Today, I discovered something that I will never again attempt to do in my garage with only basic hand tools.

I bought a new set of Kenda Klaw XC tires for the 250R, and planned to dismount the old (original) tires and mount the new ones at home using my trusty tire iron. I figured I'd be able to break the beads by hand, get the new tires on the wheels with the tire iron, and seat the beads using my air compressor. Sounds simple, right?

It took me hours to get past step one. Apparently the beads on ATV tires are more like car tires than bicycle tires. As in, steel reinforced. The original DID wheels on my 250R also have these little bead lips on the inside that hold even a completely deflated tire on the wheel with a grip to rival Superman. Nothing I did would dislodge the beads. I jumped up and down, I pried, I hammered. Eventually I worked out a somewhat functional system where I'd cut the tire off with a razor knife and then grind the steel bands in the bead of the tire in half using a die grinder with a carbide bit. This method, while a total pain in the ass, actually worked and didn't damage or mar the wheels at all. 3 hours in, I had both new rear tires mounted.

Then it started to rain. Did I mention that the excessive number of dismantled cars in my garage required me to work in the driveway?

I pulled off the right front wheel/tire, did my knife and grinder dance to get the old tire off, and spent a good 30 minutes getting the new tire on the wheel. The front tires are pretty narrow and just want to collapse when you're trying to seat them. After finally getting the tire on the wheel, that turned out to be a fairly major problem. There's no way I'd ever get the beads seated without one of those inflatable donut things, because there's no way to get even the slightest seal with the damned tire flopping around on the wheel.

Then it started to pour, so I gave up. Tomorrow I'll take the front tires/wheels into a shop and let someone else deal with it. Elapsed time, around 4 hours for 2 1/2 tires. Never again.