Tire changing stations

[philipyates12345]

I'm sick of paying $200+ cdn for a tire change and having to wait a week for the honour. In addition you have to buy your tires from that shop or they won't accept the "liability" or as I like to call it "markup"

Will be doing it myself, I'm relatively new to the BMW world, I have a 2020 GSA R1250 but am ok changing rubber.

I would be changing tires about once per year and would have friends who would want help as well. Payment would be in my favorite beverage of beer so I'm not really charging.

Anyway, I was looking at the Rabaconda, it would appear I need the ultimate kit which is $799 US which easily is more than $1000 cdn if I can pick it up in the $US on one of my trips. Otherwise Ihave to pay shipping and duties so the cost would go up for sure.

Does anyone have recommendations or experience with another system that works with the BMW road tires?

Thx in advance

 

[CaptCF]

I'm sick of paying $200+ cdn for a tire change and having to wait a week for the honour. In addition you have to buy your tires from that shop or they won't accept the "liability" or as I like to call it "markup"

Will be doing it myself, I'm relatively new to the BMW world, I have a 2020 GSA R1250 but am ok changing rubber.

I would be changing tires about once per year and would have friends who would want help as well. Payment would be in my favorite beverage of beer so I'm not really charging.

Anyway, I was looking at the Rabaconda, it would appear I need the ultimate kit which is $799 US which easily is more than $1000 cdn if I can pick it up in the $US on one of my trips. Otherwise Ihave to pay shipping and duties so the cost would go up for sure.

Does anyone have recommendations or experience with another system that works with the BMW road tires?

Thx in advance

I have a Rabaconda and am happy with it. Sure beats my old system of a 5 gallon bucket, a mat and tire irons. One of the main selling points to me was the way it breaks down into a gym bag and I can put it on a shelf vs. a more permanent system that takes up a bunch of floor/garage space.

 

[rhbike]

I've changed many a tire with spoons and rim protectors over the years.

A couple years ago I "upgraded" to NoMar's Pro manual changermodel, chosen primarily for its bead breaker. The biggest challenge I have with manual tire changing tubless tires is with breaking the bead. I have tried several bead breaking devices, and none could hold the rim securely enough without risk of the rim shifting and all had problems with wider rims like what my K1600 uses. If the rim shifts or the breaker edge slips into the rim, you are gouging a rim. Not something I can risk given I use BST carbon fiber rims, which is one of the reasons why I change my own tires. Some bead breakers don't even provide enough leverage force. The NoMar pro has a great bead breaker, providing plenty of leverage even with wide rims, and does not put the rims in danger.

Once the bead is broken, dismounting and mounting with spoons or a manual tire change machine really comes down to technique and knowing how to keep the bead in the rim well. The NoMar can mount my front and most rears with ease, but I usually use spoons to mount the last 1/4 of the second bead, as the K1600 tires are unbelievably stiff and the rim well shallow.

I am going to try a Mojolever in place of the NoMar lever when changing my next set in a couple weeks time, which in theory looks like it requires less rim to bead clearance and might not requie any tire irons.

 

[6322]

We have a NoMar setup in my garage. A group of us went together and purchased it and permanently mounted it at least fifteen years ago. I’m the tire guy. When someone needs a change, they either bring their wheels and new tires or they ride in with their tires and we take them off the bike and change them. I also use either wheel weights or balancing beads, which ever they prefer. They all contribute as they wish with more beads, weights and valve stems, and beverages of their choice.

Regarding the NoMar, I’ve probably changed a hundred or more tires for folks and myself, no charge. I like how it breaks the bead and locks down the rim for dismounting and mounting. It also does a good job of protecting the rim.

Good luck with your plan which ever course you choose. Ride easy.

 

[lee]

Anyway, I was looking at the Rabaconda, it would appear I need the ultimate kit which is $799 US which easily is more than $1000 cdn if I can pick it up in the $US on one of my trips. Otherwise Ihave to pay shipping and duties so the cost would go up for sure.

Here's a guy who recently bought one.
https://rswasserboxer.com/R1200RSforum/thread-891.html?highlight=tire+changer

Post #14 has a link to the ADV forum about the same tire changer.
https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/rabaconda-street-bike-tire-changer.1630675/

 

[cruisincruzan]

If you consider spending 800 US I would check out the Weaver hydraulic unit (if you don’t have a an appropriate compressor then the cost would go up). Mine cost 1000.00 with free shipping (was a special offer). Going to CA might make it cost prohibitive but IMO worth checking out.

 

[bobs_one]

No Mar

I have a No Mar as well. I got lucky and bought it used for CDN$200 from a shop going out of business. Best $200 I've ever spent.

Now that I've done a bunch of tires (my own and friends) with it, I do think I could probably manage doing GS tires just with a GOOD set of spoons - apart from breaking the bead - which could be challenging.

I also picked up a balance stand to balance the wheels. Origianlly I used stick-on weights, but more recently I decided to go "old school" and I use bronze screw-on weights on the spokes. I just prefer the look.

 

[freddy]

Rabaconda review

I was lucky to find out a friend nearby recently purchased a Rabaconda Street. I had called him to ask where he gets his tires changed and he offered to test his new machine with my tires. I pulled the wheels off my GS and went down one evening and it was a pretty slick process. Fairly straightforward, but I expect it would be a few tries before it all became second nature. He said the directions were good, but he made a couple of changes due to the TPM sensors on my wheels. (Starting the tire removal in a different position, so the sensors didn't get hit.)

Like some of the other comments, a big plus was that it all packs up into a bag that can go on the shelf when it isn't needed. Quality of the build looked good.

