Tires and Tire changers

[The Krypt Keeper]

Been a while since we had a good tire thread 

 

Looking at multiple websites lately and noticed not only sticker shock but a few sites were just out of stock in many tires. 

 

Any sales going on or new websites people have been using? Typically I run the Bridgestone S21's or S22's depending on bike. Not opposed to to other tires but loved the feedback and feel of the bridgestones.

 

Tire changers, my local guy is getting up in age and has been my go to guy for a decade. This gave me the idea of just doing my own, will need new tires on both track bikes this go around. 

Any recommendations on decent tire changers and balancers? 

[blackhawkxx]

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[IcePrick]

I've been happy with my No-Mar changer, it is an old top-end commercial one.  I can't vouch for their entry-level model, though it appears to work the same way.  They're also having a Black Friday event right now that has some respectable discounts across the line.  Beware of all the stuff you're going to want to add on to it, they're proud of their gadgets though it works great when you use all of their tools together.  The Yellow Thing and Xtra Hand are really helpful, the latter can be had as a knock-off on Amazon for less than half price - they work best in pairs.

 

Unless Harbor Freight has made major updates to their offering, I'd pass.  Then again, there may be some improvements you can make to make it easier/more functional.  YouTube might be a good place to look for that data.

 

I use a Marc Parnes balancer, I can usually get very good with it but last year I had some difficulty on one.  It takes a long time to balance with a gravity balancer, but for the price I never explored other options.  I have more time than money these days.

 

 

[tomek]

No Mar is waaaaaaay overpriced. Many victims of clever marketing. No idea why people buy them. In the end of the day it is muscle powered machine. You still gonna sweat like a pig on 90 degrees day. I'd never spent that kind of money on muscle powered tire machine.YMMV. 

 

 So, I'd suggest low end or high end approach. 

 Low end would be get Harbor Freight balancer for 50 bucks, it is good enough for motorcycle tire, and some sort of bead breaker. Can't find the link to one I have. It was, of course, cheap. Plus couple tire irons and rim protectors. 

 

 High end would be compressed air powered tire changer. More expensive vs. No Mar but not by much. And you won't sweat like a pig. And get the most overpriced wheel balancer you can find. 

[tomek]

34 minutes ago, IcePrick said:

It takes a long time to balance with a gravity balancer, but for the price I never explored other options.  I have more time than money these days.

 

 

No. Unless 45 seconds is considered "long".  With some experience you can kinda guess how much weight it needs by how fast wheel rotates. Typically it takes less than 2 ounces to balance mcycle wheel, so if you are low on experience start with 1 once, and go from there. And, you won't be able to feel it if weight is off by .25 oz, so don't loose your sleep over it. Many times tires are not round enough, there is dick you can do about it. Balanced or not, vibration will be there. 

[IcePrick]

2 hours ago, tomek said:

No Mar is waaaaaaay overpriced. Many victims of clever marketing. No idea why people buy them. In the end of the day it is muscle powered machine. You still gonna sweat like a pig on 90 degrees day. I'd never spent that kind of money on muscle powered tire machine.YMMV. 

 

 So, I'd suggest low end or high end approach. 

 Low end would be get Harbor Freight balancer for 50 bucks, it is good enough for motorcycle tire, and some sort of bead breaker. Can't find the link to one I have. It was, of course, cheap. Plus couple tire irons and rim protectors. 

 

 High end would be compressed air powered tire changer. More expensive vs. No Mar but not by much. And you won't sweat like a pig. And get the most overpriced wheel balancer you can find. 

 

$320 is expensive?  

 

And no, the No-Mar uses leverage, not much muscle involved.  Compared to getting on your hands and knees and levering them off (I've done probably 100 that way), the No-Mar is like the difference between an army using horses and an army using tanks.

[tomek]

1 hour ago, IcePrick said:

 

$320 is expensive?  

 

And no, the No-Mar uses leverage, not much muscle involved.  Compared to getting on your hands and knees and levering them off (I've done probably 100 that way), the No-Mar is like the difference between an army using horses and an army using tanks.

The tire spoon uses leverage as well. 

Anyway, I thought they were more expensive, like 700-800 bucks. In this case I stand corrected. 

 

 

 

[blackhawkxx]

My son bought a old used air powered one that does everything.  That is the way to go if you can find one locally and have the room.  It sure works for me after struggling on the floor with spoons my whole life. 

[IcePrick]

I still use spoons on the dirt bikes most of the time, partly because that's what I'll have to do if I get a bad one when out in the weeds somewhere.  A 5-gallon bucket with hose split and laid over the rim is a help at home.  The No-Mar is still way better than even spooning it on a dedicated waist-high stand.  I did one for a friend a few months ago, he said, "holy shit, that tire just LEAPED onto that rim!"

 

The higher-end models ARE big bucks, and I think the lower-end ones are at a new price point.  IIRC I paid around $140 for my No-Mar a little over a decade ago, it was in an online auction from a local tech school and it went for minimum bid.  The $1000 they want for the same model (updated), I think I'd still be wrestling on my knees with spoons.  If the $319 model works nearly as well, I'd spend that in a minute - but I haven't used one.  In principle, it works the same as the bigger units.  Add a couple accessories and shipping, I bet you're at $400 or more.

 

 

[superhawk996]

If you have the space for professional shop machines there's sometimes great deals out there.

 

I was under pressure to get rid of mine, I often wish I hadn't.  Never allow code enforcement to look around.

