Seating a stuck bead
 

I have changed lots of auto , truck and atv tires in the past but this was my first actual motorcycle tire that I have done. The tube part is kind of new( I remember doing bicycle tires as a kid so I remember the do'es and don'ts). I got a container of baby powder(that's what I remember using and hearing being used by some) and sprinkled it all over the tube and inside the tire, I didn't go overboard though, and put everything together, no pinched tube, made sure to line up the stem without force, made sure the tube wasn't twisted.
Anyway got to airing it up(this is a front tire), and went up to 30lbs,played with the beads to try and help seating, then slowly added 5 lbs more and repeat. (the tire says 36psi max) I stopped at 45-50lbs and one area still didn't come up to full seat yet. I even aired down and sprinkled more powder around the beads and put air back in it up to the 48ish lbs and still not fully seated.

Now with car tires I use bead soap and keep adding air till they go, same with atv( only a bit more carefull on how much air). With the tube and aluminum rims I didn't want to use the soap(corrosion and the powder for tube movement), so do I keep adding a few lbs and messaging, then add ect.. till it finally goes or do I need to use a different lube or procedure?
Thanks

Take the wheel off if you can be bothered.

Let all the air out

If you can, break the bean and lube the rim. Tyre soap, diluted washing liquid or even WD40...

Inflate until you hear the 'pops'... If they don't pop (They don't always) then just make sure it's the same all the way round.

If you're still have problems, bouncing the wheel on the ground on the opposite side of the stuck spot can get it moving.


The most important thing is lubrication. Even when using a large hydraulic tyre machine and an industrial compressor, it's hard to get them to seat if you don't lubricate the tyre..

And don't worry about over inflating the tyres.. Most bikes come from the factory with about 60PSI in the wheels from when they've installed the tyres.

Heidenau K60 Scout "popped" at my 2009 small Tenere first by 8 bar...

Sent from my GT-I9100G

I got it now by putting a bit of tire mount soap(the stuff actually made for tires, I've seen some rims after being lubed by dish soap, Corrosion horrible). I didn't originally want to have any liquid in with the powder, but I was able to wipe a soaked rag around the bead area and both sides seated at 50psi.

So I am assuming the powder , used for allowing the tube to move around and not wear a hole, is unnecessary?

I also did my rear tire now also and that one sealed with just a more liberal dose of powder around the bead and inner rim surface.

I had a ATV tire that took almost 75psi to seat( called the mfg of the rim and they sat on the phone while I added so if the rim shattered[carbon fiber] they would replace for free). It went but the tire was more rounded than the other and never did go entirely back to normal shape. That was with lube, but I was told to never use WD-40, do to possible tire slipping so I don't use it.

Now, one bike down, another to go.

Most people don't own tyre soap...

Dish soap has been used by tens of millions of people with no ill effect. I've used it loads of times and it's never corroded any of my rims. No more than others anyway. I suppose that they could contain salts which in an ideal world you would want to avoid but most people just get on with it.

I suggested WD40 as a last resort. However, I've had to use it myself many times when on the road or in a situation where others weren't available.

I've never had a tyre slip after using it and it can help in your situation if you didn't want to remove the wheel etc. I suppose it's possible that the tyre could slip if you run low pressures and didn't give it time to dry out over night.