| Tire
Changing
Contributed by Martin Gibson
A
general warning before you start. If at any time you feel
uncomfortable doing this, STOP. DO NOT GET IN OVER YOUR HEAD. I
TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR BROKEN PARTS OR INJURIES. THIS IS VERY
ROUTINE FOR THOSE WHO HAVE TIRE CHANGING EXPERIENCE. IF YOU DO NOT
HAVE THIS EXPERIENCE, PLEASE HAVE AN EXPERIENCED PERSON ON HAND TO
HELP OR TAKE YOUR BIKE TO AN EXPERIENCED PERSON. IF YOU HAVE THE
CONFIDENCE TO GO FORWARD WITH THIS PROJECT...........The tools you
will need in addition to the stock tool kit are a spray bottle with a
dish soap and water solution, tire irons, 3-2X4 or 2X6 (or any
combination of the 2 sizes) about 8-10" long, 12 mm Allen Wrench,
valve stem remover, and a jack ( if you're changing the front tire).
You may also want to run a strip of tape (duct tape works well) around
the edges of your rim so the irons won't scratch 'em.
Put the bike on
the center stand. Remove the wheel as per the manual. If you are doing
the front, you will need to jack up the front of the bike. I used an
additional piece of 2x4 and a scissor jack placed under the header.
Jack up the front of the bike just to where the rear wheel makes
contact with the ground (You don't want to bend the header). Lay out
the wood blocks in a circular pattern and lay the wheel down so the
rim is on the wood and the brake discs are suspended off the floor.
Remove the air valve inside the valve stem. After all the air is out,
spray the bead with the soap solution. Spray enough so that the
solution is "standing" on the bead. Put pressure on the
sidewall to help expose the tire bead and the rim seat allowing the
soap solution to get to the bead and the seat. Take your tire
iron and start working the bead off the seat. If you cannot get
the iron in initially, you may have to stand on the tire to make
enough room for the iron. If you still don't have enough room,
take a thin, wide chisel and work it between the tire and rim. (A wood
chisel will work better than a cold chisel because they are thinner
and usually wider) DO NOT DRIVE IT IN WITH A HAMMER! Work
it in by just pushing it in a little at a time and pry down away from
the rim and let the soap do it's job. Pry against the lip of
the rim as little as possible. You want to have the iron down in
against the thickest part of the rim where the bead meets the seat.
Have a little patience, it will save you money and time in the
end. As you work the bead down off the seat, apply more soap
solution as needed. Don't get over anxious and try to break the
bead all at once. Keep working around the tire a little at a time.
Once the bead is broke, turn the wheel over and repeat the process
(now that you have one side done, you have a feel for how much
"Oomph!" you need, which shouldn't be much). Now, work
the 1st iron in between the tire and the rim and the 2nd iron 1
1/2 to 2" to the left or right of the 1st iron (depending which
way you want to work or if you're left of right handed. It doesn't
matter because you're working in a circle). 180 degrees from the
placement of the irons, step on the tire. What this does is work the
bead of the tire onto the smallest part of the rim with the least
diameter, allowing the tire to be worked off the rim easier. Pry the
tire bead over the rim edge using the least amount of muscle as
possible. Now, work the tire off the rim a couple inches at a time and
keep putting on the soap solution as needed. Now, stand the
wheel up, spray soap on the other bead, install both irons in between
the tire and rim and pry the rim out of the tire. Be careful at this
step because most of the time the rim will pop right out and you don't
want the rim to fall and bang up the disc.
In the past I have
been known to literally cut a tire off the rim if I can't get the bead
off the seat with what I think is more than reasonable effort.
