Just wondering how other people handle this very big pain in the ass :evil:

What do you guys pay for this? I'm about $300 after tax installed w/ wheels on bike. This is about the ONLY thing I will take my bike in for, and I would love to eliminate these fuckers for good. (Dealers/ Service shops)

Thanks in advance,

Lance

I think I paid about $220 for a set of Avons from SWmototire plus about $30 to have a dealer mount them.

Well after having my rim scratched to hell by a tire installer I decided to make my own equipment and scratch the hell out of my rims myself. If you find a good mechanic its worth paying the 15-20 bucks a rim to have them put the rubber on. after 2 rear installs I have gotten better but would not trust myself to do someone elses tires. Its just to easy to scratch the rims.

lately i've purchased online, picked up rather than had shipped (saved on the shipping), and had cyclegear do the mount :grin:

Gotta choose D here.

I purchase them online, remove the wheels myself and have a local shop (that's not a dealer) install them, for $25 per wheel, off the bike. I usually bring the guy a 6 pack of beer, and I get them the done while I wait. The same shop has a store (separate owners, symbiotic relationship) which usually has tires in stock, but they're overpriced for what I find online at Southwest Moto Tires

My local dealer charges $35 off the bike. I won't buy tires from a dealer ever again, thanks to the prices they charge.

Seems like it's a popular option to buy online. I noticed Chaparral Motorsports (SoCal) has special package deals right now. They have the Battlax 020 for $197 for both. Mmmmm....might be an option. :???:

I bought from SWMoto and going to have a local shop put them on for $10 per tire (off bike).

Every dealer around here charges for 1/2 hour labor per tire which is the time required to do the job according to their service books.

In this market... that translates to a price per tire of $30 to $36

I've had mine done by a BMW shop, a Moto Guzzi shop which both charged $30 per tire. The Honda dealers want $36 per tire

I order on line and get the off bike mount for about $55 for both.

Some places are MUCH higher to mount, some places don't mount a tire they do not sell to you. Some shops will do it cash off the bike but if you call in and ask they quote a higher price or say they do not mount tires not sold at thier shop.

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

Best $100 I have ever spent (bought it second hand from a guy getting out of bikes on the priller forum). It is a walk in the park once you do a couple of sets. I have even done tires for others on the board (Elixxir, BhanXX, Wildkat...).

Do a search on Tire Changing, I have posted pics of my set up before.


MaXX

By mine online.

Take them to the local auto tire shop, they do trucks and tractors too. They charge $7 per wheel, $10 per wheel and they get rid of the old tire.

Balance myself. A good wheel balancer is the best $150 you will ever spend.

Hey Mac,

My Pilot Roads just turned 9k and the rear wear marks r flush. Still some tread left, but don't think they'll make the end of MN riding season, whenever the hell that is. I'll come up and bother ya if u r still willing, we can pick a nice day and it's an excuse to go ride to test da balance job. Which BTW, u musta done have done 1 hell of a job last time, u definitely get an atta'boy. There is absoutely no cupping on the front and the wear has been the most consistent of any set of tires i've done. Still as smooth as a baby's bottom and as when new.

:roll: I absolutely promise to wash the rear wheel and ass end, cripes, i'm still embarrased how bad that was last time, Nik would have shit!

Hey Bruce, happy to help you out. It is going to be tough to find the time but let me know when your tires come in and we will try to get something worked out. My garage is packed full of bikes, 4 wheelers, sleds that the tire stuff is way in the back and tough to get too. Let me know though.

Mac

I happen to live near Discount Motorcycle Tire Co. so I bought and installed them there. Pilot Roads, mounted and ballanced for about $260 including tax. I took the tires off myself and brought them in.

There is an Artic Cat dealership beside my office and he will match any online deal and even adjust for local sales tax.Mounting and balancing is $20 per wheel.I just did an Avon deal through him.Nice and clean.

Bought my new rubber from http://discountmotorcycletire.com (good reseller). Drove my bike into a local motorcycle racing shop to have them install the tires for $32.50 a wheel.

For the difference in price $20.00 a wheel to do it myself or $32.50 to have it done, no brainer for me.

recently found this thread when i was looking to change my own tires...also found this site, perhaps the rest of you might benefit from it
http://www.wikco.com/mcwkbal.html

Timely question -

Last weekend my buddy and I did 3 pairs of tire changings ourselves. He bought a great set-up from Harbor-Frieght for $60 total ($39 for the main unit and $20 for the motorcycle top piece) , this thing worked awesome! Breaking the bead was a snap. First time took us about 3 hours, now it's about an hour from start to finish.

I have been ordering my tires from swmototires.com for a few years now and having the dealers expertly install beautiful deep scratches into my new rims for sometime now for anywhere from $15 - $30 per tire. Tired of this incompetence he opted to buy to changer and we decided to tackle it last weekend ourselves.

Another thing I noticed. When pushing over 120 mph, the Bird was getting a front wheel shake. No surprise to me was that the tire/wheel was not properly balanced by the last place who installed them. I made a balancer, as per a website we pulled down, that proved the previous work to be very faulty, once I re-did them it's as smooth as glass. How many times have you seen the dealers check their work to make sure they are balanced right or do they simply check for a heavy spot, add weight then hand them over to you before checking again? The balancer cost me 1-2x4, 6 nails, and a couple front wheel bearings (I use the front axle for both wheels to spin on...).

Now I know the work to be done right every 6 months (should be seeing about 6500 miles of spirited fun!).

Steve