How to use the Harbor Freight tire changer

[callison]

Fred Harmon's page on tire changing with the Harbor Freight tire changer.

 

Everything you need to know is at the URL above. Kudos to Fred Harmon.

[jrt]

And, just my opinion because I do not want to take away from this guys nice work, but I would still rather pay someone 20 bucks to unmount the old tire, dispose of it, mount the new tire and balance it. Tires are filthy, and this is one job I do not envy....

J

[Skeeve]

And, just my opinion because I do not want to take away from this guys nice work, but I would still rather pay someone 20 bucks to unmount the old tire, dispose of it, mount the new tire and balance it.  Tires are filthy, and this is one job I do not envy....

J

42335[/snapback]

 

Must be nice. Around here, $20 will get you a tire mounted, wheel-off. Balancing & tire disposal are extra fees. Call it $30 all up after tax. For that, I'd rather spend the $45/wheel for the shop to do the whole job. Or, if I had the space, I could buy the HF cheapy tire machine & do it all myself w/o any of the hassles of scheduling drop-off, pickup, etc. But then the Bike shop might close down for lack of business, so where would I be when I need a spagthorpe reverse spanner gear on a Sunday morning? Oh wait: the stOOOpid shops all close on Sundays around here [because they get too much business?] anyway! Neverrr miiiiind...

 

You pays your money & makes your choice, I guess!

[TX REDNECK (R.I.P.)]

You pays your money & makes your choice, I guess!

 

That's why I make the wife hang the clothes on the line. Now if it was me , I'd use the clothes dryer.

 

I do let her use it on rainy days <_>

[dbdicker]

I admit to having tried selfchange and abandoned it midway through the first ripped knuckle. Called the local shop and they balanced and disposed of the old for 50 bucks. No better money spent, I figure.

 

Bless all of you who can and must do everything personally to maintain your bikes.

 

"You're a better man than I, Gunga Din"

 

Dan

[Guest jerroldt]

The HF tire tool looks to be a mini version of what my auto tire dealer uses. I have been changing tires on bikes for years using only the Breezer tool (see attachment) and motorcycle tire irons. It takes some inginuity and lots of Zen but I haven't damaged any rims. I have been riding Harley Electraglides for the past 15 years before buying another Guzzi, the V11. With the Harley's, it has been easier for me to use an ATV jack to get the tire off and take it to the local dealer to be changed and have the bearings lubed. A couple of tough tires that I have changed were from an '82 Gold Wing and another from an '83 Suzuki GS 850. In the case of the Suzuki, I caused myself big problems by filling the tubeless tire with 8 ounces of a fiberous sealant. This stuff pitted the rim to the point that I had to wet sand it to get the sealing surface back to normal. My Guzzi dealer is 4 hours from here and I am wondering if anyone has taken a Vll rear tire and rim to a Japanese bike dealer for a tire change. I suppose that they could do the job OK.

[callison]

The HF tire tool looks to be a mini version of what my auto tire dealer uses. I have been changing tires on bikes for years using only the Breezer tool (see attachment) and motorcycle tire irons. It takes some inginuity and lots of Zen but I haven't damaged any rims. I have been riding Harley Electraglides for the past 15 years before buying another Guzzi, the V11.  With the Harley's, it has been easier for me to use an ATV jack to get the tire off and take it to the local dealer to be changed and have the bearings lubed. A couple of tough tires that I have changed were from an '82 Gold Wing and another from an '83 Suzuki GS 850.  In the case of the Suzuki, I caused myself big problems by filling the tubeless tire with 8 ounces of a fiberous sealant. This stuff pitted the rim to the point that I had to wet sand it to get the sealing surface back to normal. My Guzzi dealer is 4 hours from here and I am wondering if anyone has taken a Vll rear tire and rim to a Japanese bike dealer for a tire change. I suppose that they could do the job OK.

42363[/snapback]

 

Guys around here typically take their V11 tires down to the local Buell/Ducati shop. I've used the BMW shop locally (they scratched the rim pretty good) and the Suzuki shop (did great work). Now I do it myself. I have a large supply of expletives to go with the knuckle busting. I do have one half of the Harbor Freight thingy, and that worked mostly okay, but if you weren't extremely carefull, you good bend a brake rotor. I've just purchased the rest of the rig and the next tire change is due if I ever get my bike back together (again), so I'll make my own report at that time. Judging from my experience, everything that Fred did is entirely appropriate to the exercise and may be the optimal configuration. Some of it makes me embarassed because I should have figured it out myself. Fortunately, Fred leads the way and I'm content to follow.

[Scud]

New entry on an almost 10 year old thread...

 

I just did my first street-bike tire change. While it did take a long time to figure everything out, I think I will be a lot faster next time. I used stuff as described earlier in this thread:

• Harbor Freight tire changer, which serves as the base for their motorcycle tire changer adapter (2 parts).  I needed a thinner center post the one that came with the changer. Fortunately, I had an appropriate diameter solid copper ground rod stashed in a dark corner of the garage. 
• Mojo blocks and Mojo Lever: the Harbor Freight changer would destroy any decent rim without these blocks - in fact, I'm not even sure it would work without the blocks. The mojolever was great too - well worth it. I also used bunch of extra padding and protection. I used split vacuum line to shield the clamps, and leftover pieces of surfboard traction pads (basically adhesive foam sheets for you land-locked riders) for the base of the bead breaker.
• Marc Parnes wheel balancer - also got wheel weights from him. This was more expensive than other balancers, but it is excellent and he makes all sorts of adapters for other bikes - so forward compatibility is worth a bit extra. Within a couple minutes, I was able to get each wheel balanced so that I could put it in about any position and it would not start rotating.
• Ru-Glyde tire bead lubricant - 1 gallon (lifetime supply) - had to special order it from my local auto parts store.

I watched this guy on YouTube before deciding to give it a try myself. He shows how to do a front tire, which I found easier to do than the back (but I did the back first and was still figuring it out).  I did put a little scratch on my rear rim (dammit, dammit... and dammit that paint IS soft) - but left no marks on the front. I probably should have practiced on a dirt-bike tire first - but I normally just do those on a 5-gallon bucket - or a stump - or whatever's handy on the trail when it goes flat.  This setup should make dirt bike tires super easy.

 

I took a long time at it today - my wife said: "you should have just taken them somewhere."  True - if it was a one-time thing.  But I think I will be a lot quicker in future - especially since it's all properly set up now.  It'll take a few more tire changes to break even on cash. However, I can do it myself any time now - and faster than the total time of going somewhere and waiting for them to do it.