No More Tire Changes!

[F6Dave]

Not using my old Harbor Freight tire changer. I got that about 25 years ago after buying my first Valkyrie. It was an improvement over kneeling on the garage floor using tire irons, which was nearly impossible with stiff Valkyrie (and Goldwing) tires. Over the years I learned to use wood blocks and zip ties to keep the tire beads in the wheel's drop center, but it was still a brutal job that generated swearing and scratched rims.

Then last year I heard about Rabaconda. It was very expensive, but the reviews were so good that I bought myself one for Christmas. I opened it to make sure all the parts were there, then put it in a corner near the Christmas tree. After the tree came down it sat there for another 6 months, until last week when I pulled the rear wheel off my '99 Valkyrie.

The reviews were wrong: changing a tire with this tool is even easier than it looks in the videos. To begin I'll mention two very minor issues. The bead breaker arm isn't as long as on the HF, and requires a lot of force. However I quickly learned to break the bead in two places a few inches apart, reducing the effort.

The other issue is the stopper pin. It inserts into holes in the tool's frame to keep the wheel from rotating while ratcheting the duck head around the rim. It doesn't quite line up with the openings in the Valk's rear wheel. However a strap is supplied for spoked wheels that serves the same function.

Rabaconda sells bead grease but I found some in an auto parts store that appears to be the same stuff. An old toothbrush works well to apply it. It's better than the liquid tire lube I used to use, and far better than soapy water. The 8 pound tub I bought should last forever.

Removing the old tire was ridiculously easy and only took a few minutes. But I figured mounting would be the hard part, especially the last 25% of the second bead. To my surprise mounting required only slightly more effort than dismounting, and before I knew it a new tire was on the rim.

When I went to the garage to inflate it I saw something I never saw before: the rotation arrow was mounted backwards! I've mounted over 100 tires and never did this before. After thinking about it for a few seconds I thought 'Great, now I can practice mounting tires some more!' A few minutes later the tire was remounted correctly.

I found one more benefit to the Rabaconda when inflating the tire. When mounting with tire irons I often deformed the bead when it got tight near the end of the job. That made it more difficult to seat the bead. The duck head stretches the bead more evenly so there are fewer gaps between the bead and rim. When I inflated it the bead sealed instantly, needing less pressure as the compressor tank wasn't even full yet. I think the bead grease helped too.

I'm amazed at how well this works. I should have bought it long ago.

[scooperhsd]

Now that's an endorsement for a tool - you actually are pleased you have to practice with it some more  !