Tire changers

[01 rk]

I am considering buying a tire changer, either a Wikco or Cycle Hill.
With three bikes in the family and $50 a pop to remove and mount a tire I figure it wouldn't take too long to pay for it self.
Do any of you guys change your own tires and had any experience with either of these brands? Any input would be appreciated.

 

[fin_676]

I always have changed my own tyres and i just use basic tyre leavers which so far has worked out ok for me

Brian

 

[wannaride]

I have the HF tire machine & motorcycle adapter & then got the MoJo lever The Mojolever I also got the MoJo blocks. It still needs to have mods done to the machine do to the pulley & the disc extend too far for the rear wheel.

Toby

 

[TQuentin1]

Also ping Chopper and see what he says.

TQ

 

[Buster]

If you're really wanting to invest the money in a tire machine that's better then manual spoons, check out Greg Smith products. I was having trouble awhile ago with my balancer and thought I was going to buy another one. Spending another $3,500 was not looking like something I wanted to do so I looked at his products and they were very reasonable.

 

[The4opps1]

I bought one a while back on Ebay. I wasn't looking for a big monitary committment because I figured if the machine did ten tires in it's life, that would be a lot. If memory serves, I paid about $200 for it plus $30 or so for shipping. It did require some assembly, but nothing major. It has a bead breaker as part of the machine, and also an adjustable table that will hold 16" to 22" wheels. It came with a 40" bar to remove and install the tire on the rim. My unit bolts to a wooden floor, but I have seen attachments that allow you to secure the tire changer by driving the wheel of a car or truck onto it. For the "do it yourselfer" it's not a bad piece of machinery for the price. yes there are better units that will do more and do it faster. It all depends on how much you want to spend. I have removed and installed the tires on two bikes with no problem. Also bought a static balancer that does a good job for the price.

 

[Nightowl]

Hey The4opps1, what kind did you buy? I thing about this because I hate the cost and I am a gray beard looking to fill my time when not riding! Plus I burn through a tire a year or more. I would like to hear more about the HF units from anyone that uses one.

 

[The4opps1]

I don't have the info handy on the brand name. From what I can gather, it's not "made in the USofA", but the welds seemed of good quality, and as I pointed out, for the ten tires that it'll probably do during it's lifetime, the unit is just fine. I bought it on Ebay, and if I recall, the seller was from the Florida area. He had about six of these on at one time. As stated, they have the bead breaker, it mounts on a stand that I bolted down, is about 48" high when assembled and handles 16" to 22" tires. It will also do golf cart tires and small car tires. If I can dig up the paperwork, I see if I can get the name, but I'm sure if you just check out Ebay, you'll find what you are looking for at price ranges from what I paid to over $3000. Good luck.

 

[R_W_B]

Harbor Freight used to sell a fabulous deal on a tire changer but when I went to buy it a good while back they said they had discontinued it. Here are a couple of links showing it's use, but you'd have to find one on ebay.

Harbor Freight manual tire changer Part 1 - YouTube

This also is a still pics H.F. depiction

MotorcycleJazz - Changing Motorcycle Tires, Harbor Freight motorcycle tire stand 42927

Brian has some pics (I believe) that show how he changes them by hand, or maybe I'm just thinking bout his balancer.

Here are some more ways to break beads and pull rubber on YouTube.

This is a good do it by hand video

Change a motorcycle tyre by hand. - YouTube

On this on move the pointer to the middle of the video to get to the hand changing part. These guys do it totally by hand.

How to change a motorcycle tire without a stand or specialized tools - YouTube

One a little more dramatic

How to change a tire from a rim without a machine - YouTube

This one uses a couple of heavy brake drums mounted to a jack

red neck tire machine - YouTube

 

[fin_676]

As R_W_B said i did do a few pics of removing a tyre using simple hand tools
Harley Davidson Community

And i do my own balancing with a contraption i threw together one time

Brian