Motion Pro RimShield - Tool Time

Protection for your rims, spokes and fingers when you change your motorcycle tire.

Motion Pro RimShield - Tool Time

Motion Pro RimShieldMotion Pro

If you have a dirtbike and are like most off-road riders, you probably aren’t worried about your bike’s polished or anodized aluminum rims getting a bit nicked up when you’re changing tires. Why should you? Due to the basic nature of off-roading, a dirtbike’s wheels are subjected to a lot more visual damage through normal riding than anything you could possibly inflict on them with a set of tire irons.

But what if you're not like most dirtbike riders? What if your motorcycle is a dual-purpose bike that you rarely ride in the dirt or a pristine, dirtbike-based supermoto machine that you never take off-road? And although riders of modern streetbikes generally don't change tires themselves, especially using tire irons, the practice is more common among owners of certain older and classic bikes. The point here is that many motorcyclists would like to change tires on their own without leaving telltale gouges or scratches on the edges of the rims.

That kind of damage won't happen if you use the Motion Pro RimShield. RimShield is a set of two identical molded plastic protectors that prevent tire irons from damaging the edges of the rim during tire removal and installation.

When removing a tire, you slip both protectors in place on the rim where you begin prying with tire irons. Next, you leave one protector in place where the first tire iron is holding the bead up off the rim; you then keep moving the other protector as you work your way around the tire with the second iron. When installing a tire, you follow essentially the same routine, always using the protectors to prevent metal-to-metal contact between tire iron and rim.

Although plastic rim protectors have been around for years, RimShields take the concept to a higher level. Other protectors, some of which are called rim savers, are narrow little plastic strips that clip over the edge of the rim, but none are even remotely as big as or have the additional features of the Motion Pro items. The RimShields extend inward toward the hub to help protect the spokes and the changer’s fingers; and raised ribs on the top hold the bead of the tire up off the surface of the protectors very slightly, making it easier to slip a tire iron beneath the bead during tire installation. Each RimShield also has two sizable finger holes that make repositioning the protector an easy task. Plus, the sheer mass of the RimShields makes it almost impossible for them to fall inside the tire. Even if they do, retrieval is easy, thanks to their size and finger holes.

I have to admit that changing tires with tire irons is one of my least favorite jobs, particularly when it involves a big, stiff-sidewall rear knobby. But ever since I started using RimShields, the sound of expletives ringing off the walls of my garage is heard far less often.

Motion Pro RimShield - Tool Time

Motion Pro RimShieldMotion Pro
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