Rabaconda tire changer | GTAMotorcycle.com

Rabaconda tire changer

Gaoler

Gaoler

Well-known member
I've had a No-Mar tire changing set up for a few years... Works great, but takes up some garage space if I leave it set up.
Lately I've been seeing promos of this
"Rabaconda" tool...
'Looks pretty slick... 'Anyone here ever use one.?
Thoughts?

I don't want to overtly advertise so google/YouTube if you haven't seen one
 
@adri is their local ambassador.
He should be able to chime in.
 
Looks pretty slick.
1300 bucks is a lot of tire installs though. A a single bike guy, it's hard to justify.

Still want one though......
 
Soulcatcher668 said:
Looks pretty slick.
1300 bucks is a lot of tire installs though. A a single bike guy, it's hard to justify.

Still want one though......
Click to expand...

Meh, 'can always justify a new tool. Lol
For me, it's all about the convenience of being able to easily change my tires.
I hate having to pull wheels, take them to a shop, hope they can do it while I wait (which never happened), leave my wheels for days some times, drive back to pick them up etc.
'Just my pref.

If the cost is an issue. No reason why a couple of buddies couldn't split the cost and share. The tool looks pretty darn portable.
 
Gaoler said:
Meh, 'can always justify a new tool. Lol
For me, it's all about the convenience of being able to easily change my tires.
I hate having to pull wheels, take them to a shop, hope they can do it while I wait (which never happened), leave my wheels for days some times, drive back to pick them up etc.
'Just my pref.
Click to expand...
Same here. I didn't realize that Pro6 tire changes were so cheap (as low as $20 at the track if you buy their Dunlops), but I still like to mount my own at home to be absolutely sure I've got what I need to make it through the weekend. It's not as big a deal on the street bikes, but the amount of effort to haul the wheels to a shop and back is about the same as just taking the tire changer off the wall and doing it myself.

I'd like to try a Rabaconda, but it would have to be significantly better in some way than my current setup (similar to this) which was literally a tenth of the cost.
 
Nice unit, but for a casual rider like myself...zero chance I'd ever see an actual 'savings' over just getting the tires done at a shop.
 
Ok, I think that Amazon ad that I linked in my previous post might be getting a little ambitious with the gravel hauler in their picture :ROFLMAO:

81LWNWG4FzL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
 
oioioi said:
@adri is their local ambassador.
He should be able to chime in.
Click to expand...

😂

Hahaha. Ok, I'll try to keep this brief: I like mine, with two main caveats.

1) If you have both tubed and tubeless tire motorcycles, you're going to be disappointed. They have one model, the Rabaconda Street Bike Tire Changer which is great for tubeless tires. They make a second model, the Rabaconda dirt bike tire changer, which is great for tubed tires... but the two don't really cross over. I tried, it was a ******* disaster! Rabaconda has a video showing that it's possible, but you can tell in the video the guy is struggling with it, and who knows if he didn't puncture his tube like I did.

2) The price has gone up SUBSTANTIALLY. That means the break even point on number of tire changes is up substantially vs when I got mine. Mine was also even cheaper because I signed up as a dealer account so I paid dealer cost, but now even that has gone up substantially. To be honest, you get more stuff (adapters) now, that I paid for separately... but compared to what a used tire machine (that can do tube and tubeless tires) would cost on kijiji... I don't like the value proposition as much.

TLDR: Overall, they make great products, but each with their specific purpose. I like mine a lot. If even my dumb ass can use it trouble-free, then you know it's good. But I'll never try to use my tubeless version on a tubed tire again, and I think the rising price-point is going to make it make less and less sense for people, which is why I don't bother trying to sell them.

If you want to see a local 165 lb motorcyclist change a tire easy peasy in his safety-Crocs, start watching around 2:10 into the video:

 
Oh yeah, I just remembered a third dislike.

3) You may need special adapters that aren't included. For example, the two bikes I put the most km on are my G650GS and my Vespa GTS250. The G650GS takes a thin axle compared to the average street bike, so that needed a separate adapter. The Vespa uses a single sided swing arm front and rear, so that also needs a separate adapter.

Now, I think the current Street Bike Tire Changer Start Kit includes the right sized axle for the G650GS (it didn't used to)... but I believe for other bikes with single sided swing arms and other bikes with big hubs, you'll still need the big hub adapter separate...

For most people this won't apply but, at least now you know.
 
Ash said:
Same here. I didn't realize that Pro6 tire changes were so cheap (as low as $20 at the track if you buy their Dunlops), but I still like to mount my own at home to be absolutely sure I've got what I need to make it through the weekend. It's not as big a deal on the street bikes, but the amount of effort to haul the wheels to a shop and back is about the same as just taking the tire changer off the wall and doing it myself.

I'd like to try a Rabaconda, but it would have to be significantly better in some way than my current setup (similar to this) which was literally a tenth of the cost.
Click to expand...
Is your set up just a glorified bead breaker? I've started breaking beads with a C clamp. It's a little pokey but works well for the amount I need to do. What is the benefit of that $89 special over just wrangleing with it on the bench? ( I assume it needs to be clamped down??) I change just enough tires that I'm interested in a better set up.
 
adri said:
😂

Hahaha. Ok, I'll try to keep this brief: I like mine, with two main caveats.

