A Great CHEAP Rim Saver

If you change your own tires with steel tire irons, you probably have purchased the rim savers to keep from marring your rims or just not worried about the marring. I've tried the Rim Savers commonly sold by several sources and leather strips with no success.

A good friend recommended simply cutting a water or coke bottle into strips and using these for rim savers. I changed a tire today using this method and was surprised on how well it worked. The plastic worked as a great buffer between the rim and tire Iron, resulting in no damage an actually made it easier to get the tire to slip on the rim, since the plastic is slick. These plastic strips take absolutely no room to store if on the road and cost nothing to make. After 34 years of riding and maintaining a motorcycle, I thought I knew most of the tricks. I just learned a new one that I will always use when changing a tire with irons.

Hey Paul...your may want to consider for Touring Tips.

I took a white plastic for-the-sink dish tub, the kind that has a c-shaped curl at the top, and cut 2 V-shaped pieces out of that. The 'curl' snaps conveniently over the rim, and the piece is long enough to go under the brake disk which helps hold it in place.

kenk said:

If you change your own tires with steel tire irons, you probably have purchased the rim savers to keep from marring your rims or just not worried about the marring. I've tried the Rim Savers commonly sold by several sources and leather strips with no success.

A good friend recommended simply cutting a water or coke bottle into strips and using these for rim savers. I changed a tire today using this method and was surprised on how well it worked. The plastic worked as a great buffer between the rim and tire Iron, resulting in no damage an actually made it easier to get the tire to slip on the rim, since the plastic is slick. These plastic strips take absolutely no room to store if on the road and cost nothing to make. After 34 years of riding and maintaining a motorcycle, I thought I knew most of the tricks. I just learned a new one that I will always use when changing a tire with irons.

Hey Paul...your may want to consider for Touring Tips.

Click to expand...

Already has been added for February.

First submission was from a gent who used this technique on his trip to Alaska and related how the technique even works in six inches of mud in the Yukon. Not sure was Alaska's Siren call is but bless you one and all who complete that trip.

There is lot more room for tips. The old tips jar is running on empty. (was thinking of putting the dreaded whistle smiley here - but didn't)

Send in those tips and please don't forget;

First & Last Name
Member Number
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kenk said:

A good friend recommended simply cutting a water or coke bottle into strips and using these for rim savers.

Click to expand...

I've been doing that for 20 years and haven't marked a rim yet. I prefer to use the plastic from windshield washer bottles cut into 2" x 5" strips.

I wonder where all those guys got that idea?

I discovered the benefits of saving old bicycle inner tubes the last time I mounted tires on my wife's bike. I cut the tubes into six to eight inch sections, slipped them over the ends of my irons, and used a zip tie to hold them in place. I should add that using tire lube on them is almost a necessity because, while they protect the rims, they also have a tendency to stay put. Don'tcha know the old rubber and friction thing? Using the lube allowed me to zip right through the process with worrying with repositioning rim protectors. I wish I stumbled on this technique a long time ago because it really did save me a lot of time and effort. Or maybe I just imagined the time and effort thing .

Robert

Has anyone used the Harbor Freight tire changer. What did you think of it??? Does it take a fair amount of strength to use??? I prefer to do my own work cause things just happen when someone else does the work.

Thanks
Dave Faria
Austin, Tx

As a teenager (a long time ago), I worked at a gas station and changed car tires using a manual tire changing machine. It was easy-peasy. I was looking for some way as easy as that was, to change motorcycle tires at home. I found it. Now I use the Harbor Freight Tire Changer, along with the Mojolever, and it makes tire changing at home a breeze. With the Mojolever, I don't need any rim protectors - the lever has nylon at the contact points at both ends. When mounting the tire, to get that last bit of tire over the rim, I use a 'C' clamp with an old leather glove clamped to the rim to stop the tire from chasing itself around the rim. There's very little muscle needed - it's more finesse. I didn't think of any of these ideas - I got them all from this forum, and from Jim Von Baden's DVD. Oh yeah, I also use Marc Parnes' wheel balancer - it only take minutes and the job is done right.
I have no affiliation with any of these products - (except for the old glove - it's mine and you can't have it) - they just work great for me .

Links:
http://home.comcast.net/~prestondrake/mojoweb.htm
http://marcparnes.com/
http://www.jimvonbaden.com/page1.aspx

Jerry Holtz
Maplewood NJ

thanks Jerry

Dave Faria
Austin, Tx

I have a Harbor Freight changer and use a NoMar bar and like both really well. I have changed a number of tires with steel tire irons. Personally I found that strips of leather work well to protect your rims. YMMV

Dave_Faria said:

Has anyone used the Harbor Freight tire changer. What did you think of it??? I prefer to do my own work cause things just happen when someone else does the work.

Thanks
Dave Faria
Austin, Tx

Click to expand...

Dave, your last statement leads me to believe that you are worried about nicks, scrapes and gouges caused to your rim when "someone else does the work". Understandable and the reason why I change my own tires.

But unless the tire changer is a "non contact" type, there is still the possibility of scuffs. This is especially true if you have those dark blue anodized rims used on the oilhead GS Adventure. All it takes is one bit of grit between the rim surface and the nylon/delrin tipped tool that you slide along the rim, and that adodizing is marked (you'll see right through to the silver colored aluminium).

Anodizing is great for corossion control; terrible against wear. What was BMW thinking...as usual.

Has anyone here used the Dyna Beads product for tire balancing?
D Man