| Author | Message | ||
     Oldog |
I have over a life time accumulated a number of tools, having some thing to work with is the only way to go, Any way While I had the wheels off I had them powder coated (clear) and there is no way I will put a spoon back on them for tire mounting, and I am not wanting to use some improvised method or tool. If you have a tire changing "machine" would you comment here TIA jim .. I am intent on obtaining one soon and would like to hear what owners have to say about theirs. | ||
| Krassh |
I have the Harbor Freight setup and have not used it but I figure it will be hard to keep from messing the rims up. This is a little pricey but you will not mess up your wheels. http://www.king-cart.com/n0m5rent/product=No-Mar+T ire+Changer/exact_match=exact | ||
| Chasespeed |
Jim, we talked about this last weekend..kinda... As far as putting them on, THAT should be a non marring issue...lube the tire up(i prefer dish soap), slam it home, one side on, for the other, a couple spoons, strategically placed, and worked, shouldnt even touch the visible face of the rim.. But, I am still curious about that one tool you were mentioning before, I was looking at a few other things, and might make something different, And after looking at that tool, it looks pretty good to me...though, for not too much more, yo ucan snag a pnuematic one... Chase (Message edited by chasespeed on January 31, 2007) | ||
| Damnut |
no-mar bar ask hammer71 & firebolteric_ma about it | ||
| Firebolteric_ma |
 NO - MAH - BAH is an awsome tool! Hammer showed it to me and The way I burn Through tires it was a must to find something that worked.  I will say the first time was a little stressful, but once I learned the trick of putting the tire in the center of the rim, The tire just glidded on with very little effort. It is also nice that it is small and can be carried/taken anywhere (even on the bike if needed for emergency tire changes). I loves it!  | ||
| Hammer71 |
Best tire tool I've used so far. Will not chip or mark rim at all and once you figure out that keeping the tire in the center of the rim thing, tires changes take about 2 minutes (not including balancing) http://www.nomartirechanger.com/06DemountBar.html | ||
| Kuuud |
I saw the no-mar demo at the IMS in Cleveland. It def looks like the way to go! Bret | ||
| Mbsween |
Chase, I've done well over 50 tires in the past 5 yrs. I'll think you'll find it much easier to scratch a rim when putting a tire on than you think. Although in general I agree, its much easier getting them on than off. Tires vary greatly in the amount of effort it takes to get them on/off a rim. In my experience Dunlops and Metzlers are the easiest and Michelins have been the hardest. I've only done a few other brands. Tires with tubes futher complicate the mess. As does the number of beers consumed and so forth, but hey you've got to have some way to get people over to help. Where it really gets tricky is when you try to do it solo, having three hands would help. A lot of patience and a c-clamp (to keep the tire in the center of the rim) helps tremendously. Just my 0.02 | ||
| Barker |
I got the no-mah-bah, Lube (astroglide) a piece of carpet (so I dont scratch the rim), a big clamp (breaking the bead), and a homemade static balancer. I got about $150 in the entire set-up. | ||
| Tx05xb12s |
Thanks for posting this you guys. I'm thinking about getting into the tire changing business for myself too. I have been taking my wheels to the local Ironhorse dealership here in town to have them do it for me, and every time I get them back, the edge of my rims have the powercoat chipped off a little worse than the last time they did them. These guys work on $40,000+ customs all day long. I wonder why they can't seem to get my tires mounted without chipping up the edge of my rims? I've watched them do it and they are as gentle as they can be, but it happens anyway. The first tirechange I thought the owner was going to have a heart attack when he saw what they did to my rims. He was more upset than I was, and I was not happy at all. He had no problem taking my money for the job though. I'm thinking I would probably be more gentle on them than someone else would. Besides, as much as I've spent on tire changes thus far, I could have bought myself a pretty fancy piece of equipment to do it myself. | ||
| Jandj_davis |
I have the harbor freight setup, and while the clamp is great, or at least better than an old car rim or 5 gal. bucket, it does need some tweaking. I put plasti-dip on the clamp fingers to keep them from scratching the rim and to keep the rim from moving. This works well, except that the lube I used ate the plasti-dip. I used Silicone spray for lube, which I would not recommend for putting the tire back on. Getting that stuff all over my tire did not make for a very good "first ride" experience. I did use the HF bar with sections of milk-jugs for rim protectors, and it worked great with no scratches. However, I will be buying a No-Mar bar one of these days, as it is a much better design. All in all, the HF setup is definitely worth the money, and is as good as the No-Mar setup if you tweak it a little bit. | ||
