MotoReview- Rabaconda Tire Machine

MotoReview- 

Rabaconda Tire Machine

Greetings MotoReaders! Are you ready for another MotoReview? I sure hope so, because today, I'm talking about the Rabaconda Tire Machine. I'm sure you've seen their ads on social media and on a variety of websites, and if you've seen their video ads, you must be wondering... is it really that easy to change a tire using this thing and, more importantly, is it worth the price? 

Background

Now, I've been working on my own motorcycles for several years now, and I do just about everything from basic maintenance, to upgrades, to mechanical repairs, to electronic diagnostics and repairs. The one, pretty basic, thing that I wasn't able to do though, was tire changes, and that just didn't sit right with me. Don't get me wrong, on small motorcycle tires, like what's on the Janus or Twinstar, I could easily do those with some tire irons, but if you've ever tried to change a stiff sidewall touring bike tire with irons, you know that it's worth the money to bring it to a shop. Bringing my wheels to a shop has always been a point of contention for me, though. I'd have to get the wheel off the bike, load it in the truck, drive for almost an hour to get to my closest shop, then wait for them to get around to mounting and balancing the new tire, or tires, which usually had me waiting for a couple of hours. Then, after paying the shop anywhere between $50 and $100 bucks, I'd have to drive all the way back home to put the bike back together. The worst part is the time wasted, the second worst part is the money. Not to mention, most shops have now started refusing to mount and balance walk-ins... meaning, they want you to bring your bike in so they can do the whole job. They say that it's a safety issue, that they want to be able to guarantee that the wheels are put back on the motorcycle correctly, but the real reason is, they can only charge about a half hour on a walk-in tire change, but to remove it from the bike, the job rate goes up significantly. Enter the Rabaconda.

The "Ultimate Kit"

First of all, tire machines aren't cheap, so when I decided to actually buy one last year, I gave a lot of thought to how I would, or could, use it. When I looked at all the options, I had to look at this as an investment that should be able to pay for itself over a reasonable period of time. Certain considerations were: the overall cost of the machine compared to my personal savings; the ability to pay for itself; the time saved by using it; and of course, the overall quality, craftsmanship and customer support of whatever machine that I chose.

After looking at several options, I decided to go with the Rabaconda "Ultimate Kit." Now, I also added their Balancer Kit to my order, as well... even though they offered the machine and balancer in a seperate kit. The reason why I did it this way, is because I knew that I was going to be working on other people's motorcycles, as well as my own. The "Ultimate Kit" came with several more pieces that allowed it to accommodate a variety of wheels. If I was only going to be working on my own motorcycles, I would have chosen the lesser expensive option.

My Investment

As I said, I bought the "Ultimate Kit" in July 2025. By adding the "Balancer Kit", I paid just under $1,200 for everything. So, what did I get for my money? The "Ultimate Kit" consisted of the following:

• Street Bike Tire Changer
• Drop Center Tools (2)
• Two spindles- standard and 15 mm
• Wheel support riser brackets
• A tub of bead grease mounting lube with brush
• BMW shaft drive adapter
• Duck Head Kit for croass-spoked wheels
• Universal Big Hub Adapter
• 16" tire iron with plastic protector sleeve

The "Balancer Kit" consisted of:

• Wheel balancer
• Wall mount bracket 
• Wheel weight remover knife
• Two allen keys-one to assemble balancer and one to adjust the axle/balance shaft
• User manual (for the nerds)

Both kits come with their own storage/ carrying bags, if you might be inclined to take it with you somewhere, like a track event, for example.

The Value

The word "value" is defined by Merriam-Webster as "the amount of money that something is worth." So, how do we determine what something is worth? Well, I'm sure that everyone uses their own metrics here, but for me, I use a complicated algebraic formula, and if you know me at all, you know that is absolutely not true! No, no formulas for the ole MotoWriter, instead, I use my gut instincts. I determine value by how much time, money and effort I save by doing it myself. I also look at the overall convenience of having a set-up like this in my own garage, so when I do have someone bring their bike to me for some work to be done, I don't have to send them somewhere else for tire work. 

As I mentioned before, I'm almost an hour from my closest Harley-Davidson dealership. There's a couple of independent shops that are a little closer, but not much, so by keeping my tire work in-house, I save the most valuable resource I have- my time. As for the monetary value, I do get a little more analytical. For example, if a shop charges say, $50 per wheel for a walk-in mount and balance- that's me bringing my wheel and new tire to them, I'll drive a little more than 70 miles, there and back, with gas prices being about $4 a gallon. My old truck gets around 25 miles per gallon, so I'll have another $10 or so in fuel cost. So, for example, one tire mounted and balanced will cost me a minimum of $60 and no less than three hours of my life. That's for one tire. If I bring two tires, I don't use any more fuel, but the price of the service doubles to $120, and it's going to take even more of my time. 

