[karlb]

after years of changing tires with just a bead breaker and tire irons the K12S's 190/50/17 has beaten me, I can not get the new tire to mount with just tire irons no matter what tricks I try. So knowing when I have been beaten I ordered the No-mar changer this afternoon and hopefully it will be able to get the rear to spoon on.

 

[Thickasabrick]

I love mine!

I got one about a month ago. Years ago I used to bust my knuckles changing out the tires on my Norton (complete with the infamous rim lock), and my R80/7. Since I got back into the sport with K bikes, I let the shop change them out for me. Now with the No-Mar, I get to do it myself again and the knuckles are intact......gotta love it!

 

[romoshka]

After hearing Pirate rave about it in his cheesy newsletter I bought one too. This is a very well thought out piece of equipment. Boxerworks ordered the Coats 220 adapter. It will work far harder than any of ours at home so we'll see how well it holds up over time.

 

[lytnin]

They sell them here in St. Louis and I have yet to visit for a demonstration. One ZRX member bought one (complete kit) and seems his friends all used it but he hasn't touched it yet. All I heard was it takes a little getting used to when putting the tire back on the wheel. I still use the Harbor Freight set up but if I did a lot of tires I would look into one. The demo on the site makes everything look so easy.
Later == Bobby

 

[brucev]

I bought one in Sept. and changed three sets of tires so far. It is getting easier every time. What I have found to work best is to really soap up the tire and wheel. And most important is do not be affraid to muscle it. The more muscle the smoother it goes. And here is a side bar in regard to the people selling this product, specifically Steve and Sue. I had an issue with my stand and let me just say this: they are without question the best people I have dealt with in a long time. I called on a Sunday evening and Steve answered the phone. He made several promisies to me and lived up to everyone. Sue followed up to make sure that I was 100% happy. These people will and do stand behind the products they sell. Call them if you have any questions before or after purchase. Just for the record I do not have any interest in this company nor do I know these people.
Bruce

 

[mconrad]

Karlb,

I'd love to hear your report. I'm curious, though. Many, many years ago (in the early 70's) I was a mechanic, and changing tires was a pain even with the pneumatic machines we had available. Why are you changing your own? Is your dealer too far, too expensive, or something like that? Or do you just prefer doing your own work? I'd love to hear your thoughts once you get the tire changer. Maybe it's something I'm going to have to look at. Thanks for your help.

Marty

 

[karlb]

I will do a full report with pictures of assembly of the changer they have videos on the website you can watch so will only post impressions of actual changing. Why I change my own tires is kinda all of the above.
First- Crockett Tx is a great place to train horses but for motorcycles there is not a dealership at all within 45 miles and not one I would trust within about 90 miles so instead of eating up 4 hours of my day to go get tires spooned on I do them myself.
Second I dont so much mind the 30 bucks to mount and balance tires if I walk in with wheel in hand but more and more shops down here in east Texas wont do it at all or want to charge 75.00+ for each wheel unless you buy the tire from them. I wouldnt mind this but those same shops want 50.00-100.00 mark up on the tire.
That is more than I am willing to pay when added to cost of mount and balance 80-130 over doing it myself.
Lastly I am working retired and as a horse rancher have time and do enjoy doing my own maint so I know its done right and I am not paying for services not done or done incorrectly.
On my K1200RS after it was out of warranty it never went to a shop again I did all maint myself and hope to get to that point on the KS also.

 

[karlb]

Well I have not gotten mine in yet (should be here tomorrow) but went down to Houston and used a friends today (just couldnt wait as the bike was crying out for its rear wheel)

He got his in and installed a few days ago and had not used it himself yet, so I got to break it in.

First off the clearances for the 190/50 Stiff walled Sportec M-1 onto the K12S rear 6" rim are very tight and I cant see anyone spooning this tire on with out a changer (please let me know if any of you can do it as I couldnt)

First try with the No-Mar yeilded no good results so I called no-mar and got Sue on the line , she attempted to help thru her experiences, and while Sue does know her stuff and can and does change her own tires with the No-Mar she quickly conceded more expert help was needed and got me with Steve.

Steve had me try several different things and the following is what combination finally worked to get the second side of the tire onto the rim.

First off Lube from the 9 oclock position to the three oclock position liberally but do not lube from 3 oclock position to 9 oclock this friction will help to keep this area from walking back off.

Second at the 6 oclock position place the 2 prong end of the mount/demount bar between the rim and tire with the handle end of the bar against the right side of the back upright of the No-Mar or at 12:01am position.

By hand walk the tire bead down to about the 3 oclock position so that it is on from about 7 oclock to 3 oclock.
Now hold a tire iron or no mars tire spoon there (at 3 oclock) to prevent the bead from walking back off and move the mount bar around to about 4 oclock.

Step around the end of the mounting bar so you can use your left hip to push the bar, now (prior to pushing the bar) push down on the top of the tire from 6 oclock to about 10 oclock to gain as much clearance as possible for the remaining bead to seat (there is only bead left to seat from 12 oclock to 3 oclock now and push the bar thru the rest of the arc with your hip.
This procedure will work with this tire/wheel combo.

I know this sounds very difficult and it wasnt easy but this is the hardest tire/wheel combo to mount I have ever run across if you can do the rear tire of the K12S you should be able to do any tire/wheel combo out there.

