So, I need to get a new front tire.
So I suppose I will need to remove the front wheel, take it to the bikeshop and get a new tire mounted. I doubt I can mount it myself.
But here's the question, when I put the wheel back on, do I need to balance it? Can I do it myself? How?
So yea.

The bikeshop should balance it for you.  Ask to make sure they do, and that it's included in the cost of mounting.

bike shop should do the balancing.

Doing it yourself isn't hard though.

the shop should balance as said.  i'll write up how to change on a tire machine it if you want, but seems like you got your answer.

Yes for all the grief and bullshit you have to go through it is better to take it to the shop and say [ make it so ] I have a local shop that will mount and balance for $ 15.00 per tyre .[ rim off bike]

Hi there,
I agree with Surly Bruce.
Home tire changes are not worth the $20 you'll pay the dealer to mount and balance your new tires in no time. Here's my earlier post about this subject:

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=20738.msg195542#msg195542

Let me be the first to admit that I too was annoyed at the prospect of again paying to have a shop remove the old tires on my rims and replace them with new ones at a cost of $20 or so per wheel.
So with that in mind, I built a bead breaker out of 2x4's that bolted to my garage wall. It even worked and popped the beads off easily. The rest of the job was not worth the hassle, however.
When I worked in a motorcycle shop in high school and college, I'd throw the wheels onto a tire changer and be done in a minute, if that. But try wrestling with tire irons and 2x4's on the floor, while trying not to gouge your pretty wheel rims, and when you finally have the stupid tires off the wheels, you'll wonder if it is worth all the aggravation.
That's when you learn that breaking the stupid beads and removing the tires from the rims was the EASY part. Without a powerful compressor, getting the new tire beads to SEAT on the rim and allow you to put air into the tires is ridiculous. I tried three gas station compressors and had no luck.
That's when I took the wheels to my local bike shop and asked them to air them up and balance them on their spin balance machine. It cost $20 and was SOOOOO worth it. Balancing wouldn't have been a big deal on its own (it's actually quite easy to do, but if you're having a shop swap the tires, might as well let them balance the wheels too), but replacing tires in your garage just isn't worth the time, effort and sweat equity involved.
Now I go to an independent motorcycle shop and bring them only my wheels and new tires. For $20, they'll swap the tires and balance the wheels. I can return to my garage, bolt my wheels back in place, and life is good. Well, OK, then you have to fight with the GS500's LOUSY, INACCURATE chain adjusters, but that's another story. Smiley
Worth every penny, those minor tire swap fees, in my humble opinion.

The full thread for this tire mounting discussion is at:
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=20738.0
Best of luck!
Todd

another how to for changing your own tires:
http://www.clarity.net/~adam/tire-changing-doc.html

having said that-I think its WELL worth the extra money to have them do it instead of spending my saturday doing that instead of riding.

Changing tires on anything has got to be the most dreaded chore I've ever encountered- except mountain bike tires and some road bike tires . I've seen the home shop tire changers and have thought about buying one when I have my workshop built. But for now I think having a shop do it will be worth the money.

BTW, I think some people just have a knack for this kind of chore. My father used to be able to manually change tires on anything, including big truck tires. But if you're like 97% of the people it's worth what the shop charges. 

QuoteYes for all the grief and bullshit you have to go through it is better to take it to the shop

well cant say ive ever really had a ballence issue with any of my tires ive never ballenced them. if forsome reason ballence was an issue, i generaly broke the bead and turned the tire on the rim 90-180* and it was fine.   2 of the long tire spoons and 1 short is all i use to change tires.  i built a bead breaker but alot of times all i had to do was stick a tire spoon into the bead and jump on it.  on one really hard bead, i use one of my other motorcycles kickstand and just rocked the bik up onto the stand and the bike weight broke the bead for me.

Quote from: Blueknyt on January 21, 2006, 01:28:07 PM

QuoteYes for all the grief and bullshit you have to go through it is better to take it to the shop

well cant say ive ever really had a ballence issue with any of my tires ive never ballenced them. if forsome reason ballence was an issue, i generaly broke the bead and turned the tire on the rim 90-180* and it was fine. 2 of the long tire spoons and 1 short is all i use to change tires. i built a bead breaker but alot of times all i had to do was stick a tire spoon into the bead and jump on it. on one really hard bead, i use one of my other motorcycles kickstand and just rocked the bik up onto the stand and the bike weight broke the bead for me.

I typically use two large prybars and a large bench vise as a bead-breaker.  Works pretty well.

I don't think I've ever had a balance issue.  The majoraty of tire compnaies place a balance mark on their tires to line up witht eh valvestem anyway.

Duly noted.
Thanks for the advice.