Topic: Mounting Tires - costly ouch

[DurangoCB]

I know this was just discussed recently, but Google won't tell me which thread. 

I have a new set of tires that I need mounted on my CB500 wheels, which are off the bike.  I've changed MX tires before and I can mount any mountain bike tire in 5 minutes, max.  But I figured, why spend an hour wrestling with tires when I can pay someone with special equipment to do it in 30 minutes? 

So I was surprised today when I dropped by a shop with my wheels and asked if they would mount them and they said it would take 30 minutes per wheel, so $38 per wheel, plus tubes and rim strips (at my request).  That's like $80 in labor, plus another $30-40 in rubber bits. 

Is that normal???  A half an hour for one tire?  C'mon. 

[evinrude7]

my mechanic does tires "on the bike" for $45 labor.  i bring the tire, tube and rim strip.  $30 off the bike.   

[seanbarney41]

that would be just slightly on the high price side in my area...make sure they are familiar with tube type rims and ask about balancing too

[DurangoCB]

Thanks guys.  Sounds like the time required isn't too off the mark.  I was a little surprised.  My local tire shop can mount four SUV tires for $96 and it takes them 20 minutes on-the-car.  I can change a bike tire in 3-5 minutes.  But a moto tire takes 30 minutes. 

Dang motorcycles.   

[754]

Do them yourself, make 35 bux an hour..

[ekpent]

 Its not rare to have a bunch of rust inside the rim also depending on how well the bike was stored and other factors. I did a front one myself (cheap bastard) recently that was pretty bad and needed wire wheeling and prep to clean it all out and seal. Is a quickie shop going to do that ? If you have it done somewhere at least try and take a peek of the inside to see the condition 

[PeWe]

And save the rims too. Some tire guys can damage the rim. That's why I bought new tire irons and built an extra rear wheel  with a new tire mounted ready for a quick wheel change.

[Yamahawk]

my local shop charges $25 off the bike, and spin balances the tire...of course, parts are extra.
Charlie

[Terry in Australia]

If your shop sells tyres, they probably fell a bit insulted if you don't buy your tyres from them. I buy my tyres from the same shop that installs them, and while I take my wheels off to save them time, they don't charge me much (if anything) to strip the old tyres off, put them in their dumpster, and install the new ones. I had to get one tyre removed from my Henry Abe wheel so I could get both wheels blasted, and they stripped the old tyre off and put it in their dumpster, for free as they know I'll be back to buy some tyres when I get my wheels back.

[Yamahawk]

If your shop sells tyres, they probably fell a bit insulted if you don't buy your tyres from them. I buy my tyres from the same shop that installs them, and while I take my wheels off to save them time, they don't charge me much (if anything) to strip the old tyres off, put them in their dumpster, and install the new ones. I had to get one tyre removed from my Henry Abe wheel so I could get both wheels blasted, and they stripped the old tyre off and put it in their dumpster, for free as they know I'll be back to buy some tyres when I get my wheels back.

Good thing to consider... and, you are supporting your local economy, instead of a large conglomerate that they probably use anyway to get your tire lol. I purchased my Shinko 712 from the shop that I was referring to, and he took the old front tire, and $80 mounted for the front. That included spin balancing... now, I 'could' have got the same tire delivered to my door for $48, and $25 for mount/balance, but the guy is decent, and I am not averse to giving him a $7 'tip' for ordering the tire for me. I hope he doesn't go out of business for lack of $7 tips...
Charlie

[AwesomeCB]

So I was surprised today when I dropped by a shop with my wheels and asked if they would mount them and they said it would take 30 minutes per wheel, so $38 per wheel, plus tubes and rim strips (at my request).  That's like $80 in labor, plus another $30-40 in rubber bits. 

After just having replaced the front and rear tires on my CB750 two days ago, I would have happily paid that and saved myself the hassle. The closest shop to me would charge at least that, probably more, because they have zero competition. I refuse  to give him any business though because they're #$%*s.

[Stev-o]

I pay $20 to have a tire/tube replaced and balanced [I take wheel off bike]

Worth every penny in my book...

[johans]

had called a shop here on Wrong Island Ny , ok i'll name them ; island power sports in Massapequa.  i asked them how much to mount 2 new Pirelli Angels on wheels that are off the bike ( Ducati Monster ) .  $100 each ! and he was nasty.  I drove up to our house in NE Pa. and went to Rusty Palmers in Honesdale  ( they do work for Mario Andretti's toys , he has a house in the area ) . had a great lunch @ the German restaurant across the street and they called me b4 i finished and said " your tires are ready , $40 "
 I always support local businesses but not when they're a++holes.

