$50 a tire for mounting in Vegas? @#$!

[Troutluck]

Las Vegas dealer wants $50 PER TIRE to mount and balance for my R1100R. This is just insane to me. I found another generic motorcycle tire shop that would mount/spin for $6 each if I bring them the rims. Same price on the tires.

Am I crazy, or is this a total rip-off? I like to buy at the dealer when I can, but there's no way in hell I'd pay this.

[donbmw]

Try mount one yourself and you will see why. I can not see how at $6.00 a tire even bring in off the bike he is making any money. Is the dealer at $50.00 is this you bring the tire in. The Dealer ship I worked for a few years ago we would do $20.00 a tire brought in and realy did not make anything off that.

Don

[AZ-J]

One dealer here is $50, the other is $30, both rates on bike. Local non-dealer is $40 a tire.

[BluegrassPicker]

Las Vegas dealer wants $50 PER TIRE to mount and balance for my R1100R. This is just insane to me. I found another generic motorcycle tire shop that would mount/spin for $6 each if I bring them the rims. Same price on the tires.

Am I crazy, or is this a total rip-off? I like to buy at the dealer when I can, but there's no way in hell I'd pay this.

That's cheap here. I now mount them myself for free..

[mvscorpio]

Average in my area is $50-$70. I ask fellow club members for help to do mine, since I don't have the machine.

[bmwmoose]

I take my rims off and take them into Cycle Gear, they dismount, replace the valve stem, mount and balance for I believe $20 per rim. Wouldn't consider a dealer unless the bike was there for some other reason.

I've also thought about doing them my self. Some initial cost, but savings in the long run.

[cheesewhiz]

I use Team Triumph just outside of Janesville, WI.
They charged me $40 for the front and $50 for the rear.
I gave them the bike and two new tires and 2 hours later I had new shoes installed. No fuss / no muss.

The nearest BMW dealer is 80 miles away while Team Triumph is about 5 miles.

Whizzy

[monkeywork]

I had a tube put into my front tire, (86 K75c) and the tube cost 9.95 and the labor was 50 bucks. Seems pretty standard.

[steveg1956]

I mount my own also. All the equipment is paid for in 5 tire changes at local dealer price. Since we have two bikes in the household, didn't take long to justify the equipment cost

[erickson9502]

I was on the road in Vegas 2 weeks ago. Same thing called dealer $50.00 mounting. Called around Cycle Gear tire price was $30.00 cheaper mounting was $20.00. HMM tough decision. Thanks Cycle Gear.

[kgadley01]

I also change my own, My equiptment has already paid for itself. I bought a large floor type bead breaker on e-bay for $80.00, I bought a static wheel balancer for $75.00 also on e-bay. I charge $25.00 to mount and balance if you take the wheel off the bike yourself. if you ride your bike to my place and help remove the wheel. $25.00 if you leave the bike and I do everything myself I charge $30.00. I don't run a business, I'm retired and it gives me something to do.

[MCMXCIVRS]

Last set I paid to have done cost me $75 in addition to the cost of the tires for two loose wheels. They scratched the rims up doing it too. :rolleyes

I bought a balancer and a tire changer and can scratch my wheels myself for free now. Not that I do, I'm a bit more careful when I'm swapping tires. I've done three sets now myself, so the equipment is paid for in labour savings in under a year. Not really any more time consuming than delivering the wheels to the shop and picking them up again; just a bit harder work.

[RJM2096]

I have a Yellow 2005 GMC Canyon with 26 K. The check engine light came on. $96.00 for a new gas cap. This week the light comes on again. They tell me the O2 sensor is bad. Can't wait to see what that costs.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh310/RJM2096/OLY20080518008.jpg

[rdalland]

All the equipment is paid for in 5 tire changes at local dealer price. Since we have two bikes in the household, didn't take long to justify the equipment cost

You don't need a lot of equipment to change your tires. The only "specialty" tool required is a pair of tire irons. I'm using the 6" long, tire irons from my /5 tool kit. (the tire irons in the picture below are not from the /5)

http://www.speedsupplies.com/distcat/219/5378.jpg

There are lot's of "shade tree" ideas out there for bead breakers. I used a 2x4 and a block of wood like the guy below.

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/rkdalland/FreeAssociation/photo?authkey=RBe_ymaqZaQ#5213620962691041970"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/rkdalland/SFqApIK6yrI/AAAAAAAAAlU/1ry7494nQWY/s400/breaking-bead.jpg" /></a>

The main reason I did not start changing my own tires sooner was the balancing question (how was I going to do it?). Dyna Beads is the solution for me.

It's four hours round trip for me to get a tire change at the dealer. It took an hour to do both tires on my K75RT myself.

