• There has been a recent cluster of spammers accessing BARFer accounts and posting spam. To safeguard your account, please consider changing your password. It would be even better to take the additional step of enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your BARF account. Read more here.

Breaking a tire bead without proper tools

ScottRNelson

ScottRNelson

Adventure and Dual Sport
Joined
Aug 3, 2002
Location
Meridian, ID
Moto(s)
Honda XR650L, KTM 790 Adv R
[Begin long narrative that you can skip if you want]

I'm trying to get to the point where I could fix a flat out in the middle of nowhere for either of my bikes - Honda XR650L and KTM 990 Adventure. I've swapped tires at home on three of the four wheels using the hand tools that I carry with me when I'm out "having an adventure". The only one I haven't dealt with was the rear on the KTM - until now.

I went for a fairly short ride on Thursday to find out where Ione is at. The bike started feeling weird about the time I got there, but I still had to ride about 40 miles back. I was sure it was a front tire issue, because the front was down to the wear bars and a bit unevenly worn. The bike behaved reasonably well up to 50 mph or so but started vibrating and steering weirdly at any faster speed. I made it home still sure it was a front tire issue.

So I go to check the tire pressure with my digital gauge and can't get a reading on the rear, but the front shows 32 psi. I was still sure it was the front and that my tire gauge wasn't making a good seal or something. :x I finally yanked the front wheel off, took the wheel to Cycle Gear and bought a new front tire. Once back and in place I checked the pressure again and still couldn't get a rear reading. So I hooked up my electric tire pump and could only get a reading up to about 20 psi. That's when I finally felt around the wheel for air escaping and realized that I really did have a punctured rear tire. :facepalm :rant [Where's the smily for feeling incredibly stupid?] :loco

[End long narrative]

So this morning I yanked the tire off and started trying to break the bead on the Heidenau K60 Scout 150/80-18 rear tire. Tire irons couldn't move it at all. Hammering one of them downward did nothing. Using the sidestand on my XR against it did nothing to move the bead, but ended up breaking another plastic bit on that bike when I lost control of it and dropped it again.

I was seriously considering taking the wheel to a local tire shop to break the bead, but looked up other methods on the internet and realized that there was one more I could try before admitting defeat - a vice.

Fortunately my vice opens just enough to fit that tire through. Rather than just squeeze the rubber, I wedged two of my tire irons in there to provide more force against the whole sidewall. It took a serious amount of effort cranking that vice closed before the bead finally moved an eighth of an inch. More cranking the vice and working other areas with tire irons finally popped that bead off. Getting that side off of the rim felt pretty easy after that. I just have to patch the tube and I should be back in business.

I read that you're supposed to be able to use the KTM sidestand while the bike is on the centerstand to pop the bead, but I have my doubts if that would actually do it out in the wilderness. I have also read about various tools that should be able to pop the bead and I may just have to spend a hundred bucks on one of those.

Do you guys have any other suggestions of how to get the bead off of such a tight fitting tire using the tools brought along on the ride, that hopefully are not too heavy?
 
Last edited:
If you work the irons around the tire the bead will eventually break. Seen it done on a big Buell tubeless rear tire, and done it myself. You don't need to put a lot of effort into it. The bead just gives after a little time, but takes some patience. Just put the tire iron in and press down and move around the tire.

Ironbutt here on the BARF taught me this technique.
 
Cabrito said:
If you work the irons around the tire the bead will eventually break. Seen it done on a big Buell tubeless rear tire, and done it myself. You don't need to put a lot of effort into it. The bead just gives after a little time, but takes some patience. Just put the tire iron in and press down and move around the tire.
Click to expand...
I couldn't tell any difference at all after six times around - when I finally gave up on that idea. The K60 is a special animal for gripping the rim.
 
I have used a big c-clamp a couple times with really stubborn tires.

Always had good luck with the kickstand trick, tire irons work but can be An epic.
 
Pauley said:
Take a look at the motion pro tire bead breaker. It's a bead breaker and a set a tire irons in one. Comes in aluminum or forged steel. They work great for the garage or for out on the road.
http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/motion-pro-beadpro-forged-steel-tire-bead-breaker
Click to expand...
That's the one I'm most considering buying. I'm very curious how well it would work on my particular tire.

Hopefully the next time I deal with that tire is to get it replaced - and I'll have someone else take it off and install the new tire. :cool
 
Scott, come over, I will break the bead for free, or do the tire change for $1.

no one should hafta suffer like that. PM me for contact info. sorry I don't live closer.
 
