Cycle Hill tire changer?

[Woodaddict]

All,
I have looked thru Maintenence & Tire / Wheel posts and can not find any posts about using in home tire changer. Wondering if anyone has seen the No-Mar Cycle Hill tire changer in action. To look, here is the website http://www.nomar-secure.com/category_s/33.htm . They have a good video about it, just wondering if anyone here has seen it in action or used one of these. I am going to IMS-Charlotte,NC Feb 25 and NO-MAR will be there for me to see up close.
I ride a bunch of miles in a year, usually going thru 2 rear tires and one front tire change a year. Right now I can only base my tire wear length from my PC800. I would get 16,000 miles on rear and 19,000 on front wearing them down till center tread starts to blend out. I know, I know, don't tell me its too dangerous, I've done it that way for 13.5 yrs on Dunlop and Metzlers, have not had ANY TROUBLE what so ever on dry pavement or even heavy rain. Great gripping tires. Would take PC800 tires off and go to dealer and have them put new tire on, that's minimum $75 for 3 tire changes a year,plus a 16 mile round trip in truck. Sometimes I would buy tire at dealer or bring mine along. Only had NT since 12-7-11, right now have 5,350 miles on it. Since I would take off tire anyhow, just thinking about getting a Do-It-Yourself tire changer and balancer to do all at my house.
No Mar has kit, changer and balancer plus extra items for $655, that could pay for itself in about 5 - 6 yrs, not to mention its at my conveinence of time!!
LETS SEE WHAT WE CAN LEARN IN THIS POST!!!!!!:smile::redface: Plus I try to buy made in USA and this is.

 

[Mellow]

I have the no mar Classic changer and have done well over 200 tires in the last 3 years, mostly for STO members. There are a few differences between the no mar classic and the no mar cyclehill changer.

The Blocks that come with the classic are different and the bead breaker is different. Also, if you opt for a receiver hitch mount, that is a little different.

There are a few guys on STO that have the cyclehill changer, here's one thread:
http://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?62665-CycleHill-Tire-Changer-is-the-Cats-Meow!

Me... well, I like my classic.. LOL

 

[loonytuna]

I don't know if there is a Cycle gear near you, I looked at their website and there are a bunch in NC.

If you buy tires from them, they charge $20.00 each to mount and balance them.

I think when you break it down, you'll agree that's pretty cheap, about half of what your currently paying, so that's more like 10 years to recover the cost.

Other members - I hope this information is useful.

 

[Woodaddict]

look at mellows attached pic, now thats a real human michelin man if i saw one!!!!!

 

[Mellow]

Trust me.. once the word gets out you have a tire changer, you may be busier than you think..

Mine was paid for after the 1st couple of years and then I sold it to someone at a great price so they could start doing them in their area, then bought the same one again and plan on keeping up the cycle as long as I can.

At STO we created a map of those w/various tire changers to help out the members.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=204162958641406674403.00048461513df7b8d7f8f

So, if you get one and want to be added to that network just let me know. Doesn't look like there's anyone with one near you so you might be able to pay it off sooner.

 

[Mellow]

Have you also seen that Joe's bike is nuclear powered?
Beware people, beware...!

It used to be REDioactive.. now it's white so I had to remove those.. LOL

 

[EX Winger]

A oppinion regarding the no-Mar , or cycle hill , both are niuce units, BUTT a much cheaper Harbour frieght unit will do the same job for you. It does require a bit of modification like adding blocks to the rim clamps etcand getting tool bars from other sources, My short term memory doesn't remember now just exactly what we got from whom, I am a co- owner in this unit and I don't believe we have over $250.00 in th whole set up. We can do GL 1800 tires including rear' which are said to be the most difficult of any bile to breakdown, also we mounted several Dark side tires with it. we do not do tires for anyone for money. We have helped / assisted another rider with his tire but he has to be there working on it at the same time, and assume all responsibility should a rim get scratched or a rotor damaged etc We have it set up in my friends place of employment, he is a mill wright and is in charge of equiptment maintenance at his work place, tus the onlyu times we do tis is on weekends or at night, thus it is not a practical idea to be a volenteer. As those of you who have done a number of tires know it is not hard, it is more a case of learning techniqe, & making sure the tire is good and WARM and that you have a good lubricant. There aer lots of good instructions on how too on Nomar's sight and a few others that you should read and then re-read several times to be sure you understand all of it.

 

[Mellow]

a much cheaper Harbour frieght unit will do the same job for you.

They don't sell that anymore.

A really cheap way to do it is to learn how to do it with spoons. Then, you just need a bead breaker and tire balancer.

 

[EX Winger]

I have heard that, butyt never went hunting for another one, I have occasionly seen them for sale by a private party, LOL I agree that with spoons and a 3 gallon grease drumfilled anchored to a 4 foot sqaur of ply wood and filled with something to weigh it down works very well, a very primitive tire bead breake can be as simple as a 2x4 four ft long bolted to a open wall stud and with another 2x4 bolted to it to put against the wheel rim, amd many variables in addition to that. The secret to using spoons effectivly is to only take very small bite at a time

They don't sell that anymore.

A really cheap way to do it is to learn how to do it with spoons. Then, you just need a bead breaker and tire balancer.

 

[Mellow]

I have some motionpro spoons that I still use even with the changer.. sometimes you have a tire/wheel combo that's tough and the spoons help you get past it without wrestling too much.

 

[Raycad]

Spoons? What's spoons? From the beginning, eons ago, I've used a leaf cut in two from a trailer's leaf spring. A leaf from an old car's spring would do too. The end is well tapered both in width and in thickness, also well rounded. 1?" wide, so less chance for a nick when the plastic protector slips off. The wheel is on a 2"x4" frame on the floor. With a little practice, it's easy peasy!

