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Question regarding Tire Changers

shortythorne

shortythorne
I know this subject has been covered, but my question is... are they really worth it? I am tired of seeing my better half wrestle with changing ALL our m/c tires by hand. Not that he is hard headed or anything, but he is determined to do it without a tire changer...must be a old man thing. Someone,,, somewhere told him they had access to two shop grade changers and they were more trouble than they were worth, and that they would rather just change the tires by hand with tire tools, etc....and so that is his excuse. I would like opinions, not on the best one to buy, but is it a good investment or something that ends up just sitting in the garage taking up space? I don't mind knowing which is preferred & why. Always get sound info here, so thanks in advance for all comments. Gail:) PS: we have four m/c's so it happens quite often.
 
Changing a tire without a tire changer is like opening a can of creamed corn with a hammer. It can be done but it is messy, takes longer and could hurt.

I have a NoMar and think it is very good. Harbor Freight sells one that is pretty inexpensive; it is crude but it gets the job done. There are several improvements that owners can make to the HF changer and they make the changer easier to use (You Tube has some). HF also sells a balancer that works well enough.

Just buy one for the old coot and stick it in his work space.
 
Changing a tire without a tire changer is like opening a can of creamed corn with a hammer. It can be done but it is messy, takes longer and could hurt.

I have a NoMar and think it is very good. Harbor Freight sells one that is pretty inexpensive; it is crude but it gets the job done. There are several improvements that owners can make to the HF changer and they make the changer easier to use (You Tube has some). HF also sells a balancer that works well enough.

Just buy one for the old coot and stick it in his work space.
THANKS Kevin, and kinda what I thought. Would most likely go with the NoMar. :wave
 
I changed tires by hand for many years. I finally got a Harbor Freight tire changer. It was so much easier to do with the Harbor Freight unit. I came across a used NoMar unit at a good price and bought it and sold the HF. The NoMar unit had all of the extra accessories that make changing tires easy. I hope I never have to change a tire by hand again. Once I was in a hurry and changed both tires on the bike in less then an hour which included removing, balancing, and reinstalling.
 
I bought this manual tire changer several years ago & have changed 100's of tires & never scratched a rim yet.
 

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If you go through a lot of tires, and knowing y'all try your best:wave, a changer is a blessing.
For folks who only change one set every other year it may be overkill...convenient, but a lot of stand by time. We also have enough room that space is not an issue.They make a receiver hitch mount for an option that works for some of my friends.
We have a NoMar Jr Pro model I believe and it paid for itself the first season.I could not imagine changing the volume of tires we go thru the old school way.
I used to muscle them on with irons when tubes were the norm.With tubeless it is a challenge...for me nowadays and nothing I would look forward to doing that way unless it was only option.
 
I have been changing motorcycle tires, car tires, truck tires, and anything that rolls for over 45 years. I have tried motorcycle tire changers, but find that it is harder and takes longer then manually changing them. To manually break the bead, dismount, remount the new tire, and set the bead takes me about 5 minutes. It is all about the little tricks that makes it quick and easy. There are a lot of ways to change a tire. You just have to find a method that you like. If it works for you, just keep doing it.
 
No-Mar

Gail I have a No-Mar that I bolt to two 2 foot x 4 foot pieces of plywood crosswise to each other. I stand on them (the plywood) as I work on the tire and when done it all comes apart and the two plywood strips lean up against the wall and the No-Mar kinda folds up and goes in the corner. I live 160 miles from my dealer and it is nice to do things on your own schedule. Even with all the equipment around it is nice to have an extra set of hands and eyes available during the tire changing process. My tire changing equipment rates right up there with having a way to get your bike off the ground with a work stand or elevated ramp.

Wayne Koppa
Grayling, MI
71,449 Life
 
Thanks for ALL the comments. :) BTW, just so y'all will know what I'm dealing with, he refuses to use a GPS also, but sure likes for me to have one :banghead. Thanks again.
 
Ordered one of these from Germany and love it... easy to store, functional and well made. Kind of pricey because of shipping but worth it. I fasten it to my work bench (no bending over) when using it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9ymwz2sMqU

Meh... Today’s fat rear radials are very easy to change. Drop an 18” wheel with 4.00x18 belted tire and tube on there and I suspect there would be issues, especially the possibility of bending the center rod as there is no upper support for it. Looks like a good unit for track day usage, tho.

Best,
DG
 
I have never seen one of these before. Looks pretty cool. Do you need any adaptors for BMW Rims?

Doug

Just need the smaller diameter (12mm I think) shaft that will pass through the center hole of the rear wheel (2004 RT). The one that came with it was 15 mm.
 
Drop an 18” wheel with 4.00x18 belted tire and tube on there and I suspect there would be issues

Probably would have an issue with an earthmover tire as well but for the 120/180-17 tires I change out it works slicker than snot.
 
UPDATE on tire changer question

New NoMar on it's way to my house!! Thanks for the info. After all my pleading (aka bitchin, complaining, nagging), he made the decision himself. :dance LIFE IS good! This type of information made available thru this forum is one of the few reasons I have left to still belong to the BMWMOA, also I like the mileage contest :).
 
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Probably would have an issue with an earthmover tire as well but for the 120/180-17 tires I change out it works slicker than snot.

Did some more digging on this since my son and I have talked about ditching my HF setup for a NoMar. The advantage to this unit is portability and storage, and I see they now have an Evo2 version with 22mm center shaft and that handles 13 to 21 inch rims. About half the cost of NoMar before shipping...
https://www.max2h.eu/shop/tire-changer-evo2-13-21/

Best,
DG
 
New NoMar on it's way to my house!! Thanks for the info. After all my pleading (aka bitchin, complaining, nagging), he made the decision himself. :dance LIFE IS good! This type of information made available thru this forum is one of the few reasons I have left to still belong to the BMWMOA, also I like the mileage contest :).

You do know, do you not, that this was Paul's intent all along. He successfuly executed a years long scheme to get that tire changer.
 
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