+1. It's possible to change a rear tyre with the short Metzeler-type tyre lever by the roadside, as Pleiades said. Not easy, but possible.

At the time I didn't realise the Tenere has a 'safety' rim. It didn't take too bl++dy long to find out.

+ 1000 for the centrestand!

Thanks to this thread, i managed to get the rear tyre off, with the greatest of difficulty. Then while i was putting the dunlop 605 tyre on, i ripped the bead on it. Now i have to find the time to cut the tyre off.
What i don't understand is why this tyre was so difficult to get on compared to other tyres. I was using all of my relatively considerable power, bending the spoons. With other tyres i was always surprised how easy it was. Is the tenere rim a big size? I was seriously thinking of getting an excel 18 inch wheel, now i am decided. Any one know of a reputable cheap seller

Hi guys, I live and ride in Colombia my xt660z. Tons of lost trails and plains and jungle ridding. When having a flat, and not help around, I use the side stand or the central stand of my tenere for breaking beds. Of course you have to muscle up the bike and be careful not to damage the rims, but I get the job Done in case there is no other choice. Tenere total 200 kilos or so helps to break beds.

I do have the motion pro bed breakers, and 3 sets of levers. The motion pro bed breakers are pretty but honestly it is no good idea to bring more weight than necessary, because I normally break beds with the levers and the bike. So I always leave them behind. The levers I have are 2 standard and the third is very wrench I have to loosen the 22 mm nut of the rear tire. Finally I had made a special nut with a 30 mm long # 14 alen bit with a 22 mm nut stuck to it for axle removal with one wrench.

I hope this helps.

Been there mate! Ripped the bead putting a new K60 on the rear in the summer .

It'd been a while since I changed a tyre and afterwards realised I'd forgotten a key technique when putting the tyre back on and that had caused me to knacker the bead (that and I should have realised something was wrong when it was getting tough!) - the reason I didn't stop before ripping the bead was I was so close to getting it over the rim and had read they were hard to put on .

I had forgotten to keep pressure with my knee/foot on the opposite side making sure the bead was being pushed towards the centre of the rim.

I had to buy another K60 and fit it. This time it went on fine.

Well, at least I learnt a valuable lesson and it only cost me 80 quid!

__________________
XT660Z

AltecH Wheels
Wheel building and refurbishment, UK wide
AltecH Designs
XT660 Radiator guards, sprocket guards, luggage racks, DNA air filter covers

Picked up three nails in my rear Mitas EO9 Dakar recently. Warmish day and the tyre was quite hot, but none the less still took 2 solid hours to change out the tube, mainly due to the inability to crack the bead from the rim.

Fortunately for me, my mate on a KTM 990 stopped to lend assistance, and we used his side stand, and the full weight of the Kato without success, until eventually he remembered he had a small bottle of lens cleaner (Water & Detergent mix) in his backpack. We squirted this around the edge of the rim and flexed the tyre to allow the liquid to run between the rim and the tyre, and hey presto...off she popped.

I only had a 21" tube available to get me home, and changed this out using a machine shown earlier in this thread without any problems.

I am seriously considering the viability of using EO9 Dakar's, on any trips when I will be riding alone. There is no way I could hope to break the bead without assistance.

Yep, that Mitas E09 was a b*$tard to get off the rear. I ended up using a g-cramp to break the bead (and half a bottle of aldis finest window cleaner!)

__________________
XT660Z

AltecH Wheels
Wheel building and refurbishment, UK wide
AltecH Designs
XT660 Radiator guards, sprocket guards, luggage racks, DNA air filter covers

I took off the original tyre last week, it was the original one that Yamaha put on (can't remember, Dunlop??) it had been on a full two years and was a complete and total B*&^%RD to get off.

I used plenty of lube (window cleaner and soapy water mixed) and levered it down using the end of the tyre irons that are more angled, the end you don't use to get the tyre on.

The TKC80 went on a piece of pi$$, it was warm as I left it sitting in the sun, that may have helped....