- Joined
- Jul 27, 2010
- Messages
- 5,485
- Reaction score
- 659
- Location
- Blouberg, Cape Town
- Bike
- KTM 890 Adventure R
Ever struggled to seat a bike tyre bead?
After my first disastrous attempt to change a tyre I am now almost a pro:
- A 2l Coke bottle cut in the length prevents rim damage,
- diluted dish-washing liquid in a spray bottle makes the bead slide over the rim,
- and remembering to push the opposite side of the bead into the rim cavity saves the day. Long tyre levers and an assistant helps!
But to get the bead to seat?! No problems with tubed tyres, but tubeless becomes interesting!
I have never had an issue till now. With tubes you inflate the tube, and the tyre seats, but tubeless is a different affair.
On my 1090 Adv R front it has been easy. Both the 90-90-21 TKC80 and Motoz Adventure front tyres beaded in a jiffy.
The 150 18" TKC80 beaded without complaints on the farm (where it was 36°C in the shed).
Due to a lack of stock (thanks Covid 19!) I got hold of a 140-80-18 rear Motoz Tractionator GPS. The measured tread width is 15,5 cm, despite the 140 spec, and it will go with the rim size, so mounting it would not be an issue I thought. Not so!
Strategies followed.
1. The tyres had carton inners from the factory to prevent the beads moving too close to each other, so installation should be a cinch i thought. Not so. Air kept leaking out
2. Despite running the compressor to 8 bar, liberally application of soap the beads leaked and did not want to slide over the rim.
3. Reckoning that the garage compressor would work better, I took it there, but despite the help of two attendants it was no go.
4. Then I took the rim to the local car tyre shop. They have a rim blaster. Great, I thought, as they quickly sorted out a 4x4 tyre by blasting a 50l's worth of compressed air between the rim and bead in a millisecond. Surely this will work for a bike tyre then? Sadly not, as the rim blaster's pipe was too large in diameter or something. We were left with an empty vessel, and rear bike rim half a meter away!
Back home I started reading.
4. Carburettor fluid on the bead, light it up and kick the tyre to cause an explosion was recommended. Yea right. The carb fluid did light up, but burned in a nice circle around the rim like a bike tyre romantic candlelight decoration. I had to put that out!
5. Next thing recommended was to use a ratchet strap to pull the tyre on to the rim and then inflate. Hop the tyre inbetween to make sure the rim seats nicely. Pfft. The ratchet broke before I could get enough traction to do anything.
6. The next solution sounded like the real thing. Get a bicycle inner, fit it between the bead and rim on one side of the wheel so that it forces the opposite bead onto the rim and pump. I can proudly report that this did not do the trick, despite the lavish soap.
7. Then I read that one should force the beads open. I have a spare 17" rear inner tube which I inflated inside the tyre, and then left it in the sun for a day. This will work! Nope then, air still leaked.
So this was my weekend. In two full days I could not get the bead on this rear wheel to seat. The only thing left was to ask the pro's.
So finally, Monday morning I waited for Trac Mac in Paarden Eiland to open. They just smiled when they heard my story, and in no time got it sorted. What was their formula?
I was on the right track with the bicycle tube, but only in part.
They have strips of what looks like pool noodles, but only thinner in diameter - I reckon about 2cm. Spray the noodle liberally with Q20 and insert it between the bead and rim. The big secret is to do it on BOTH sides! Make sure that the noodles fit snugly. Inflate the tyre till the bead pops on both sides, remove the noodles (that is what the Q20/WD50 is for) and you are done. Can it be so easy?!
I rest my case...
Hopefully someone reads this thread in future if only to find inner beading peace.
After my first disastrous attempt to change a tyre I am now almost a pro:
- A 2l Coke bottle cut in the length prevents rim damage,
- diluted dish-washing liquid in a spray bottle makes the bead slide over the rim,
- and remembering to push the opposite side of the bead into the rim cavity saves the day. Long tyre levers and an assistant helps!
But to get the bead to seat?! No problems with tubed tyres, but tubeless becomes interesting!
I have never had an issue till now. With tubes you inflate the tube, and the tyre seats, but tubeless is a different affair.
On my 1090 Adv R front it has been easy. Both the 90-90-21 TKC80 and Motoz Adventure front tyres beaded in a jiffy.
The 150 18" TKC80 beaded without complaints on the farm (where it was 36°C in the shed).
Due to a lack of stock (thanks Covid 19!) I got hold of a 140-80-18 rear Motoz Tractionator GPS. The measured tread width is 15,5 cm, despite the 140 spec, and it will go with the rim size, so mounting it would not be an issue I thought. Not so!
Strategies followed.
1. The tyres had carton inners from the factory to prevent the beads moving too close to each other, so installation should be a cinch i thought. Not so. Air kept leaking out
2. Despite running the compressor to 8 bar, liberally application of soap the beads leaked and did not want to slide over the rim.
3. Reckoning that the garage compressor would work better, I took it there, but despite the help of two attendants it was no go.
4. Then I took the rim to the local car tyre shop. They have a rim blaster. Great, I thought, as they quickly sorted out a 4x4 tyre by blasting a 50l's worth of compressed air between the rim and bead in a millisecond. Surely this will work for a bike tyre then? Sadly not, as the rim blaster's pipe was too large in diameter or something. We were left with an empty vessel, and rear bike rim half a meter away!
Back home I started reading.
4. Carburettor fluid on the bead, light it up and kick the tyre to cause an explosion was recommended. Yea right. The carb fluid did light up, but burned in a nice circle around the rim like a bike tyre romantic candlelight decoration. I had to put that out!
5. Next thing recommended was to use a ratchet strap to pull the tyre on to the rim and then inflate. Hop the tyre inbetween to make sure the rim seats nicely. Pfft. The ratchet broke before I could get enough traction to do anything.
6. The next solution sounded like the real thing. Get a bicycle inner, fit it between the bead and rim on one side of the wheel so that it forces the opposite bead onto the rim and pump. I can proudly report that this did not do the trick, despite the lavish soap.
7. Then I read that one should force the beads open. I have a spare 17" rear inner tube which I inflated inside the tyre, and then left it in the sun for a day. This will work! Nope then, air still leaked.
So this was my weekend. In two full days I could not get the bead on this rear wheel to seat. The only thing left was to ask the pro's.
So finally, Monday morning I waited for Trac Mac in Paarden Eiland to open. They just smiled when they heard my story, and in no time got it sorted. What was their formula?
I was on the right track with the bicycle tube, but only in part.
They have strips of what looks like pool noodles, but only thinner in diameter - I reckon about 2cm. Spray the noodle liberally with Q20 and insert it between the bead and rim. The big secret is to do it on BOTH sides! Make sure that the noodles fit snugly. Inflate the tyre till the bead pops on both sides, remove the noodles (that is what the Q20/WD50 is for) and you are done. Can it be so easy?!
I rest my case...
Hopefully someone reads this thread in future if only to find inner beading peace.