| Firebolteric_ma |
I think I owe Hammer71 a couple beers at MBIV for showing me that there tool.  . I just need to get a tire ballencer of some sort.m what do you use hammer? I was thinking a couple jack stands, a rod, and what to use for cones? | ||
| Oldog |
I was thinking a couple jack stands, a rod, and what to use for cones? AXLE??  | ||
| Henrik |
I went nuts and bought the full No-Mar standard set-up. You'd have to really struggle to scratch anything. And it makes tire changing - mostly - a breeze. Takes a little practice to the the angle of the bar etc. just right, but I had the technique mostly down in just a few trials. Henrik | ||
| Oldog |
Henrik: Do you mean the classic model? Did you bolt it to the garage floor? I was thinking of getting the classic "bench top" Then fabbing up the floor stand and a trailer hitch mount here, as steel and a master weldor are available. I asked at the local shop as I dropped the rims, tires and stems off for mount and balance ( I was using up credit at that shop ) Eric the manager recomended the Coats 220 but at 1K$ thats a bit much | ||
| Firebolteric_ma |
I use just the bar, about 100.00 i believe. Tire changes take about 10-15 minutes and I take my time. | ||
| Henrik |
Jim; yes, sorry for being unclear, I got the Classic. I went back and forth with them on the phone, and I finally decided - on their recommendation - that the Classic would fit my needs just fine. I got it with the floor stand and bolted it to the floor. But it comes up and apart fairly easy, and all but the floor stand is now hanging on the garage wall tucked away nicely. I still need to find some screw-in plugs for the concrete anchors in the floor so they dont' fill up with crap, but that's all. Henrik | ||
| Bomber |
Henrik -- what kinda anchors that allow you to install and remove the machine form the floor are you using (please don't diagram that sentance!) . . . I've tried several, and none have lasted beyond one install/removal cycle . . . | ||
| Firebolteric_ma |
use a commercial anchor sleve. They will last a while for you. I am getting ready to leave work but will gladly look up something for you in the morning. Hilti would be a good place to start. | ||
| Bomber |
THanks Eric -- oftentimes, the right terminolgy will get me to the appropriate aisle in the store -- | ||
| Hammer71 |
Eric. if you want to be lazy (which I was) just buy one thats already made. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Precision-Static-Ba lancer-Motorcycle-Tire-Rim-Wheel_W0QQcmdZViewItemQ QcategoryZ6755QQihZ005QQitemZ150085443096QQrdZ1QQs spagenameZWDVW | ||
| Aldaytona |
Harbor Freight changer -$100.00 to the home when on sale, just over a hun when not. H F tire changer and a 12 pack of Sam Adams, the best $100.00 I think I ever spent. | ||
| Lake_bueller |
I bought one of these static balancers. The thing works GREAT!!! I was worried at first, so I brought my first tire to a local shop for verification. A perfect balance  Agree on the HF being a good product for the money. It takes a little practice to get the technique. But now it takes more time to get the wheel off the bike. | ||
| Firebolteric_ma |
Thanks Hammer71! I think I will snatch one of them up soon! worth it to me! | ||
| Henrik |
Bomber; gotta admit that so far I've only done the install and re-install. But I used the anchors that came with the unit and they look ok after bolt removal. Should hold up a few more times if I'm careful to catch the "threads" already cut. Besides, both anchors and bolts are looong, which - I hope - will buy me some more time. Henrik | ||
| Kootenay |
I have a line on a Coats 220 at a very good price--my only concern is compatibility with Buell wheels. Anyone know if I'm going to have any compatibility problems? | ||
| Rick_a |
I have a couple tire levers and a few rim protectors. It's a real PIA but works fine. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Koot, If I recall you can buy a wheel holder from No Mar that will fit on the Coates 220, and will hold the Buell wheel without scratching it.  cost $195, bolts right up. | ||
| Firebolteric_ma |
