Cost Justify Tire Changers - No-Mar/Cycle Hill verses Hand Tools and Other Options

[NFS]

Question withdrawn.

Answers on Post 15...

[fast4d]

dual sport/MX tires are alot easier than a sports touring tires (such as BT-023).

I use a harbor freight changer with mojo blocks and lever ($250 total). I've done 30+ tires with this setup.

I hear you can still get this changer via ebay or ?

with any changer there's a learning curve so expect your first few changes to be more difficult.

having a second pair of hands REALLY helps. my kid's labor is free!

cycle hill will work fine for you.

[rwynant]

I don't have that unit, but I do have the Harbor Freight one and the Nylon/Delrin add ons.

Don't forget to add in the free beer/soda/lunches you'll get for helping all your buddies with THEIR tire changes

Pick a weekend, and BAMM you got a bunch of guys over and having a great time!!

[Ca Pete]

Harbor freight tire changer, a bunch of 24" zip ties and a bottle of Ru-Glide mounting lube. Less than $100.00 and easy tire changes. Trust me, I'm the definition of lazy.

[Ca Pete]

The tire changer is just a stationary tire holder, it only has one moving part to lock down the rim. I've had mine for 10 years, stays outside and works fine. It's not like a power tool, there's nothing to break.

[Ca Pete]

Oh ya, tire changing can be hard work, yes even with your expensive nomar/cycle hill, the only way around it is an automatic tire changer, for about $1,500.00.

[NFS]

Thanks

[PAULIBIKER]

All I use is a couple of 2x4's, tire lube, 4 tire irons, & a split garden hose.

Leave everything out in the sun for a few hours and they come right off & go right on. Dyna beads for balancing and you're done.

[John T]

NFS,
It sounds like you have all the answers already. so why don't you figure it out for yourself?

Numerous people have told you that the harbor freight changer works great. WTF more do you want?


IMO,
you can piss your money away on whichever no-mar model you choose.

My HF changer works fine. for years now.

[NFS]

I've gone back through and reread all of the replies as well as my posts. It is possible that my question as well as my replies were misunderstood or taken in a different light than I intended. I'll withdraw the question and figure this out on my own.

[flying dave]

I could not find anybody in town who would guarantee me they would not fugg up my wheels so I bought a no-mar classic. Works well. Track tires seem to have a stiffer sidewall and can be a bit of a bear but I am sure part of that is my technique or lack there of. Every time I change a set I start subtracting $$ from what I spent. It will take some time but I don't think I will ever wear out the machine. Make sure you mount it to something stable. I have it on some plywood so I can stand on it when I am working on a tire but I wish it was mounted to the floor. They make a reese hitch truck mount but I can see me fugging up my tailgate somehow if I wasn't careful I also got the balancer.

Overall, I am happy with the money I pissed away.

[Rexter]

keith, you are welcome to come up and try my harbor freight changer if you want. we did a rear zrx tire today in less than 10 mins, and it isn't even bolted to the floor i added mojo blocks, but no bar. i use stockton tire spoons.

[John T]

[eddie lane]

having taken part in tire changes with both a harbor freight machine and a no mar machine, i will say that the harbor freight tire changer is complete junk compared to the no mar. that said, i think you should spend as much money as you can afford and justify to ease the process of changing tires.
i used screw drivers and more recently spoons until my buddy picked up his no mar machine. when all he had was a harbor freight machine, i chose to use my spoons but now that i have the no mar machine available, i go with it.

for the record, the no mar machine i have available for use is the top of the line model.

[NFS]

Answers...

The Cycle Hill tire changer is made by No-Mar, but it has several design elements intended to reduce its price. I found one of those elements - the Bead Breaker - made the system less than optimal for my needs. On the Cycle Hill tire changer, the bead breaker is mounted under the tire changer - I want the bead breaker at waist level. This may not be important for the younger crowd, but it was a deal killer for me. The first changer offer by No-Mar with all of the design elements I wanted was the Jr. Pro. This system lists for $845 plus $70 for shipping. Even here it did not include the blocks they recommend for changing dirt bike tires, so I'd need to add another $150 for those.

Since this "purchase" was getting up there in price I was hesitant about pulling the trigger for a new one and decided to see what I could find on the used market. I watched Craigslist for several days before two popped up. The first was the Pro model - but it was in northwest Ft. Worth (about 275 miles one way), and the second was outside Austin (about 100 miles one way). The Austin one was the Jr. Pro model, but they wanted $775 for it - which isn't a bad price, but the Pro model in Ft. Worth was priced at $675. Granted, the Pro model is WAY OVERKILL, but at that price it was hard to pass up. So I took a shot at the Ft. Worth one and offered the guy $600 - and he took it. I drove up this morning and picked up a $1295 Pro Model No-Mar tire changer with all of the attachments, the dirt bike AND street bike blocks, a ton of accessories, the No-Mar bar AND a Coats bar (which the PO preferred) - all for less than the shipped price of a new No-Mar Classic.

Already ordered tires from Southwest Moto. Looks like it's time to get dirty!

[flying dave]

Nice score! Make sure you mount it securely and have at it!