1) If you have both tubed and tubeless tire motorcycles, you're going to be disappointed. They have one model, the Rabaconda Street Bike Tire Changer which is great for tubeless tires. They make a second model, the Rabaconda dirt bike tire changer, which is great for tubed tires... but the two don't really cross over. I tried, it was a ******* disaster! Rabaconda has a video showing that it's possible, but you can tell in the video the guy is struggling with it, and who knows if he didn't puncture his tube like I did.
Click to expand...

If you mean this video, it's probably because he's trying to do it with the tube in, as opposed to removing it after the "outer" bead is off, or inserting it after the "inner" bead is on:

You should try a NoMar so you can compare. I'm about the same weight as you and struggled with getting enough leverage to use a NoMar with stiff tires like Dunlops, and usually have to get another person to help muscle the lever all the way around. Everything I see about the Rabaconda indicates it addresses that issue, specifically the downward acting lever (so you can use gravity and what little weight we have to our advantage, rather than relying on traction and leg/upper body strength) and ratcheting action (which keeps the duck head from backing off when you let off ).
 
Yeah you can see around 4:23 that thing is giving him resistance. Might just be because he didn't use any lube for dismount for some reason :\

I tried to do it like he did, around 6:30 in the video, putting the tube in and going from there... I must have pinched the tube a few times as I was trying to ratchet around because we found 3 pin holes by the time I was done with it.

The tire I put on in my video is a Dunlop GPR 300. Not sure if that would be considered a stiff tire or not.
 
timtune said:
Is your set up just a glorified bead breaker? I've started breaking beads with a C clamp. It's a little pokey but works well for the amount I need to do. What is the benefit of that $89 special over just wrangleing with it on the bench? ( I assume it needs to be clamped down??) I change just enough tires that I'm interested in a better set up.
Click to expand...
Yup, the arm is just a bead breaker. I still use a big C-clamp for bead breaking when I'm changing tires at the track, since the stand is too bulky to fit in my car. The bead breaker/stand is somewhat faster and easier than screwing and unscrewing the C-clamp multiple times around the rim, but it's not a huge deal either way. I've removed the T-bar from my C-clamp and filed down the head of the screw shaft into a hex shape so that I can use a ratcheting wrench on it. I also have a little bracket for the C-clamp on the trailer deck so I don't need three hands to hold it vertical or worry about the screw shaft gouging the rim when breaking the bead.

When it comes to mounting or unmounting the tire, bolting the wheel down to an immovable surface makes a noticeable difference in effort. You can then focus on your technique rather than fighting to hold the wheel in place while you're hauling on the tire irons. At the track I just use a threaded rod, washers, and wingnuts through the hub of the wheel and the trailer deck to hold everything in place. The rim is supported by three chunks of 2x2 screwed to the trailer deck so the brake discs don't touch anything. At home I use the bead breaker/stand in the same way; the threaded rod goes through the wheel hub, the center of the stand, and a hole in the workbench top. A couple of bench dogs also keep the stand from rotating.
 
Ash said:
Yup, the arm is just a bead breaker. I still use a big C-clamp for bead breaking when I'm changing tires at the track, since the stand is too bulky to fit in my car. The bead breaker/stand is somewhat faster and easier than screwing and unscrewing the C-clamp multiple times around the rim, but it's not a huge deal either way. I've removed the T-bar from my C-clamp and filed down the head of the screw shaft into a hex shape so that I can use a ratcheting wrench on it. I also have a little bracket for the C-clamp on the trailer deck so I don't need three hands to hold it vertical or worry about the screw shaft gouging the rim when breaking the bead.

When it comes to mounting or unmounting the tire, bolting the wheel down to an immovable surface makes a noticeable difference in effort. You can then focus on your technique rather than fighting to hold the wheel in place while you're hauling on the tire irons. At the track I just use a threaded rod, washers, and wingnuts through the hub of the wheel and the trailer deck to hold everything in place. The rim is supported by three chunks of 2x2 screwed to the trailer deck so the brake discs don't touch anything. At home I use the bead breaker/stand in the same way; the threaded rod goes through the wheel hub, the center of the stand, and a hole in the workbench top. A couple of bench dogs also keep the stand from rotating.
Click to expand...
It feels like all of these would be well served by allowing attachment to a trailer hitch. Almost 100% of their clients will have a hitch and that provides a lot of mass and stability when connected.
 
GreyGhost said:
It feels like all of these would be well served by allowing attachment to a trailer hitch. Almost 100% of their clients will have a hitch and that provides a lot of mass and stability when connected.
Click to expand...
Agreed. But that doesn't make it as portable as their current advertising.
 
oioioi said:
Agreed. But that doesn't make it as portable as their current advertising.
Click to expand...
I would keep the existing design but sell an arm that goes into the hitch and grabs somewhere to provide stability. That allows for portability, stability when required, accomodating different hitch heights, etc. You could probably make your own. In my head it is a piece of tubing, a c-channel and a pin. I'd need to touch and use one to come up with a design I liked.
 
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