I took a tall plastic bucket, bolted it to a piece of plywood, bolted the piece of plywood to the floor of the garage, ringed the rim of the bucket with a piece of swim noodle..sliced long ways(soft pipe foam insulation would do also), put all my tire tools and supplies in the bucket for storage...called it done! The foam really helps hold the wheel securely and protects the spokes in the process. I've used it four times and it works as well as any $100 + stand...at no cost to me, plus the right tools and supplies are there all the time.



The buckets are what painters use and discard on new houses or can be bought from HomeDepot along with the insualtion and plywood for a minimal price.



It has been a big help for me when changing tires on the dirt bikes without me breaking my back or slipping around. I haven't had to balance the knobbies. I may have been just lucky...don't know. My DRZ doesn't have a rim lock and I made sure I aligned the orange dot on the tire with the stem when I installed the D606's. The others were on strickly off road models which don't warrant balancing.





So, all you DIY'ers, there's one way (my way) to "git 'er dun". YouTube has been a great resource for how do things, also!!





Just thought I'd share while suffering through this long, wet, cold Winter.

So when can you bring your customized tire bucket by my house to change my tires???
Does it work for truck tires? (Ha!)

Thanks

Yeah.....now if I could only figure our how to change a tire without killing myself in the process. Those guys on youtube make it look easy. WHen I change a tire, it's nowhere close to as easy as they make it look . . . . .

The trick for me is not killing the tube, i am pretty quick at changing but still every now and then pinch a tube.

lots of lube

small bites with three long stout irons.

lots of lube

A do-hickey called: Tire Bead Holder - Stops the tire from coming back off as you work it on the rim...man, that'll piss you off when you think your getting there only to look back at that!!

I ordered one of those bead buddy things. I sure hope it helps. I hate having to pay for tire changes. Money down the drain. I' gunna lube it up good next time....did I just say that?