KDXRIDER.NET

KDXforlife wrote:It is way to hard to do it yourself i have tryed with screwdrivers it is much less of a pain to take it to a shop

But there's no fun in that

KDXforlife wrote:It is way to hard to do it yourself i have tryed with screwdrivers it is much less of a pain to take it to a shop

It's all technique. And practice. I can change most tires in less than 10 minutes. Infact, it's more of a pain to take a tire off the bike and put it back on than to actually change the rubber...but, that's me.

My tools...
1--5 gallon bucket
1--10" tire spoon
1--15" tire Iron
1--valve stem remover
1--air compressor
1--spray bottle with simple green, or windex, or soap and water...depends on which one I find first.

The techniques others have posted are all good. I've never used lube to pull the old rubber off or to lever new rubber on. For me, it just made the tools slipery. I use the windex/simple green/soapy water to seat the bead...many times, the 21" tires don't even require this step to seat the bead. As has been stated...there are many ways to change a tire.

One of the biggest issues is making sure the tube is all the way over the rim lock and out of the way when you are levering the tire on. Pinch a tube and there goes any savings in changing the tire yourself. Another key is to make sure and put the tire on so that when your levering on the final side...the brake rotor side is the one you're working on. Smashed knuckles into the sprocket suck! If I can do it...anyone can!

Here's one of the best tire changing threads I've seen, clicky.

It's a skill worth learning, and it only gets easier. If you can find someone, who's done it before, to help you the first time, it will go much smoother.

Good luck.