Steve did say he was going to send me some concentrated tire lube gel and to coat it on like honey instead of spraying the diluted lube as usual and it should be easier.
Steve told me I am the first person they know of to use their changer on a K12S rear wheel.
If anyone has other experiences with the K12S I would love to hear their take on it and details of how they mounted the rear tire.
Overall I am very pleased with both the changer and No-Mars customer service!!!
Great people who have a great understanding that only comes from being riders themselves.
BTW they will be doing a trackday at Barber this Monday.

Hope this helps

 

[Pirate]

I Love My Machine

For the No-Mar newbie... It'll take you 2-3 tires to feel comfortable with it..then you'll never fear changing a tire again. I've done about 6 tires on mine in the last 4 weeks. (Geezz.. can it be that many in a freakin month??!!) and can now change them in about 10 minutes. Actually takes longer to balance them than mount them. Amazing.

Have only found a couple of downsides and I am nitpicking..

1. I prefer my HEAVY Coats Bar to the No-Mar bar. I tried the No-Mar bar only twice and never could get the leverage on it as I can with my heavy Coats bar. I may try it again next time around just to be fair. For now... I took my Coats metal bar and epoxied on the plastic end covers that come with it using Goop. Then I wrapped the entire bar with a single sided tape with rubber backing.. Now not only are BOTH ends covered with plastic, but should I actually drop the bar on the wheel, it's got a 1/64ths rubber coating on that as well.. works like a charm...No way to scratch a wheel with it now... now matter how drugged up I may be.. ;-)

2. Not sure if you are familiar with the Coats Changer, but it has 3 metal claws that grab and hold the wheel while changing. If you are removing a tire, after you have broken the bead, and laid the tire/wheel on the machine, those claws reach up between the tire and wheel and lock into place and you then tighten it down.

On the No-Mar.. there are no clamps.. ..only the 3 roundish plastic pieces with slots for the wheels to slide into. What this means is.. you have to COMPRESS the tire before locking it into place.. , meaning.. you lay the tire/wheel on the No-Mar machine and as there are no claws to reach up, you must compress or push down on the sidewall of the tire in order for the plastic grippers to make contact and grab the wheel.

All this means is... On any med-to-soft compound tires,, there is NO problem at all as the sidewall compresses easily.. However, if you are installing a HARD compound tire, it almost takes TWO people to lock the tire/wheel onto the machine as someone has to press the tire sidewall down while the other tightens the lock-in mechanism.. Remember.. this is ONLY when taking a tire off a wheel.. and yes.. this is nitpicking. No-Mar sells some plastic wheel clamps that help in this situation.. I recommend you buy at least 2.. Trust me..

Otherwise.. I LOVE my machine....It make Mongo happy.. A dealer will never touch my wheels again... No-Mar rules!!.. and I don't have any vested interest in them either.

Great people!!

BTW.. I'll be dismounting BOTH tires on my new "S" within the next 2 weeks (I pick it up tomorrow at noon.. woohoo!!) for powder coating.. Will make a follow up post on ease or difficulty.. I honestly don't think there'll be any problem as I regularly do my very wide MV wheels and tires with no probs.

 

[blitzmann]

Why you would want to change your own tires...

Long story short:
Took my bike to the dealer to have the rubber changed for the very first time (i.e. the rims were perfect). They marked up both rims, but really damaged (read: gouged) the rear rim.
After some discussion, they allowed me to inspect another rear rim on another bike which they offered to swap in place of my damaged one.
In the process of moving the new tire from my original rim to the replacement rim, they damaged the replacement rim.
The dealer then said that: a) they would fix their tire changing machine, and b) send out my original rim to be powder coated.
The rim came back to the dealer, and they sent it back to because the powder coating was shoddy.
The second time the rim came back, I got a chance to inspect it and thought "it is awfully shiny". But we put it on anyhow. Once they changed my rear tire, I inspected it and found that they had set off a peeling process of a clear coat that I never thought should be on the rim.
The dealer then promised to send another rim in, to a different powder coating company, and get it done properly.
This was before hurricane Katrina and Rita, so things got a might hectic. After a month I phoned back, and there is no rim to be found as they suspect they sold it on another bike. Now they are willing to loan me another bike while mine sits tied up at their place while they dick around with the rear rim. Jayzuz. This is getting sad.

 

[MikeFigielski]

Just got my No-Mar in a couple days ago, but haven't had the chance to assemble it yet. I have done a lot of tires with the Coats 220, so I am hoping the No-Mar is an improvement. I'll post after I have done a few tires and got the hang of it. Need to watch the videos first.
Mike

 

[patj]

i am next

i will order a no mar this week.....too many tires to pay that mark-up...i think my garage will get popular with my riding pals.

 

[brucev]

I have done three sets of tire changes with my No-Mar and it was easier on the last set. Now that winter is upon us here in Ma. I will not use the machine for some time and fear that I will be starting over next time. I think I have a solution for getting good. I am looking for a spare rim to practice on. I don't have any other bikes at this time so I am looking for a rim that is straight but possibly all beat up. This way I can change out a tire several times and figure out the correct way to do it , without worrying about damaging the rim or tire. I have the old tires from my last change. When I find a rim I will practice and let you all know how many times I did it until I can do it like Steve in the sales video.
Bruce

 

[Erik]

I'd just insist on a new wheel

 

[TheBoldDeceiver]

Take their loaner...

...and run the hell outta it!