RetiredJake
Junior Member
Finally got everything together. Completed fab of the bead breaker over the weekend. Ordered new tires from Jake Wilson, got a set for the FXDB for $195 delivered to my door. Ordered on Sunday night, delivered Wednesday noon. Checked date codes, front was week 36, 09, rear was week 40, 09. Good fresh tires. Ordered a balancer from Marc Parnes on Monday night, in the mailbox this afternoon.
Changed the rear tire first, this was my practice run and shakedown of the equipment. The bead breaker needs to have longer legs, it wants to tip over when pushing down on the handle. Also need to modify the lever to allow it to raise further when putting the tire in place. The modified Harbor Freight tire changer worked good, except the Mojo Blocks (to prevent scratching the rims) allowed the wheel to slip, need to line the Mojo Blocks with rubber. Everything else worked pretty good. The No-Mar Mount-Demount Bar worked like a champ removing the old tire and installing the new one, even managed to not pinch the new tube.
Balanced the tire with the new balancer. Pretty painless operation, took me about 20 minutes, expect the next one to go a lot faster.
The bad news is the brake system. When I opened the rear master cylinder to allow pushing the pistons back during wheel removal, I noticed the brake fluid was cloudy. Now I need to flush the system. Guess I will clean the caliper while I'm at it, and replace the pads. The bike is 2 1/2 years old, so I expect the front will be the same when I get to it.
Now that I have an idea what I am doing, I will take pictures and document the front wheel in the next day or two. What I have learned is that this is definately something the average guy can do at home. I have a total of about $270 in the changer, bead breaker, and balancer. Since my dealer will charge me about $400 to replace both tires, I will pay for the equipment on the next change. From there, it is all money saved, and that can be used for gas and motels to go on the next tour.
Changed the rear tire first, this was my practice run and shakedown of the equipment. The bead breaker needs to have longer legs, it wants to tip over when pushing down on the handle. Also need to modify the lever to allow it to raise further when putting the tire in place. The modified Harbor Freight tire changer worked good, except the Mojo Blocks (to prevent scratching the rims) allowed the wheel to slip, need to line the Mojo Blocks with rubber. Everything else worked pretty good. The No-Mar Mount-Demount Bar worked like a champ removing the old tire and installing the new one, even managed to not pinch the new tube.
Balanced the tire with the new balancer. Pretty painless operation, took me about 20 minutes, expect the next one to go a lot faster.
The bad news is the brake system. When I opened the rear master cylinder to allow pushing the pistons back during wheel removal, I noticed the brake fluid was cloudy. Now I need to flush the system. Guess I will clean the caliper while I'm at it, and replace the pads. The bike is 2 1/2 years old, so I expect the front will be the same when I get to it.
Now that I have an idea what I am doing, I will take pictures and document the front wheel in the next day or two. What I have learned is that this is definately something the average guy can do at home. I have a total of about $270 in the changer, bead breaker, and balancer. Since my dealer will charge me about $400 to replace both tires, I will pay for the equipment on the next change. From there, it is all money saved, and that can be used for gas and motels to go on the next tour.