[SwampNut]

Discount Tire was swapping machines last time I was there.  They said the old one just goes to the local business liquidator/auction house.  Unfortunately that place is all over when it comes to prices.  I've picked up a thing for 10%, and I've seen retards pay more than retail.

 

[The Krypt Keeper]

Thanks for the replies, going to look and see. Might talk with my local guy and see what he plans to do with his air powered machine? He still rides just been retired for a decade or so and really not into tossing and pulling wheels and tires around anymore. 

 

Looked at a couple manual ones of various styles and brands, I have the room for a larger air powered and even the manual ones seem they would be easier to use if you elevated them and gave them a solid mount to work with. 

 

Did see plenty of junk ones pop up as well and people bending and breaking chineasium parts left and right. 

 

 

[SwampNut]

It seems like it would take a long time to justify at $25/tire for mount & balance.

 

[IcePrick]

Last time a shop did one for me, it was $45.  Then they stopped doing them unless it was their tire (@MSRP).  Then they started charging for the mounting on top of premium prices for the tire.  Then they stopped doing cash & carry, they wanted the labor for taking the wheel off the bike as well.  That's when I started looking at machines, and my buddy found the No-Mar on a government auction site.

 

I used to go through tires very regularly - it was worth it (to me) pretty quickly whether in terms of money saved or to avoid wrestling on the ground with tire spoons in Knoxville humidity.  Make that a $2500 brand-new machine, and I agree it would be tough for the average income/average use scenario to amortize.  

[superhawk996]

9 hours ago, SwampNut said:

Discount Tire was swapping machines last time I was there.  They said the old one just goes to the local business liquidator/auction house.

I got my machines from Walmart when they were upgrading.  The company installing the new stuff would take the old ones, or I could hand the automotive manager cash.  He used that to buy tools for the guys that Walmart wouldn't supply, a good dude.  I bought a few tons of stuff and spent the rest of the day running the truck back & forth.

 

1 hour ago, SwampNut said:

It seems like it would take a long time to justify at $25/tire for mount & balance.

 

My tire shop charges even less I think, but I'd do it for the convenience and joy of DIY, and so that they get done right.  Plus that occasional want to mount a 20+ year old tire on something.

[tomek]

DIY is not about money, it is about convenience, and more specifically, time. Round trip to tire changing place, mandatory wait, etc. It could be easily 1.5 -2.0 hrs. Not interested, even if they did it for free. 

 Also, any tire changing place open and waiting for you at, let's say 10 pm? Because mine DIY is open 24/7

[rockmeupto125]

Absolutely.  It is not about the money, although $45 in my pocket is better than $45 in Gibbons Powersports till.

 

If someone needs a tire now, I got it. The thing most precious to me is my time.

[IcePrick]

12 hours ago, tomek said:

DIY is not about money, it is about convenience, and more specifically, time. Round trip to tire changing place, mandatory wait, etc. It could be easily 1.5 -2.0 hrs. Not interested, even if they did it for free. 

 Also, any tire changing place open and waiting for you at, let's say 10 pm? Because mine DIY is open 24/7

 

That too.  My weekends were premium time, and the dealership was almost always closed before and after I got off work during the week.  So, drop it off Saturday morning, pick it up NEXT Saturday ("You want it today?  HAHAHAHAHA").  

 

 

[SwampNut]

15 hours ago, superhawk996 said:

My tire shop charges even less I think, but I'd do it for the convenience and joy of DIY, and so that they get done right.  Plus that occasional want to mount a 20+ year old tire on something.

 

Speaking of which, are you running a patched Diablo 3 yet?

 

I forget that living near a big city means $25 tire changes down the street.  I don't have the time to fuck around with it, so the $25 is fine to me.

 

[jon haney]

19 hours ago, superhawk996 said:

but I'd do it for the convenience and joy of DIY, and so that they get done right.

This.  Especially, that last part.

Pretty sure my demise will be the result of the above statement some day.  My sister was concerned about how much it costs to have a tree trimmed.  I said, I would do it.  What was I thinking?

[SwampNut]

I was reading this thread as I mixed up some newly arrived Chinese peptides to inject into my body, but I can't be bothered to change a tire.  Priorities I suppose.  It made me laugh.

 

[superhawk996]

9 hours ago, SwampNut said:

Speaking of which, are you running a patched Diablo 3 yet?

No.  I started shopping for a front and then something shiny went by.

[blackhawkxx]

9 hours ago, superhawk996 said:

No.  I started shopping for a front and then something shiny went by.

[SwampNut]

On 11/16/2023 at 5:58 AM, rockmeupto125 said:

Absolutely.  It is not about the money, although $45 in my pocket is better than $45 in Gibbons Powersports till.

 

If someone needs a tire now, I got it. The thing most precious to me is my time.

 

Thought of you as I stew over the second day after "it will be done in a couple hours tops."  The front of the bike is in the air, I want to do things to it that require it being outside.  (Aluminum cleaner, drain fuel.). I'm thinking maybe I can put the forks in my garden cart, but not sure I can get the cart around the bike to the front of it.  Couple of neighbors to carry it?

 

These fuckerheads gave me a bad feeling when I dropped off the wheel.  The counter guy was pretty wasted at 10am, Snoop would have looked at him and said, "Too much bro."  They used to be good.  Also, I guess I should note, the shop is called "Screwie Lewie's" after all.

 

[IcePrick]

Just now, SwampNut said:

Snoop would have looked at him and said, "Too much bro."  

 

😆 Because we can all see the look on his face and hear his voice saying that.