Who knew a tire change could be such a nightmare.....

I purchased a pneumatic tire machine and I use Ride-On to balance the tires. Works like a champ and WAY less stress. I found a shop in Florida going out of business amd bought 10 gals of Ride-on with a metering pump for less than $300. Each 5 gal bucket doses 90 tires or some such so I am set for a while. With 4 bikes in the stable plus friends, tire changes are a pretty frequent occurence at my place

That's rough. I had luck with a my local Ducati dealer. I assume it's because the Diavel runs a 240 and from what little I know about Duc riders a dealer that couldn't properly service a Diavel would be met with fire and pitchforks. Brought in my front tire and they mounted it for 75, but the rear I bought from them they mounted for 30. Next time I won't bother to try and bring in my own. They actually had what I wanted in stock and just as cheap as I could find it online.

Though they seemed very confused by the fact that I wanted a larger sidewall, "on a cruiser" (Excedra up from the Metz)...guy at the counter triple checked I knew what I was getting before taking my money and I heard two others in the back do a WTF. It was a good for a chuckle.

The stealers around here want list price for the tires &75 bucks to mount balancing extra plus environmental fees. They can stick it!

CanberraR3 said:

The more people try to save a few bucks by buying tyres online, the more this will happen. Why would any shop be bothered having specialised equipment to fit tyres you're not going to buy from them? If enough people keep this practice up soon we'll all be paying more for the rubber AND spending even more time, so where's the saving? Support your local shop and be able to ride in and ride out.

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Richard,
I have not had these problems with the dealers and shops I have dealt with.
A shop charges so much per hour for service work. The parts department charges so much for tires.
Certainly they can buy tires at least as cheap as we can on the internet.
I think some dealers try to gouge customers on the double dip of the purchase and then the install.
The install cost (time) SHOULD be the same regardless of where the tire came from and the mark up on their tire cost is whatever.
The shop I usually go to tells me they cannot come even within $25 per tire of what I pat at Rocky Mountain ATV on the www.
They are honest and tell me they will charge me more to install and balance my own tires. That "extra charge" still does not equal what I save at Rocky Mountain ATV.
We both come out happy! I do not understand why dealers cannot be reasonably competitive with their tire prices.
Likely most customers either do not pay attention, or do not care about paying a lot more money so the dealers keep tire prices high.
Regards,
1olbull

WHEN U buy a tire from the dealer the mark up covers shop,equipment,tools,electric and insurance. it also covers if something happens to the tire they replace it and do the labor again it allows them to stay in business.
if u carry in the tire as soon as they hand it to u there responsibility ends. sure u pay more but u expect more. so u get what u pay for hopefully.

scot in exile said:

That was about a hundred dollars well saved two days that's what happens when you do not have the correct tools for the job, glad you got it done but was it worth the hassle?

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The local shops wanted 600$ for the tires, 100 to mount and balance them, 60$ to lube the bevel box splines, 150$ to polish the wheels, and 150$ for installed new front and rear EBC brake pads. For a grand total of 1060$.
I paid 380 for the tires, 38 for the moly, 40$ for mounting and balancing, 20$ for the polish and buffer wheels, 60$ for the motorcycle jack, 90$ for the brake pads, 25$ in gas, 25$ for a axel tool, and 25$ in gas to drive around for a total of about 700$. Not only was it 360$ less, but I got a motorcycle jack (my other one was stolen) a bunch of buffer wheels, and I know it was done right. It also raises the question had I taken my bike to a dealer how exactly would they have balanced the rear tire? Not to mention no shops had moly grease or even had heard of it when I asked, which leads me to believe the proper stuff wouldn't have been used. I had all the correct tools however after 2 years straight of not wrenching on anything beyond reuilding a school I own, my tools weren't in one place and organized, which has been rectified. Overall it was definately worth the extra work. My rant was more or less about how stupid it is that a simple wheel can't be balanced by even a dealer that sells the very bike my wheel was off of.

