The Zombie in me wants to know how to change tires by hand By zombieninja (Read 886 times)

[zombieninja]

The Zombie in me wants to know how to take off front and rear tires and rims. Then remove those tires and install new ones.The Ninja in me is searching for a well performing set of tires that are easy on my wallet. Also the Ninja wants to do it with tools, not hands. I also need some valve stems for both. Does anybody know if this is possible? I need cheep tires 3.50-10. Kenda K413 22$ with 9$ shipping. New valve stems, then motion pro iron set. Someone help me with some tutorials, videos, anything. I need tires, soon. My rims are also junk. 

Thank youu

[Bashan]

Looville eh? Had some friends that went to school there. When I went to visit that's how they pronounced it. Here's a couple videos on changing although I don't know why you want to ruin your hands and your day:

I'll see if I can get to your other problems in a bit.

[twowheeler]

The best 30 bucks you can spend is having a shop do it.

[kz1000st]

No joke. I have all the tools to change tires. They're collecting dust. I pull the wheel, take the new tire and wheel to my local Kawasaki dealer and pay $15 to $30. Done and no skinned knuckles.

[zombieninja]

Yeah I was thinking maybe it wasn't worth the hassle. Money is kinda tight right now tho. I remember changing bike tires when I was like 12 and 13. It was a hassle then too. I can see myself buying the tools and then getting so frustrated I just take the rim to the shop. The thing is why pay someone to do something you can do yourself? 15-30$ is A LOT of money to me. I think I'll watch the videos then make a decision.

@bashan we, as in the people that live here, pronounce it Lullvull. I've heard it pronounced in all kinds of different ways. They just pronounced it Lullavull on the local news. Really its Louis-Ville, after King Louie the 13th. We are a strange mix of People here. It's very friendly. Come visit us sometime. Bring your scooter. We are bike friendly city. From Mid April until the 1st Saturday in May we have Derby celebrations. It's awesome.

[kz1000st]

I understand the cost factor for you. It was for me for many years. If someone asked me to do it for them now I just might. After you've watched a guy do it with a machine though you feel pretty stupid. They break the bead in seconds, they peel off the old tire in a minute. It takes them less than ten minutes to do the whole job including balancing it for you. It takes me a good half hour to remove the tire and another half hour, or more, to reverse the process, plus I have no way to balance the tire. I'm old, I figure I save a bunch of money removing and replacing the wheel. If I just handed them the scooter or bike and said, "Give me a tire" it would cost close to a hundred bucks. I buy the best tire I can at a reasonable price and do the wheel. I have a friend who does the shop replacement thing. He spends a couple of hundred at shop rate for an overpriced tire and labor. $30 bucks-tops-plus buying a tire online looks awful cheap compared to that.

[dyoung1167]

i pretty much "glued" my beads to my rim by using straight dish soap (versus watered down) when i mounted it and breaking the bead was terribly frustrating. had three people scratching their heads trying to help me. had a bit of a moment and got an idea. took the tire to the driveway, grabbed a 6 foot piece 2x6 i had lying around. placed it on the tire next to but not on the rim and drove the car up the board a little ways and bam. repeat for other side. very simple and easy. after getting the bead to release, the rest is easy too, and now so is breaking the bead. i no longer even attempt to do it any other way.
some of us need that 30 bucks for other things and or prefer to do it ourselves

[bhinch]

The motorcycle shop will do the exchange, just don't tell them it is for a Chinese scooter (no matter what make). The 10/12/13 inch tires are very hard to remove and install. The new tires are very stiff and even when done in 100 plus degree summer days. Just my 2 cents...

[ducked]

Never done it with a scooter, but with cars the trick is breaking the bead. I used to drive onto the (deflated) tyre, or, if there wasn't space for that (working in a city street parking) shove the wheel under the car and then jack down on the bead.

Don't see why those techniques wouldn't work with a scooter tyre, assumimg you had access to a car.

If you're picky, though, you can't really balance a wheel properly yourself, as far as I know.

[zombieninja]

You guys are right I really have no way of balancing the wheels. Well, I did see this stuff somewhere on line. It's tiny little plastic or rubber beads. Anyway, you install the tire and then you pour the beads in through the valve stem. After you remove the valve out of the stem. I don't know. That stuff prolly costs 30 bucks itself. I might take it somewhere. I'll definitely call around. I already bought the irons though Is balancing a big deal on a scooter?

[jct842]

I do it myself. A pair of tools were $10 when I bought a pair of pirelli from motocycle super store. When I check balance the old fashioned way they needed nothing. And do not show out of balance at speed. Have done a half dozen since. I do not repair tires when they get a nail, I replace them. You do need an aircompressor with a quick fill adapter though. Dilute the dawn dish soap a bunch and it will not glue tires.