Well as luck would have it, FedEx delivered my No Mar tire changer Friday. And on top of that my tires came in Saturday afternoon. My tire changing experience is all spoons, so this is a big step up for me. I wanted to respect my bikes too by not throwing all sorts of pry bars into the rim, in hopes of getting a tire off.
First of all if you have ever been to most any AMA event, the folks at No Mar usually are there too. That is where I first saw them. Watching them mount tires like some people shuck oysters seemed too good to be true. Well last year at Barber I had arrived on practice day (Thursday) with my go anywhere credentials, I had time to speak to them as they were setting up. Nice folks, plain and simple. And getting a close up one on one show of how it worked sealed the deal for me. It was just a matter of money.
I bought the Junior model and instead of the floor mount, purchased the receiver hitch adapter. After all it’s not like I need to lose anymore floor space. Along with it I added the static wheel balancer and a large cone set (yet to be delivered) so that it will balance SSS monster rims.
I know you all like pictures, so I took a few and added descriptions on my Flickr page.
So how much did it cost? A little over $700. Was it worth it? Hell Yes!!! Tire changes only suck if you have to go by someone elses schedule. Not to mention you have to drop your rims off or the bike itself. And probably the biggest thing is being able to keep aware of what is going on with your parts. You get to spend your time when you want to. It weighs about 65 pounds and can be disassembled easily. Three bolts hold the mounter to the hitch adapter. Four set screws hold the vertical tube to the main assembly. It would be a perfect thing to have for track days if you were wanting to use up a tire prior to mounting fresh-eeze or in the chance that you had a flat.
My only hiccup was that on the initial demount, I should have lifted the tire as I lowered the bar. I sorta bent the nylon, No-Mar, tip. It didn’t break and No-Mar supplies spares with the unit. The other thing was I could not get the bead to set since I don’t have a compressor, so I had to run over to a friends house and do that. A compressor has been on the list of things to get.
Here is the linkage:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32154204@N07/sets/72157614313074528/
