TIRE CHANGE PICTORIAL.
"Just nice to see it in pictures!"

by T.C."TopCat" Gresham , posted 11-12-06

There's already a great tip about removing, mounting and balancing a tire here in this section, I just wanted to provide some photos to assist others in seeing the process! This example is of course on a Special. Not much difference for Standard Xcept that there are 2 sets of clamps for the axle, and it feeds in from the left side instead of the right side. Follow your manual for specific details, torque values, etc.!

Well, first of all, you'll need to raise the tire, front or rear. Rear is easy=center stand, front requires a little more enginuity! I used a jack and block of wood combined with the centerstand.


Next, deflate the tire, either removing the valve core, or just depressing on it, but you'll want to press on the tire to get some extra air out so that it will compress/squeeze together to get it to pass by the forks. You'll want to remove the calipers first. I won't go into the minutia of steps, you know to remove axle nut cotter pin, loosen and remove castle nut, then loosen axle pinch bolt, and finally remove axle! Pay close attention to the position of the speedo gear housing and it's alignment notches!


I found a simple large C-clamp works well for bead breaking!


I used standard tire irons, but attached some locking vice grips for better leverage. I also used a long wide flat screwdriver to help in holding the bead in place once you have it over the rim edge!


As the other tip mentioned, make sure to push the bead of the tire down into the center recess of the rim to allow more slack in the bead for easier handling!


The second bead can be a little more challenging, but should also come off the same way!


Once you get the bead about 1/2 way around the rim, you should be able to just push the tire down and off the rim!


Feel free to do any cleaning, polishing, etc., you like once you have the tire off! For putting the new tire on, first confirm that you have it positioned in the proper direction of travel, there's a direction ARROW stamped/molded into the sidewall!


Along with the ARROW, there is a DOT that marks where the tire should be aligned with the tire valve to make balancing easier!


Now apply the tire mounting lubricant of your choice, and push the tire down onto the rim with a rotating motion, this will push more of the bead over the rim, then use the tire irons to pry the remaining bead over, again remembering to keep the portion already on as far towards the center recess of the rim as possible!

Okay, you've got the tire on the rim, and now when you do the first inflation to seat the bead, (Don't forget your safety goggles!) you need to monitor the edge very closely. There is a small line just above the bead seal that is used as an indicator, it should be showing all the way around. Below is an example of a "bad" bead position.


You may need to deflate, massage, do the "Indian Tire Dance", bounce the partially inflated tire and wheel on the ground repeatedly to get the bead to rise up on the rim where it should be...see "good" bead below!


Once you have inflated it and seated the bead properly, now deflate it! This is again to allow you to squeeze the tire to get it past the forks and calipers! This photo is a little dark, but it's the speedo drive unit, and there are 2 recesses/notches in it. These need to match up with the 2 tangs on the wheel.


Of course, clean up these contact areas, apply some grease and then you're ready to put it back together.


Mesh the speedo drive to the wheel housing, and then slide the wheel into the forks, note the alignment notches and grooves on the forks and drive unit!


Once you have the wheel on, the axle in place, but before you tighten everything down, spin the front wheel, get it spinning fairly fast, and then check your speedo gauge, you should be able to see it registering about 10mph or so! This will help you to determine that you have the speedo drive unit mounted properly before tightening it all up!

Yes, that's an XS650 speedo!


This photo shows the brake rotor is not properly centered, and would cause rubbing!


Adjusting the position of the axle will allow you to get the rotor centered, and then you can tighten the axle pinch bolt nut!



Here's a fuzzy photo showing the rotor well centered in the fork guide. Now you can tighten the axle castle nut, don't forget to put the cottor pin back in.


And if you decide to go to a slightly larger tire, ie. 110/90 vs. the 100/90, just make sure you have enough clearance between the tire and the fender.....the tires DO Xpand at high speeds!!


Hope this helps someone?!

__________________
T. C. Gresham
81SH "Godzilla" . . .1179cc super-rat.
79SF "The Teacher" . . .basket case!
History shows again and again,
How nature points out the folly of men!