Fellow Tossers
Just a note to say if anyone out there is apprehensive about changing their own tyres then don't be.
My rear tyre was looking a bit bald (probably in sympathy with its owner!) so thought about replacing it. I happen to ride by a well known dealer most days so usually stop there for a quick tyre change, but looking through my receipts I was becoming uncomfortable at having to pay over £90 just for labour to replace both front and rear tyres.
I know I would have probably found another tyre fitter to do it cheaper if I had looked about, but I decide to do a bit of research and do the job myself.
Yesterday I fitted a new Tourance to the GS and this morning covered 70 miles to work and all is well.
The kit I bought was Abba bead breaker, 2 x 450mm tyre levers, Tub of tyre lube (13kg......should last a while!), new valves, valve core remover, valve installer and 2 x rim protectors. The rim protectors are pants for the GS rims, as they are too small, so after looking a a couple of YouTube videos used an oblong of plastic from a plastic bottle. I also already have a small compressor.
I nervously tackled the job, but it was simple. I had left the new tyre in the sun for a while to warm up and it really was no effort to install.
As for balancing, and I know this is a contentious issue, I decided to go the Dynabeads route. It was a simple case once the tyre was on and inflated onto the rims, then I removed the valve core and put in the required packet of beads. These should be reusable so should not be a recurring cost.
To summarise, I bought a pair of Tourances plus all of the tools to change them for less than it cost me to have the tyres replaced at the dealer and I still have all of the tools for future use.
If you are thinking of doing your own tyres, give it a go, I really was surprised how easy it was.
Regards
Dazlove
Just a note to say if anyone out there is apprehensive about changing their own tyres then don't be.
My rear tyre was looking a bit bald (probably in sympathy with its owner!) so thought about replacing it. I happen to ride by a well known dealer most days so usually stop there for a quick tyre change, but looking through my receipts I was becoming uncomfortable at having to pay over £90 just for labour to replace both front and rear tyres.
I know I would have probably found another tyre fitter to do it cheaper if I had looked about, but I decide to do a bit of research and do the job myself.
Yesterday I fitted a new Tourance to the GS and this morning covered 70 miles to work and all is well.
The kit I bought was Abba bead breaker, 2 x 450mm tyre levers, Tub of tyre lube (13kg......should last a while!), new valves, valve core remover, valve installer and 2 x rim protectors. The rim protectors are pants for the GS rims, as they are too small, so after looking a a couple of YouTube videos used an oblong of plastic from a plastic bottle. I also already have a small compressor.
I nervously tackled the job, but it was simple. I had left the new tyre in the sun for a while to warm up and it really was no effort to install.
As for balancing, and I know this is a contentious issue, I decided to go the Dynabeads route. It was a simple case once the tyre was on and inflated onto the rims, then I removed the valve core and put in the required packet of beads. These should be reusable so should not be a recurring cost.
To summarise, I bought a pair of Tourances plus all of the tools to change them for less than it cost me to have the tyres replaced at the dealer and I still have all of the tools for future use.
If you are thinking of doing your own tyres, give it a go, I really was surprised how easy it was.
Regards
Dazlove
