Topic: My over-the-top wheel holding fixture..

[putnaja1]

Well, after reading up on many people's technique of holding a rim while they lever tires on and off them, I decided I wanted to build a special fixture to hold just the rim and not touch the spokes..  See, even the book I bought from some supposed high-falute'n motorcycle mechanic wizard just showed him putting a wheel sprocket side down in a 5-gallon bucket, with all the weight he puts on the rim (while breaking the bead, levering, etc) directly across the middle of the spokes!  Now, any rational person would think, that weight is spread out along all the spokes- so this should be perfectly fine!  But, for some reason, I decided to re-invent the wheel(holding fixture).  To do this, I drew up a couple of quick designs, then bought 2 8-foot-long 2x4's, and a bunch of 3/8" bolts, washers, lockwashers, and nuts.  Here is the result:



What do you think?  I plan on using it for the first time today, so hopefully it will work.  The kick in the arse will be if it doesn't work, and then I went to all that effort, and need to use a 5-gallon bucket after all!   

PS:  I'm trying not to think of how many tires I could have changed in the time it took me to build this thing!

[oldbiker]

Looks good to me.

[putnaja1]

Okay- Wow!  It worked!  Score one for the home team engineering!  :-)

Here's some pictures in action- I didn't even hurt myself (yet)..




It was a fight, but the "Nanang" brand tire was removed!  Now to clean up the rim, and then lever on Pirelli Sport Demons!

[Bob Wessner]

Can you make me one in mahogany or cherry? 

Just kidding, nice work. I used the ten gallon can with a towel across the rim, but I can see how this type of support might be better.

[Ernie]

nice piece of carpentry work there brotha now all you need an attachment true em up!

[jsaab2748]

That looks like a damn fine idea. Could you also make your rim holders longer, so they extend "inward" as well, till they butt against the hub? that would center the hub in the relationship to the outer rim, making it possible to respoke a wheel and have the hub centered. Or am I all wet here?

[putnaja1]

Can you make me one in mahogany or cherry? 

Just kidding, nice work. I used the ten gallon can with a towel across the rim, but I can see how this type of support might be better.

HAHAHA!  Yeah, I think beauty is in the eye of the beholder..  While I am admiring my handywork and all smiles, true carpenters must cringe at my severe butchery!!  Not to mention, I think I coulda just ordered a metal one from Dennis Kirk (probably for cheaper!), but I think the whole exercise allowed me to put off changing the tires just that much longer!  And, I bet this thing could double as a new-wave Christmas tree stand!   

nice piece of carpentry work there brotha  now all you need an attachment true em up!

I wanted to do that, but that woulda required much more wood and more storage space in my crowded little garage- so I decided I'd do the balancing/truing on the bike.  Hopefully I'll get it close with the on-the-bike method.

That looks like a damn fine idea. Could you also make your rim holders longer, so they extend "inward" as well, till they butt against the hub? that would center the hub in the relationship to the outer rim, making it possible to respoke a wheel and have the hub centered. Or am I all wet here? 

Hub holding would be a good idea- but may be beyond my realm of engineering precision!  With this stand, there are two "holders" each on a sliding "boom"..  Each boom can slide in and out a bit to allow for different size rims.  I don't know how well the first photo shows it, but I made a big cutout in the center section of the main "frame" of the holder, so the axle wouldn't interfere with the rim sitting on the holder.  To get the stand to hold a rim properly, much playing around was required to get all 4 holders holding the rim tight, but it eventually lined up right.

I think this stand could be used to spoke a rim and hold the hub true- but much care would have to be taken when making the holes in the boom, and each holder would have to be made more precisely than I made them. 

[kghost]

Lordie....sand and stain that thing........

Then you could put a piece of plexglass or lexan on a wheel and use it as a coffee table.

Ya know somewhere to set your beer....classy like 

[Master Ted]

I too have looked to home carpentry for profound mechinical solutions. Note the fine craftsmenship of my clever Tomos moped specialized tool. It's also good for beating the guts out of uncorroporative SOHC carbs.

   

[kghost]

Looks suspiciously like a Frat house initiation   

What exactly do you do with that thing?

[Master Ted]

Looks suspiciously like a Frat house initiation   

What exactly do you do with that thing?

clutch AND flywheel removal... oh yes, it's multi functional!

[kghost]

Sheesh don't give ELcheapo one of them 

[ofreen]

That's a nifty thing you built there, but a pair of sawhorses works fine, too.

[DammitDan]

That's a nifty thing you built there, but a pair of sawhorses works fine, too.

Well he did say it was over-the-top! 

[ofreen]

That's a nifty thing you built there, but a pair of sawhorses works fine, too.

Well he did say it was over-the-top! 

My compliment was sincere.  It is a lot of fun to conceive of something, then build it.

[putnaja1]

That's a nifty thing you built there, but a pair of sawhorses works fine, too.

D'oh!  I spent untold hours building, and NOW you tell me sawhorses work!!   

[oldbiker]

Don't care what anyone says, when you have an idea-build it and it works, the satisfaction is nearly as good as (here insert appropriate comparison).

[ofreen]

That's a nifty thing you built there, but a pair of sawhorses works fine, too.

D'oh!  I spent untold hours building, and NOW you tell me sawhorses work!!   

Sorry about that!

[techy5025]

The funniest thread I've read in ages...haven't we all been threre?

 

Jim

[putnaja1]

Just an update here fellas!

I got pics of the old tire after removal- I got a correction to the name I posted previously..  I checked the brand name, and it's "Nankang"  Hahahaha  Actually, I shouldn't laugh- it didn't fail in the 400 or so miles I've had my bike, despite the tire's condition- I oughta have my head examined for riding on a tire this worn..  It had some sidewall cracks too!  Eghads!  Actually, I think the picture makes it look a lot worse than it actually is- but still!



Here is the new tire: 



I took a shakedown cruise before I intall the matching new front tire, just to see what kinda difference the rear tire makes.  I can only say, the difference from the old tire to this new Pirelli Sport Demon is PROFOUND!!!  I mean, before the bike handled kinda quirky (as you can imagine with that flat spot in the middle!)  The bike just did not want to turn smoothly.  With the new rear tire, the only thing holding me back was me, since I knew the tire was new and not yet scrubbed in yet.  Very very nice!  Very smooth, corner handling behavoir is now predictable..

I bet others have already figured this out long ago, but new tires can make your bike feel like a brand new machine!  Now I still have to install the front tire, and I have much cleaning/polishing to do, but I am certainly inspired to do the work now!!!  Definately worth the effort!