Who's done it? Is it worth it? How much of an investment are we talking about for tire changing equipment?

I have several friends that have the harbor freight set up....it works, but worth getting the Nomar set up. I'm saving for the nomar now, just gonna skip wasting money on the harbor freight set up. If you go through many tires at all they are WELL worth it, they will pay for themselves fairly quickly!

* Last updated by: Jeff01ss on 7/14/2011 @ 5:59 AM *

http://compare.ebay.com/like/250797423974?var=lv<yp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&_lwgsi=y

Wow, man, $875! That is 17 tire changes, front and back. I've gone through 2 sets/ year.

The Harbor Freight changer goes for 49$. That sounds more like my league. It scratches the hell out of rims, I hear but I would consider trying to come up with some sort of solution for that. Perhaps even several layers of duct tape on the edges of the rim.

The part that looks like it would be really rough on the rim is the second step where the tire gets levered over the edge. The kid is not exactly being careful. You think I could use that thing without damaging the finish if I was really willing to take my time?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LAABOgXU1s

....then again, if I am willing to spend 2 hour removing 2 tires, maybe I should just bring them to my shop that has never scratched a rim in 4 tire changes.

* Last updated by: Rook on 7/14/2011 @ 8:38 AM *

I take mine off the bike and run them down to the local shop. They charge my $15 per to mount and balance and then I put them back on. Less than 2 hours for the whole process, I figure thats easier than mounting them in my garage.

I've done more than a dozen tire changes with a HF, and I have never scratched a wheel... but that took some effort. I used cut pieces of denim to protect my wheels from the bead breaker and clamps... and cut up oil bottles to protect my wheels for the mount/dismount bar... but... I got tired of the extra hassle and sprung for a No-Mar classic with the hitch mount attachment... It's fantastic, however, the wheel clamps of HF hold the wheel better.

A HF changer with a No-Mar bar would be an inexpensive and easy to use set up.

BTW... I used to use DynaBeads to balance my tires. Then I read somewhere that MC tires can be off as much as 60 grams rear and 30 grams front before they will give off any vibes. I've done 3 sets now without any balancing and have not experienced any vibes what-so-ever. It's easy enough to put the beads in later if I ever do.

* Last updated by: DogoZX on 7/14/2011 @ 10:52 AM *

AH- balance. you must hav barance, glasshoppa.

I did not see the kid balance hi tire in the vid. How does that work with the HF changer? And, could you explain how dynabeads work? And how much do they cost.

and what would a NO-Mar bar cost me? (just the bar)

AH- balance. you must hav barance, glasshoppa.

Point of contention... I'm a set of bt016's, Q2's, and PP's deep w/o any balancing and w/o any vibes.

How does that work with the HF changer?

HF sells a MC tire balancer also. It doesn't cost much $$$, but I didn't buy one.

And, could you explain how dynabeads work?

Not really... But they do...
Basically, they are tiny ceramic beads that go in the tire. When the tire spins, the centriphical force spreads them out (inside of the tire) and balances it.

what would a NO-Mar bar cost me? (just the bar

$100 or less, IIRC.

thanks erik, and everyone. I have some god info now. The Cyclehill looks a little more reasonable but the HF is so cheap I could almost toss it in the scrap pile if I feel I need something better.

I made this for about 10 dollars, bead broken in no time
B-A

cool wish i could weld Sinv=ce i can't, I'm willing to spend a littlt $$$

I see one home made bead breaker up there but it is steel, I have seen vids of the same thing made out of wood.

1. Set of tire irons. Yeah, I should have glued leather over my irons but it's service chipping, not keeping a museum piece in pristine shape.
2. Make the same setup as noscuff's videos. Especially that tire bead breaker on the garage 2x4 wall.
3. Must make that balance tool with the universal cones and rod. That was a good idea there and the rollers. Downside to that was to think he has that wheel balanced close enough. You might see me move mine in all clock directions dead still. Run it like that if you run the track or street.

blue can run without weight. Ain't my bike if you know WOT I mean.

this was even cheaper, but it works
B-A

* Last updated by: battleaxe on 7/19/2011 @ 8:56 AM *

This sure looks like the HF tire changer. This thing is no longer available at HF as far I can tell (not like anyone who works there really helps customers). Looks like sombody did some speculating. Bought a few up and jacked the price.

Should I get it, for $100?

does this look like everything I would need to change motorcycle tires or was there some kind of adapter for cycle rims?
EBAY TIRE CHANGER

won't be repairing this one, on the up side it's covered 3973 miles with 3mm left
B-A

So I see we have a No Mar bar for ~ $125. Also these Mojo Blocks for ~$30. I can get a tire changer on Amazon for 80 and they CLAIM to have the MC adapter available for ~40 but I cant find it. This money saving idea is getting expensive. An entire No Mar system starts to look pretty reasonable.