[BobbyR]

Here in Westchester NY they charge a flat 1 hour labor on or off the bike. That would be 100 to mount the tires plus the tire, tube and rimstrip.

[M.Henry]

I bought a set of nice tire spoons to change the bad tires off my bike when I got it a year and a half ago with the brand new tires that I got with the bike. Honestly It was a pain in the butt. I didn't find a place in or near tupelo MS that would touch my motorcycle wheels, other then the honda shop that was open only when I was working (i was commuting 40 mins out of tupelo for work so couldn't swing by during lunch or rush over before or after work.) (was an internship position so couldn't ask off for a morning). So I was trying to do it myself. I've changed road bicycle tires and mountain bike tires all my life, I can do it in 5 mins or at worst 15 for tight road bike tires. I was not expecting that motorcycle tire to be so challenging topull on and even put back on. Taht was even with teh tricks I found online of applying soapy water to the rim and everything. Then when I got everything put together, I found out that I had popped the tube during installation on both tires. You can imagine my frustrations.

Eventually I brought it to a honda shop in my home town in middle TN while home for a week. They cost me something like $85 for 2 wheels off the rim, and that wasn't including cost for new tubes.

[PeWe]

You must fill the tube with a little bit air before the final tire side to be wrapped on the rim. You WILL pinch the tube otherwise. A new empty tube is flat and wide. Fill it a little and it will be a little bit round and leave space for the iron mating the rim side and bend it. It would be nice with a shop I could trust doing perfect job. Many tire wrappers doing the hard job seems to be  working temporarily just out from jail, back from a boat, on visit from another country or something similar.

We have higher seasons here on shops selling car tires when it's time to change wheels from summer to winter in October-November and back again in April.

[Terry in Australia]

There are bad people in Sweden Per? Wow, in my mental picture of Sweden, everyone looks like a member of ABBA, and drives a 1970's Volvo?

[Stev-o]

Wow, in my mental picture of Sweden, everyone looks like a member of ABBA, and drives a 1970's Volvo?

Dont think so Terry, here is my mental picture....

[przjohn]

If your shop sells tyres, they probably fell a bit insulted if you don't buy your tyres from them. I buy my tyres from the same shop that installs them, and while I take my wheels off to save them time, they don't charge me much (if anything) to strip the old tyres off, put them in their dumpster, and install the new ones. I had to get one tyre removed from my Henry Abe wheel so I could get both wheels blasted, and they stripped the old tyre off and put it in their dumpster, for free as they know I'll be back to buy some tyres when I get my wheels back.

This is the best way to get your tires. It just bugs the sheet out of me when I read on forums about all these guys #$%*ing about what it costs to mount a tire they bought online to pinch a few pennies. I do HVAC and R, it is not that uncommon for people to want us to install parts they have purchased. We don’t do it and I don’t know any shops that can pay their bills on time that do. One time a cafe had called in a no cooling for a walk in cooler. When I got there he had a compressor and a filter drier sitting next to the unit. He had purchased the parts and expected us to install them. I told him that would be fine, could I stop by with my family with eggs, bacon, and bread for him to cook us breakfast tomorrow?





Bottom line is that everyone is entitled to make a living.

[Stev-o]

If your shop sells tyres, they probably fell a bit insulted if you don't buy your tyres from them. I buy my tyres from the same shop that installs them, and while I take my wheels off to save them time, they don't charge me much (if anything) to strip the old tyres off, put them in their dumpster, and install the new ones. I had to get one tyre removed from my Henry Abe wheel so I could get both wheels blasted, and they stripped the old tyre off and put it in their dumpster, for free as they know I'll be back to buy some tyres when I get my wheels back.

This is the best way to get your tires. It just bugs the sheet out of me when I read on forums about all these guys #$%*ing about what it costs to mount a tire they bought online to pinch a few pennies. I do HVAC and R, it is not that uncommon for people to want us to install parts they have purchased. We don’t do it and I don’t know any shops that can pay their bills on time that do. One time a cafe had called in a no cooling for a walk in cooler. When I got there he had a compressor and a filter drier sitting next to the unit. He had purchased the parts and expected us to install them. I told him that would be fine, could I stop by with my family with eggs, bacon, and bread for him to cook us breakfast tomorrow?
Bottom line is that everyone is entitled to make a living.

