No Mar Tire Changer

[dub]

The ability  to change my own tires in my garage is something that I have wanted for a while now. It seems that your two choices are basically use a lot of muscle, a lot of curse words, and do it the old school way with tire irons on your hands an knees ...OR... spend a bunch of money for a machine.

In this video, Ari makes it look pretty easy. But is it really? I don't know. For someone with one motorcycle, who only has to change a sport touring tire every 8-10000 miles, this method is probably fine. But I pictured myself doing this frequently and decided I'd rather not.

So, I went with the spend a bunch of money option. Actually, when you think about the money we spend on our hobby of motorcycling, it's not really that much. (spending a few grand for a pneumatic tire machine would be a bunch of money) I bought a No Mar Classic Tire Changer. It was $645 and there was a promotion for free shipping.

One issue is the thing takes up a lot of space and needs a solid mounting point. So I chose the hitch mount. When I need to use it, I just back the truck into the garage, and when I'm done I stow it away in my shed so it doesn't take up any floor space.

So far I have swapped 4 tires and it is comically easy to use. If you follow their instructions, the tire seriously just slides right on and off. I was still expecting to have to wrestle the tire on and off. But I watched the instructional video, did what they said it's damn near effortless.

You might be thinking "how long is it gonna take you to save the money that you would have spent on having a shop change your tires?" I dunno, that wasn't really my primary motivation. I bought it so I could have the freedom to have a tire shipped right to my door, then just swap it on without having to find the time to take it to a shop.

So far, very happy with the purchase.

[slmoto]

Nice piece of equipment to have, very convenient.  Even if your sole purpose was not just to save money I'm sure for someone like you who races and puts in 20+ days at the track you'll make your money back fairly quickly anyway, especially if you factor in your time to and from the shops.

That's interesting they have the option of the trailer hitch mount, good idea.

[RichVee4]

Dear Santa........................................     Wish dub lived closer so I could pay him a few bucks to use his new toy.   Gets pricey keeping good tread on this stable. 

[dub]

Wish dub lived closer so I could pay him a few bucks to use his new toy.   Gets pricey keeping good tread on this stable. 

Yeah, if I lived somewhere more dense, like the Bay Area or Reno, I could probably make my money back real fast with $10 tire changes.

[cobra23]

Nice !

[dub]

Still love this thing. Just swapped a new Shinko on the Tiger. It was easy to use back when I first got it, now that I have some practice and know a couple little tricks, it's barely even any effort at all.

[RedLeader]

Many people will drill holes into garage floor and sink an anchor in there (http://www.homedepot.com/b/Tools-Hardware-Hardware-Fasteners-Anchors-Lag-Shields/N-5yc1vZc2bk). It will allow you to bolt it to the floor when you need to and remove it when you dont. The hitch mount is good for the track though.
Edit:
Looks like the version you got is hitch mount only. Nevermind.

[RichVee4]

Need someone closer to Reno to buy one!  I have the site book marked, some day.

[RedLeader]

you can always buy the HF one for around $90 with the motorcycle adapter. Another $150 or so for the Mojoblock and Mojolever and call it good. http://www.mojotiretools.com/mojoweb.htm
Would be a little less than half the cost, and work just the same. Would not be quite as fancy though.