TOPIC:

Hey all, how hard is it to change out the front tire? Anyone do it at home or is this one of those jobs one should always leave to the pros?

Like you all, I'm trying to wrench myself and save a little money.

Any pitfalls I need to worry about?

This is on a '80 kz 1000. Dual disks.

Thanks.

Dale

if youre fairly mechanically inclined its no big deal.get yourself a manual to help put things back together,and some good tire irons.goodluck happy wrenching!

Tuffest part (in my experience) is breaking the bead on the old tire. Used a sabre saw to cut one off one time!! And if spoked wheels, remember that rim strip....couple tire irons and some time and yer off and running.

I forgot to mention, I have Mags. do they pose a problem? Also, I know that they balance car tires, do shops balance cycle tires?

mags are about the same procedure just be carefull not to bang up the aluminum,some shops have tire machines if youre worried about dinging up your rims and they also balance tires .what kind of tire are you going with?

I think I am going to match the rear. it is a dunlop 402 (I think)

I found this on the web and it looks like a pretty comprehensive look at what you’re doing. Change Tire

Here's another link that helped me when I did mine: www.clarity.net/~adam/tire-changing.html

If this is your first time putting a tire on this bike and it has mags, it's a good idea to clean up the inside of the rim if it needs it. Don't know about where you are but every bike I've purchased around here has had slow leaking around the bead-rim seal. Every time I've found corrosion and had to wire brush and sand to make the bead area on the rim nice again. Don't use soap when you mount your tire as it corrodes the aluminum. You can get tire mount lubricant from NAPA. I forget the name.

-Duck

I used to change mine myself , used a 55 gal drum and a old bed spread to keep from marring the rim, now I take the rim to the place I get the tires, they charge a small fee and they balance them too, the new machines dont mess up the rims either, I am in and out in less than 30 min, worth the money and no fights

I guess I'm a wimp. I take the tire off and take it to the shop. They charge $10 to mount and balance if you bring in the wheel. That $10.00 is cheap compared to the 1 hour or more doing the job takes without a mounting machine. Maybe it can be done faster but I've always struggled getting the old tire off. The money saved by pulling the wheel and taking it to the shop is worth it, the money saved trying to mount the tire? I'm not so sure!

The shops around here charge $20 for mount and balance...

-Duck