But these have only been under conditions of an extremely old tire and
the rims were corroded to the tire. This is something I prefer not to
do because it will give you less tire area to work with and that means
less places to put pressure to work the beads down. But if you feel
you need to do this, take a utility knife and cut the sidewalls all
the way around and remove the tire carcass. Then soak the beads again
with the soap solution from the inside. You may be able to work it
loose that way. If again this seems futile (which will probably be the
case at this point) you can cut the beads loose with a
"Dremel" tool. Use a small disc and a steady hand and try
not to hit the rim. Put a couple layers of duct tape on the rim next
to where you are going to make your cut so that if the
"Dremel" does slip it's more apt to hit the tape and not the
rim. I will cut the rubber away to expose the wires in the bead and
then "grind" through those wires with a
"Dremel" and then cut the remaining rubber with the utility
knife. Again, this should only be done under EXTREME conditions. These
bikes aren't old enough to have the rims and tires "morph"
together. But if you have another older bike you're working on, this
indeed may be the case.
Now, check
around the rim and make sure there are no burrs where the tire
seats. If you did it correctly, you may still have 1 or 2. If there
are any, just lightly file them off making sure you're only
knocking off the burr and not getting into the rim. Wipe the inside
of the rim to make sure it's clean so the new tire will go on easier
and seal better. Spray the new tire with the solution.
You may have to wipe the solution around the tire with a rag
(Some tire makers put a preservative on the tires and it's sometimes kind of
sticky. Just break that up a bit and spray more soap). Now just
reverse all the actions you used to remove the tire. Spray the bead
again with soap while you are inflating the tire (seating the bead). This
will allow the bead to slide into place easier. If the bead is not
seated , but the tire is holding air, let the air out of the tire,
spray more soap solution onto the bead and rim and try it again.
Do this as many times as it takes to seat the bead. In case
you didn't catch the message, soap is the key ingredient here and
through out the operation. But keep it on your work and not where it's
going to cause harm to you, your tire or rim. Use as little
muscle as possible. If you've ever changed any tires before, you
should have no trouble at all. Just remember you're working
with a "cast" rim and respect it, but don't be afraid of it.
Do not put any extreme pressure on the lip of the rim edge at any
one place at any one time. Do not replace the air valve in the valve
stem until the bead has been seated. This will get the air
out of the tire with out having to "monkey around" with the
valve.
Now, the balancing.
I went to a tire shop and bought some "stick-on"
type wheel weights just for balancing. I used a piece of rod
that fit through the center of the rim, and suspended the wheel
between 2 milk crates. It doesn't matter what you use as long as
the wheel is at a right angle to level ground. Spin the tire slowly,
let it come to a stop. Note where it stops, spin it again. If it
stops in the same spot again, the low point is the heavy spot.
Mark the lowest point of the tire with a piece of chalk. Add a little
weight to the wheel at the highest point and spin it again. What
you're looking for is the tire to stop at random areas. After you have
achieved this, mark the spot you have weighted ( mark the side wall on
both sides). Remove the weights you've put on, add up the total and
get 2 of the clamp type weights (the type that you "tap"
onto the rim edge) that equal the total weight. Put the weights on
each side of the rim where you marked it on the side walls. You may
want to check your work one last time before you "tap" the
weights onto the rim. I prefer to use half the amount of weight
on both sides of the rim as opposed to all the weight on one side.
This way if one weight does come off, the ride home won't be as
bad and you'll know where to put the new weight if you do lose one and
you won't have to go back through balancing it again.
When working with the
rear wheel, be very respectful of the rear sprocket. If you slip, you
will probably have to regrow some skin on you knuckles. I usually wear
gloves, especially when working with the rear wheel. If any part of
the balancing seems confusing, refer to the manual. Balancing is
covered there.
You may opt to change
the valve and valve stem. It is recommended by the book. I opt to
inspect mine first before making a change. If I find nothing wrong
with it, I won't change it. The choice is yours. If you do change
yours you may want to find one that comes out and makes a 90 deg. turn
to make it easier to air and check your tires later so your not
working around the brake discs. This was discussed some time ago and I
totally forgot about it or I would have looked into it.
Again, this is a
fairly easy operation. It took me about 45 min. from parked to riding.
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