You have to remove your dirt bike tires to replace a worn and torn one or change inner tubes. A flat tire indicates an opening in the tubing requiring a replacement.
Tooling up with the essential tools and equipment helps make the job as easy as falling off a log.
Rather than a coughing up big bucks to pay a mechanic, changing your tires can tighten your maintenance budget. You only need to know the ins and out of how to change a dirt bike tire to feel your oats in the task.
8 Things To Consider About How To Change A Dirt Bike Tire:
1. Tools of the Trade
Arming yourself with a sturdy tire stand helps latch onto the wheel securely and change comfortably. Super-tough rim protector inhibits damage, and tire iron offers maximum grip and operating vantage.
Wear heavy-duty gloves to strengthen your grip and prevent excruciating bloody knuckles.
A bead tool grips the tire bead down in the middle of the rim and secures the thumb screw for scar-free rims. You can throw in other tools to make the task a breeze based on your mechanic know-how.
- A dead-blow hammer
- Valve stem remover
- Talc-based baby powder
- 12mm wrench or socket
- Tire spoons/iron
- Tire paste
- Pressure gauge
- Tire stand
- Rim Protector
2. Start Off with the Wheel
First loosen the rim lock and begin with the sprockets to remove the valve core entirely.
If you don’t have an iron stand, use padding like a mat or a folded towel to shield the disc and sprocket against the surface.
Unbolt the rim lock nuts without removing and support it until a few threads secure it on. For stiffened nuts, apply grease and anti-seize on the threading before reassembly.
Use the tire spoon to press the rim lock internally to pave way for breaking the bead. Once you get the sprocket side up, you can break the bead of the tire from the rim’s edge.
3. Break the Bead
- Break the bead inch by inch around the tire using your hands to push downward on the edges.
- Press on the tire to break the bead entirely, then drive the nut atop the lock bolt to direct the rim lock into the tires’ well.
- If you hit a snag hand-pressing, use a tire spoon to slide downward. When that fails to do the trick, stand on one leg on both sides of the tire and knead down and inwards by exerting bodyweight.
- Ensure you disperse the pressure as uniformly as possible on both edges to avoid curving the sprocket and brake rotor. Turn the tire into a sprocket-side-down posture once each side pops out.
4. Spoon Off the Tire
Extra-large spoons offer better leverage, but smaller, trail-shaped spoons placed under the sprocket and brake rotor create a safe pair hands.
Continue at a snail’s pace around the tire, pushing the next spoon the shortest possible space from the last one about two inches apart.
Too much proximity poses obstacles sandwiching the iron between the tire and rim. If you have the thrust of up to three tire levers, the task becomes a piece of cake.
5. Pulling the Rim
Detach the tube from the tire; swap the valve stem core without removing the rim lock and rubber strap. With the sprocket side-up, repeat the spooning action and draw the tire above the rim’s edge to keep the wheel in the tire entirely.
Stand the wheel upward and spin it to position the bead lock at the base nearest the ground. Spring back the wheel to press the rim inside the tire opening.
It carves out a gap atop. Grasp the rim and the tire over it and shove it off the wheel. It requires a bit of force until the rim settles deeply for the tire to flex and retract halfway. It lets you press the rim upwards from the tire.
6. Installing New Tire
Mop off the rim, bead lock or rubber seal while inspecting for defects. Install a new tire from the sprocket side down and pitchfork the new tire onto the rim.
From the rim lock, force the bolt to carve out a gap for the bead to sandwich in between. Force it halfway by hand-pressing with spoons.
Check if you need to replace the tube. Find the valve stem opening along the sprocket sides, place a tire spoon. Like pulling the tire back off, flip it over and place the spoon handle beneath the sprocket.
With the brake rotor up, put a foot at the center of the wheel hub to squat down. Fork the tire sidewall using one hand and tuck the tube inward with the other from the valve stem. After the stem is complete, use a lock nut to prevent the stem from dragging back through the opening.
7. Mopping-Up Operation
Inspect the rim to ensure the tube doesn’t get twisted or folded. Start at the rim lock with one spoon on any side while pushing the bolt to create a gap for the tire.
Spoon the tire securely and use the third one to reposition halfway upwards on either side in dribs and drabs. Push the tire bead down inside the rim sideways to spoon with minimal resistance.
If you encounter obstacles with the spoons, try pushing down the bead. Otherwise, you will be mad enough to chew nails and spit rivets with a ripped bead or sweat profusely for nothing.
8. Air Tire to Install the Wheel
Once you ensconce the tire in perfectly, inspect for any visual indicators of pinching. If the coast is clear, pump air into the tire until the bead bulges out on each side. Where stubborn, some Windex should do the job.
Swap the wheel and keep the axle as neat as a new pin and add fresh grease. Adjust the chain and get rolling to dirty your bike on the trail.
Final Verdict
If you know how to change a dirt bike tire like the palm of your hands, you don’t have to dig deeper in your pockets for maintenance costs.
Essential tools and equipment make it as easy as apple pie, relieves excess stress and gives you more force on stubborn tires. You have to handle the tube with kid’s gloves to prevent pinching and restrain from damaging the rim.
Also, inspect for worn out components as you swap the wheels. Setting up the tire in the sun for a while before the ball is in your court softens the rubber for pliability. Budget-conscious bike owners perform tire swapping to tighten the maintenance purse strings.