[RebelRex]

After reading some of the posts here I had to double check that I wasn't in the Politics and Religion section.

[eddie lane]

damn good find!!
as for mounting the thing; my buddy has his mounted on a sturdy oak shipping crate so that it can be moved to the corner of the garage when it's not in use. it works out pretty darn good that way.

[Wolfman]

My buddy and I use his to do tires on the BMW, Goldwing, Harley, ZRX, as well as the Tahoe and Honda cars and trailer tires. It has MORE than paid for his investment I do believe. We even used it on the riding lawn mower last weekend.

[zrexkev]

I am liking my cycle hill, it works perfect. I wished I had bought one years ago. I look back at how many tires I paid for and kick myself. I used to use spoons too, but this is much easier.
Taking your wheels off and going to cycle gear to have them scratched take 1/2 for the drive each way then you have to wait for them to call you to pick them up
Standard rate to do a buddies tires. An order of $5 tacos from the local mexican joint and a beer It's a win win

[NFS]

In the past I would have ordered tires from Motorcycle Superstore and then "tried" to find someone here in town to mount them. I'd usually give up and drop them off at the dealer and they would mount them - on bike - for $200. So a single set of tires would run me in the neighborhood of $400.

Thanks to suggestions I found here on ZRXOA, I just had UPS drop off a set of Conti Motion tires from Southwest Moto that I paid a whopping $137.09 for BOTH front and rear. This same set is $218.88 at Motorcycle Superstore. If you add the Motorcycle Superstore price to the $200 mounting fee for what I would have done in the past, then I'm fixing to save $281.89 the first time I use the new No-Mar. Now - obviosly there are less expensive ways to do this - but trust me when I say you have to drive an hour BOTH ways to find anyone who will change a bike tire for under $50. So I'm saving a mnimum of $100 a set, and I've got two sets to do right now.

Add to this the fact that NO ONE in this area will fix a flat and the savings become apparant. I've got a NEW Bridgestone rear tire from the wife's Mean Streak in the garage right now. She picked up a small nail (more like a staple) the second ride she went on. Local shops refused to fix it, so we had to buy AND mount a replacement tire. Cost was $275. I should have bought the changer YEARS ago....

[btl68]

I bought one of the first 100 changers that NoMar made. They are right down the road from me. I put on 20-25k a year on a bike, so I have saved thousands on tire changes, and I am able to buy online and save on the tires, too. Most shops only want you to buy tires from them, then it's $35 a tire to mount and balance. There's even the enviromental charge to get rid of the old tire, even if you take it with you!

Owning any tire machine or being proficient with irons pays in the long run, especially if you change more than 6 tires a year or more.

[zrexkev]

In the past I would have ordered tires from Motorcycle Superstore and then "tried" to find someone here in town to mount them. I'd usually give up and drop them off at the dealer and they would mount them - on bike - for $200. So a single set of tires would run me in the neighborhood of $400.

Thanks to suggestions I found here on ZRXOA, I just had UPS drop off a set of Conti Motion tires from Southwest Moto that I paid a whopping $137.09 for BOTH front and rear. This same set is $218.88 at Motorcycle Superstore. If you add the Motorcycle Superstore price to the $200 mounting fee for what I would have done in the past, then I'm fixing to save $281.89 the first time I use the new No-Mar. Now - obviosly there are less expensive ways to do this - but trust me when I say you have to drive an hour BOTH ways to find anyone who will change a bike tire for under $50. So I'm saving a mnimum of $100 a set, and I've got two sets to do right now.

Add to this the fact that NO ONE in this area will fix a flat and the savings become apparant. I've got a NEW Bridgestone rear tire from the wife's Mean Streak in the garage right now. She picked up a small nail (more like a staple) the second ride she went on. Local shops refused to fix it, so we had to buy AND mount a replacement tire. Cost was $275. I should have bought the changer YEARS ago....

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? 200 bucks to mount tires? Those guys should be behind bars. Did they at least kiss you?

[NFS]

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? 200 bucks to mount tires? Those guys should be behind bars. Did they at least kiss you?

Not only did they NOT kiss me, they seemed kinda smug about the whole deal.

The town I live in is 30 miles west of Houston, but we don't measure distance in miles, we measure it in minutes (or hours as the case may be). Going ANYWHERE in Houston will take you a good hour. The two dealers here in Katy know this and they take advantage of it....

[zrexkev]

Damn that sucks. I like my cycle hill more every time I use it. It's the $355 unit. Has the mount bead break and balancer

Sometimes they're on Ebay cheaper

[Jethro]

Not only did they NOT kiss me, they seemed kinda smug about the whole deal.

The town I live in is 30 miles west of Houston, but we don't measure distance in miles, we measure it in minutes (or hours as the case may be). Going ANYWHERE in Houston will take you a good hour. The two dealers here in Katy know this and they take advantage of it....

30 miles........yet we still have not met.............

[NFS]

30 miles........yet we still have not met.............

Yes - but you're an hour away! I'll be at the Morgstangs get together on the 24th. We'll have to schedule a BBQ/Tire Change/Tech get together for H.A.R.R. at my place later in the spring.