No disrespect John, but that is not quite the same. 

As a project manager, there are many jobs (not HVAC) that we buy the materials for the sub and he charges us just for the labor.   I have supplied lumber, sheetrock, paint etc, this reduces markup that the sub would typically put on the material.  My regular subs don't mind it one bit, it actually makes the job a little easier for them and they have no out of pocket costs. 

[ekpent]

I've mounted 4 new tires in the last two weeks on 750's. My little secret this time of year is to set the old tire and rim and the new tire before mounting next to my wood burning stove and get them nice and toasty before working on them. Kind of like a giant heat gun and warm rubber is very nice to work with  Correct tire irons make all the difference and practice. Hardest part of the deal usually is getting the new valve stem in the whole 

[Don R]

 My tire guy put on a 5x16 M&H slick for me, he didn't lube it. The tube was hanging out the back side when he aired it, and he blew it up. Then his kid tossed my tire and rim out in the driveway. I was lucky, they didn't charge me since they already owed me a tire mounting and I got the new tube while I was there. I finished it at home and did the next few tires at home.
 Later I needed parts from there,  I chalked the previous one up to a bad day and the next time, he mounted and balanced my bought elsewhere tires for free.

 It does seem my out the door cost is the same no matter what tires I buy, so last time I got Michelin pilots for my wing.

[Terry in Australia]

If your shop sells tyres, they probably fell a bit insulted if you don't buy your tyres from them. I buy my tyres from the same shop that installs them, and while I take my wheels off to save them time, they don't charge me much (if anything) to strip the old tyres off, put them in their dumpster, and install the new ones. I had to get one tyre removed from my Henry Abe wheel so I could get both wheels blasted, and they stripped the old tyre off and put it in their dumpster, for free as they know I'll be back to buy some tyres when I get my wheels back.

This is the best way to get your tires. It just bugs the sheet out of me when I read on forums about all these guys #$%*ing about what it costs to mount a tire they bought online to pinch a few pennies. I do HVAC and R, it is not that uncommon for people to want us to install parts they have purchased. We don’t do it and I don’t know any shops that can pay their bills on time that do. One time a cafe had called in a no cooling for a walk in cooler. When I got there he had a compressor and a filter drier sitting next to the unit. He had purchased the parts and expected us to install them. I told him that would be fine, could I stop by with my family with eggs, bacon, and bread for him to cook us breakfast tomorrow?

Bottom line is that everyone is entitled to make a living.

Yep, not wanting to argue with Steve, but a bike shop that stocks and sells new tyres (or tires) as part of their business is different from a contractor who has to buy in his stocks of building materials for a particular job. Jeff at Ace Motorcycles is a nice guy, but if I fronted at his shop and walked past his racks of tyres (that he's invested his own money in to provide a professional service) with tyres that I bought somewhere else, I think he'd probably tell me to piss off.

The restaurant example you gave was a good analogy. When I dropped Mike's CB750 in to get the head machined I gave Jeff the gaskets and pucks etc, but only because he didn't have them in stock, and he was happy to use mine. If he had the correct gaskets I wouldn't have offered. Cheers, Terry.

[Little_Phil]

In UK and Europe (I think) it is common for large discount online tyre stockists to link up with 100s of fitters round the country. Some of these are motorcycle shops and some just car/bike fitters. You can choose. You have then a huge range of tyres to choose from and can select a fitter. Usually find a motorcycle shop within 10 miles in the populated areas and typically cost £10-£12 per tyre to a loose wheel. And they often send the tyre direct to the fitter.

[billbill]

anyone who rides old bikes should be able to change tires   with practice its not hard   you dont need tire irons to fit new tires  all you need is a heavy rubber mallet and lube around the bead   stand on the bead and hammer around until it slips on   you cant nip the tube this way   i have never paid to have tires fitted   i did go to a shop once and it came back with the tube nipped under the bead 

[Terry in Australia]

Wow, in my mental picture of Sweden, everyone looks like a member of ABBA, and drives a 1970's Volvo?

Dont think so Terry, here is my mental picture....

Ha! Well my mental picture will remain as illustrated below, just two typical Swedish girls, with Per, and his cousin Sven.........

abba1 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

[PeWe]

Those fantastic days of the 70's are over! 
Lots of guys went to Thailand in the end of 80's-90's to taste the fantastic hot women with long darkbrown-black hair with an amazing construction,  prefectly lubed and often wild temperament. Bore and lubrication seems to be very interesting in many areas, not only motorcycles  

T-shirts could have been shorter?