Ray

 

[Woodaddict]

Wanted to update my post. I bought the Cycle Hill tire changer and static wheel balancer at the IMS- Charlotte NC 2-25-2012 show. You can get good deals at the show, got 20% off. The No-Mar web site had only 10% off from January - Feb 14, but I got the 20% off plus no shipping since I took it with me. I have changed both OEM tires now and it did well. The rear tire had 10,559 miles, the front had 14,406 miles. I bought BT023's since they were on sale at the time, I'll see how they wear. Could also try those PR tires.

The balancer works great, its accurate to 1/16 of an ounce. It just takes longer to do than say a computer spin balancer. My first try was back in March with member Rcase13 checking his front wheel for balance after he got a wheel shake. It was perfect from the factory. We used a 1/16 oz and stuck it in different places, could not get wheel to move, so it was balanced good. That relieved his worries about a bad balance. I had told him that my NT would shake from about 50mph and under when taking hands off the grips, comes from the wheel starting to wear unevenly, which at least the BT022's OEM tires are known to do.

With my rear wheel, I had to make a precision straight bushing to get past the rear spline drive in hub. I didn't have a service manual to see how to take that off. The cone bushing would stop on the spacer before it would hit the bearing and tighten up. So being a machinist I could make that straight bushing that would just push in and be tight to balance it correctly.

 

[Mellow]

Did you buy their balancer? The one I bought came with a set of cones that have worked great on probably 90% of the wheels I do. I did buy the large cone set as there are some BMWs w/single sided swingarms where the opening is too big.

I suppose it doesn't matter as you have a better looking set of cones.. LOL... No Mar makes a great product and they stand behind it.. I has some older hard-plastic helping hands and they had finally cracked so I sent them in and they replaced with the plastic covered metal ones that are just about indestructible for no extra cost.

 

[Herb]

They don't sell that anymore.

A really cheap way to do it is to learn how to do it with spoons. Then, you just need a bead breaker and tire balancer.

This is what I do. Made a bead beaker out of a 2x4 attached to a stud in my shed. Works perfectly. It takes some practice to work the tire irons(nice to have an extra hand when putting new tire on) but YouTube and Internet pictures do speed the learning curve. I use and reuse dyna beads so I don't need a balancer. My last change from bead breaking to new tire pumped couldn't have taken much more than 20 minutes. Can't see spending the money for tire changer unless you shared the expense like Mellow.

 

[Mellow]

Yeah, I stopped counting how many I've done in the past 3 years?.. I stopped at around 250 last year so I'm at least at 300. It has definitely paid for itself and provides an option for those that don't want to mess with it, plus I get to hang out with someone and talk bikes for an hour or two.

 

[Woodaddict]

Did you buy their balancer? The one I bought came with a set of cones that have worked great on probably 90% of the wheels I do. I did buy the large cone set as there are some BMWs w/single sided swingarms where the opening is too big.

I suppose it doesn't matter as you have a better looking set of cones.. LOL... No Mar makes a great product and they stand behind it.. I has some older hard-plastic helping hands and they had finally cracked so I sent them in and they replaced with the plastic covered metal ones that are just about indestructible for no extra cost.

Yes, I bought the static balancer too. It comes as a kit, tire changer, balancer with plastic cones & metal cones, big & small, spoons, 2 different yellow things- beat stoppers, tire lube, spray bottle for mixing lube with water to spray, and some wheel weights. A good basic starter kit for most people. As for the cost, well with me traveling about 32,000 - 34,000 miles a year, it will pay for itself very fast, even if I don't change anybody's tire. But I am able to do that for anybody that stops in. I changed the rear already, now have 5,200 miles on it, about 1/3 use of tire already gone.

 

[garwil]

A really cheap way to do it is to learn how to do it with spoons. Then, you just need a bead breaker and tire balancer.

I have been changing my own tires with spoons for a number of years. I have done at least five or six sets of tires with spoons. I use a couple of C clamps for a bead breaker. I put the two clamps about 9 or 10 inches apart with a board under the rim and inside the clamp. After I have cranked them down as far as I need, I use a block of wood and a hammer to push down the bead between the clamps. As soon as you get any of the bead into the center of the rim, the rest comes easy. In some cases, I have to turn the rim over and do the other side the same way.

To balance the tire, I used to use the axle shaft between two saw horses. But now I use balancing beads. It is so much easier to pour the beads into the tire than to mess with weights.

 

[ARKNT]

With my rear wheel, I had to make a precision straight bushing to get past the rear spline drive in hub.

That spline drive hub will pull straight off. Those are 5 pins that slide into tight fitting holes in the hub.
My balancer cones also don't fit. I pull the spline hub off, remove the spacer, slide the spline hub on and do the balance with the normal cones. After balancing I just re-install the spacer and thrust washer.
This also allows you to grease the thrust washer and spacer with the special Honda moly paste.

Brad

 

[Mellow]

First time I did it with spoons on my old CB, I pinched a finger while fussing with the tube. I grabbed the closest object - a stubby screwdriver - and wedged it between the tire and rim so that I could extract my finger. Finished the job, mounted the tire, and rode for a week. Mysteriously developed a flat a week later...and extracted the stubby from between the tube and the tire......

Caused me to amend my "No drinking and riding" rule to "No Drinking and Touching the Bike".

Live and learn, eh??

LOL.. thanks, been a long Friday and I really needed that one...

 

[Woodaddict]

Update for those wanting those wheel weights on the center spine. Easier than sticking and unsticking those lead weights. They are actually Honda part #'s. Part #'s small - 42704-MER-D00, medium - 42705-MER-D00, large - 42706-MER-D00