Well the front one is on!
But the back one has defeated me totally.
I must be badly out of practice is all I can say...
I attempted the back one first.
Got all my tyre changing bits and bobs out, wooden blocks, rags, little tyre leavers, Mo-Fo tyre levers (old car levers from around nineteen canteen) and in about 20 minutes with not one swear words uttered I had an old tyre and a wheel. I must say, I have never before had to use a lump hammer and an old tyre lever to break the bead of a tyre, but you know, every day is a school day. Scrubbed off all the cr@p from inside the rim, all good in there so time to lube up the new tyre and.... and .... and after an hour of lubing and cajoling and levering and sweating I was no closer than I had been an hour before... and this was just getting the first bead on the rim. In desperation I decided I had started at the wrong end, so popped a jack under the engine and in not too long I had the front wheel out.
Now that one went as planned and was about as difficult as I remember new rubber and alloy rims as being (I fought my Laverda 3C a number of times over the years). The front tyre wasn't keen on seating all the way round, but that is pretty common with tubeless mtb tyres so I used the same methods, only with a lot less air pressure.
So, that is how things currently are. I fancy a trip to the chap at the garage where the MOT was done will be needed tomorrow, I really am feeling my age right now and I suspect those guys will have the damn thing on in ten minutes. I guess it is all a matter of practice and experience, and I am desperately short of both.
Minter, you must be a man of iron.