Check out the review on https://motorcyclemojo.com/2023/05/rabaconda-street-bike-tire-changer/

 

[bigjohnsd]

I've been using a Harbor Freight MC tire changer modified with Mojo Blocks (https://www.mojotiretools.com/mojoblocks.htm),
I use a Mojo Lever (https://www.mojotiretools.com/mojoweb.htm), a couple of Harbor Freight Tire Irons when needed, and A NoMar Yellow thing (https://www.amazon.com/No-Mar-AC-Y-...cphy=9020688&hvtargid=pla-1642760896731&psc=1) is often handy to prevent "Bead Creep" when installing the tire.
A Big C Clamp can be helpful in keeping the tire in the drop center when installing it as well or you can spring for this NoMar tool https://www.nomartirechanger.com/ac-eh-clamp.html.
A piece of leather to protect the rim can also be useful when using the Tire Irons.

But I just learned that the Harbor Freight MC Tire Changer is no longer available


For balance I have the Marc Parnes setup - you need his adapter to balance your rear wheel. http://www.marcparnes.com/BMW_Motorcycle_Wheel_Balancer.htm

After using a pair of jack stands to rest the shaft on I recently bought a Harbor Freight Motorcycle Tire Balancer kit and use the stand from that kit with the Parnes equipment. The Harbor Freight design has changed and they have omitted the tray to hold your weights. This one looks like what I have - https://www.toolots.com/ng-frontend...c_oa62oc37Y3idwYjpEEBo9k_GLf_260aApzsEALw_wcB


I've been using my setup since 2014, I wish I'd kept track of how many tires I've done.

 

[rhbike]

A followup from my prior post. I got to give the Mojolever a try in place of the NoMar bar. The Mojolever works much better. With the NoMar bar, I had to use tire irons to get the last 1/4 of the second rear bead over the rim edge. With the Mojolever, I was easily able to mount the entire second bead in a couple minutes while using a few clamps to keep the tire in the well. The Mojolever is a big improvement. I'm mounting super stiff RS4's with the greatest load rating to BST carbon fiber rims for a K1600.

 

[globalrider]

Does anyone have recommendations or experience with another system that works with the BMW road tires?

In my almost 50 years of motorcycle ownership, I have always changed and balanced my own tires. I have zero tolerance for someone nicking or gouging my rims.

BUT last summer, I installed a rear tire on my 2016 BMW R1200 GS Adventure. It might have been the tire (Michelin Anakee 3 170/60R17 72V TL/TT) but it took two of us to mount it and I used lots of tire lube. Talk about stiff and using my knees, I could not get the bead into the drop center of the rim. No damage but what a job!!!!

Well enough about that. Time for a tire changing machine.

I looked at a few: Rabaconda, No Mar, OLMAX and some cheaper home made units on YouTube.


I went for the OLMAX. I odered it from Poland and it took 50 days to arrive.

My OLMAX Tire Changer

OLMAX Owner Description - older review and it has been upgraded.

Customer Bought Review

Customer Bought Review

I have not used it yet (front tire will be next) but it appears well made and appears to work based on the YouTube reviews.

 

[etiennelau]

I bought the original Cycle Hill Tire changer before No Mar bought them. I bought it in 2010 for around $400 and have been using it since on: Burgman 400 and now the 2010 R1200RT. I've not had any issues with getting the PR 4 rear tires on and off, which surprised me considering all the complaints I've seen on here. I have thought about upgrading to the newer units but I would give up the ability to hold the unit down using my car. I would be forced to installing a trailer hitch...

 

[globalrider]

I bought the original Cycle Hill Tire changer before No Mar bought them.

I seriously looked at their "Cycle Hill HD Plus Motorcycle Tire Changer" (that was my second choice) because from what I could make out, it can also do car tires because when you have CenterLock rims that cost big $$$, I didn't want to trust a shop to do them.

But as large as my basement is with lots of shop equipment in place, I didn't want to waste more floor space to install one. Plus the exchange rate didn't help.

 

[etiennelau]

I seriously looked at their "Cycle Hill HD Plus Motorcycle Tire Changer" (that was my second choice) because from what I could make out, it can also do car tires because when you have CenterLock rims that cost big $$$, I didn't want to trust a shop to do them.

But as large as my basement is with lots of shop equipment in place, I didn't want to waste more floor space to install one. Plus the exchange rate didn't help.

I don't mount the Cycle Hill anywhere, I have no garage space. It's stored in the corner of the garage, and when I change tires, it sits under a vehicle tire in the driveway. I looked at the Rabaconda purely from a space perspective, but I don't change enough tires to justify the cost.

 

[rhbike]

As an update to my prior post. I used the Mojolever to change my last pair of RS4's for the K1600, as an alternative to the NoMar bar that came with the NoMar Pro. The Mojolever works about the same for dismounting but is less likely to break a tip when coercing super stiff tires over the bead. I used the NoMar to mount the front, as the Mojolever wants to make contact the discs, which I didn't want to risk bending. But the Mojolever was a game changer with mounting the rear which ahs always been the toughest. I had the old rear off and the new one mounted in about 5 min and didn'teven break a sweat. Given how stiff the RS4's are for the K16, I use a few clamps to help keep the bead in the well. The Mojolever got the tire on with ease without any spoons, while with the NoMar bar, I have to do the last 1/3rd with levers.

I recently noticed that NoMar no longer seems to sell the Pro model.

 

[etiennelau]

I just installed front and rear RS4 on my 2010 RT. Took 5 minutes each using the Cycle Hill changer. The rear was easy, don't see the difficulty everyone talks about with rear tires.