Hi,

has anyone encountered problems getting radial tyres to seat on BMW cast wheels?

I've spent the morning trying to manually  fit a Battleaxe radial tyre and it won't sit properly. It's impossible to get any air into it to inflate it enough to get it to sit on the rim.

The tyre seems unusually tight and there a several places where it is not making enough contact with the rim and this is making it impossible to inflate.

There is an added problem that there are a couple of dents in the bead of the tyre. I don't know what the origin of this is but it must take some forcing to deform the bead of the tyre. This may be contributing to the leak problem. I should probably have refused to take it. In any case I'll have to take it back now anyway.

Also the tyre tends to buckle in a couple of places, being less rigid than a cross-ply construction. It's the first time I've tried mounting a radial on these bikes so I don't know whether this is also an indication of a problem.

Are radial tyres more difficult to mount on these rims?

Anyone any experience of mounting these radial tyres themselves?

Hi Beamer,

Can you pop up what wheel type [Y spoke, as in 4 spokes or 3 spoke] and tyre code. Some of the guys are experts on these but always ask which wheel and tyre combination.

Either way it needs an air compressor and I suspect inflate well over pressure to get it to seat the bead on the rim.

Looking forward to seeing you on the road soon!

Y-shaped batton rims and Battleaxe T30f

Of course I have a compressor, I'm not trying to mount a tubeless tyre with a foot pump.

I also took it to the local garage thinking his compressor may have a larger air flow and just push it out a bit better. No go. Same problem.

I didn't think it was a foot pump but you answered one of the options as in a bigger garage pump. If you are out of luck and the wheel is ok maybe you might be taking tyre back.....

I haven't ever had that issue as I take the lazy option and down to Lee Honda for tyres and Costa Coffee while I wait. I did enough of fitting tubed tyres years back.

I had to inject 65 psi into a radial the other day. The tyre buckled in two places and had to be de-beaded a coupla times, but with patience, sweat, obligatory cursing and a lot of tyre fitting paste on the bead it finally seated. I did leave the Schrader valve core out of the stem as I was pumping it up - with a professional grade compressor. Funny thing is, I reinstalled the core, aired it up again to give it that last blast to complete the circle, balanced the wheel/tyre combo, mounted the wheel on the bike and went about other business. Out riding a few days later I wondered aloud why the bike tended to wander a bit from side to side. I'd left nearly that much air in it. It's back to 42 psi now.

I have radials on all but two of my bikes and they almost always give me the sh*ts when installing them, even using the tyre mounting machine at work.

Thanks for the reply.

I've already done the cursing bit but it didn't work. Maybe I need to shout louder.

I've just realised I had the exact same tyre already mounted !  Noticed when I got to the tyre shop and checked the size.  I don't remember it giving me grief when I mounted it.

Anyway, the shop gave me another one ( I'd have taken a different tyre but that's all he had. ). 

Now for cold beer before I got and get my steam up again with the hew tyre.

Well it worked. I shouted a bit louder and it's on.

Had to sit on it a bit to stop the leaks but nothing like the hassle I had with the other one. I think it was defective. I don't know what they'd done to it to put those marks in rim of the tyre but I think they were what was letting air past and preventing any pressure from building up.

Few. Just a day wasted.

Suddenly I don't feel so bad about paying €30 to be able to ride the bike into the shop and drink their coffee while they curse and fek and swear like Father Jack over their rosary beads.

Glad to see you got it sorted.

30 euro ?!! I hope the coffee if free.

It's not a case of saving money. For me, an important part of the biking life is about being independent. Not relying on others.

When I'm too old and/or tired to change a tire or do an oil change, I'll stop riding bikes buy an electric mobility scooter.

Here's the one I'd really like, same colour as my BMW !

The tyres are strapped together in a bundle with nylon strapping tape and pulled in very tight to make less space.  The outer tyres of the bundle often get deformed at the bead because high tensile wire is used in the bead. You need a big compressor with a big delivery of air to get them to seat but once they seat they're ok to use and don't give trouble.

Next time you have a problem getting a tire to seat, take a tie down or packing strap and wrap it around the circumference of the tire. Cinch it as tight as you can, but make sure you can release the buckle as the tire inflates. I usually place the buckle near the valve stem with one hand on the buckle release and the other on the tire chuck.
Take the core out of the valve stem because it impedes airflow and make sure you have lots of tire lube around the bead area on both sides.
The strap will force the beads on the tire outward against the rim so when you air it up the air will actually stay in the tire, as opposed to escaping between the bead and the rim.
Be ready to release the strap as soon as the tire starts to inflate.
Wait for the two pops, let it deflate, install the core and air up to spec.

Beamer wrote:30 euro ?!! I hope the coffee if free.

It's not a case of saving money. For me, an important part of the biking life is about being independent. Not relying on others.

When I'm too old and/or tired to change a tire or do an oil change, I'll stop riding bikes buy an electric mobility scooter.

Here's the one I'd really like, same colour as my BMW !

Yes, the coffee [and the tea] is free.....then I was thinking to actually fit my own tyres I would need an endless supply of cable ties, tyre levers, air compressor, feks and more. I did always fit my own tyres and remember it took effort even with tubed tyres. Then it takes time that can be spent wearing them out instead. Funny how they now last longer. I remember tyres only lasting a month.

A second set of Y wheels and in date tyres suddenly is making more sense.

Too old?