Dark grey wheel touch-up

[todd haven]

When I can get tires brought in from the US for $110 ea my cost including all taxes, buying only 2 tires...  and my dealer sells the exact same tire for $300 ea before taxes, buying in bulk...  Somebody is making a serious mark up.  I'll take the tire irons!!!

 

I have since found a shop where the mechanics are quite happy to swap tires for a $25 per tire contribution to the lunch fund.  And they do it right now!

 

I don't mind somebody making money... a reasonable mark up... but I sure don't like takin' it in the ass!

 

Not the type to just shrug, hand over my credit card and say "I guess that's what it costs...and I guess that's how long it takes..." 

 

$250 vs. $700???  I don't think so!

Rj

68343[/snapback]

 

I normally make it a rule not to talk numbers on a site such as this.

Exception to follow:

A normal set of tires(Battlax, D208, Mich Pilots, etc), mounted and balanced on a V11, runs in the neighborhood of $350-400..00 USD.

$700 would be outrageous in our business environment, if the guy in your neck of the woods actually gets this amount, ,maybe I should take lessons.

We are talking $25-35 markup per tire, plus $35-45 per tire to remove from bike,

dismount, mount and balance as well as mount back to the bike.

Wheel bearings and brake pads are getting checked at the same time.

I don't have a slew of qualified people standing around waiting to toss a set of tires on your bike, so you may need to leave it with me a while.

I understand this is an inconvenience.

I apologize, but for us, I would rather not do the job than do it half-assed.

 

It's not worth our time doing it for less than this.

Not trying to sound high and mighty, pure business.

 

If you can do it yourself-- more power to you.

No hard feelings.

Have a nice day.

Perhaps my comment above was misconstrued.

I apologize if this was the case.

 

p.s.-- for $700/set, we'll drop everything the minute you get here, put 2 guys on it, and skip lunch to get you done.

Hasn't happened yet.

 

There's a place across town that sells tires $20 cheaper than me, and mounts and balances for $7.50/wheel.

They don't know how to spell Moto Guzzi.

If you are in a rush, you might get them to put both Jose and Hose-B on the job.

[Kiwi Dave]

A few years ago, I found that I could buy and have fitted two tyres on my California 1100i in New Zealand for the same price for one tire in Los Angeles (after the exchange rates had been calculated). This was for the same ti(y)re, Metzlers made in Germany (well, true in them days).

 

The price differintial isn't so great now. But I wonder why the huge difference? Bike prices themselves aren't so great, usually cheaper in the States.

[badmotogoozer]

Keep in mind that $700 is canadian dollars... and includes all our gubment additions... There are places that are cheaper but I still can't believe that I can import tires cheaper than a dealer. $35-40 dollar mark up would be quite reasonable IMO...

 

I can just do it so much cheaper... I can change my own tires and ballance them, but I'm really not fond of doing it.

 

I have recently become dissillusioned with my dealer after dealing with him for over 10 years. He's always been expensive, but the service was always sharp. Now...

 

There are three things everyone wants - quality, speed, cheap. The best you'll ever get is two of them. ie it you want quality and speed, it ain't gonna be cheap. etc.

 

Lately I haven't been able to find even one of these things. Everything has become expensive, slow and crappy. Not just in the M/C world either.

 

Rj

[MINNESOTALEMANS]

I BUY TIRES FROM BOBS CYCLE SUPPLY IN MINNEAPOLIS WHERE YOU NEVER PAY RETAIL AND CHANGE THEM MYSLEF WHITH A CHANGER FROM HARBOR FREIGHTCO. AND SCRATCHED THEM MYSLEF TOO. THE PRICE OF DOIT YOUR SLEF.ITS GOODTRANING FOR WHEN YOUR OUT ON THE ROAD.AND YOU HAVE TROUBLE P.S I DONT TRY TO SCRATCH THEM IT JUST HAPPENDS SOME TIMES

[mdude]

ok, I admit it. I'm a wimp who never has tried to change a motorcycle tyre on my own. Cause I thought it would require special tools and skill. Doesnt it?

Changed countless mountainbike tires over the years, but...

 

How do you do it, and whats important? Tell us.

And what about those tubeless babies? Just as easy?

[Frank]

If you want to know how to change tires yourself and have a workbench and the tools to remove the wheels from the bike, the following links will help.

 

http://www.clarity.net/~adam/tire-changing-doc.html

 

will help you make the best fixture for holding tires at virtually no cost. This is what I use and it is hands down better that laying the wheel/tire over two 4x4's and using your knees and tire irons to r/r and tire. I don't use this method for wire wheels though - I still place them on the 4x4's and now have knee protectors to help with the job.

 

http://www.tireqwik.com/tireqwik/index.html

 

This site has the long tire irons you'll need - short ones like I used for years just don't work nearly as well as these long ones. Three irons are needed. You also might want a bead breaker. I've seen car jacks placed on the tire and then used to lift the car and the bead still won't break. You'll need something to break them and a bead breaker of some sort is a necessity. Finally, this site's balancing stand is the best I've seen. The bearings that support the stock wheel and axle are so friction-free that a well spun tire will continue to rotate for 3 minutes or more. This tool is really amazing and clearly works well.

 

http://www.tireslick.com/

 

When I first changed tires 30 years ago, I didn't know one needed a lubricant. The second time I changed a tire -using dishwashing liquid as a lubricant, the tires almost jumped on the rims. That was in '75 when my bike had wire wheels and tubes. Tubeless tires on cast wheels are on tight and need a lubricant. This is the best I've found. It dries away to nothing - really, any that gets on your hand will eventually evaporate to with no residual. It's very slippery. I apply it with a cheap paint brush.

Although I didn't mention it in my first sentence, an air compressor is very handy since you'll need to inflate the tire to seat the bead. This lubricant dries fairly quickly so get them seated quickly.

 

http://www.kowatools.com/cgi-bin/miva?Merc...ry_Code=REMOVAL

 

To better protect cast wheels, I use 6 or more of these around my rims and the risk of scratching the rims approaches zero. I don't use these on chromed steel steel wheels.

 

The tire is always removed and replaced from one side of the wheel, so I always remove the brake disk on that side. I have 6 road bikes and have changed the tires on all of them in the last two years. The above items work well. If I do get scratches, they are small and the drug store generally has a color of fingernail polish for touchup.

 

Frank

[mdude]

Thanks. I am impressed. A wealth of info. It can be done in the garage, with some practice together with an experienced fellow biker first.