Topic: Tire Change CB350F

[dprime]

I just ordered front and rear tires, tubes and rim strips for my '73 CB350F (IRC GS-11).  Since these are tube tires Im wondering if they are any harder to remove/install than road bike tires. Can I do them without a tire tool.. or do I need to take them somewhere that I can tire tool them?

TIA

[DaveBarbier]

I change my tires with three tire irons, windex to lube the bead and baby powder to help the tube slide around. Then I sprinkle a little on the old testes for good measure...doesn't help the tire change at all, but it puts a spring in my step.

[pjlogue]

What Dave said except I don't powder my balls.    I use dish soap instead of windex.  I suggest you put the tube in the 1/2 mounted rim and get the valve stem sorted.  Then partially inflate the inner tube to give it some form but not enough air to give pressure to the sidewall.  This will help keep from pinching the tube.  Go slow and try and keep from pinching the inner tube.

Some tires are harder to mount than others.  The first mounting of a new tire seems much harder than the second try.  (I know this from pinching the tube and having to replace the tube after I found it leaked. 

-P.

[Bodi]

They just seem way too small to possibly get on or off. The bead has to be in the centre on one side to get it over the rim on the other. Same idea as with a bicycle tire but many times harder. You should use motorcycle tire irons about an inch wide, you can do it with (big) screwdrivers but the rim will get gouged.
Note that tubeless tires (it's rather hard to find tube ones nowadays) - although fine to use with a tube - have a different bead profile and are 1) harder to get on the wheel and 2) harder to seat the bead. Once mounted, use LOTS of soapy water or tire lube around the bead and inflate to the maximum pressure (shown on the sidewall) to get the bead seated. It may not, regardless. There will be a fine raised line on the sidewall around the bead, this should be equidistant from the rim all the way around... a spot that didn't seat out all the way will have that line closer. Repeated deflation/inflation with some pounding from a mallet or 2x4 helps.

[Kevin D]

I changed tires in the 60s and 70s with a pair of 8" irons, no problem. When I resumed changing tires in 2002, I got my butt kicked by a pair of Bridgetone Spitfires using the 8" tools. I got the tires on but fought back later , and won easily, with an extra long tool, a 16? incher, when the Spitfires were replaced.

[rocket johnny]

     i just take my tires to the honda shop in the morning and pick them up after lunch .  25 bucks for a dis mount-mount and balance . no muss ,, no fuss