How Do I Setting the Tire Bead

[jonsamson]

Reading all the posts of replacing ones own tire I decided to do the same. I bought a Dunlop Elite 3 160/80/16 for my rear tire. After trying and nearly hurting myself with some long tire irons and a bucket I went and bought a HF tire changer. This worked well, I got the old tire off and the new one mounted. But now I can't set the bead. It seems the side walls are too close together and are resting in the relief valley of the rim. There is about 1/2" space and it won't inflate at all. I can't seem to get the tire in contact enough with the rim to get air in the tire to set the bead.
Others who have replaced this tire how did you get the bead to set?
-Jon

[jonsamson]

I was getting frustrated, I knew I wasn't the only one, but I couldn't find anything on the Search. Well if I had put in a search for Seating the Tire Bead rather than Setting the tire bead I would have found this link
http://www.vulcanbagger.com/phpBB3/v...=8817&start=15
Which suggested to use a ratchet strap around the circumference of the tire (I had to use 2) and it pushed the rubber enough to start holding air. At about 40 lbs the first pop than at about 42 lbs the second pop. Worked like a charm.
-Jon

[Kawhead]

Dern..................I wanted to rush in and save you.........You stole my thunder! I seen that little deal when I was watching a guy in a tire store a long time ago. I'm glad you got it though. :) You putting dyna beads in it?

[jonsamson]

I did take off the one weight, and put in 2 oz of dyno beads. I sure hope not having the filter air thing in the stem won't be a problem; it doesn't work in a 90 degree stem. I also turned the stem to the other side, did my swing arm maintenance (I didn't do the grease zerk though, that doesn't make sense when you actually look at it) and the drive shaft which I don't get the point of that one either. I did have grease in all the places unlike some folks that were bone dry.

Why the drive shaft grease on the spleens? All the gears mesh with each other, they don't turn against each other, there isn't any friction points, why all the work for something that doesn't rub anywhere? I do understand why the swing arm though.

I know all motorcycles have swing arms, but why do the Harleys, and Hondas etc not have this as a maintenance item, or do they? The few Harley Owners I talked to said they didn't have anything to do for their swing arm.

After all this, I like the idea of a belt even more, no maintenance, and replace at 50,000 for about $300.00 and on down the road. That is more appealing than spending 5 hours every tire change to do this.
-Jon

[coloradontexas]

I seated mine yesterday. The ratchet strap and a rubber mallet work well, so does about 80 pounds of air. Start to finish, swing arm and driveline, took a full day. Not bad, and after doing it the first time it will go fast er next time.

[watchman]

This is what we do. It may not be right for anyone else but it works for us. Since we trade our bikes before they reach 60,000 miles or every 4 years I do the swing arm and drive shaft maintenance every other year or about every 25,000 to 28,000 miles. I have never found any of our bike's swing arm dry when I tore them down using this schedule. Years ago some bikes had a grease zerk on each side of the swing arm. I don't know why the manufactures quit doing this as it would make things a lot easier and actually get the grease to the areas that need it. And I wish there was a grease zerk on each of the u-joints on the drive shaft.
I do lube the drive splines every time I remove the rear wheel. There is a lot more friction on the splines than you would think. I use the Honda Moly 60 Paste lube on all of the above mentioned areas. It runs about $10.00 for a 3oz tube.

[01nomad]

I buy my tires early and put a block of wood (at least a 2X4) all the way around to stretch the sidewalls out and leave it at least a week. No problems seating the tire after that.

[ringadingh]

Sometimes when I have a problem tire that wont seat, I use a trick I learned at the stock car track years ago and it works.
I spray a little bit of starting fluid ( about two seconds worth)into the tire where the bead isn't seating, then light it. It usually pops into position and then you have to get the air to it immediately and start blowing it up, if you don't sometimes the bead falls down again, and you have to start over. Just make sure you dont get your fingers pinched in the bead when you light the starting fluid. Once it is seated and the tire is full of air, I let all the air out and refill it again at the proper pressure. Ive done this many times over the years, and its fixed some stubborn tires that Ive wasted a lot of time on trying other methods.

[voyager]

Hey Ring, your suggestion was the one I was going to give. In my early apprenticeship days I worked for this old fellow in a truck shop. This was the way we changed tires, get the tire on the rim, spray in starting fluid and light her up. Quite the experience for a young buck to see let me tell you.

[blowndodge]

As I have put a car tire on a couple of weeks ago, I did the whole nine yards and used the most expensive lube and moly out there. Considering the swingarm and that it has good rubber barriers and caps I can't see how you'd need to regrease them if they are loaded good.

Mine are and were when I took it apart. My splines were coated and the drive shaft was too. I took off the old grease and loaded Honda Pro 60 past liberally on all the mating surfaces from the front U-joint to the rear splines. This Pro 60 should practically never wear off.

Since I have the car tire on and it will last anywhere from 35 to 50k this is the last time the rear is being dismantled and serviced. If done completely you shouldn't have to do the "BIG SERVICE" more than once. There are lots of things Kaw tells you to service like spark plugs at 7500 miles. Not a chance. They should last 25K easily, maybe 50k. A fully lubed rear assembly with high quality stuff should last the lifetime of the bike.

[Cajunrider]

If you don't have a ratchet strap, take a piece of 1/2" rope which is long enough to go around the circumference of the tire and tie it loosely around the tire in the center of the tread. Twist a small loop in the rope and use anything like a medium to large screwdriver through the loop to twist the rope tight. This will do the same as a ratchet strap if you don't have one handy. Be careful when you unwind the object in the loop to keep it from slapping your knuckles.

[ponch]

You could try this: :)

[macmac]

is this tire still a problem? If so get a ratchet strap and clamp that tire down hard, then air it and it will seat!

No sooner than it does loosen that strap or wear it..... If you choose to wear it it is gonna really hurt.... That particular tire was crushed under many tires like it, and the tire beads are in more than they should be..

Putting the whole thing somewhere warm would help till you get to it again..

[macmac]

Opps i read the 2nd post too late... Well I always say live and squirm....

[billmac]

Originally Posted by 01nomad

I buy my tires early and put a block of wood (at least a 2X4) all the way around to stretch the sidewalls out and leave it at least a week. No problems seating the tire after that.

Thanks for the post 01Nomad. I have mounted many tires in my early years and did know about this trick.

One thing I might add to the good ideas on this thread, the air will go in faster without a valve stem needle and without the air chuck. Just shove the female quick release onto the an empty valve stem and the air will go in the tire as fast as possible.

Our first effort was to push the tire on the bottome side of the rim and gently lift the other side up to the rim. If that did not work, we pulled out the straps and other methods described in this thread.