DIY Removing & Installing a Tire on a Motorcycle
Anyone who owns a motorcycle can attest that you can’t avoid changing your tires. Some motorcyclists prefer taking their machines to mechanics for tire changing while others will replace them independently.
Changing your tires can save you a lot of money and time; thus, we advise every motorcyclist to learn how to carry out routine maintenance.
Replacing motorcycle tires won’t cost you much of your time, provided you reserve the proper knowledge and equipment required to complete the process safely.
Many riders never weigh the benefits of changing their tires than taking their bikes to professionals, mainly because they lack access to the right machines and tools required to effectively replace their wheels.
Nonetheless, changing motorcycle wheels shouldn’t cause you any alarm, especially during an emergency. All riders can quickly learn the tire-changing process with a few lessons.
We’ll discuss in detail the ten easy steps you should follow when changing your tires and what to keep in mind while doing so.
Before the changing process, motorcycle owners should equip themselves with the recommended tools for fast and accurate accomplishment.
The ten steps to follow when replacing motorcycle tires
The guidelines for replacing motorcycle tires remain the same, regardless of the type of tires. However, the process of taking out the inmost tube differs slightly from replacing outer tires.
You’ll need the proper skillset to correctly fracture the tire beads if you plan to change a tubeless set of tires.
When replacing motorcycle tires, riders require several tire fetters, each measuring one foot every thirty centimeters. A narrow brim will get the irons between the rims and the tires.
Motorcyclists should clearly understand all the steps to follow first before proceeding with tire replacement. After setting out your repair equipment, you can follow these steps to fix a brand new tire in no time:
Remove the American Valve (Schrader Valve)
When filling your tires with air, you will attach the mouth of your air pump to the small short and round metallic tube on your tire known as the Schrader Valve.
Besides allowing you to pump air into the tire, the American Valve maintains its pressure by closing tightly.
Luckily, Most Schrader Valves across the different motorcycle brands work alike and don’t cost a lot of money. You’ll quickly find the right design for your motorcycle if you need a replacement.
When replacing your tires, don’t forget to find new valves as well.
It would help if you always used the right tools to detach your American Valve from the tire. Carefully insert the special equipment into the Schrader Valve to remove it while simultaneously allowing air to leave the tire.
We recommend riders to take out the American Valve before proceeding with tire removal because the process will deflate the tires and give you an easy time replacing them.
Fracture the Beads on your tires
After puncturing your tires, you should remove the beading that surrounds the tires. Beads run all around the tires’ rims; they support the tires by keeping them in position.
Essentially, tire rims hold tires firmly to the bike and prevent them from detaching during high speeds. Beads on the tires exist as a result of the firm interlocking between the rims and tires.
Rims hold tires firmly, immediately after the rider inflates the tires, making inner tubes unnecessary in keeping the tires locked and attached to the bike.
Riders who attempt to break the tire beading without the proper tools will find the task extremely challenging and impossible. Therefore, you should find the right machines and equipment to help you get the bead safely and efficiently broken.
If you lack access to the right set of tools or hardly know local technicians who could lend you the machinery, we would advise you to use heavy objects in loosening the beadings or repeatedly exert pressure on the wheel by jumping on it a few times.
Anyone with real determination to change their tires can never lack better options. Creativity can help you a great deal when it comes to changing motorcycle tires.
Prepare to detach the motorcycle tire from the rim
Unbinding the beading on your tire might seem the most formidable and most strenuous task in replacing motorcycle tires. However, riders should prepare adequately to get their rims off their tires because of the exercise’s energy-demanding nature.
Fracturing the beading will clear the way for other critical replacement steps. After breaking the tire beads, your next task will involve detaching your tires from the wheel by lifting.
You will probably sweat or sit back for a while to breathe when separating the wheel from the tires. The heavy wheel will keep you sweating profusely throughout the replacement session to prepare for the subsequent tasks.
We encourage motorcycle owners to use several rim protectors when detaching tires off the bike to avoid deforming the rim.
You shouldn’t undertake the process without rim protectors, predominantly if your bike’s rims consist of soft alloys that can bend if subjected to severe pressure.
Snip the rim protectors around the rims, particularly on the places you intend to position the tire fetters to counter to the edges. A motorcyclist can apply standard soap around the perimeters to lubricate the tires and make the detaching exercise easier.
Detaching the tire from the rim
Motorcyclists should observe extreme care when separating motorcycle tires from their rims. Every step from the detachment onwards requires the full concentration and sharp detail of the rider.
Making any mistake while lifting the tires from their rims can damage the tires and rims. It would help if you began hoisting the tires by placing three or four fetters between the rims and tires.
It would also be best if you started the lifting from the nearest faucet on the tire before proceeding to other regions. You can then advance farther in the opposite direction to provide more space for introducing the first lever.
