooning on the tire, is to squeeze the sidewalls together so as to shift the bulk of the carcass down towards to center of the rim opposite of where my lever is. this makes the slack go towards where you are working, makes it much easier to get off/on the rim as you are not fighting it. someone else can probably explain this way better than me. also keep a lil bit of air and the valve stem in the tube so it holds it's shape, helps with pinches.
i'd advised against armor all- used it once on an uncop 19". ended up slipping on the rim and shearing off the vavle. soap works better as it dries. spit works too. i also use o-ring under the rim lock and vavle stem nuts to keep as much water out as possible, water will rot your stems at the tube and seizes nipples (that didn't sound right! )
