(02-26-2026, 07:51 AM)MagnaRider Wrote: ...
I don't doubt that I can do the tire swap myself, my neighbor who's ridden since the 70s has done it plenty and will help me. Any tips beforehand are appreciated.
Thanks again for the assistance! Very Very much appreciated! I know its a lot of questions, I swear I am not that dumb just uh... a noob as the internet would say
I'm not a tire-changing expert, but I can share what I've been through. Un-assisted, I've done tire changes on my KLR650, DR650, CGL125 about 14-15? times x 2 for front and rear...all tubed. Let's just say they all got done, but not without a substantial learning curve, lots of frustrating moments...and not without scratching up the rims a fair amount--which I didn't care about much for dual purpose bikes. Between my KLR650 and DR650 I went about 6 years between having to change tires and had to relearn everything. Last summer on my DR, I vowed to "get the process down" and did 4 practice changes because I really need to be able to be proficient out in the field in case of a flat.
For my CB1100, I had a shop do the first 3 tire changes because it seemed a little intimidating. Street tires are stiffer than dual purpose tires...I'm told. Then I thought I'd try it on my own because shop prices in my area were getting ridiculous at north of $100 per tire. I got the front wheel off the bike, and try as I might while trying to take care of the rim, I felt I couldn't get close to breaking the bead. The aggressiveness I'm willing to apply on dual purpose bikes, I simply wasn't on my CB1100. So I bought the Rabaconda tire changer and it works beautifully. It's expensive: I purchased mine on sale at $600 but I see now they are charging $740+ which is kinda crazy expensive. But it works! Breaks bead effortlessly. There's a learning curve for getting the tire on, but if one takes the time, it's laughable how easy it makes things--and, I haven't scratched the rims in 4 attempts. Now the rear CB1100 needs changing and after 5 attempts, I'm getting close to "paying it off". Ideally, it's a tool/machine that would be shared among friends to make it more valuable.
Tips? ...Likely, your friend is quite adept, maybe has a tire changer?, and takes precautions to ensure that the rims are protected...but maybe it wouldn't hurt to ask him what he does to do that before starting. Wisconsin...prolly not a lot of warm, sunny days right now, but working with a warm tire makes things a lot easier. I have a space heater I use, so once the wheel is off the bike, I let it sit near the space heater inside the house to warm it up before breaking the bead. And I do the same with the new tire. Are tire irons going to be used? "Take small bites" means how far you insert the tire iron between rim and tire. For a long time, I thought that only meant moving the tire irons around the rim as you go. "Getting the opposite side of the tire in the wheel well" is a must as you get half-way through and to the end. Being generous with lube--whatever you use--is good. You probably have read of techniques and watched the videos, so ignore me if all this is already known. Take your time. Many of the videos I watched say "if it's a complete struggle, you're likely missing a key step". If it's not happening, leave it, watch the video again and then come back to it.
And when you're all done, make sure your directional arrows are pointed the right way!
Being facetious with that comment, but I did do one change where I realized the arrow was pointing the wrong way after the fact...start over, good practice.
I bought a tire balancer from Amazon, about $80. To me it seems to work fine and it's fun to see the wheel become balanced little by little as you add weights.
Someone will correct me if I've mis-stated things. Good luck!