[gulfcoastbeemer]

Some dealers charge whatever the traffic will bear. When you consider they make a profit on the tire, a $50 labor fee for each tire seems an insult. If you ride enough, the cost of tires and mounting adds up and becomes a real expense. In my case both my wife and I ride -- so everything is doubled.

I decided I would try to dismount/mount my own tires. First I used a homemade rig and tire irons. It worked but wasn't the prettiest process to witness. While I didn't mar the rims, I couldn't say the same for my own limbs.

I bought Marc Parnes balancing kit. It worked like a charm -- much better than what my dealer was accomplishing with their computerize wonder. (Once the dealer added 40 grams of weight after ignoring the balance mark on the casing. When I rebalanced the tire at home it only required 5 grams.)

After a while, I decided to go "up-scale" and purchased a Harbor Freight tire changer (which includes a built-in bead breaker) to which I added the HF motorcycle tire changing adapter. The whole rig was on sale -- less that $80 for both items. I mounted the tire changer rig on a 4' x 4' piece of plywood.

In a effort to better protect my alloy rims, I purchased Mojo Blocks for the HF tire adapter and a Mojo Bar to lever off/on the tires (both items are sold over the internet by the maker).

To make a long story short, now I don't even break a sweat doing tire changes or tire repairs -- I actually look forward to it. Plus, I don't have to schedule an appointment at the dealership or cope with their not so infrequent screw-ups. I buy the tires over the internet from a retailer that has a great selection of tires, at great prices, includes excellent customer service and doesn't charge shipping or sales tax.

When you include travel time to the dealership, I figure I'm saving time, as well as money, and I'm having the satisfaction of doing the job properly.

[kitze2]

I mount my own also. All the equipment is paid for in 5 tire changes at local dealer price. Since we have two bikes in the household, didn't take long to justify the equipment cost


Right on.

Three of us went in on the top of the line No-Mar setup. Total with freight came out to $325 each. At $100 a set it doesn't take long to start saving. In the last couple of years we have probably changed 25 sets of tires (admittedly we all do 5 or 6 track days a year) . So at dealer prices we've saved over a $1500!
And if ya really want to save...No-mar makes less fancy models at much lower prices.

[lagator]

Dealer charges $60 plus balancing per tire if you take the bike in. I bought the MC tire changer setup at HF. Will be money ahead before changing the second tire. I am now ordering tires on-line so I save there also. I will try dyna beads in the nest tire change and see how that works out. Hopefully I'll save money for other farkles or:drink
Gator

[kitze2]

. I will try dyna beads in the nest tire change and see how that works out.
Gator


Check out the review of Dyna Beads in the Oct '06 issue of Motorcycle Consumer News. Basically their testing concludes that the "beads" are a total waste of time.

For those who aren't familiar with it...Motorcycle Consumer News is a great mag. Since they take NO advertising money their reviews and articles are honest and unbiased. When was the last time you saw one of the major mags say a product was crap?

[osbornk]

You don't need a lot of equipment to change your tires. The only "specialty" tool required is a pair of tire irons. I'm using the 6" long, tire irons from my /5 tool kit. (the tire irons in the picture below are not from the /5)

http://www.speedsupplies.com/distcat/219/5378.jpg

There are lot's of "shade tree" ideas out there for bead breakers. I used a 2x4 and a block of wood like the guy below.

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/rkdalland/FreeAssociation/photo?authkey=RBe_ymaqZaQ#5213620962691041970"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/rkdalland/SFqApIK6yrI/AAAAAAAAAlU/1ry7494nQWY/s400/breaking-bead.jpg" /></a>

The main reason I did not start changing my own tires sooner was the balancing question (how was I going to do it?). Dyna Beads is the solution for me.

It's four hours round trip for me to get a tire change at the dealer. It took an hour to do both tires on my K75RT myself.

I've had over a dozen motorcycles over the last 35-40 years and have never paid anyone to change a tire. A large C clamp and a couple of litle blocks of wood are all I have ever used to break down a tire. A couple of tire irons (sometimes from the tool kit) are all I have ever used to change the tires. If you make sure to line up the dot on the tire with the valve stem, you usually don't need to have them balanced. KISS

[kgadley01]

I've had over a dozen motorcycles over the last 35-40 years and have never paid anyone to change a tire. A large C clamp and a couple of litle blocks of wood are all I have ever used to break down a tire. A couple of tire irons (sometimes from the tool kit) are all I have ever used to change the tires. If you make sure to line up the dot on the tire with the valve stem, you usually don't need to have them balanced. KISS

very good point about the RED dot. you'd be supprised how many shops don't line it up, or don't even know what its for.

[BubbaZanetti]

i was so surprised when i yanked the tires off my bike, left it on the centerstand and a crate on a sidestreet near my house and the guy charged me 40 bucks including tire disposal. never got it for that cheap in any of the "rural" areas i lived in.