Is the Motorcycle adapter that 3 armed deal that sets on top?? You can see it in the pics at this link. HF tire changer for bikes.

Thanks Erik. I emailed Powerlift to ask about the MC adapter but no replie as yet. i had Emailed a couple other companies selling these changers asking if it WAS the Hf changer. No replies.

That's why I have not purchased anything yet. I may just make my own out of wood. I'm seriously thinking about a set of TriRs and there is no way I would trust any shop with those.

rook idk if u got something already but here is my opinion, if u have the money and can really use the fancy tire changer buy it, if not i would go to 58cycle or any of those pages and buy 4 rim protectors, and 4 tire irons, then go to homedepot and buy a 2x4, some screws, and a pice of corck, that is all u really need to change a tire, and i would rather spend the money on a ballancer since that one is more important to me, i have done a few of these changes w my friends and there is plenty of videos on youtube showing how to do it, if u r carefull u shouldnt scrach the rim and it would only cost u about $100.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMl4Gn_RT8g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HISTC-sC0o

even w zipties

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6WPzRRJLpA

* Last updated by: jpzx14 on 10/27/2011 @ 7:42 PM *

Thanks fellas. No, I have not purchased anything yet. I don't change enough tires to spend 400-500$ on a changer. I will probably whack out a home made system of some kind if I get some expensive rims. The Home Depot changer would have been perfect because it was cheap and the labor involved in making my own was not a factor.

I wish there was a way to get a Cycle Hill on loan for a week, I'd produce a blueprint of it and then my buddy with the machine shop and I could make one (or ten, CNC rocks).

Though from the prices on the Cycle Hill website, I'm not sure we could do it for less. I imagine they are actually manufactured in China. Everything else is.

I might buy one eventually. If I get a C14, they have a TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) which includes sending units on both wheels. Some of the COG guys have had those damaged by dealers putting tires on and not being careful (more careful than normally required).

So in that case, I'd rather do it myself because I would be careful. But no way I'm using irons anymore. Sigh....

At least the deep pain in my neck and back has abated, and I'm strength training again on my Bowflex Revolution. Nice to be using it again, it was nine feet of wasted space for almost 3 years. Not using heavy "weights" but enough to rebuild my muscles some.

I've changed a few tires the hard way - with tire irons, brute force & ignorance. I decided to see if I could design and make tire changing equipment out of wood - yup, wood. Something that just about anyone could duplicate without needing to do any welding; just basic home tools. It's still a work in progress and probably always will be but I've changed an awful lot of tires with this.

Home made tire changer

The biggest pita about changing your own tires, if you don't have a machine like the No-Mar, is breaking the bead and keeping it in the dropped center of the rim while prying it off the other side. Some tires are stiffer than others and can make the job tougher. I do mine at home and use a large bench vise for a bead breaker, rim protectors, tire irons and some clamps to hold the bead in the center drop. I've changed them in motel parking lots with just the clamps, rim protectors, tire irons and a small air compressor I was carrying. Another issue can be getting the bead to seat once you've got the new skin spooned on. Again, some tires seat right up and some are a pain and require a lot of air volume to blow them out onto the rim. Unless you want to spend the $ on a good machine, consider taking the wheels to a shop and having them do the work. Most shops around here charge $20 per wheel to mount and balance if you buy the tire from them or $40 if you bring one in.

Unless you want to spend the $ on a good machine, consider taking the wheels to a shop and having them do the work. Most shops around here charge $20 per wheel to mount and balance if you buy the tire from them or $40 if you bring one in.

Same deal we have here. That always seems to render savings on inet purchase of tires nominal at best....and it pisses off the shop, too. They do a good job. Fast and they never scratched a rim.

I think you have a point on the savings aspect of DIY tire changes, Danno but my main concern is damage control. I will be bringing in $2000 rims and I will have a stroke if I find a scratch on them when I pick them up. The dealership I bought my bike scratched the hell out of my OEM rims on the first change. Almost the entire outside lip scraped to the metal.

Take your new wheels to a Ducati, or other high end, dealership for tire changes if you're worried about scratches, Rook.

Yeah good point ...

..on second thought guess who sells Ducati here? Yeah, the shop that scraped my OEM rims.

we are back to the DIY approach.

I will ask the shop I trusted how they feel about mounting the tires. if they say no prob and I find a scratch, someone must die!

* Last updated by: Rook on 2/3/2012 @ 11:36 AM *