For my own personal investment, I would need to do about 20 tire changes on my own motorcycles to justify my $1,200 purchase from Rabaconda. It would take decades for me to make up for what I spent, if I was only looking at the money. So what's my time worth? A lot, actually. But even with the time I'd save by having this set-up in my garage, I'd still need to do a lot more tire changes than I do, for me to feel better about such a costly tool. So, where I'm able to offset that investment a bit, is by working on other peoples bikes, helping them out and every so often, making a few bucks for my troubles. 

What Can It Do?

I can only speak to what I've done so far, but I have mounted tires on 16", 17" and 19" spoked, tube-type tires and 16", 17" and 19" tubeless mag wheels. I've changed tire widths as narrow as 130 mm, up to 180 mm and the machine handled them well. Obviously, there's a little more work to do on the tube-type tires, as you have to be extremely careful not to pinch the tube during installation, and you have to make sure the tube doesn't slip when you're lining everything up, but overall, the machine works as you'd expect. It takes some effort, but once you figure out how to do it, you should be able to change just about any common motorcycle tire using the Rabaconda. Is it as easy as an electric or hydraulic machine- no. You have to put a little muscle into it, but because the Rabaconda machine holds the wheel securely, has a ratcheting bead setter and a long handle for the bead breaker, it makes the job of changing a tire, tremendously, easier. The bead grease they provide makes mounting the new tires a lot easier, and you can use it to remove the old tire, but a spray bottle of soapy water works just as well for removal.

The Rabaconda is very well made, but it's not indestructible. In my time with it, I've bent the main spindle (it unscrews from the machine so it can be replaced easily); the little plastic end caps tend to pop out of the tubing, even though they are riveted in place; the rubber/silicone grip on the bead breaker handle slowly slips off during use; and I just recently had a clamp screw fail. Some of that could be caused by operator error, but for the price of this machine, it needs to be able to hold up against even the dumbest, clumsiest, meatheaded doofus... whoever that might be. That said though... Rabaconda's full lifetime warranty and their customer service is outstanding. I merely had to contact them, tell them what my issue was, and within a few days, the new replacement part was at my door- no questions asked. They firmly stand behind their product and that speaks volumes about this company.

Balance Is Everything

Let's talk about the balancer, really quickly. A lot of you may be thinking, "I could just use balance beads instead of buying a balancer" and to that I say, sure, you can do that. You can do a lot of things to save money, and I'm sure that most of that stuff will be okay. Balance beads are okay, but in my opinion (based on my own experiences), they are just okay. For a truly balanced tire, you need actual weights. Some people in the balance beads corner might be feeling some tension in their necks right now, and to them, I say- calm down and let me explain.

Balance beads are typically made of glass, ceramic or steel and are generally best for large, oversized tires. Because they sit in a pool inside your tire, you don't get any balancing affect until the centrifugal force of the tire spinning forces them to their respective "balance points." This means at low speeds- you don't have much, if any, balance, but on large, oversized tires (such as you might find on a 4x4), you won't notice this because the tires themselves will absorb much of the low-speed vibrations. On a motorcycle, however, with much smaller tires and much stiffer sidewalls, the imbalance at lower speeds will be a lot more noticeable. Because the beads dynamically adjust to the conditions, beads are best for Adventure bikes and are okay for some larger cruisers and touring bikes. Weights, by comparison, provide a precise and immediate balance which is best for any kind of performance machine. I don't know about you, but I consider my motorcycles to be performance machines, so I don't run balance beads, just like I don't use a car tire as a rear tire. Just because you can, it doesn't mean you should.

The Rabaconda balancer comes with everything you need, except the weights, although they do sell those now. Since adhesive weights are, for the most part, disposable, I picked up a couple of boxes from Amazon- silver and black, to match most wheels I'd be working on. I'd also recommend getting a roll of masking tape and a level (if you don't already have one). The level will help you set up the balancer nice and level before you hang the wheel, and the tape will hold the weights in place before mounting them, as you determine how much weight you need. 