Okay so I have gotten a couple requests on how I do the tire changes with just the No-MAH-BAH.... Here is How I responded to them and thought I would post for others to read. Maybe help them some with the process and see if it is something they may be interested in trying. I will say that my first time had me stressing as I was unaware of the "keep the tire in the center of the rim" trick. But after learning this it was a 10 minute install at most. Yes The only things I use are the no-mar-bar and a couple of them wood clamps that you squeeze the trigger to close them. got a couple from Home Depot and I only use them to put the tire on. After the wheel is off the bike these are the steps I take for removal. 1.) I Take the shradder valve out of the tire valve. 2.) To Break The Bead: I take a 2 x 6 x 8-0"(could use anything close, 2 x 4,2 x 8, etc.) I then go up to my shed which is on blocks and lay a moving blanket in front of the shed on the grass, place tire on blanket, and put 2 x 4 under shed for leverage, and place over tire to break the bead. Real easy to do it this way. The wood doesn't leave any marks due to being so soft. I usually rotate the tire a few times and break bead several times. Repeat on other side. 3.) now that the beads are broke I use a little of the tire lube that no-mar supplies in the spray bottle(could also use dish soap) and I spray around The out side of the bead area's. 4.) use the no-mar bar to get the tire off. It should slide off fairly easy as the lube makes it slide nicely. An extra hand here is nice but it can be done alone pretty quickly. 5.) you should have it off now. To Install The Tire: 1.) Lube both sides of the tire beads (inside and outside) 2.) use No-Mar-Bar if needed to get first part of tire over rim. 3.) This was where it was tricky for me till I figured out the trick of keeping the tire "Squished" and in the "Center Of The Rim" where there is more room for the tire to move. I do this all on a rug or blanket. Get the BaH set up with the little "tube" piece in the center of the rim(axle area) and the two "nipples" on the bar under the lip of the tire/rim. Use the wood clamps (my clamps are plastic of some sort) and clamp tire in a couple places, get tire 'Squished" and "In Center of Rim" (again a second person is very nice, but not impossible to do alone) and proceed to rotate the bar around rim. when you get to a clamp (from rotating bar) remove clamp and re-place directly behind bar nipples traveling around tire. Keep doing this process completely around entire rim. The lube (on back side of bead) makes the tire slide around rim real nicely, also helps the bar to slide easily at the end of tire where it can get tight. (last bit of tire) That is pretty much how I Change a tire. Takes me about 10-15 minutes alone and taking my time. I have only done a couple of times on my bike tire. (removed tire after installing it just to do it again for sake of experience with the process). Hope this makes some sense and helps you out. If you need any other help just ask. I will also post this on BadWeb for others to see as I have had a couple requests on this process. Maybe I should Tape it next time and put it on "You-Tube"...If I can Figure out how...lol -Eric | ||
| Damnut |
Maybe I should Tape it next time and put it on "You-Tube"...If I can Figure out how...lol Whenever you want me to come over and record it let me know. I can easily record and post on YouTube | ||
| Oldog |
I just bought the No mar machine, I will be changing the tires my self and dont want to wreck the PC on the rim or any other rim that I change tires for Thanks all .. I dont have a shed and I have used C clamps for the bead break no more, improvising some tools is ok, others its costly and wastefull [ ask me about wheel bearings ] I have a tremendous amount of time and money in the prep and PC on the no longer replaceable PM rims on my bike and I messed em up bad with spoons and rim protectors No more.. I am going to make up a heavy plywood base to stand on and place the tool on any one in my area who is interested in using the tool please PM me Jim.... (Message edited by oldog on February 04, 2007) | ||
| Toona |
Here's a link to the dismount/mount videos on NoMar's site: http://www.nomartirechanger.com/06Videos.html | ||
| Tombo |
The HF is very cheap but works well. You will want to plasti-cote the clamps that hold the rim. I made a heavy plywood platform that I stand on when using the HF changer, this works great and allows me to unbolt and store the platform and machine against the garaqe wall when I am not using it. There are a few tricks that make it easier, the most important is pushing the tire to the center of the rim,which has already been mentioned here. I also static balance the rims and find it is almost as easy to change my own tires as it is to make arrangements to bring my bike in and pick it up again. The bigger benefit is not being dependent on someone elses schedule or having to trust it will come back without scratching and marring. TJ | ||
| Henrik |
Cool beans Jim. Congratulations on the machine. You'll like it. Henrik | ||
| Kootenay |
Well, I went ahead and bought the Coats 220...it was just sitting in an older rider's garage gathering dust, he sold it to me cheap. Hopefully an improvement on the ol' bucket and tire irons...I'll find out this spring, have a set of tires to mount before I ride! |
