Topic: Anyone change their own tires?

[754]

 Green ones run faster...

[HedNut]

Green!?...Not as fast as the Translucent Mango Bi-Axial Twist Lock Poly-Pressure Caps!     hahah  

I just changed the tires on my project.... old ones off....(had to be cut!)  New one's on.... front was a breeze!!  Rear tire was a douche bag!!

1st try....with wrapped large screwdrivers.....front tire...on and good! Back tire....on and POPPED a tube!
  "lesson learnt....don't use screwdrivers to mount motorcycle tires"  (they always worked on my dirty bikes though)

$2 Heavy Duty Rubber tube patch kit = fixed screwdriver penetration.

2nd try....proper 10" tire irons....it was a pain in the nut! And I gave myself multiple cerebral hernias from forcing it so hard...and had to "straighten" the irons a few times...but she finally went on.

It was glorious...I cheered a bit...danced around the garage and drank a beer.  
Good times.....

I will be trying the Dyna beads for balancing.....will report the results!   Right now the bike wont go fast enough to evaluate the Dyna-effectiveness without a motor in it...

[Inigo Montoya]

ohyou gonna hear about it now! You PATCHED a tube!!!  
I patched plenty of tubes and never had an issue. On dirt bikes but I consider those the supreme test really. You MIGHT not corner as fast but you will easily generate for shock force landing from a jump! If the patch holds there, it will most likely hold anywhere. I used the good patches though where you smear on rubber vulcanizing cement and then apply patch and use a roller to really work it on.

[fastbroshi]

I think I've read that one of the properties of nitrogen that make it good for filling up tires is that it doesn't change pressure as much as regular air depending on the ambient temperature outside.   Whereas a tire filled with air might go up 5psi after it warms up, one with nitrogen might go up half that. 

Maybe it's why racer's use it?  Much easier to predict tires' performance during testing if the pressure isn't varying so wildly as well.

[le_sterls]

Just ordered new tires. Quick question, I can't for the life of me find where to buy tubes for a cb550, help anyone? I figured this may be an appropriate place to ask, instead of starting a whole new thread for something so silly.

[ev0lve]

Just ordered new tires. Quick question, I can't for the life of me find where to buy tubes for a cb550, help anyone? I figured this may be an appropriate place to ask, instead of starting a whole new thread for something so silly.

Ah, a silly question. I think I can answer that!

Don't know the rim sizes off hand on cb550 but the rear takes a 110?
Dennis Kirk has good shipping prices and a nice selector
http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/search/search.jsp?store=&resultType=&searchString=tube&searchbtn.x=0&searchbtn.y=0
otherwise BikeBandit, JC Whitney and especially your local motorcycle shop will have them.

[le_sterls]

Just ordered new tires. Quick question, I can't for the life of me find where to buy tubes for a cb550, help anyone? I figured this may be an appropriate place to ask, instead of starting a whole new thread for something so silly.

Ah, a silly question. I think I can answer that!

Don't know the rim sizes off hand on cb550 but the rear takes a 110?
Dennis Kirk has good shipping prices and a nice selector
http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/search/search.jsp?store=&resultType=&searchString=tube&searchbtn.x=0&searchbtn.y=0
otherwise BikeBandit, JC Whitney and especially your local motorcycle shop will have them.

Ahhhh. Much obliged sir! 

[Inigo Montoya]

Yeah dont worry about buying tubes for your bike. Buy the tubes based on size. For instance, my bike uses a 3.5 x 19 front and a 4.5 x 17 rear.

[gnarlycharlie4u]

I guess if your a real racer, then nitrogen might have some benefits, but if your just putting new sneakers on a street bike (or car) plain old air works fine.

I really don't care either way about the contents of a tire, I just can't stand the look of those little green caps on a valve stem. 

agreed. this question is definitely geared more towards those of us who race or vacuum seal their bikes and have them stored in nuclear fallout shelters to preserve them FOREVER!!!! 

[le_sterls]

Just changed my tires in a few hours, first time doing so. It isn't to hard, just takes some patience. If you have the proper tools (I borrowed some from my neighbor.) it isn't a big deal, plus you know that you've saved some money.

[crazypj]

I wonder if nitrogen is just latest fad?
 after all, the 'air' we breath is 78% nitrogen, cant see another 12% making all the difference?

[spitcrazy]

I wonder if nitrogen is just latest fad?
 after all, the 'air' we breath is 78% nitrogen, cant see another 12% making all the difference?

The target nitrogen concentration is 97-98%, that would be 19- 20% more.

[crazypj]

There are three types of people in the world, those who can cont and those who can't 

[Brown Bomber]

There are three types of people in the world, those who can cont and those who can't 

Those who can, do.
Those who can't, teach
and everybody else works for the government.