[Stev-o]

If your shop sells tyres, they probably fell a bit insulted if you don't buy your tyres from them. I buy my tyres from the same shop that installs them, and while I take my wheels off to save them time, they don't charge me much (if anything) to strip the old tyres off, put them in their dumpster, and install the new ones. I had to get one tyre removed from my Henry Abe wheel so I could get both wheels blasted, and they stripped the old tyre off and put it in their dumpster, for free as they know I'll be back to buy some tyres when I get my wheels back.

This is the best way to get your tires. It just bugs the sheet out of me when I read on forums about all these guys #$%*ing about what it costs to mount a tire they bought online to pinch a few pennies. I do HVAC and R, it is not that uncommon for people to want us to install parts they have purchased. We don’t do it and I don’t know any shops that can pay their bills on time that do. One time a cafe had called in a no cooling for a walk in cooler. When I got there he had a compressor and a filter drier sitting next to the unit. He had purchased the parts and expected us to install them. I told him that would be fine, could I stop by with my family with eggs, bacon, and bread for him to cook us breakfast tomorrow?

Bottom line is that everyone is entitled to make a living.

Yep, not wanting to argue with Steve, but a bike shop that stocks and sells new tyres (or tires) as part of their business is different from a contractor

Terry doesnt want to argue...ha!   My post was directed at Dave about his AC business, in regards that he doesnt install customers parts. I can understand why a shop that sells tires would not want to mount other's tires.

The small shop that mounts my tires does not stock tires so he he no issue with me bringing in my tires.

[DurangoCB]

The motorcycle shops around here don't stock the tires I want. 

I'm going to install them myself.  I run across people all the time changing bicycle tires or tubes who are cursing the tire/rim combo for "not fitting" and I am able to get the tires on/off the rim with my bare hands, because I understand how a tire/rim interface.  I have a feeling that the people who say that mounting motorcycle tires is a total PITA are the same people who don't quite understand what they're doing.  I guess I'm about to find out.   

The only reason I was going to have a shop do it is because I was under the impression that, like a car tire shop, they had special machinery that made it easy and fast for them.  I was picturing 15-30 minutes labor total.  But they don't have a machine and if it's going to take them 30 minutes per wheel and thus cost me $80, I'd rather do it myself. 

Us DIY guys are certainly not a motorcycle shop's best customers. 

[DurangoCB]

At the end of the day, it isn't the consumer's job to solve problems that local businesses face due to the regional, national or world markets.  If you cannot sell a tire for a price that is in the ballpark of online vendors and match their convenience, then what your business has to offer is service and knowledge, not good prices on tires.  So you accentuate the service and knowledge and figure out how to capitalize on it, since other people have figured out how to outperform you on the cost of the tires. 

I think we all share the same keep-it-local ethic, but we also all have our limits and it's up to the business to make what they have to offer valuable to the consumer. 

The guy with the shop who turns people away because they brought in a set of tires is a fool.  Because there could be another guy down the street who's more than happy to mount their tires.  And he just made $80 while the other guy is standing in his shop complaining to his sales manager about the customer he turned away. 

[Yamahawk]

I have never seen a shop turn away labor to do anything, as that's where their profit is mainly. I have seen a shop charge more for tires brought in to mount, rather than bought from them. One shop here in Toledo, Homer's cycle, mounts the tire for FREE if you buy them at the shop... and he spin balances them too. He will order any tire you want if he doesn't already have them in stock. But, Jim is an Old School guy, and his business isn't dependent upon a small profit margin on tires, as he makes cables, cheap too, and re-spokes and trues wire wheels, very efficiently, and less than the incompetent mechanic does lol... I like them, too
Charlie

[DurangoCB]

Homer's sounds like my kind of business.  I've found businesses like that all over this area, and when I find them, I am one loyal customer. 

[754]

It should not take more gha  30 minutes for a shop.
 My buddy had a mobile tire service, no tire machine.. all done by hand..
 And they never took 30 minutes.
 So if a machine takes that long, send it back..get a refund.,

[Bankerdanny]

One of the several benefits of my Moto Guild membership is access to the pneumatic tire machine. Mounting the new tires on my 550 last year was a snap. Even if I dropped my monthly membership I would still be able to use the machine for the standard hourly rate of $30.