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2010 FXDF Tire Changing

dolt said:
it's just not worth my time to wrestle with a 180mm or 150mm tire when the knee dragger independent shop around the corner will do it for $20.

Still interested in how the OP views tire changing once he's done it; hope he will post is honest thoughts.:D
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if I wanted, I would just bring it up to the stealer to do it. but this is something i want to try and do regardless of the time, cost savings, etc. Like some of you have said, let's see if I change my mind afterwards, but right now, I'm doing it i on my own:

1. because i can
2. because i want to

tires come tomorrow and i took the day off......
 
ngjandm said:
if I wanted, I would just bring it up to the stealer to do it. but this is something i want to try and do regardless of the time, cost savings, etc. Like some of you have said, let's see if I change my mind afterwards, but right now, I'm doing it i on my own:

1. because i can
2. because i want to

tires come tomorrow and i took the day off......
Click to expand...

You might think the same as me and want to do your own tires to make sure they're done right and your rims aren't all scratched up. All it costs you is a little time, some elbow grease and a bit of sweat. Feels good to be able to do a job that most don't want to tackle. :s
 
first update.

- taking the wheel off the bike. As I suspected this was a problem for me. I watched a video of someone removing the wheel without removing the bottom shock bolts. I of course followed the manual which said to remove them. right right off the bat I had a huge problem getting the brake caliper off of the disc. finally got it removed, but now I'm going to have to read up on getting the caliper back on properly. but this might be a good time to replace break pads. they have 12.5k on them, probably still have some life, but the pad pretty much hanging off, so maybe should change them.

- getting the tire off. this was pretty easy, came right off with not much work, both sides with the tire lube.

- getting the new tire on. this proved a little more tricky, got one side one, the last side is real tough with irons/spoons. I'm going to try the tie wrap method my buddy used when he saw it on you tube after dinner. I think I put the wrong side on first, because now I'm trying to get the second side on where the belt drive thinggy is, that sticks out a lot more than the disc on the other side so sometimes tough to get leverage around it.

so far still fun...taking my time, not overly frustrating. :)
 
Good on you for making the effort. Yes, now would be the time to change the pads. Keep a positive attitude.
 
Often at the stage you are at the bead of the tire at the far point from where you are applying pressure will slip out of the centre well of the wheel and make things very tight and possible damage to the bead by over stretching
Just make sure that bead stays in the centre well and have lots of tire soap on the inside of the tire bead

Brian
 
If you haven't finished the tire install yet: It sounds like the brake rotor is still on. Be very careful that you do not tilt the rim and apply pressure to the edge of the rotor, they are easy to bend. The rim should be supported on blocks or over a barrel that keeps the rotor from touching anything.
 
When you install tire you will need too keep second bead in the center drop of wheel to give you the needed length to fit second bead on wheel. As you are finding out this is the hardest part. As stated before if over stretch the bead, tire can become unserviceable.....
 
Re: 2010 FXDF Tire Changing - day 2

Been learning a lot so far.

- tire mounting - finally got the tire on, didn't have as much trouble as yesterday, so a night rest helped. funny story though, first shot, I got it on pretty easy, then when i went to take tire off wheel stand, i saw the bottom of tire wasn't in rim. lol. so took a couple minutes but the next shot trying to keep the bottom rim in took a couple tries, but wasn't too bad all in all.

- tire on - now that tire is on, i can say one thing, bringing it to the dealer, they are not going to clean my wheel like I just did. that includes removing all the residue from the weight tape. I had to clean off some residue from the weights from the first set of tires.

- tire changing misc - I did read that you should mount the lightest part of the tire by the valve stem, but I couldn't tell where that was. before I set the bead (will run off to get brake pads), maybe some thoughts on that, as long as I balance the tire, should that matter? Also, I read that if you can't centerline your weights (e.g. spoked wheels), you should balance the weights on both sides of the wheel. last tire, the dealer did not do this. weights only on 1 side.
 
When balancing a rim I put the weights on each side keeping as close to the centre line of the wheel as possible

Brian
 
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