[rdalland]

Check out the review of Dyna Beads in the Oct '06 issue of Motorcycle Consumer News. Basically their testing concludes that the "beads" are a total waste of time.

For those who aren't familiar with it...Motorcycle Consumer News is a great mag. Since they take NO advertising money their reviews and articles are honest and unbiased. When was the last time you saw one of the major mags say a product was crap?

I'd love to see that article if anyone can post it.

[kitze2]

I'd love to see that article if anyone can post it.

Here it is.

[bmwmoose]

I mount my own also. All the equipment is paid for in 5 tire changes at local dealer price. Since we have two bikes in the household, didn't take long to justify the equipment cost

Hi Steve,

I have thought about buying my own tools for tire changing, not a big budget, but I have seen an ad in the ON, that looks like a good set up. What equip do you have? You static balance right? How do you like it compared to radial balancing?

[rdalland]

Here it is.

Thanks!

I don't agree with your assessment of the article, but what MCN says makes sense.

[Bob1100RTC]

As far as the GMC, there are a lot of thing that turn on the CEL. You had an evaporative leak code the time the gas cap was replaced. The tech had to put a machine that injects air or smoke into your evap system to find the leak. You probably paid 1 hour labor and for the cap. There are about 50 other things that can fail and give the exact same code. I know when the CEL comes on you think "I just paid to have that fixed" but there are a lot of things that will turn it on and sometimes its hard to find the cause. Being a mechanic takes lot of skill and we deserve to be paid for our skill. I understand peoples frustration with that CEL but it drives me nuts when the complain that they just had their CEL fixed and this visit is not even remotely related to what I fixed 2 weeks ago. Ok I'm done with my little rant. Hope you all still like me.

PS: If you drive a mopar pm me I might be able to help you.

[Jeff488]

Thanks!

I don't agree with your assessment of the article, but what MCN says makes sense.

IIRC, the Dynabeads advertisement says that they don't distribute themselves to the proper place in an out of balance tire until a speed of about 35 mph is reached.
They say that tire imbalance does not significantly affect tire wear below that speed.
Also, IIRC most dynamic balancers don't bring the tire up to 35 mph, which could explain why MCN came to it's conclusion.
I could be mistaken.

[bikerfish1100]

IIRC, the Dynabeads advertisement says that they don't distribute themselves to the proper place in an out of balance tire until a speed of about 35 mph is reached.
They say that tire imbalance does not significantly affect tire wear below that speed.
Also, IIRC most dynamic balancers don't bring the tire up to 35 mph, which could explain why MCN came to it's conclusion.
I could be mistaken.


Except that after spin balancing at whatever speed could be attained, MCN did just like you or I would (if i were so inclined to purchase, but I'm not)- they rode the bike up to 85mph. their determination? no significant effect, tho it was better than absolutely no balancing weights.

[Djstephens]

Right on.

Three of us went in on the top of the line No-Mar setup. Total with freight came out to $325 each. At $100 a set it doesn't take long to start saving. In the last couple of years we have probably changed 25 sets of tires (admittedly we all do 5 or 6 track days a year) . So at dealer prices we've saved over a $1500!
And if ya really want to save...No-mar makes less fancy models at much lower prices.

I just bought the classic model, and am setting it up later today. Did you mount yours to the floor or did you get the hitch mount? I've been changing my tires for years with a Harbor freight changer. Can't wait to use my new one.

[kitze2]

I just bought the classic model, and am setting it up later today. Did you mount yours to the floor or did you get the hitch mount? I've been changing my tires for years with a Harbor freight changer. Can't wait to use my new one.

We drilled some holes in the concrete and bolted it down. Some tires have really stiff sidewalls and require a pretty strong pull on the bar to get 'em off.

A couple of things I've found to make life easier. Use lots of the spray lube. It really makes life easier. Don't use soap as it leaves a slippery residue behind. Tire lube is available from NAPA in gallon cans. If you buy the paste lube from no-mar and mix it with water in a spray bottle its much cheaper then the liquid. The guy at No-Mar actually clued me into that. Cool Huh?
Also, No-Mar sells a "Brick" of glue on weights, enough for several dozen tires, at a really good price.
To keep the bead breaker bar from flopping around I put a couple of washers into the joint and torqued it down pretty tight. The added friction allows it to stay in place but still allows free movement.

The only down side is getting rid of the old tires. Please don't just toss 'em in the trash! I wanted to be sure they were recycled so I made a deal with a local tire shop for them to take mine for $1 apiece. They have a company that picks 'em up and shreds them for rubber mats.

Happy Mounting.

[Djstephens]

Thanks for the tips:thumb I'll seek out a tire shop for my old tires