Modern Buddy

Is there anyone here sporting a 130/70-10 that changed the tire themselves? How do you get the bead to seat? I've been messing with this for 3 hours, and have watched a dozen youtube videos. I've used a double set of ratchet straps. I've lubed it with dish soap. I sprayed starter fluid around the wheel and lit it on fire. Can't get it to pop. Rim protectors and 3 spoons were $24.00. Thought "wow these will pay for themselves in no time". I don't want to admit defeat and haul it into the tire shop. Any ideas.......? Thank you.

What are you using for a compressed air source? I've found that those gas-station air pumps (as well as the ones you hook to a 12V adapter) just do not have enough instantaneous "oomph" and can't supply air faster than it leaks out around the beads.

Oh, just checking, but did you remove the actual valve from the valve stem before hooking up to the compressed air source? It's a lot harder to get the required volume/velocity with that in place.

One final tip - if possible, try leaving the tire and rim out in the sun for a while (a sunny blacktop driveway is perfect). The softer the rubber, the easier it stretches and seal.

I do my own tires on the Helix, and yeah, they can be a real PITA sometimes.

I changed the tires on my scoot on my own, but didn't have any issues seating the beads. I used a silicone spray to lubricate the bead and a small 1 gallon air compressor to seat and fill the tire.

Thanks for the input. I have a 20 gallon, 120 psi compressor. I took another stab with starter fluid, and it worked. I watched some more videos. The trick is to get some fluid inside the tire, and have the valve stem out. I lit it, and stepped on the tire in a couple of different places. It didn't look like it worked, but I filled it with air and heard pop, pop. I think the heat of it all made things move into place. I had the same thought as charlie55 as I was doing this. Next time I'll leave it out in the hot sun for a while before I attempt to inflate. I only need to mount one more tire in order to have paid for the tool set. Then I can start going back to the tire shop that charges $12.00 to mount.

I changed my own tires for awhile and came to the conclusion that it was better to just pay the motorcycle shop to do them. All that work and effort wore me out.

Maybe off-topic a bit, but do you guys balance your wheels? I usually don't bother with the rear (10"), but it does seem to make a difference on the front (12").

I always balance mine:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DX8 ... ge_o06_s00

or

http://www.ebay.com/itm/STAINLESS-STEEL ... f1&vxp=mtr

I brought my wheels to my local scooter shop for balancing. They did it free of charge.