Made my first foray into DIY tire changing this weekend, spooning some Avon Azaros onto my 05 FJR. Managed to get 12.5K out of the stock Metzelers, but the rear was well into the wear bars and the front had some cupping, so it was past time to do the deed.
I had picked up the Harbor Freight tire changer setup on sale a couple of months back, so I sunk some concrete anchors into the garage floor, set up the changer, and got to work. As has been pointed out many times before, changing tires is definitely a learned skill. Starting with the rear, I got the first bead off with minimal fanfare, but spent a good hour wrestling with tire irons trying to find an angle to pry the second bead off - putting a few nice gouges in the rim in the process. Finally, I put the irons aside, lubed the hell out of the bead & rim, and gave the tire a hard yank by hand. Peeled right off like a banana. Ah well, lesson #1 learned. Putting the new rear Avon on was relatively easy; again, lubed the hell out of it, and the first bead popped right on with no tools. Worked the 2nd bead around with spoons until I couldn't get them in any more and then with a good hard shove down by hand on the last bit, it popped over. Front tire went easier, now that I had a technique down, but getting the 2nd bead over on the new Avon was tougher since the narrower tire kept wanting to seat the bead instead of staying in the center. Ultimately, my $.02 about DIY tire changing boils down to: 1. Use the irons as little as possible, and 2. Lube the hell out of everything. If the tire, rim, and you aren't covered head to toe in lube, you aren't using enough.
While I had the rear off, I pulled the pumpkin to do the drive shaft spline lube. Good thing too - mine had no lube whatsoever and the splines had some surface rust on them. Also had some rust on the axle and sleeve that goes through the pumpkin. Only snag I ran into here was when I first pulled the pumpkin back; damn thing was a good bit heavier than I expected and it promptly fell to the floor. Bah. She's got a few beauty marks on her now. Lesson #2 learned :-)
Anyway, the Harbor Freight changer proved enormously useful. The bead breaker works great and having the wheel firmly secured at a good working height for that serious wrestling match is worth its weight in gold.
I had picked up the Harbor Freight tire changer setup on sale a couple of months back, so I sunk some concrete anchors into the garage floor, set up the changer, and got to work. As has been pointed out many times before, changing tires is definitely a learned skill. Starting with the rear, I got the first bead off with minimal fanfare, but spent a good hour wrestling with tire irons trying to find an angle to pry the second bead off - putting a few nice gouges in the rim in the process. Finally, I put the irons aside, lubed the hell out of the bead & rim, and gave the tire a hard yank by hand. Peeled right off like a banana. Ah well, lesson #1 learned. Putting the new rear Avon on was relatively easy; again, lubed the hell out of it, and the first bead popped right on with no tools. Worked the 2nd bead around with spoons until I couldn't get them in any more and then with a good hard shove down by hand on the last bit, it popped over. Front tire went easier, now that I had a technique down, but getting the 2nd bead over on the new Avon was tougher since the narrower tire kept wanting to seat the bead instead of staying in the center. Ultimately, my $.02 about DIY tire changing boils down to: 1. Use the irons as little as possible, and 2. Lube the hell out of everything. If the tire, rim, and you aren't covered head to toe in lube, you aren't using enough.
While I had the rear off, I pulled the pumpkin to do the drive shaft spline lube. Good thing too - mine had no lube whatsoever and the splines had some surface rust on them. Also had some rust on the axle and sleeve that goes through the pumpkin. Only snag I ran into here was when I first pulled the pumpkin back; damn thing was a good bit heavier than I expected and it promptly fell to the floor. Bah. She's got a few beauty marks on her now. Lesson #2 learned :-)
Anyway, the Harbor Freight changer proved enormously useful. The bead breaker works great and having the wheel firmly secured at a good working height for that serious wrestling match is worth its weight in gold.
