I just finished putting ME880s on my '03 BMW K1200LTC. Although the NoMar Bar was good at demounting, it wasn't very useful for the mount portion - this is odd because when I used Avons on the same bike, there wasn't very much difficulty using the bar. I attribute this to the Metzlers being 'the tire of iron' and significantly stiffer. I have watched the GL1800 tire change video several times and it makes me sick to see how easy it was with the SpoonBars! ;-) In your opinion, are a few SpoonBars better for this tire/wheel combination? If so, would 2 21" and 1 16" be adequate? BTW - I use the Harbor Freight setup... :( Thanks Shawn '03 BMW K1200LTC
Shawn, We do NOT recommend using the SpoonBars for Sport and Sport Touring style tires. You may bend the bars or Tear your tire. There is generally not enough room for them to fit with the close tire to wheel tolerance. Your LT wheel should have been fairly easy with our Mount Demount Bar on installation. Using the Lubes "Exactly" as we show in our videos and making sure that you have the "Handle" attached to the Mount/Demount bar "Exactly" as we show it's placement, are critical for this to work flawlessly. Using the Bar body technique "exactly" as we show will put your tires on quite easily unless you don't weigh very much. Then a little bouncing with your left hand on the tire will get it down into the Drop Center enough as you push the bar around with your hip and pull the handle with your right hand. Maybe wedging a few small wood blocks in between the tire and rim where your left hand is holding the tire down could be helpful for you. Your tires may seem stiff to you but they are nothing like Dunlop Elite III 60's which we designed the spoonbars for and show with the GL 1800 rear wheel. It is much like a Run Flat type tire. You can't tell if there is air in the tire after the bead is seated unless you put a gauge on it. If you see us at an event or rally in the future. Stop by and we will do some Hands-On with you with your techniques. It will be worth your 2 minutes. Have a safe season.