The friendly "dumb" bike questions thread

[RizzoTheRat]

Yeah, I can see the point if you're doing a lot of track days and getting through tyres quickly, but for the average road rider who might not even get through one set of a tyres a year it seems a lot of hassle. I always take the wheels off myself and take them to tyre place.

Re. bead breaking, years ago we had a mobile fitter out to change a tyre on a combine and he used a length of angle iron and a sledge hemmer to break the bead

[Bob_Defly]

For the amount of money saved over taking the wheels to a shop, I don't think it's work it unless you're doing track days. And then they normally have a tyre person there no?

I'll do it on the dirt bikes, but the pressure/leverage needed on road tyres/wheels makes me worry I'm going to break something.

[CAPP0]

Ilikemotorbikes said:

tvrolet said:

Amused2death said:

OK, as a "born again biker" who's returned to bikes after a 30 year break (And I'm legal this time......) I'm looking to save a few quid and do my own tyre replacements.

Question is what do I need? I know I'll need to break the bead, remove and replace , then balance. I'm ok with the balancing bit as that';s fairly obvious, but can anyone offer some advice as to what machine to purchase to aid removal and replacement of tyre. Budget of around £100 and I'm not a mechanical numpty.
Cheers all

I depends very much on the bike/tyre. I do all my own tyre changing and on the older bikes it's a doddle with just 3 long tyre levers and a bit of swarfega (other slippery stuffs are available). I bought one of these 'two cones on a rod with bearings' tyre balances do-dahs and that seems accurate enough albeit I know it won'r to dynamic side-to-side balance. This method worked quite happily up to my late GPz1100. If the bead doesn't break jumping on it then plan B is wheel on ground next to car, block of wood on tyre, and long lever (bar off my jack) under the car jacking point and on the wooden block as the fulcrum on the tyre and push down.

Then came the Indian Chief - there is no way in Gods green earth you can change the tyres without bolting the rim down to a proper tyre changing table and hanging off the end of the bar to break the bead - luckily I have a mate with one of these but it's seen two of us hanging off the end of a 2 metre pole to break the bead. He's also had the same with big HDs and Japanese cruisers. So I don't know at which point DIY tyre changing goes out the window and you need a proper table thingy - but at the small/middleweight/old end of the spectrum it's no problemos but at the new heavyweight end it's a non-starter.

BTW if you're changing tubless you'll need an air-line set the bead again.

Edited - and these tyre changing table thingies need bolted to the ground given the amount of leverage you have to use to change the tyres on a heavyweight.

Edited by tvrolet on Monday 12th July 10:16

Just to weigh in about seating the bead after changing. I had success recently with using a ratchet strap and a stand up bicycle pump to seat the bead on a front tyre

I was skeptical at the chances of it working but you ratchet the strap around the circumference (on the centre line) of the tyre and make sure its tight and compressing the carcass.
Then just pump! Only took approx 20psi of pressure to seat the bead on a supercorsa

Just to give you options if a compressor doesn't work/isn't available

Also for what it's worth, spend decent money on levers if you can and have at least 2 or 3.

And if you can afford an extra pair of hands in the garage it works wonders when changing tyres

I do occasionally change my own enduro tyres **if I have to** (or to be more accurate, if when I get a puncture), but otherwise, unless you're changing them a few times a month, it's absolutely not worth the ballache of trying to do it without the proper kit. My local indy place will swap tyres for a tenner a time; I'm not about to go down the route of amassing loads of kit and Heath Robinsoning the bead breaking for an occasional tyre change.

[KTMsm]

CAPP0 said:

I do occasionally change my own enduro tyres **if I have to** (or to be more accurate, if when I get a puncture), but otherwise, unless you're changing them a few times a month, it's absolutely not worth the ballache of trying to do it without the proper kit. My local indy place will swap tyres for a tenner a time; I'm not about to go down the route of amassing loads of kit and Heath Robinsoning the bead breaking for an occasional tyre change.

I do mine, on the basis that it's sods law I'll need it doing when the shop's shut plus I enjoy fixing things.

Maybe not at the time when I'm covered in grease but satisfaction at a job well done and the more you do, the easier it gets

[lukeyman]

Have I broken something? There appears to be some play in my back wheel...

