Topic: Front tire install per repair manual

[crashmaster]

I was reading through the repair manual in the front wheel chapter, and the method they recommend for installing a new tire and tube. They don't recommend using spoons or anything. You just step down on the tire to get it on the rim. I'm sure this is a dumb question, but I wasn't clear on starting it out. Do I get the first half of the tire fully onto the rim and then install the tube into the tire? Or put the tube in the tire and step the whole works down at once?

[Sw1ssdude]

i'd defintively use tire irons, spoons or similar, or a tire machine. it also depends on the tire you're using. German Heidenau tires for example are very heavy, no chance wrestling those over the rim without some leverage...

i'd also seize the opportunity to check the wheel balance while you have the old tire off. or at least have the wheel with the new tire balanced. Or use balancing beads.

i always slip the wheel on one bead of the tire (check the rotation) then slip in the lightly inflated tube. Fhenagle the valve stem through its hole (make sure the stem retaining nut is on the off), rotate the tube/tire so that the valve stem sticks out at a right angle, then start mounting the second tire bead. inflate to light pressure, then check if the beads have seated all around. if the tire has a low spot, bounce the wheel off the ground, re-check, then inflate to pressure. check the valve stem angle, if its still perpendicular to the rim, put on the small retaining nut over the stem.

[newday777]

"Do I get the first half of the tire fully onto the rim and then install the tube into the tire?"

Yes

[BenelliSEI]

On a sunny warm sunny day, I hang the tire on the side of my dark shop building. The extra heat makes a tire much easier to pop on. Iuse well polished irons.

I also have a large, ancient tin of talcum powder that I keep to dust the inside of the tire and the outside of the tube.

[MauiK3]

Don't breathe it! I think it has asbestos or something else dangerous in it. Or so they say.

[BenelliSEI]

Don't breathe it! I think it has asbestos or something else dangerous in it. Or so they say.

Aluminum powder…. All things in moderation!

[crashmaster]

Thanks guys. I did buy a wheel balancing stand, some tire levers, and some weights. And I did find some wheel talc that I ordered from O'Reilly's auto

[bryanj]

Depends on if you are a slightly bult weed(no offence meant) or a hulking overweight lump(same no offence) , if the former you have no chance of"walking" the tyre on.
When i was 280lb i could do that with some tyre but not others

[crashmaster]

I am about 200 pounds so I might not have enough ass to do it. I just thought it was interesting. It seemed like a good way to avoid pinching the tube

[bryanj]

If you do try it plenty of tyre lube and use your heels whilst wearing decent boots

[BenelliSEI]

If you do try it plenty of tyre lube and use your heels whilst wearing decent boots

and get that tire warm. On a hot, sunny day I’ve done a few (skinny, ribbed style, 19” front) with just my hands!

[Sw1ssdude]

Don't breathe it! I think it has asbestos or something else dangerous in it. Or so they say.

its magnesium.. solid talcum is the softest of the materials on the Mohs hardness scale (nifty scale to compare hardnesses, but not very useful..

I got that stuff sprinkled on my lung during surgery. Talcum is harmless, babypowder is basically talcum, BUT: some samples of cosmetical or medical Talcum powder contained traces of asbestos.

Best practice is not to inhale any form of dust (rust, hardwood saw dust, brake dust, the old lead paint you ground off your garage door, bolivian marching powder, sand...) but off all things mentioned i guess talcum is of least concern.

[WhyNot2]

Well I'm on my third try of mounting a tire on the rear of my SOHC dual cylinder frankenstein bike.

First one, the air escaped as fast as I aired it. Sh1t.

Second one was a bit more careful, apparently not careful enough. Held for two days, then notice flat. Pumped it up to 60lbs, and you could hear air escaping. Sh1t again.

I just got the new inner tube in, and am waiting till next week when the temps will be in the 60s, and even low 70 one day.

So, hopefully third times the charm.

I will carefully inspect the rim and spokes for any burrs.

[HondaMan]

Today's tires are WAY, WAY harder to install than the ones when that manual was written. Almost all bie tires now are made to be used on tubeless rims, which is the difference in construction. The bead has to now both hold air AND the carcass.

I remember still when the first ones of these came out, and I didn't know about it. It took me 3 hours to mounts a tire onto a CB750 rear wheel, which used to me a 30-minute exercise (emphasis on that word with the new ones!).

The new beads are almost twice as large and thick. That's what makes them so much harder to put on.

[crashmaster]

If you do try it plenty of tyre lube and use your heels whilst wearing decent boots

and get that tire warm. On a hot, sunny day I’ve done a few (skinny, ribbed style, 19” front) with just my hands!

We are a few months away from that kind of weather. It was three below this morning again

[bryanj]

Then keep the tyre inside till the minute you want to fit

[crashmaster]

Then keep the tyre inside till the minute you want to fit

Oh yes. Its wintering in my basement 

[crashmaster]

If I use talcum powder, will that mix with the soap/Tire lube and make a mess or turn into cookie dough?

[BenelliSEI]

Just inflate the tube a bit and give it a light dusting. In winter,I hang the tire above my furnace for an hour and then mount it up there!

[Bodi]

Being a grouchy old fogey, I remember installing tires on bikes 50 or so years ago: it was really easy and the "stomping" method was possible. A bit harder than bicycle tires to get on the rim but doable at roadside with no tire tools if needed.
Mark is absolutely correct, when tires became pretty much 100% tubeless compatible the beads changed completely. Getting a tire on is very difficult even with spoons, and seating the beads around a tube type rim properly is not easy. It's not rare to have a bike pogoing after a tire change because the bead isn't seated fully all the way around. A lot of lube around the rim and bead, inflating to sidewall max, and a soft blow hammer judiciously applied usually does the trick.

[M 750K6]

I no longer DIY. £30 at my local bike place + a small fee for wheel weights, if I take just the wheel and dispose of the old tyre myself. For me, it's well worth it and less likely to mark the chrome.

To avoid cock-ups, I always stick some masking tape on the wheel and mark a large arrow on it for the direction of rotation.

[HondaMan]

... I remember installing tires on bikes 50 or so years ago: it was really easy and the "stomping" method was possible. A bit harder than bicycle tires to get on the rim but doable at roadside with no tire tools if needed.

I still remember the time I got a flat in nowheresville from someone's lost nail somewhere, circa 1974, I think it was, and the "Malcom Smith approved" 6 inch long tire levers I had then. After that day I bought some 16" long, uber-tough, top-flight, shop-quality [color=black oxide] steel tire levers for 'the next one' and made a way to carry them under the seat. Apparently, though, 'the next one' has been afraid to show its face since then (or maybe I have just been lucky?).
 

[crashmaster]

I no longer DIY. £30 at my local bike place + a small fee for wheel weights, if I take just the wheel and dispose of the old tyre myself. For me, it's well worth it and less likely to mark the chrome.

To avoid cock-ups, I always stick some masking tape on the wheel and mark a large arrow on it for the direction of rotation.

Earlier this year I brought a dirt bike tire in, just the wheel, for a new tube install. It was $107.00. They get $165/hour at the local shop. That's why I vowed to learn it myself haha

[bryanj]

Bet the man that did the job didnt get that much!

[MauiK3]

I've had ok luck with the big spoons I have and warm weather but it's still a bit of a chore for all the reasons above. I sometimes wonder how the bead can take the stress of that last little bit finally popping over the top on to the rim, it's a bit scary.