The first lever you insert should lift a significant portion of the tire from the rim. While lifting, proceed cautiously closer to the middle of the wheel and locate a convenient spot to interject the second lever or fetter.
Ensure that you insert the second lever in a position closer to where you inflexed the first lever. Repeat the process with the third and fourth levers while exercising care to avoid damaging the inner duct, the rim, and tires.
After interposing all the levers, take turns hoisting the tire off its rim from the different four or three lever positions. You’ll find the exercise much easier when using the levers than any other means.
Get your tires beyond the rims
With the extra effort you put in at the beginning and lifting your tires, every other step should fall into place afterward. You can grab a deep breath of air and continue to make sure the tire gets completely off the rim.
To remove your tires, ensure that you repeat lifting the wheel with the levers’ aid until you lift off approximately more than half of the tire. You’ll require a proficient set of skills and a keen concentrative mind when hoisting your tires with the levers.
After lifting one side above the rim, make sure you visit another lever and do the same, and shift to newer positions each time until small distances amount to complete detachment.
However, you can focus on a specific side of the tire by lifting most of the area out until you achieve a more significant portion you can lift out with your hands without struggling at all.
Extract the inner duct ( if any)
It would be best if you prepared to extract the tube before hauling the tire from its rim. An inner duct can easily get torn or damaged if handled without delicateness. Please ensure that you pull the duct out with tenderness and precision.
Before reaching for the tube, make sure the valve stays within the wheel. When pulling it out, hold the tube tenderly and pull it slowly to prevent tearing it.
After safely separating the tube from the tire, motorcycle owners should keep the ducts in safe places until upon completing the replacement process and return them to the wheel.
Lift the tire upwards to your side
The lifting process shouldn’t take a lot of time, considering you already completed other heavy-lifting exercises earlier. The tire you just pulled from its rim with levers will only require little force to keep it entirely detached and wholly separated from the perimeter.
To effectively and quickly complete the process, you’ll need to insert two levers or tire fetters over the rim and into the tires and upheave the tire in your direction.
If you pull the tires with the levers, you’ll safely accomplish the removal process by following the same steps in your earlier tire changing stages. You’ll easily manage to get the tire off the rim despite the wily nature of the tire removal process.
Motorcyclists can remove tires easier by paving them on the floor before upheaving them off a rim.
Prepare to replace the tire
Just like with the other preparation stages, replacing your motorcycle tire will require the collection of the right set of tools and, most importantly, a different tire to fit in place of the old one.
Make sure you examine the new model to determine the tire’s direction of rotation (DOR) before installing it. Also, check the tire for two or one little dots to direct you when replacing your tire.
You should immediately identify the dots in orange, yellow, blue, and many other different colors. Besides helping with the DOR, the dots indicate the heavier side of your tires.
When refitting tires, riders should place the dots in the direction counter to the valve to balance their total weight.
Replacing the tire
After determining the DOR of your tire and checking the dots’ location, you can comfortably begin the tire replacement process. Riders can follow the reverse process of removing the tire from the wheel.
You should get your tires into the wheels conveniently and in a short amount of time if you mastered every step and detail, from the tire detaching process to the final lifting and separation from the rim.
Before inflating the tire, don’t forget to insert a new valve in place of the original one. You can also conduct a few repairs to patch up the inner duct if you damaged it in the tire removal process.
Conduct a final checkup on your tire
It would be best if you tested your tire to observe how perfectly it holds pressure. Sometimes motorcyclists finish the tire replacement process only to realize a while later that it can’t keep pressure correctly.
You should do a thorough test on the tires to see how well they function and particularly hold pressure.
Besides, ensure that you observe the tire to check how well it balances. Consider changing it to a perfect position if you suspended it wrongly and remove any old cycle weights that existed before.
After affirming that all your tires work perfectly and hold the right pressure, you can gear up for a ride and take your motorcycle out for a safety test drive.
Conclusion
Any motorcyclist can quickly replace tires, provided they rely on the right tools and reserve the proper knowledge required to change a motorcycle tire safely.
Replacing a motorcycle tire should take you between thirty and fifty minutes, depending on your level of skill, energy, and motorcycle type.
Changing your tires comes with numerous benefits. You’ll save many extra expenses you would incur if you took your motorcycle to a mechanic or dealer. Besides, the set of skills you learn will stay with you and mostly come in handy during emergencies.
Suppose you start by learning today how to change your motorcycle tires. In that case, you will gain a better experience with time and find it easier maintaining your motorcycle than taking it to the mechanic.
Don’t forget to ask for help from a veteran friend if you get lost along the way. Remember, the more time you spare to conduct maintenance routines for your bike, the easier and cheaper it gets for you in the long run.