Getting bead to seat without compressed air

How might I get the beads to seat on a tube-type tire mounted on a tube-type rim. I don't have compressed air. If folks are fixing flats at the side of the road, how do you seat the beads? I tried throwing it against the ground (on the rubbery bit, of course) and pounding the tire with a mallet, but no luck.

Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks,

Dave
1978 KZ650C

I don't know how well this would work with a tube tire, but I read about this technique for tubeless in another forum:

Spray starting fluid inside the tire. Then press the tire away from the bead leaving the largest opening possible. Then toss the match. A "whosh" inflates the tire and presses it on to the rim. Then inflate to desired pressure with a pump. Careful! Often the tire is hot.

A coup;e of guys claimed it worked!

Nothreat wrote:

I don't know how well this would work with a tube tire, but I read about this technique for tubeless in another forum:

Spray starting fluid inside the tire. Then press the tire away from the bead leaving the largest opening possible. Then toss the match. A "whosh" inflates the tire and presses it on to the rim. Then inflate to desired pressure with a pump. Careful! Often the tire is hot.

A coup;e of guys claimed it worked!

One of my small daughters once told me "dumb is when you do not know anything, Stupid is when you show it"

How are you inflating the tube if you don't have compressed air?

Normally the bead will be pressed into place by the tube when you inflate it, so inflating it with a hand pump on the side of the road works. On the rare occasions when the bead doesn't seat during inflation, bouncing the tire (vertical of course) on a hard surface usually works.

Pumping a tire to 10 psi over the pressure on the sidewall sometimes does the job also, just remember to let the excess pressure out

Oh yeah, lubricating the bead usually makes things easier

Yep, bicycle pump. I pumped it up to about 40 psi and than whacked it into the ground vertically quite a few times, but no luck (I tried at various pressures, too). Maybe I need some more lube. When I had trouble with the rear (which has two rimlocks, too), I took it down to a mechanic and he said it was tough even with compressed air. I'm just hoping there's some trick that I'm missing . . .

Thanks for the tips.

I've heard the lighter fluid trick works really well on tubeless tires, but I don't think there's enough space for it to work with a tube. Sounds fun, though

--Dave

Starting fluid (ether) works really well on large truck tires but I doubt I'd use it on anything smaller. And it only works on tubeless tires.

High volume blast of compressed air is more commonly used on truck tires to seat the bead now though.

One of my small daughters once told me "dumb is when you do not know anything, Stupid is when you show it"

Sounds like she is pretty smart.

Yeah, lube the bead with some dish soap or rub it with a bar of wet hand soap so it doesn't affect the tire material like a petroleum base oil would.

A ratchet strap around the tread of the tire - tighten and the sidewall is forced outwards. - just remember to release the tension before you put too much air into the tire...