How to Change a Motorcycle Tire at Home: Tools, Steps and Mistakes

What you are in for

The result is a wheel with a new tire, seated, at pressure and balanced. No source we read gives a time for the job. The tire makers' motorcycle bulletin gives the order of the work and a notice at the top: tire changing can be dangerous and should be done by trained personnel using proper tools and procedures. We have run no trials; the steps below are taken from that bulletin. The one addition is the drop center, which the tire makers describe in their passenger tire bulletin and tool makers describe for motorcycle wheels.

Taking the wheel off the bike and putting it back are jobs for the motorcycle's service manual: axle torque, spacers and brake parts differ by model.

Tools and materials

• A bead tool. A lever set such as the Motion Pro BeadPro FS^* (paid link), or the arm of a motorcycle changer; see motorcycle bead breakers.
• Tire irons or spoons with rim protectors. The bulletin calls them tire irons and rules out pry bars and screwdrivers.
• Bead lubricant. A commercial lubricant made for bead seating. The bulletin also allows vegetable oil and animal soap solutions, wants a rust inhibitor in water-based lubricant, and forbids antifreeze, silicones and petroleum-based lubricants.
• Valve core tool, new valve or new tube, rim band for spoked wheels.
• An air line with a clip-on chuck and an in-line gauge, eye protection, and a way to balance the wheel.

The full kit, sorted by tube and tubeless wheels, is on the page about motorcycle tire changing tools.

AI-generated

The ten steps

1. Remove the wheel and deflate it completely

   Take the wheel off the motorcycle as the vehicle maker describes. Loosen the rim lock and the valve stem nut where fitted, then remove the valve core and let all the air out, staying out of the line of the valve.

2. Loosen both beads

   Push the bead off its seat on the rim with a bead tool, all the way around, on both sides of the wheel.

3. Lever off the top bead, starting at the valve

   Lubricate the top bead with a lubricant made for bead seating and lever it over the rim flange, beginning at the valve area, with the opposite side of the bead pushed into the drop center.

4. Remove the tube and the second bead

   On a tube-type wheel pull the tube out by hand, starting at the valve. Lubricate the second bead and the top rim flange and take the tire off the rim. On a spoked wheel remove the rim band.

5. Clean and inspect the rim

   Brush rubber, dried lubricant and rust off the flanges and bead seats. Replace the rubber valve on a tubeless rim. On a spoked wheel check for loose or protruding spokes and refit a sound rim band.

6. Check the new tire and mount the first bead

   Confirm that tire size and rim diameter match and that it is a motorcycle tire for a motorcycle rim. Lubricate the rim and the lower bead and push or lever the first bead on, observing the direction arrow.

7. Fit the tube, if the wheel needs one

   Use a new tube with the same size marking as the tire. Feed the valve stem through the rim, start the nut, and inflate slightly so the tube rounds out.

8. Mount the top bead, valve area last

   Lubricate the upper bead and the rim flange. Lever the bead on in small steps so that the valve area goes over the flange last. Do not use a pry bar or a screwdriver.

9. Seat the beads and set the pressure

   Secure the wheel or place it in a restraint, stand clear and inflate in short bursts through a clip-on chuck with a gauge. Stay within the tire maker's maximum bead seating pressure; without such a figure do not exceed 40 psi. Then set the operating pressure.

10. Balance and refit the wheel

    Balance the wheel on a balance stand or a spin balancer, check bead seating again, and refit the wheel as the vehicle maker describes, with the arrow in the direction of rotation.

Why the drop center decides everything

A bead is smaller than the rim flange it has to cross. It goes over only because the opposite side of the bead sits in the deep channel in the middle of the rim, the drop center. If levering gets hard, the far side has climbed out of the well. On spoked off-road wheels a holding tool such as the Motion Pro Bead Buddy II^* (paid link) hooks over a spoke and keeps the bead down on the side opposite your irons, according to its maker.

Tubes and balance dots

• Tube-type: a new tube in a new tire, dusted lightly with dry lubricant. After the beads are seated, remove the valve core once so the tube deflates fully, then reinflate; this helps prevent folds and creases.
• Balance dot: some tire makers mark a dot to be lined up with the valve stem.

Seating the beads

A tire lying loose on a stand or on the floor is not held down by anything. Treating it as a case for a restraint is our own cautious reading of the bulletin. More on the page how to seat a tire bead.

Typical mistakes

• Levering against a bead that is not in the well. More force does not replace the missing slack; it damages the bead.
• Lifting sharply on the bead. The bulletin warns against it and asks for extreme care not to pinch or damage the tube.
• Working dry, or with the wrong product. See tire mounting lube.
• Skipping the balance. The bulletin lists it as a step of its own; the stands are under motorcycle wheel balancers.

The last step has a page of its own: how to balance a motorcycle tire. The guards under the irons are covered under rim protectors. If you do this several times a year, a changer takes over the holding and the bead breaking; the types are explained on the overview of motorcycle tire changers.