I got one of those last year and think it's pretty damn nice. I had the same thoughts expressed here No-Mar/CH/HF and CH just made the most sense. The NM was overkill for my app, and as stated above by the time you get all the extras for the HF, and a 25 mile one way trip to HFx2 the free delivery CH wins. The cost beneifit for me goes a little further than just the $40.00 mount/balance the cheapest guy around charges. I live in the middle of BF Indiana and it's at least 1/2 hr drive to the closest guy, and the cheap guy is 45 min one way. Yeah I could ride but that would double the cost for them to remove it. So while I only change a couple tires a year figuring my time into the deal I'm saving $100.00/tire because not only do I have to get it there, I've got to wait if their not backed up, or come back another day.
I just changed my second set using the cycle hill and I had the same problem with the 21" front. Got down to the last foot of the top bead and was pushing hard... tire was moving so I really cranked on the clamp bolts and busted one right off. I ended up spooning the last bit on as well. Nice to know I am not the only one that had an issue with the 21 inch front (f800gs).
Is there a specific reason the f800gs guys are having issues with the 21 incher? I want one of these units but I will surely be changing a ton of 21 inch Harley fronts.
I've not done a 21" wheel on my CH but I did have a bitch of a time doing a 180x55 ZR17 on my BMW R12R . After all was said and done here are my thoughts on why it was such a headache: I probably didn't use enough lube, and I had a hard time keeping the bead in the "rim drop". I say it in quotes because the "drop" is almost non-existant on the R12R wheels, the rear is worse than the front. I did the front this spring with much less drama by using a bunch of lube, and an extra clamp or two to keep the bead down. You also need to be mindful of walking the bead down into the drop as it goes on and move the clamps to keep it there. The reason that I'm piping in on a topic that I haven't had experience with is to throw out some things to think about as you review how the change went.
I thought about making a video, but I was too busy cussing. I sent an email to no mar and this was the reply: "You may have been just trying to change a Tire spoon tire with the M/D bar. The M/D bar should work unless you were working with knobbies. Knobby tires require tire spoons." I was changing a TKC 80 so maybe the bar isn't meant to be used although I can't really see what that has to do with it as long as the wheel clamps in the tire changer?