It's always felt daunting, just like many other maintenance jobs, and
I've heard again and again that it's a pain in the ass. Well the good
news is this: They weren't lying! It is indeed a pain in the ass :)
But it's also something that should get much easier with practice and
I want to know how to do it the hard way before investing in a tire
changing machine down the road. I also reflected on how many times I've changed a bicycle tire and decided that it's really the same thing, just with a bit more muscle required.
To learn the process while I wait for my new tires to arrive I grabbed an old tire I saved from the last change and got to work.
Reflecting on my ignorance
As I was shopping for a new set of motorcycle tires I realized that I
have little to no idea what tires I've had on the bike in the 10 years
I've owned it. The only set I can name are the tires currently on the
bike (50/50 on-road/off-road Dunlop Trailmax Mission tires).
So I went through old photos from the day I got the bike to now,
zooming in to read the writing on tire sidewalls. I've always just
waited for the dealership to tell me I need new tires and then chose
whatever they suggested.
And it's exactly this lack of engagement, knowledge, and intimacy
with my motorcycle that I've been working hard to change over the last
year or so (since around the time of this post).
“Learning to maintain your own vehicle changes something in you. It turns a car from a disposable appliance into something more - a machine you understand and something you’re connected to.”
“Every bolt you turn, every problem you solve, every time you step back and say, ‘I fixed that.’ That’s value you cannot measure in dollars.”
My 2015 BMW F700GS tire history
So, here's what I found from my photographic deep dive:
2015-2017: Michelin Akakee 3
These are the tires that came on the bike when I purchased it new in 2015. They saw me through my first motorcycle road trip to Canada (Boston to Montreal) as well as a motorcycle camping trip in the White Mountains of New Hampshire with my friend Jigger and a 16-day motorcycle trip down South through Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama.
2017-2023: Metzeler Tourance Next
I put these tires on the bike right before my 5,000 mile road trip across the USA. I can't (at least thus far) find any evidence that I had more than one set of these tires. After my cross-country trip I lost interest in motorcycling for a while so wasn't doing much riding each year. I think I made one set of these tires last for 6 years!
Though by the end of another Canadian motorcycle road trip with two good friends in 2023 – this time up to Toronto and around Algonquin Provincial Park – the tires had developed significant flat spots and were more than ready to be replaced.
2023-2024: Dunlop Trailmax Mission
This is the first set of tires that I intentionally researched and decided to put on the bike. And, ironically, it's the first set that I'm not entirely happy with and am now changing out for something else. Hence the desire to finally learn how to change my own tires at home.
While I really like the look of these tires, and they perform great in the limited off-road riding I've done, I'm experiencing a significant instability/wobble issue at highway speeds which is quite unsettling. I've tried many things to solve the problem, but at the end of the day it just seems to be the nature of this tire for some people (or at least on some bikes).
2025-TBD: Metzeler Tourance (the original version, not the Next version)
I just purchased these tires to replace the Dunlop Trailmax Missions. These tires have come stock on several BMW GS motorcycles over the years so should perform well and provide a good balance of on-road performance and mild off-road riding.
I'll be putting my new tire changing skills to the test this weekend when I swap the front and rear out for these Metzeler Tourance tires...
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