I mounted a set of K60s(onto a GS) with my Nomar at home and ho-lee-shit. That tire was ridiculously tough to get on there - they were definitely a different experience than most and not something I would want to do on the trail, hopefully you can find something that will work.

Those motion pro bead breaking irons look like they might just be the ticket.
 
Another Ironbutt disciple, just remember to press the iron against the bead away from the rim bead seat. You wedge the irons against the rim and push the bead seat out of place. It isn't bad once you get it down. Spooning on the tire is another issue. Thankfully no tubes for me.
 
Back in the day. . . .when riders were expected to do all their own stuff whut we usta do wuz put the wheel on the ground next to the center stand, rock the bike away from the tire, kick the tire until the side wall was under the foot of the center stand then rock the bike down on the side wall. Bead broken. BMW actually included a tar iron in da kit, if I recall. Mebee I bought it at Rider's Warehouse, mebee.

Worked great on my airhead R75/5 bimmer.
 
I've been very lucky with flat tires: I've seldom had one. Picked up a nail in the rear tire of my Valkyrie on a solo ride 300 miles from home and after a little effort plugged the leak with a Stop-N-Go plug, ran that tire for another 2,000 miles.

Another time I was in Arnold with a group of friends when one said, "Oh, look!" and pointed at a nail in my KLR's rear tire. I pulled this out; luckily, it had not pierced the tube, I ran that tire for another several thousand miles:

Nail-1.jpg


I removed a similar length screw from a thread block on the rear of my DR650 a couple years ago.

Getting back to your concern breaking the bead on a recalcitrant tire far from home, while I've never had to use this advice, it seems reasonable to me: ride that tire until the bead separates from the rim. Seems simple enough, lots of riders claim to have done this to good effect.

Lex
 
Lex Talionis said:
Getting back to your concern breaking the bead on a recalcitrant tire far from home, while I've never had to use this advice, it seems reasonable to me: ride that tire until the bead separates from the rim. Seems simple enough, lots of riders claim to have done this to good effect.
Click to expand...
I'm not absolutely certain, but there's a good chance that I rode 40 miles on it flat. Based on the size of the nice round hole in the tube, I don't think it had a slow leak.

But that brings up another solution - just ride it out until I can get it to a tire shop that has the equipment to break the bead. As mentioned above, the Heidenau K60 is a different animal when it comes to gripping the rim. :cool
 
:laughing

Two little tire irons and one long one is the way to go. The straight end of the iron is what moves the bead from the rim. Just wedge it in there and start working your way around the rim. Sweating and cussing the entire time, that seems to help. Little by little it'll come off, it's slow going sometimes. Use your knees to press down on the tire.

C
 
Last week I was in Baja and helped a guy with a rear flat on his BMW1200 GSA. We removed the wheel and put it in the ground. He is 250 and I'm 225 lbs. We could not break the bead with both of us standing on the tire right where it meets the wheel while bouncing up and down. Luckily he had a two piece bead breaking tool like the Motion Pro shown in this thread. With that tool, a spray bottle of windex, and stepping on the tire we got it off. It was not easy. We were able to patch the torn sidewall (sharp rock) and stick a DR650 rear tube in it and get him on his way. We were unable to get the bead to seat without the tube and almost burned up his little air compressor trying. If you ride off road, you should carry the bead breaking tool, an appropriate tube and something to cover/patch a big hole and a pump.
 
anytwowilldo said:
If you ride off road, you should carry the bead breaking tool, an appropriate tube and something to cover/patch a big hole and a pump.
Click to expand...
I can patch up to about an inch. Anything bigger would be an issue. I have everything but the bead breaking tool currently, which I only recently realized that I needed. Hence this thread.

Thanks to all for the responses on this. :thumbup
 
ScottRNelson said:
The bike started feeling weird about the time I got there, but I still had to ride about 40 miles back. I was sure it was a front tire issue, because the front was down to the wear bars and a bit unevenly worn. The bike behaved reasonably well up to 50 mph or so but started vibrating and steering weirdly at any faster speed. I made it home still sure it was a front tire issue. That's when I finally felt around the wheel for air escaping and realized that I really did have a punctured rear tire. :facepalm :rant [Where's the smily for feeling incredibly stupid?] :loco
Click to expand...

That's the old motorcycle axiom, if the front tire feels weird, that means the rear tire is going flat.
 
spray the bead w WD40 before and during the process ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top