I took some slack out of the chain about 500 miles ago. Set towards the lower side of the 30 to 40mm spec. Didn't have the right torque wrench at the time but did the axle nut tight and then a bit more until the split pin holes lined up. All felt fine. Then I took a ride after failing to get the sprocket off and the back felt a little off. Hence finding the play.

Got my myself another torque wrench and if anything the axle nut was probably slightly under torqued. Just seems odd... and the bike has only done 3k miles.

[Rubin215]

lukeyman said:

Have I broken something? There appears to be some play in my back wheel...

I took some slack out of the chain about 500 miles ago. Set towards the lower side of the 30 to 40mm spec. Didn't have the right torque wrench at the time but did the axle nut tight and then a bit more until the split pin holes lined up. All felt fine. Then I took a ride after failing to get the sprocket off and the back felt a little off. Hence finding the play.

Got my myself another torque wrench and if anything the axle nut was probably slightly under torqued. Just seems odd... and the bike has only done 3k miles.

When you say play, what direction do you mean?

[lukeyman]

Rubin215 said:

When you say play, what direction do you mean?

You can hold the wheel anywhere and rattle it side to side a small amount. I assume a dodgy bearing…

[Rubin215]

lukeyman said:

Rubin215 said:

When you say play, what direction do you mean?

You can hold the wheel anywhere and rattle it side to side a small amount. I assume a dodgy bearing…

Do you mean the whole wheel will move from the left side to the right side, or that when you hold the rim at opposite points you can waggle it in opposite directions?

[lukeyman]

Rubin215 said:

Do you mean the whole wheel will move from the left side to the right side, or that when you hold the rim at opposite points you can waggle it in opposite directions?

Sorry, yeah, waggle felt at the rim.

Had a trip Wales way planned today too!

[Northernboy]

lukeyman said:

Sorry, yeah, waggle felt at the rim.

Had a trip Wales way planned today too!

Changing bearings isn’t a massive job, but it’s worth dropping the wheel out and checking that that’s what it is.

Assuming it’s held in lance by the standard bolt through the middle, did you undo that before adjusting, and then tighten it properly afterwards?

[Rod200SX]

No question but failed my bloody mod 1 last week! Annoyed at myself but realised exactly what went wrong as I did it.

Emergency stop, speed was fine but as I went on the brakes, when the front suspension compressed I must've had a lift off the brake lever/hesitation as I had a 'bob' and didn't start as quickly as I should've.

Super annoying but no point crying over spilt milk. I was happy with how I handled the rest. The bike I'm using is an SV650 with shorter adjustable levers so I can't fit all my fingers on which has been annoying me slightly but at the end of the day, I should be able to do an emergency stop regardless of what's there. Rebooked for next month (next slot I could get) so I'll see how that goes. What's the odds I nail that and then goof something else

[Abdul Abulbul Amir]

keep going it'll be worth it in the end

[Rod200SX]

Abdul Abulbul Amir said:

keep going it'll be worth it in the end

That's it, not getting myself wound up & had a laugh with my instructor about it after. Onwards and upwards.

Going to blame the examiner being watched by the DVLA/DSA (whoever the big bods are) that day definitely not me goofing it...

[Northernboy]

Rod200SX said:

No question but failed my bloody mod 1 last week! Annoyed at myself but realised exactly what went wrong as I did it.

Emergency stop, speed was fine but as I went on the brakes, when the front suspension compressed I must've had a lift off the brake lever/hesitation as I had a 'bob' and didn't start as quickly as I should've.

Super annoying but no point crying over spilt milk. I was happy with how I handled the rest. The bike I'm using is an SV650 with shorter adjustable levers so I can't fit all my fingers on which has been annoying me slightly but at the end of the day, I should be able to do an emergency stop regardless of what's there. Rebooked for next month (next slot I could get) so I'll see how that goes. What's the odds I nail that and then goof something else

Bad luck, and hopefully you'll nail it next time.

The emergency stop isn't supposed to be an on-the-limit squealng tyre affair; you will pass just fine with a controlled stop, as long as you react straight away and do use a decent amount of pressure. There's no need to grab as hard as you can, upset the bike, and unsettle yourself.

And to be clear, that's advice for passing your test, not for how hard to brake when a lorry pulls out on you.

