Tire Installation in Queens, NY

[Mr Mach1]

I scored a pair of tires from a friend and want to get em mounted. I'm asking what is the cost to get tires installed ? Wheels will be off the bike. I figure new tubes at about $17 each and new bands $? . Anyone know what mounting & balancing will cost ? How hard is it to mount them myself with spoons? Can I forgo the balancing and do it in house ? Just asking. Not cheap just curious. Any reccomendations for a shop to install them?

Thanks

[Hog54]

Dont even bother doing it yourself with spoons.Your looking at a long day.I used to laugh when I seen those tool kits that include tire spoons and patches to fix you flat on the side of the road.Without a bead breaker,your never getting the old tire off the rim.I have a snapon tire bead breaker and I still barely got the tires off the rim.I think I paid my guy $10 a tire to mount and balance them.Save yourself alot of aggrevation.

[58flh]

MRMACH----I mount all my own tires & Dont break a sweat!--When its time I use an old bumperjack to break-bead!,lots of goop handcleaner (no-pumice) rub in & work tire off using GLAZIERS BONES! (basically real strong plyable plastic)-I use 3 of them ,get it started about a 1/4 -leave 1 bone & work more with second!--Sometimes a good pull from here will roll it off!-if not 3rd bone.(done)---Going on is very easy!---AS for balancing-2 things YOU can use the bubble method or alot use SLIME--(I have never used it but know guys that swear buy it)-Its a thick liquid thats finds its center with the motion of the tires!)-I do the bubble-pod, I scored from an old auto repair going out of BIZ. IT works great! Checked it on a speed balancer & I had it dead-on!----THEN AGAIN IF $$$ isnt a problem!-LET a bike shop do it!---Richie

[Hog54]

MRMACH----I mount all my own tires & Dont break a sweat!--When its time I use an old bumperjack to break-bead!,lots of goop handcleaner (no-pumice) rub in & work tire off using GLAZIERS BONES! (basically real strong plyable plastic)-I use 3 of them ,get it started about a 1/4 -leave 1 bone & work more with second!--Sometimes a good pull from here will roll it off!-if not 3rd bone.(done)---Going on is very easy!---AS for balancing-2 things YOU can use the bubble method or alot use SLIME--(I have never used it but know guys that swear buy it)-Its a thick liquid thats finds its center with the motion of the tires!)-I do the bubble-pod, I scored from an old auto repair going out of BIZ. IT works great! Checked it on a speed balancer & I had it dead-on!----THEN AGAIN IF $$$ isnt a problem!-LET a bike shop do it!---Richie

And what does that take you to do,pretty much a whole day?lol

[FlatHeadSix]

Mach1,
Hog54 & 58flh are both correct, you have 2 good answers but it doesn't help you decide because they are exactly opposite.

I live out in the country, no bike shops anywhere near me, so I'm a do-it-yourself guy. Here a few tips if you want to try it:
1. Getting an old tire off the rim is usually the hard part, even more so if they are really old and have been on there a long time. They get very stiff with age and don't stretch or flex very well, makes the job a lot harder. If you are not trying to save the old tire and tube your quickest and easiest method is to cut the old tire off, use a hack saw and take a pie shaped piece out of it, they come right off.
2. before you try to mount the new tire do 2 things; throw it out in the sun for an hour or so and warm it up, then go around and around the mouth of the tire stretching it open. pull it apart as far as you can, open it up, keep going around and around until you get it opened up.
3. put the tube in the new tire, make sure it is inserted evenly all around, and put a little air in it, just enough to make the tube stay inside the tire and keep it up an away from the rim.
4. There is a reason they call those drop-center rims, that's what makes it possible to install a tire. Slather the tire with some kind of lubricant, I use dish soap and water in a bowl applied with a paint brush. The first side will go on easy, you can almost push it on by hand without using your spoons, make sure it is in the dropped center section of the rim before you start the other side, also make sure the valve stem is in the hole.
5. push the 2nd side on as far as you can by hand, use lots of soap. then use your spoons, don't use anything sharp like a big screwdriver or pry bar, use the tire spoons made for installing a motorcycle tire, they have smooth rounded ends and special curves in them to assist you in "hooking" the rim while bending the tire on. make sure the other side stays in the drop-center while you are installing the opposite side.

give it a try, it will help knowing how to do it yourself if you ever get a flat in the middle of nowhere and you are stuck doing it on the side of the road. been there, done that.

but, like hog said, first time you try it it could be an all day affair.......

