I have 2 sets for my SV I'd like swapped and balanced. Willing to pay $, beer, learn/help too.... 160/60 & 120/60 I'm just NE of OHARE.
Why not do it yourself. It's actually a lot easier than it seems. All you need is a bead breaker, 3 tire irons, 2 plastic rim protectors, the cheapest gravity balancer on eBay, and a box of wheel weights. $100 worth of stuff that will last you a lifetime. But if you find yourself in western metro detroit, swing by and I'll do it for beer.
yup. Bought bead breaker and balancer at HF, tire irons from motion pro and rim savers. I can't say I like changing tires this way, but saves a buttload of money.
I've mounted and dismounted several tires with a bead breaker, harbor freight tie wraps ($1.67 for 10), and a spray bottle with water, and a balance stand. I wish I could say this was my idea, but I saw it on YouTube - couldn't believe how easy it was! Break the bead Feed tie wraps about every 6 inches or so Dismount tire by hand using water or soap for lube Mount An air compressor is needed to set the bead...
Race tires are a heckuva lot softer than street tires, so I find it's easy with a my dirt bike tire changing setup, consisting of a 5-gallon bucket as a base and three tire spoons. Then I add plastic rim protectors too keep from destroying the paint on the rim. If I'm at a track without 150-mph straightaways, I skip the balancing... otherwise I have my NoMar balancer that's portable. Of course I like to support my local track tire service when I'm at the track... so I'm happy to throw the $20 and save the sweat. Q: What are the zip ties for, in the photos above?
Alright, peer pressure accepted. Spoons etc are on order... going to give it a go. Look for a 'Why'd I wait so long' or a 'F this' thread coming soon... Thanks all!
This is the "flux capacitor" of the system lol! The wheel casting is a smaller diameter near the middle, the zip ties keep the tire sides together and allow for manipulation off the wheel casting without using tire irons. Look at the image with the tie wraps and see if this makes sense now...
Update! Finally tackled mounting a set of tires. Pulled the VFR out of the dusty & dark corner. It was time to swap the 2010 made tires (i haven't ridden it since 2014) for a fresh set of 2017 made Pilot Road 4s. They are now on, balanced & ready to go. All in all not a bad process. With some practice I could break a hour from dismount to remount now that the learning curve is fine. Broke even on the first swap. Subsequent swaps are pure savings until i run out of wheel weights Cha-ching!