Difficult rear tire install

[Ugarte]

When my local tire changer installed a rear tire on my Rocket wheel last May he said it was very difficult to install the tire on the wheel, and that it took a few people to do it. When I ordered a rear tire for the Rocket a few weeks ago he again mentioned how difficult it was to install and then said that the Metzler 240 was on back order till November 11. Well I just called him and he now says its on back order till November 28 with no assurance that it will actually be there that date.

I think that he just does not want to install this tire because of the difficulty he had before. Has anyone else had this experience? Is there something about getting the 240 on the Rocket rear wheel that is especially difficult?

Looks like I may need to go elsewhere for this service for the Rocket. Till now this tire dealer has been very good and prompt which is why I have always gone back to him.

[vonbonds]

My dealer bitches and moans about installing the tire as well. I was in the back and watched him do it. He needed some help getting the tire off of the wheel but it goes on easily. He might be giving you a snow job as to availability. My dealer got 2 new Metz's in 2 weeks after ordering them. He was on a wait list as well.

Tom

[Jamie]

Same rear tire removal and installation experience here. A bit painful, said the dealer mechanics. A bit pathetic or farcical, I refrained from saying. Availability-wise, I expect my dealer to have spare front and rear rubber in stock. So should you.

[Ugarte]

Just got a call from the tire dealer, he just received the metzler tire.......

I think from now on I will buy my rear tire long before the tread is completely worn. I have hardly ridden my Rocket the past few weeks and I have gotten rusty with the beast. Metzeler needs to get its act together and increase production....or lose us all to car tires... :-D

[RidinSunshine]

Luckily we didn't wait on ours till last minute either. We ordered via internet this weekend and got a call today that they are on back order also. We ordered ours early because we were told the price is going up soon. With two bikes it benefited us to order early for the early bird special.

[Toystoretom]

I can't remember who (was it Davo?) had a good idea. When removing the old tire break the bead away from the wheel and cut the bead of the tire clear up into the sidewall. You could use an air powered wizz wheel to do this. If you were to make a few cuts I'll bet the old tire would come off much easier.

When installing the new tire lube the bead with silicone spray lube.

I have a high dollar tire machine that will do up to 22 inch car tires with 40 series sidewalls. I'll bet this thing would kick that Metzler's arse. If anyone in the KC area wants me to try on theirs... let me know. I don't think that most M/C dealers have the bucks to invest in something like that so they use a little wimpy hand powered machine or try to do it by hand. Those days are fast disappearing.

[Aussiekeeper]

I had my rear tire changed at about 6800 moles. My local motorcycle shop did the sale and the change, Called 2 weeks ago and he said he would sell me the tire but will not ever change a R3 tire again. I helped him change the first tire and we ended up cutting it off. It was a B%tch to get on. There is no relief in the rim to allow the tire to move into to get the bead over the rim, poor design. I just looked at the new Suzuki criuser and it looks to have the same rim design. :wow:


Ron

[Aussiebikerdave]

On 2005-11-14 18:32, Aussiekeeper wrote:
I helped him change the first tire and we ended up cutting it off. It was a B%tch to get on. There is no relief in the rim to allow the tire to move into to get the bead over the rim, poor design. Ron

Ron, you've hit the nail on the head there. That is exactly the reason they are hard mongrels. I took one off last week and it was not too bad because it was a hot day so I laid the wheel out in the sun to get some heat into it and soften it up.

Tomo, The previous one had to be cut off buy using a 4" angle grinder on the bead. I was able to get the lever down and partly over the foot but that was all so I cut through the bead using the tyre lever as a shield against the rim. Here is a pic of my tyre fitting machine

Davo

[RocketEd]

Tom, that's what I did, used a Dremel tool to make one cut about an inch from the bead into the side wall. Did the same on both sides. It comes right off. Use a tire iron or something to hold the tire away from the wheel and definitely use eye protection 'cause chunks of rubber and steel cord do go flyin'.
For whatever reason I had no problem getting the new tire on just using tire irons. I found the sidewalls to be flexible enough to be squeezed together in what passes for a valley in the Rocket rim.

[Toystoretom]

What the??????

Davo.... did you just post a picture???? I just fell out of my chair...

I'll try to post a pic of the machine I use... It has robot arms to wrestle those stupid tires that have sidewalls made of steel. It has a clamp bed that can grip most wheels without marking them up.

These wheels that have sharp edges for beads are all over the place now. New model cars have them for OE equipment. Impossible to put wheel weights on and makes alignments a nightmare... most times you have to deflate the tire and push the bead in to hang the head off of it, then reinflate the tire. I hate cars...