Motion Pro bead breaker tyre levers, I am just rubbish?...

[HoboBeemer]

Oh here we go again......

The week started fairly well, the weather has been great, I was off earlier in the week and headed down a few green lanes on the Bimmer, I have done a lot of road riding with a pal of mine this summer and my off road biased tyres have been in the workshop since March, I got looking at the local Ordance survey maps and plotted out a new 60 mile loop covering all my local byways in the hope of getting this loop done before the rubbish weather returns and I can make a mental note of the byways I would be mental to try whilst riding the "Tank" in a tsunami..

So off I go to get the Mitas E10s mounted, and get off the Tourances, would you believe it but my ancient and trusty bead break snapped when I was applying pressure to the rear tyre!!!!, Bugger the weld has failed ...

So off I go and get a pair of expensive and highly touted Motion Pro Alloy tyre lever/bead breaker lever combo, the ones that make changing a tyre look a doddle, the ones that are light weight and a true alternative to having to carry heavy irons in the panniers,...

Well, 30 minutes later, lots of swearing later, and my neighbourgh asking if I was mentally "all there" oh and also nearly losing my right ball when one of the levers pinged back flying across the garden I have admitted defeat.. I cannot get the bead to budge with these levers,.. All that happens is the tyre starts to fold and as more pressure and angle is applied the irons simply end up not being able to maintain any lock on the rim..

I tried leaving the tyre out in the sun, with no effect, I tried using my top quality tyre mounting lube, no difference..

Has anyone actually changed a adventure type tyre with this levers and if so what magic did you use????....

Looks like I will be staying on tarmac for the newt few days at least.............

[OnHellas]

I’ve used one a couple of times in our trip so far.
Continental TKC70 rear tyre on an F800GS rim.
The trick seems to be to get started and move around the rim a bit at a time for maybe 15 cm or so. Then go back to where you started and repeat.
It worked for me and I’ve been described as looking like a cow wearing handcuffs when using tools....??!!??

[HoboBeemer]

I’ve used one a couple of times in our trip so far.
Continental TKC70 rear tyre on an F800GS rim.
The trick seems to be to get started and move around the rim a bit at a time for maybe 15 cm or so. Then go back to where you started and repeat.
It worked for me and I’ve been described as looking like a cow wearing handcuffs when using tools....??!!??

Sadly I cannot even get it started, the tyre is solid on the rim, I attempted to break the bead in 4-5 different places, each time I get to the maximum leverage position and the pry portion of the lever simple cannot grip anymore..

I am certainly not surprised by all this, If I had a pet fish it would drown!!!!!!!!....


Just ordered a new Breaker for the workshop, will keep the levers in my tool roll.

[OnHellas]

My usual technique is to pay someone else to do it.......but at the side of the road needs must.

I’ve found that the Motion Pro thing does need “working in” gradually. To get between the tyre and the rim.

On the plus side....I never thought that I’d see the day that I was giving tool use advice.

[dubber68]

I've used them to swap hiedanau tyres before which are notoriously hard to swap. A said before a bit at a time then going over the same area again worked for me a well. I did use a spray of WD40 into the gap been tyre and wheel as well though.

[garyboy]

i'm not very good at changing tyres .. but possibly take one good lever with you that works on beads? as they are all different. The idea of DW40 or GT85 sounds good, sprayed all around the bead area? ..

Make sure the valve inner is completely out as that small bit of latent air can make a big difference.

I have read of riders using the bike stand as a press on the sidewall .. or standing on the sidewall?



o .. and another trick I read was to flatten the end of the lever slightly with a hammer so it grips

[HoboBeemer]

Well bit of a update,

Maybe I have written these irons off to quickly, just taken the loose wheel a few miles to a friend of mine that is a trackday junky and he has a similar floor mounted bead breaker that I owned that broke... Long story short the bead was a absolute bar-steward to break, it took me standing on the bloody handle with all my weight to get it to pop and that was with copious amounts of lube . I have never had a tyre that was this hard to get off and probably the worst option I could have picked to try a new tool on!!!

There is zero chance that I can see that "I" would have ever got this off with any hand held breaker.

Not going to get out on the bike until next week so I will attack the front tyre with the Motion pros and see what happens. Hopefully they will work as having something like this esp at the weight they are is very appealing.

[HoboBeemer]

i'm not very good at changing tyres .. but possibly take one good lever with you that works on beads? as they are all different. The idea of DW40 or GT85 sounds good, sprayed all around the bead area? ..

Make sure the valve inner is completely out as that small bit of latent air can make a big difference.

I have read of riders using the bike stand as a press on the sidewall .. or standing on the sidewall?



o .. and another trick I read was to flatten the end of the lever slightly with a hammer so it grips

Yeah valve stem was removed, I have used the "side stand" method a few times but I can honestly say I very much doubt that in this case that bloody devil bead of satan would have popped, I used more lube than a Saturday night special also.

I am just going to put it down to a oddity of the motorcycle gods, we all get these little issues from time to time and if nothing else it is something that can be in the back of one's mind when in the middle of nowhere that if you do require tyre removal there is a chance you will not be able to and might get eaten by the locals...


It is Adventure riding after all........

[Hugh]

Greetings,

Using a side stand can sometimes help en route if you have somebody assisting, try rotating the wheel/tyre 50mm at a time working your way around the rim.

However there are times that you just have to admit defeat and for safety sake take the wheel and tyre to a professional tyre fitter. Cheaper than a damaged bike or forever walking like you could never stop a pig in an ally

TTFN

Hugh.

[Magnon]

Ktm side stand is my favoured bead breaker. The only problem is when it’s the KTM bead that needs breaking - then I use a concoction of scaffold poles.

Not had much trouble on the trails as riding a few hundred yards on the flat tends to loosen the bead anyway.