[vindaloo79]

Rod200SX said:

Abdul Abulbul Amir said:

keep going it'll be worth it in the end

That's it, not getting myself wound up & had a laugh with my instructor about it after. Onwards and upwards.

Going to blame the examiner being watched by the DVLA/DSA (whoever the big bods are) that day definitely not me goofing it...

Unlucky. If it wasn’t for the time between resits it probably wouldn’t ‘hurt’ quite so much. But the time flies and you will be able to laugh about it in a months time

[Alimarsh]

Rod200SX said:

No question but failed my bloody mod 1 last week! Annoyed at myself but realised exactly what went wrong as I did it.

Emergency stop, speed was fine but as I went on the brakes, when the front suspension compressed I must've had a lift off the brake lever/hesitation as I had a 'bob' and didn't start as quickly as I should've.

Super annoying but no point crying over spilt milk. I was happy with how I handled the rest. The bike I'm using is an SV650 with shorter adjustable levers so I can't fit all my fingers on which has been annoying me slightly but at the end of the day, I should be able to do an emergency stop regardless of what's there. Rebooked for next month (next slot I could get) so I'll see how that goes. What's the odds I nail that and then goof something else

Failed mine recently for panicking and putting my foot down after some crap clutch control on the slalom, same as you main thing I was gutted about was how long it was until the next one with the big backlog. Fortunately managed to get a last minute cancellation and passed about 10 days later so worth keeping on top of the school to see if anything comes up

[DanielSan]

Right then, I have a few dumb questions., most of them are the same one really. Because 25 year old me would've definitely 100% ridden a bike like a bell end I never really bothered looking into actually doing my licence. Now, 35 year old more sensible me is a bit bored of cars and I quite fancy doing my bike test and getting a road bike. Maybe something like a CBR650, I'm not sure yet.

So my real question is, can anyone give me reasons not to get my bike licence? If I do bother doing it, the aim would be too just ride at weekends and the odd nice day.

I've never really bothered with bikes at all that aren't of the mountain variety but am going halves with my dad on a trials bike as well once we've found one so I can at least get some practice with the basics like having to co-ordinate all 4 limbs doing things at one go while also trying to balance and not topple over in a heap. Not the most road relevant form of riding I know, but every little helps when you're starting at 0.

Edited by DanielSan on Tuesday 20th July 01:47

[RizzoTheRat]

DanielSan said:

So my real question is, can anyone give me reasons not to get my bike licence?

I think you might be on the wrong forum for that

Slow riding tends to be something a lot of new riders struggle with, so I'd have thought a bit of trials bike experience would be excellent for learning how to balance a bike at low speeds.

[KTMsm]

DanielSan said:

So my real question is, can anyone give me reasons not to get my bike licence? If I do bother doing it, the aim would be too just ride at weekends and the odd nice day.

I've never really bothered with bikes at all that aren't of the mountain variety but am going halves with my dad on a trials bike as well once we've found one so I can at least get some practice with the basics

There's never a good reason not to try something new

I would question a Trials bike, many of us greenlaners have them and generally we only used them in our garden during lockdown.

They aren't like a normal bike anything in the last 20 years won't have a seat

There is a huge range of different bikes - the problem is getting to test them as a new rider - have fun !

There are various days offered - off road, trials etc might be worth trying

[Northernboy]

DanielSan said:

Right then, I have a few dumb questions., most of them are the same one really. Because 25 year old me would've definitely 100% ridden a bike like a bell end I never really bothered looking into actually doing my licence. Now, 35 year old more sensible me is a bit bored of cars and I quite fancy doing my bike test and getting a road bike. Maybe something like a CBR650, I'm not sure yet.

So my real question is, can anyone give me reasons not to get my bike licence? If I do bother doing it, the aim would be too just ride at weekends and the odd nice day.

I've never really bothered with bikes at all that aren't of the mountain variety but am going halves with my dad on a trials bike as well once we've found one so I can at least get some practice with the basics like having to co-ordinate all 4 limbs doing things at one go while also trying to balance and not topple over in a heap. Not the most road relevant form of riding I know, but every little helps when you're starting at 0.

Edited by DanielSan on Tuesday 20th July 01:47

Just go and do your CBT. There’s no major outlay or commitment if you do that, and it’ll probably tell you how much you’re going to enjoy it.