Bridgestone, one of the few suppliers of tires to fit our bikes, used to be one of the more affordable tire companies. Is it me, or has that changed significantly? I suppose providing motogp with tires has gotten the better of them in the pandemic...
Like many more things these days Jim, I fear manufacturers with all the connected cloud-based databases operating in virtually "just-in-time" (and in many cases, real-time), the paradigm of "supply and demand" are continuously tweaked and milked from the consumer for what they can afford to pay from one day to the next, or one week to the next, ... one month to the next. There is no human behind the day-to-day variations, and more likely logically databases that have implemented artificial intelligence.
We are consumers. We like our profits from business. This is the side-effect, and we pay for it.
Conversely, sometimes we get lucky and [tire] stock goes old and dried out - so the consumer experiences a fire sale. Everything for a reason these days.
Michelin is and has been for the last couple of seasons motorcycle tire supplier to MotoGP.
My recent Bridgestone T31 purchases here in Ireland were not too bad. €106 for the front 110/80 ZR18 and the rear 140/70 R18 was €126 ($126 & $150 US resp.) That includes our dreaded 23% Sales Tax. Fitting and balancing is a reasonable €12 per wheel at a dedicated motorcycle tyre fitter. My last three sets of tyres have all been Bridgestone, I seem to of settled on the brand.
(03-19-2021, 08:46 PM)Tev62_imp Wrote: [ -> ]My recent Bridgestone T31 purchases here in Ireland were not too bad. €106 for the front 110/80 ZR18 and the rear 140/70 R18 was €126 ($126 & $150 US resp.) That includes our dreaded 23% Sales Tax. Fitting and balancing is a reasonable €12 per wheel at a dedicated motorcycle tyre fitter. My last three sets of tyres have all been Bridgestone, I seem to of settled on the brand.
Yes, those prices seem reasonable by Canadian perspective, even with [hyper] tax. Installation cost is good too.
The prices align with the cost in Australia too. The rear is more expensive here at €138 and the front cheaper at €103.
bridgestoned used to be like $98 front and $124 rear. those were the days!
lol I remember when they were like $25 front and $40 rear