Balancing the tires is both easy, and oddly satisfying. Once I got it figured out, and I was able to get my technique dialed in, I must say that it might just be my favorite part of the whole job. The Rabaconda balancer is what is referred to as a "static" balancer. That is because it uses gravity on a static wheel, or in other words- a wheel that is not in motion- to indicate the imbalance. Basically, the wheel rides on a perfectly straight and centered axle shaft, which rides on perfectly smooth bearings, and when the wheel is static, gravity will pull the heaviest part of the wheel to the bottom. Then, you just need to add the appropriate amount of weight to the opposite side of the wheel to offset the heavy side, or... you guessed it- balance it out. 

There are other static balancers out there- many of which are much cheaper than the Rabaconda. I've never tried any of them, but I can tell you that after seeing the quality of the bearings, metals, machining and tooling of the Rabaconda balancer, I can't imagine that any of those cheaper options would even come close to the same quality. A balancer, by the very nature of what it does, must be a precision made tool, so if you do look at those other options for your own shop, I'd recommend that you take a very skeptical look at the materials it's made of and the quality and precision of how it's made. The Rabaconda might be a little overpriced, I'll admit... but as I've said enough times that it could be a slogan- "cheap stuff isn't good and good stuff isn't cheap."

Pros, Cons And Recommended Add-Ons

For those of you that skipped ahead and only came here for the pros and cons, shame on you for missing out on the best parts of the blog... but here you go:

Pros- convenience, relatively easy to use (once you figure it out- instructions are for virgins), cost-savings after you do enough tire changes, quality of the machine and Rabaconda's customer service.

Cons- expensive- but will pay for itself after enough tire changes and balancing, a little awkward to use, small details could be better (plastic end caps on tubing comes off and the rubber/silicone grip on the handle slips and works itself off during normal use).

Add-Ons- In my opinion, if you are looking for a tire changer, go ahead and spring for the balancer, too. After all, if you're going to take the time to mount your own tires, why the heck wouldn't you want to balance them too? Get a box of wheel weights, a roll of masking tape and a level if you don't already have one. You can get a spray bottle from your local dollar store for next to nothing, so get one of those and fill it with soapy water to make tire removals a bit easier. You'll also need a valve stem core removal tool, for removing the valve stem core before breaking the bead. It's an inexpensive tool that you can get just about anywhere that sells bicycle tube patch kits. One other thing I didn't mention before- setting the bead can be tricky on certain tires (I'm looking at you, Harley-Davidson pre-2009 Touring models). One trick that helps, if you don't have a bead blaster, which is basically a tool that forces a high volume of air into the tire at an explosive speed, in order to get the beads sealed, then you can use a ratchet strap wrapped around the circumference of the tire to help "squish" the sidewalls out enough to get the air into the tire. This is a pain in the butt, though... so if you're going to do enough tire changes to justify it, get yourself a bead blaster. 

Final Thoughts

It took me a few months of having my Rabaconda before I really put it to use. Once I did, though, I've used it quite a lot. I've done at least 12 tires so far, and it gets easier each time I do it. Technique is key, patience helps. Personally, I value my time above all other things. It's the one thing that we have a finite amount of. If we're lucky, we get 70-75 good years in this world. No matter how much money we earn, save, borrow or steal, we can't buy more time. We have as much as God gives us, and only He knows how much that actually is. So, when it comes to saving, I choose to save my time over my money. With that said, I do understand that it takes some money to be able to make the best use of time, hence the "investment" concept. I chose to invest in the Rabaconda, because I knew how much time I've spent driving to shops and waiting for someone to do something for me, that with the right tools at my disposal, I could do for myself. I also had a reasonable idea of how much time I would spend, if I didn't make this investment. 

For me, the Rabaconda tire machine and balancer was a good investment. For the amount of money that I've saved myself, my son, and my friends, as well as the couple of hundred bucks that I've made with it, it has almost paid for itself in the first year. It might not do that for you, so you'll have to figure that out for yourself based on what you'll do with it, and based on how you value, and spend your time. What I can tell you, is that it's well made, using high quality materials, it works as claimed, folds up and stores away easily and it doesn't take up much space in the garage. I can also tell you that it works on everything from a late model Road King Special to a vintage XR600. The balancer is precise and it works flawlessly. It's like putting the icing on the cake- it's the last step, it's easier to do and it's pretty fun, too. 

For me, being able to mount and balance tires at my home garage is just one more, very valuable tool, in my toolbox. I enjoy working on motorcycles, I'm pretty good at it, and it gives me a sense of pride that I can do it myself. It also gives me the opportunity to save some of my most precious of commodities- my time. 

No matter what you choose to do, make sure it's the best use of your money, but most of all- your time.

Until next time, MotoReaders,

Ride safe and make good choices!