My experience getting new tires mounted

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OliverB

XS400 Junkie
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Had an interesting experience the past few days trying to find a local place to mount the new IRC tires I bought last Winter for my XS400. Both the local Yamaha/Suzuki dealer and the custom trike builder said the same thing: "Oh, you didn't buy the tires from us? Well, we can't mount them them for insurance/liability reasons. If something were to go wrong we would have to make an insurance claim and we don't want to do that!" Translation: "We want to sell you the tire at top dollar and also charge you top dollar to mount/balance it."

Found an Indie in town I didn't even know was there. He mounted and balanced them for $20/tire. Said he was quoted 3 years ago by a dealer $80 if you didn't buy the tire from them or $30 if you did. Discovered he likes Japanese bikes and is pretty knowledgeable about the older bikes. Had an older 750 and 850 Yamaha in his shop. Good find!

My son and I have spent several hundred dollars (most by my son) over the past 3 years for motorcycle parts and accessories at the same Yamaha/Suzuki dealer that refused me. We will never darken their door again. Can't understand why some folks have to be so greedy.
 
I feel your pain. My dad bought a used bike from a local performance shop/dealer a few years ago. He rode it that summer, then took it back into the same dealer to have the oil changed.....They told him that they couldn't work on it because it was over 10 years old (only by 2 years). Needless to say that he hasn't been back through their doors since. I ordered an oil filter for my KZ440 though them about a month beforehand, and even though the parts guy said shipping would take around a week, I never got it at all! I called about it for about a month and they told me it hadn't came in yet. Come to find out, it had come in after 2 weeks, but they sold it to another guy that ordered one a week after I did! I haven't dealt with them since then either.

Shops these days!!!!!!
 
I hate having anyone do maintenance on any of my vehicles. I am going to give mounting and balancing a try in the coming weeks. From all of the videos I have seen it really does not look too difficult.
 
The problem with a lot of shops working on older bikes is that the people don't know how to work on them. They don't have the shop manuals that go back that far. My local yamaha dealer had guys there that have been there for 35 years and can work on any brand of bike. If you buy the bike there they should work on it for you.:wtf:
 
Yeah, what could they possibly need? Torque specs? For most applications the torque settings should be about the same as anything else. Older bikes should be easier to work on, and after what I have seen of the xs400 it doesn't seem like a mechanic would need a manual at all; it's all pretty generic and straight-forward. All you have to do is warn the customer that parts might not be easily obtainable and a stopping point can easily be reached.
 
A lot of the time the older bikes have been messed with and "rigged" by the p.o and are just too much of a headache to work on. Plus most people don't want to spend $1200 on a $200 p.o.s another reason why dealers push the newer bikes. I have seen this way to many times over the years.:(
 
Haha, it's the customer's dollar. As long as they are honest about the process and warn customer's without much knowledge I don't see why they would turn away work. Just charging for labor to fix ghetto-rigged bikes is still profit in my eyes. I can't imagine someone coming in for service, being told it can't be worked on, and just buying a new bike instead. I mean, maybe it works sometimes, but not often.

I suppose a smaller independent mechanic is superior in almost all circumstances. The only time I have ever had a dealer do anything for me was when I had things covered by warranty.
 
Changing a tire is not a big deal.I put two on my dirt bike the other day in about an hour.You just have to be careful,and put the tube in straight and out of the way,so that you don't pinch it when you put the 2nd side on.---lha
 
I can see why a dealer might not want to work on an old p.o.s. of little value and take the chance of investing time and money only to have the owner not wanting to put out the cash so they abandon the bike. The dealer would then be stuck with a virtually worthless bike w/o a title. But a tire change on a cast wheel in good shape for a customer who has already spent money with the dealership? Stupid!!
 
I’ve had this problem for years from dirt bike tries to sport tires on my Triumph Sprint RS.... It really bothers me that they jack the prices up so high when you do buy the tires from them, then they ice the cake with the insane install fees! I had the Triumph dealer install 2 new Metzlers on my old Speed Triple, once... It was over $400 for a set of tires, I almost snapped when I got that bill! There is a shop in Myersville MD, Motorcycle Classics of Maryland, Chuck the owner has never once raped me on mount / balance and if you do buy tires from him, he charges a fair price! I think he charged me $13 each to mount my KLR250 tires the last time! Oliver, where in the panhandle are you? Im in Bakerton about 4 miles from Harpers Ferry!
 
tire spoons are cheap...and its quite easy to change them yourself...maybe a second set of hands here or there...but I learned myself on the process...and I changed two tires on my dirtbike in an hour...start to finish...lift the bike up on a 5 gallon bucket...pull both wheels...let the air out...place them on a 30 gallon trash can...spoon the tires off/on ...re-inflate....remount...take the bike off the stand...go ride.....when you think about it..its kinda highway robbery what they charge you...and those prices are for tire change only....you still have to pull them off and hand deliver them???
I even changed them on my sport bike relatively easy...bike was a bit heavier to deal with...but I rode them unbalanced and had no issues...and no BS attitude from dealers to deal with either.
 
I remember when I was a kid my Dad used to change his own tires. He had a set of tire irons and used to drive up on and partly around the sidewall to break the bead of the old tire.

The shop I used has one of those less expensive manual machines like you can buy at Harbor Freight.

Got my scoot tires changed out last Spring at a local shop that does nothing but scooters - $10 each.

The likely hood of me needing to do this again, maybe ever, is very low so that's why I opted to go the paying route. Besides, gave me the chance to check out a local shop I didn't even know was there and shoot the breeze with a guy who likes old Japanese bikes. When I can do so, I like to support the local, small business person.
 
fair enough...as long as they are fair...and decent to deal with.....I think locally they hire 'bikers' or guys 'in the sport'.........and of course they are ALL badasses...and it reflects in the service.
The one shop that was great to deal with...guys in the sport owned it...they were awesome to deal with....died with the economy...unfortunately all thats left are the local 'gods' to deal with....gotta love the internet and ebay!!
 
seems like things here operate a little differently! i have seen the big shops slowly fade away over the last ten years! first the suzuki shop back in the late 80's then about 90 the yamaha shop sold to a john deer dealer " cuz his kids were bike freaks i hear" and the honda kawi dealer has changed hands every two years for at least the last six years that i know of! and their reputation still sucks!!! then there is one main street through town that has a small independent triumph dealer who services anything and sells lots of used bikes on consignment " the one i worked for for a short time" a small ktm/bmw dealer, a parts and clothing shop, and a classic bike parts and service shop who does mostly older dirt bikes. these all within a half mile of each other. and at least a dosen little shops that are little more than rent a shops with real bikers running them. even a good size scrapper called psycho cycle's who's internet buisness is booming. a man/wife/one employee buisness! and they all seem to help each other out at times! exept the bmw guy! he's kinda snotty, but goes with the crowd i guess!

maybe we are are just lucky here! the going rate for tire changes is about 20.00 everywhere i have been, i swap knobbies and paddles back and forth a couple times a year. but i avoid the big dealers!!

there is a crazy amount of harley shops around also but i never got into harley,s i prefer dependable bike! lol.
 

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