[hplhd]

if you have something to hold the rim in place helps a great deal. figure out a piece of all thread that will go thru the hub with a plate over the top and bottom of the all thread. i'm proboaly not describing this worth a shit. i worked part time at an indi shop doing stuff like changing tires in exchange for lift time and parts for cost.
the cost would vary. if you brought your own tires in the owner charged more to mount than if you bought the tires thru him. i dont know if thats how its done at all shops tho.

[Cotten]

Does anybody remember "The Breezer"?

I can't find it in any modern catalogs.

....Cotten

[FlatHeadSix]

Does anybody remember "The Breezer"?....Cotten

and don't forget the BFH....

[Hog54]

And if you ever have changed the rear tire on one of them 80s FLHs with the enclosed chain oiler,youll never do another one again.

[CaptMike]

I guess I'm just another Hard Ass... By the time I take them off the bike and haul them to some place, leave them or wait, by the time it's all over I'll continue to do what I always did. Change Them Myself. There's a trick on breaking the beads loose. First I squirt some solvent (Mineral Spirits to Charcoal Liter) on the bead to rim, then I carefully drive a really big screwdriver between the tire and rim and use an adjustable to Rotate the Screwdriver. Within a couple of twist (in different places) the bead pops right off the rim.

Make a 2"x4" box about 14" square (where the 2x4 will be sitting on it's narrow end) and lay your wheel on top. Your brake drum or rotor will be inside the 2x4 box and off the floor.

And since I am a Hard Ass... I lace my own wheels. Lost the right bearing on the Pan last week and laced and trued a new hub to the wheel Friday night.

Uh no, I trust someone else to do the cars but Motorcycle and Botes... No thanks, I'll do my own.

[caschnd1]

I'm with you Mike. Prefer to do all this stuff myself. I don't have a car to make it easy to remove a wheel and haul it someplace to have the tire changed. Not to mention I can do the job faster then just the travel time to/from the shop.

A few years ago I timed how long it took me to change a tire using spoons and the old C-clamp style bead breaker I've had for 30 years. It came out to 7 1/2 minutes to break the bead, remove the old tire/tube and mount the new tire/tube. I spend about another 15 minutes cleaning the rim with a wire brush and truing the wheel. All in all, well under 30 minutes per wheel.

If you are breaking a sweat or fighting with the tire, you are doing it wrong. Changing tires is a bit of an aquired skill. If you can get someone with experience to show you the tricks, it will make it much easier for you in the future.

-Craig

[Cotten]

..... There's a trick on breaking the beads loose. First I squirt some solvent (Mineral Spirits to Charcoal Liter) on the bead to rim, then I carefully drive a really big screwdriver between the tire and rim and use an adjustable to Rotate the Screwdriver....

Oh Sweet Cheeses.

When you are on the side of the road, and hopefully a motorist lends assistance,
Just place something like a 2x4 board beneath the edge of the rim to keep it off the ground, and aim the front tire of an auto at a tangent upon the motorcycle's tire,,.. with finesse of course.

Be smarter than the tire.

....Cotten
PS: I require several Breezers.
My own had the handle bored to house a tube-patch kit.

It has mysteriously disappeared, for I do not loan tools...

[1951 adam]

Bring them to NYC harley Davidson in LIC , It s a quick and easy job with a machine and balancer, and should not cost much if you are just bringing the wheels in

[RUBONE]

Some of my main tire changing, truing, balancing tools. A bead breaker for a Model A, commercial truck size tire spoons (approx 18" long, one smooth, one shaped) and a factory H-D truing stand.
I have changed thousands of tires in my life including split rim truck wheels, and many hundreds with the above bead breaker and spoons along with a couple of 4x4 wooden blocks. Like others, I prefer to do all I can myself. It gives me satisfaction along with the peace of mind that comes from knowing exactly how something was done! On the road I carry 12" spoons and a clamp type bead breaker for old stuff, but merely a plug kit for my modern bikes. I also carry a mini compressor made for MC use. Where I live it can be over 100 miles between towns and you might see a car every hour on some roads. So you learn to depend on your own resources.
Robbie

[Schwee]

Another old trick for breaking the bead, provided there's another hog around:
Just put a bike's kickstand down on the bead near the rim and pull the handlebars over to bring up the bike's front wheel.
The bead will break.

Also, I quit using the rubber liners years ago. Duct tape it a few laps. Keeps the water out.