I want to do some green laning, so I need some more off-road focussed tyres. I currently have Avon RoadRunner AM26 tyres. I managed to pickup a set of wheels cheap off Facebook Marketplace and bought a pair of Continental TKC80 tyres off eBay. As they are unknown wheels, I thought it best to change the inner tubes and wheel bearings at the same time.
I put them old tyres in the sun to heat them up. This will make them a bit more pliable and slightly easier to remove.
Cheap tyre levers (they are rubbish for these tyres, don't buy them for this job) on the top, and good tyre levers on the bottom. I don't have a wheel stand, so I'm using a folding workbench for this. You can do this on the floor, but you will risk getting dirt inside your tyres (if you do it on the grass) or scratching your rims (if you do it on the drive). It's also much more comfortable working at this heigh instead of on the ground.
Valve core tool. Remove the valve core and let all the air out.
Use the bead breaker to push the bead off the lip of the rim. (I had to remove the other lever to take the photo - the two levers interlock to create the bead breaker, like a pair of pliers).
Lever off the tyre on one side.
Keep going. Make sure to push the tyre opposite where you're levering it off into the center of the rim. This gives more free slack on the tyre, allowing it to move over more where you're lifting it up.
Once you are all the way round on one side of the tyre, remove the inner tube.
Next start to get the other side of the tyre off.
Once you have it off enough you can pull the wheel out of the tyre without the levers.
I could have done this before, but I took the opportunity to clean the hub now.
Looks new! (The hub, not the sprocket, that will be replaced later).
Rest of the hub is nice and clean too.
New tyre and inner tube. I have since bought a tub of tyre soap, but at the time I didn't have any so I used a little bit of washing up liquid. (Editors note - washing up liquid probably isn't the best for this as it has a LOT of salt in it so will rust the wheel, but it's better than nothing).
Got one side of the tyre on. The workmate helps keep everything at the right level, but you could do this on the floor if you put a mat down to prevent scratching up your wheel.
Double checking I have the right orientation. (Direction marker on the wheel and tyre are pointing in the same direction).
Install the new tube. Make sure to go round the tyre and push it all the way in before going to the next step. You DO NOT want to pinch the tube between the lever and the rim, as you will puncture it. I find it easier to get the tube to stay in place by inflating it (very slightly).
Get the second side of the tyre on, making sure not to pinch the tube.
Triple check it's still the right direction and not magically flipped round on you.
Inflate the tyre.
Repeat a second time.
Wheel balancing. Some people don't do this, I do. Put the tyre in the stand and give it a spin. I can feel the bearing is a little crunchy, so will change them later too.
When the tyre stop spinning, place a marker on the tyre at the top most part. Repeat a couple more times. The average of the markers is the lightest weight point of the wheel and tyre combined. The heaviest point falls to the bottom, so the top is therefore the lightest point - this is where weight is needed.
Guess at an amount of weight to add and tape it to the wheel. Rotate the wheel so that point is at 9 o'clock (or 3 o'clock if you're weird) and let go of the tyre. If the weight drops (wheel turns to put the weights at the bottom) then you've added too much weight. If it rises (turns so the weight is at the top) then the weight you've added isn't enough. Adjust the weight and keep retesting. When you get it so the wheel doesn't move when you let go (with the weight at 9 o'clock, or 3 o'clock) then you're good. If you don't have the right combination of weights (or it's in between the sizes you do have, aim to get the wheel to turn very slowly when you let go, and ideally be on the light side).
How I was attaching the weight during testing.
And properly stuck down. Some people like to put duct tape over the top of their weight. I don't. I've never had one come off.
Time to fix that bearing. This one was very tight and there was no room in the hub to move the spacer over and punch it out from the otherside, so I bought a cheap blind bearing extractor from eBay. It worked well.
Once one was removed, I could remove the spacer and drift the other bearing out without problem.
New good quality bearings and seals.
Make sure the hub is clean where the bearing will be pressed (well, hammered) in. You do not want any dirt or debris in there. I also grease the outside of the bearing a little to prevent the hub galling as it's being installed.
Bearing installed (I used a cheap universal bearing and seal install kit I bought from eBay).
I replaced the bearings and seals on both wheels. Ready to go on the bike.
I use a trail jack to get the rear wheel off the bike ready to swap for the new one.
Whilst I have the rear wheel off (and the chain adjusters out) I want to get some cavity wax inside the swing arm. These bikes are known for the swingarm to rust out from the inside.
I own a Land Rover Series 3, so I have several cans of Waxoyl.
I found these applicators on eBay when I couldn't find the Waxoyl applicator kit. They seemed to fit and work fine, and were slightly cheaper.
The middle length one is more than long enough to reach down inside the swing arm, so I give it a good coating on the inside, on both sides of the fork.
Whilst I have the rear wheel off, I clean all the hardware. It's very important the axle is cleaned and then greased before reuse. Axels seizing into the wheel is a common problem on motorbikes in general, but especially on off-road ones that are likely to go through deep puddles, so a good clean followed by fresh grease helps prevent that in the future.
I use anti-corrosion and waterproof grease called "corrosion block".
The new wheel and tyre go on the bike, all the hardware is refitted. I will adjust the chain slack and torque the axle later.
Front wheel off.
Less hardware from the front end, which is also cleaned and the axle then regreased.
Front wheel on. With the bike back on the ground, I set the chain slack and torque the axle nuts. Don't try to do this with the bike jacked up, there needs to be weight on the wheels when you do this or the slack will be wrong.
Test ride. Most important step. Enjoy. :)
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