The more people try to save a few bucks by buying tyres online, the more this will happen. Why would any shop be bothered having specialised equipment to fit tyres you're not going to buy from them? If enough people keep this practice up soon we'll all be paying more for the rubber AND spending even more time, so where's the saving? Support your local shop and be able to ride in and ride out.

I am not paying the local dealer 400$ over what it cost me for the work I did, let alone considering the fact they don't even have the right equipment to balance the rear wheel. Had I bought my tires from them for 220$ more then I paid they still wouldn't have been able to balance them nor would they have bought a new balancer, so I don't understand your point .

TURBO200R4 said:

WHEN U buy a tire from the dealer the mark up covers shop,equipment,tools,electric and insurance. it also covers if something happens to the tire they replace it and do the labor again it allows them to stay in business.
if u carry in the tire as soon as they hand it to u there responsibility ends. sure u pay more but u expect more. so u get what u pay for hopefully.

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Thanks for the response, but if I walk in, buy a tire and walk out with it, all those things you list are moot and unnecessary; same as when I buy 6 quarts of oil and a filter. Do dealers jack up those costs when I don't have them do my oil change? Don't think so . . . as I have found dealer oil and filter prices only slightly higher and do not mind that. Dealer tire prices are way, way more.
I thought parts, service and sales are separate departments. Why would costs for the service department (shop,equipment,tools,electric and insurance) be passed over to a different department?
Oh well, it is what it is - I just think tire prices should be at least within $20 of what is charged on the www and I don't mind paying a little more for the install when bringing in my own tires.

In Phoenix, Arizona, the Wheel Shop is the place to go. Helmets, gloves and some bits and pieces primarily for Harleys.

But their business is tires. They have a huge selection of every brand, and can mount tires larger than the Rocket's.

Every tire has a price on it with a push pin stuck through it, which includes mounting. Visit them and price shop. Make an appointment and have them properly installed. They clean your rims prior to install and the job is right and with no surprises on price. Need rims? They can build them.

I never found a better online deal and you do not have to hunt down an installer. Great folks. Wish I could find someone up here in the Pacific Northwest as reliable.

The Wheel Shop - Motorcycle Tires & Accessories

1olbull said:

Thanks for the response, but if I walk in, buy a tire and walk out with it, all those things you list are moot and unnecessary; same as when I buy 6 quarts of oil and a filter. Do dealers jack up those costs when I don't have them do my oil change? Don't think so . . . as I have found dealer oil and filter prices only slightly higher and do not mind that. Dealer tire prices are way, way more.
I thought parts, service and sales are separate departments. Why would costs for the service department (shop,equipment,tools,electric and insurance) be passed over to a different department?
Oh well, it is what it is - I just think tire prices should be at least within $20 of what is charged on the www and I don't mind paying a little more for the install when bringing in my own tires.

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The same thing happens with firearms dealers. They purchase a gun for 400, and sell it for 600 because they inventory it for a while and it has to pay the bills. I could buy the same gun for 450 from a online shop that sells more volume, and pay the local dealer a 75$ transfer fee, and be out the door for 150 to 200 dollars less than buying it right from the dealer. The problem becomes if the dealer doesn't sell in volumes, and sits on inventory, they can't afford to stay afloat trying to sell it for 475$. You would think selling the gun for 500$ every day of the week would bring more buisness but thats not a absolulte.

I don't know what the laws are with retail sales, but it seems kind of crazy that when I go to a bike shop (or any place for that matter) and ask for something like moly paste, that they wouldn't look on a place like amazon to see if they could get it in 1 to 2 days and charge me 10$ to 20$ over their cost to make a sale. They never incur the costs of long term inventory (fast turn around) the customer is happy, and they made money. Almost like if amazon opened small kiosk stores that you can go in and order anything that their warehouse has and get it the same day. One delivery before the store is open and one near the end of the day so people can get what they want same day or next morning. Another good example is how I was looking for old school masonry tuck point chisels last year. I called and/or visited every masonry supply/tool supply company in the area and not a single place had one? Went on amazon and had 3 of them within 2 days. So many buisnesses are losing out on income because of the "I don't have it" mentality...