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[mrmagloo]

4 of us went in 3 years ago (4?) & bought a bike tire changer & balancer.  About $100 each.  Have changed 5 tires on it so far myself.  Due to beer did not remember to balance the rear wheel on the RK the last time, but it never needed much weight anyway & seems fine.  I digressed already.  The tire changer is not at my garage.  I bring beer to the tire changer friend's garage & we drink it after we change the tire, unless we drink it before as well as during.  Have never considered shouting "free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty the wheel is free at last."  But now will consider this, due to your inspirational tome, Rev. Dr. Twolanerider but not Jr.

$400??  What stuff did you get for that?

[iski]

$400??  What stuff did you get for that?

The story began innocently enough, 4 not so young lads had a dream of changing their own bike tires since local shops wanted big $$...

At Harbor Freight we bought a motorcycle tire changer & a wheel balancer.  Next ordered some No-Mar tire tools online - 3 spoons & the tire changer bar.  No-Mar stuff was EXPENSIVE, but very well made.  Got some tire goop for the rim, some soap, a few valve cores, & a big tool box to put as much of the stuff in that we could fit.  Scrounged up some wheel weights.  Got some concrete bolt anchors & 4 bolts to anchor the changer to friend's driveway, with some "fill" bolts to keep the holes full when the changer was not set up.

Then we decided to change a tire, and the Harbor Freight tire changer broke in the middle halfway through.  Plus one of the No-Mar tips broke on the tire changer bar.  Managed to change the tire in spite of this the old fashioned way which took a bit of effort.  Tire balancer worked very well, as expected.

Took the POS Harbor Freight tire changer to a welder & had a plate welded onto it plus some shoring up welds/material around the area that broke (about $40 since none of us had a decent welder). No-Mar sent a new tip, free.  Other tip was defective, they had a bad run, so they sent us 3.

Total cash outlay was about $400.  Have seen systems for quite a bit more. Ours works fine now.  No problems since.  About a 3 beer job, maybe 4 usually.

[Twolanerider]

Got some concrete bolt anchors & 4 bolts to anchor the changer to friend's driveway, with some "fill" bolts to keep the holes full when the changer was not set up.

You worked harder than I did (and I didn't want to drill the floor).  Bolted the changer here to a half sheet of 3/4" OSB.  Damn board weighs twice what the tire changer does.  And I can slide it all over the place on the smooth concrete floor.  In fact I'm thinking with just a little more slope to the floor I could butter things up and ride this baby downhill like she was a big girl!

[mrmagloo]

The story began innocently enough, 4 not so young lads had a dream of changing their own bike tires since local shops wanted big $$...

At Harbor Freight we bought a motorcycle tire changer & a wheel balancer.  Next ordered some No-Mar tire tools online - 3 spoons & the tire changer bar.  No-Mar stuff was EXPENSIVE, but very well made.  Got some tire goop for the rim, some soap, a few valve cores, & a big tool box to put as much of the stuff in that we could fit.  Scrounged up some wheel weights.  Got some concrete bolt anchors & 4 bolts to anchor the changer to friend's driveway, with some "fill" bolts to keep the holes full when the changer was not set up.

Then we decided to change a tire, and the Harbor Freight tire changer broke in the middle halfway through.  Plus one of the No-Mar tips broke on the tire changer bar.  Managed to change the tire in spite of this the old fashioned way which took a bit of effort.  Tire balancer worked very well, as expected.

Took the POS Harbor Freight tire changer to a welder & had a plate welded onto it plus some shoring up welds/material around the area that broke (about $40 since none of us had a decent welder). No-Mar sent a new tip, free.  Other tip was defective, they had a bad run, so they sent us 3.

Total cash outlay was about $400.  Have seen systems for quite a bit more. Ours works fine now.  No problems since.  About a 3 beer job, maybe 4 usually.

Yeah, I was looking at some equipment that was around $1,500 for the "Hobbist" version shipped a while back. Then the balancer was another $1,000.  At that, I figured I'd just keep complaining about the dealer every other year.

[dlaws01]

My local dealers, Bumpus H-D in Jackson, TN is $75 per axle if they remove, $35 if you bring in the wheels.  Abernathy's in Union City are $5 cheaper per axle.  Thats mounting and balancing which I tell them to forget as I supply them with dynabeads.

[iski]

You worked harder than I did (and I didn't want to drill the floor).  Bolted the changer here to a half sheet of 3/4" OSB.  Damn board weighs twice what the tire changer does.  And I can slide it all over the place on the smooth concrete floor.  In fact I'm thinking with just a little more slope to the floor I could butter things up and ride this
baby downhill like she was a big girl!

I will pay a dollar to watch a video of that.

[iski]

Yeah, I was looking at some equipment that was around $1,500 for the "Hobbist" version shipped a while back. Then the balancer was another $1,000.  At that, I figured I'd just keep complaining about the dealer every other year.

The Harbor Freight version required some adaptors to work the way we wanted.  The welding was not expected - looked like Hopsing missed the weld on one side & that is why it broke at the collar.  We figured we could engineer it by beefing it up since most online changers were a lot more.  We added a disc brake rotor to a rod to keep the changer bar off the wheel (used rotor free from local dealer).  The balancer at Harbor Freight is about $70 & works GREAT - no need to spend more.  You could make your own for less, but we decided to just buy the damn thing.

it is easier with 2 people to change out the wheel & then swap the tire.  Have done it by myself & that sadly cuts into my beer consumption during the process.  With 3 or 4 people, allows for extra beer due to more pointing at stuff & saying "lookit".  Beer is an important part of our tire changing process.

[Spiderman]

Why the need for a balancer ? I thought all you guys were putting some kind of mini Ben-Wa balls in your tires these days.

B B

[Twolanerider]

I will pay a dollar to watch a video of that.

Sorry, already had a better offer in PM .

[iski]

I refuse to put little plastic or nylon balls or ? of an unknown origin inside my motorcycle tires, for religious reasons.  What if they got together & went on strike during a hairy switchback turn, & I smacked a wall & then meet my Maker & He says, you put little plastic balls in your tires that cost $8, you dumb dummy, instead of balancing your wheels as I intended.  Do not wish to have that conversation, so use old fashioned wheel weights & balancer instead.





Refuse to get into a bidding war via PM, also for religious reasons.  Well, they are not actually religious reasons but since that worked in the first paragraph here, it felt like a trend might develop.  I wish there were more threads here about pie.

[miker]

Amen for pie....


and for those whom cannot fathom the greatness of the toroidal power of the donut.

[kiwihog]

I have always mounted my own tires and take them to local Cycle Gear store they balance for free last set for my Deuce cost me 230.00 all up tax shipping mount and balance  havnt done the RG yet good opportunity to inspect all the areas you know the dealer dosnt look at during scheduled maintenance .... you know the things you pay em for

[flhse]

I think I have 3 places (not dealers) that will mount and balance for $20 if you have wheel in hand around SE MI.  I also know their are a number of other choices that are much higher. 

[charles05663]

Got the rear tire done today at Granite State HD in Lebanon, NH.  They charged me $192 ($270 list) for the tire and one hour of labor for the install.  They also washed the bike and there was no disposal fees  and there was no charge for the lead weight.  End result, happy camper.  

[spydglide]

. I'll hook you up spyder, iv just got my shop going here in china grove !!!  Let me know what ya need

Hey, just saw this reply Frank, belated 'thanks'.

Where in China Grove is your shop located?  spyder