Wilsons Sandbox

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "anubus70" wrote:

> Does anybody have or use the Harbor Freight Tire Changer with the > Motorcycle attachment? Opinions? > For under 100$ it seems like it might be a great shop tool - I spend 22 > $ every time I get the local (close) BMW/Honda dealer to fool with my > tires. The Avon Distanzia rear is a bootch to mount & I actually broke > one of those MotionPro 16" steel levers trying to get a bead on. > I'm trying to set up my garage as a mini cycle shop for anybody KLR > that might be passing thru Cleveland & needs some help. Gettin' the > Doohickey tools this week and am lusting for a cheap air compressor to > add to the garage shop. Just got an ATV/Cycle lift at Sams Club for > $67, & it is the Sh!t! > As much as I want to buy a 320mm front rotor or a LazerPro exhaust - > havin' all the shop tools to do everything myself (and help others) > turns me on - but it's a bootch(mon) to choose! > I'm thinking about gold plating my origional Jake Dookickey from 2002 > (revised edition) and putting it on Ebay so I can afford all these shop > tools.

If you are breaking tire irons, you are doing something wrong. When you are levering that last part of the bead on, both beads on the opposite side of the tire need to be in the drop center of the rim. A little lube, and the bead should almost pop on. Sometimes no lever is needed. Choice of farkle should be easy - get the brake.

Munroe I purchased one of the Harbor Freight tire changers a couple of years ago. I put a couple of layers of duct tape in the clamps that hold the wheel (the ones that were installed backwards) I have mine bolted onto a big 4 ft x 4ft piece of 3/4 plywood. I may bolt it to the floor once I decide where the permanent place is but for now the plywood works great. The bead breaker works great. The problem I had with the changer was that the long tire iron (tire remover and installer) is made of metal and scratches the wheels. I experimented with taping plastic to the ends with limited success. If the plastic would stay in place it would solve the scratching problem. I called Wikco (a company in Arizona that makes a similar tire changer for about $400) and asked if I could buy just the tire iron they sell with their changer that has plastic inserts in the ends but they will not sell them separately. The reason they told me that their changer was being copied my a Chinese outfit. If you look at the Harbor Freight and the Wikco tire changers they look identical. I looked at a friends Coats 220 that had plastic inserts on the ends of the tire iron. He had extra ends and gave me a set to try. They would not fit on the Harbor Freight tire iron. So I called a company in Florida ( Precision Manufacturing) that sells the Coats 220 and ordered the tire iron for that model. The plastic ends now work perfectly because they are made for the tire iron and you can buy replacement plastic protectors if you damage them. I've used the tire changer several times since I bought the Coats tire iron and it works quite well on spoked wheels like on the KLR as well as the wide wheels on my sport bikes. Some of the really wide rear sport bike tires are more of a challenge but if you keep working the installed tire bead into the center of the wheel as you try to install the other bead it will go on. An extra pair hands really helps with these wide tires. One if the main things that makes the tire changer work well is lots of tire lube. I use a product called RuGlyde Tire Lubricant. It makes the tire slippery when installed and helps the bead stick to the wheel when it dries unlike soap or other lubricants. So now I have $180 invested in the changer and it works very well. Still better than $400 for the Wikco or $800 for a Coats 220. BTW Wikco also sells the Coats 220 Wikco http://www.wikco.com/Tablemc.html Wikco Tire Changer http://www.wikco.com/MC1101.html Wikco Coats 220 http://www.wikco.com/Coats2201.html Precision Manufacturing http://www.precisionmfgsales.com/ Precision Manufacturing catalog - Coats 220 is on page 19 http://www.precisionmfgsales.com/Motorc ... atalog.PDF Parts I bought were #40C tire iron $86 #39CL long iron protector $3.25 #39CS short iron protector $3.00 Shipping $9.59 Another source for a Coats 220 parts breakdown http://www.flandersco.com/Images/PDF/17 ... -6-7-8.pdf I also have a pdf file showing some modifications to the Harbor Freight tire changer especially the mounting fingers so they can be used on a BMW GS spoked wheel. If your interested I can upload it to the files area of DSN_KLR650 if that's possible or send it directly to you upon request. Doug in NC At 04:55 AM 7/6/2005, you wrote:

> Date: Wed, 06 Jul 2005 05:03:46 -0000 > From: "anubus70" >Subject: Harbor Freight Tire Changer machine > >Does anybody have or use the Harbor Freight Tire Changer with the >Motorcycle attachment? Opinions? For under 100$ it seems like it might be >a great shop tool - I spend 22 $ every time I get the local (close) >BMW/Honda dealer to fool with my tires. The Avon Distanzia rear is a >bootch to mount & I actually broke one of those MotionPro 16" steel levers >trying to get a bead on. I'm trying to set up my garage as a mini cycle >shop for anybody KLR that might be passing thru Cleveland & needs some >help. Gettin' the Doohickey tools this week and am lusting for a cheap air >compressor to add to the garage shop. Just got an ATV/Cycle lift at Sams >Club for $67, & it is the Sh!t! As much as I want to buy a 320mm front >rotor or a LazerPro exhaust - havin' all the shop tools to do everything >myself (and help others) turns me on - but it's a bootch(mon) to choose! >I'm thinking about gold plating my origional Jake Dookickey from 2002 >(revised edition) and putting it on Ebay so I can afford all these shop tools. >Munroe

---------- Doug Pippin 828-684-8488 dpippin5@... ---------- [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> > familiar with this > > road? If so, > > 1) Is it fun? > > 2) Is it easy to follow? > > 3) I assume it goes across Fort Hunter Liggett - is it open for > > civilians to drive across? > > > > Thanks, > > Jeff Jones

Never seen it in daylight, and never been there on a bike, but Hunter Liggett and Nacimiento road were a regular part of an overnight rally loop that we used to run from the Bay Area in the '60s. Many jackrabbits died, and I wouldn't want to have to explain the "Tank X-ing" sign in my dorm. I hear there's some good DS riding on spurs off Nacimiento now.