Tire Change Pain (In the Wallet)

[TX Silver_imp]

Dealer here in NTX charged $170 to swap out front & rear. Always done my own in the past, but this is the first bike I’ve had long enough, and with pretty enough rims, to worry about scratching.

Looks like next time, I’m going to invest in the equipment to do them myself. Even if it’s not inexpensive, changing 3 pair is pushing $600 after taxes & fees.

When did it become so expensive to lever off tires? I’m afraid to ask how much they’d charge to spin off a filter and pour oil in it.

TX

 

[the Ferret]

yea that's pretty pricy. Last time I checked my dealer got $120 for F & R on the bike and $30 a wheel off the bike.

 

[Gone in 60]

I used to have a really good guy who charged $20 a wheel off the bike, and never scratched my rims. Unfortunately he went out of business, and the next best deal I could find was $100 per pair off the bike. I've bought the tools to do it myself from now on, and did my Bonneville tires without too much drama a while back.

Everything's more expensive now, so I guess motorcycle tire shops figure they can charge more too.

 

[Cormanus]

Plus all their costs have gone up, so maybe they need to.

 

[peterbaron]

^^+1^^, or deliver my bike for new tires installation.

 

[pdedse]

I have my limits...I did everything on my KLR650 and never had it once into the shop. Learned a lot. But some of those tire-changes---ugh, but still fun to learn and it did get better with improved techniques. I'll do the same if I can on my '23 DR650.

But I decided that the CB1100 was going to be different. Oil / filter, sure. Brake fluid, likely. Maybe even change out the chain and sprockets...but then again, that may only need doing twice in my life with this bike. Do I need to learn to do that? Undecided. But valves and tires...no thank you. Call me when it's ready!

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

I pay $24 Canadian beaver backs for my Honda garage to swap rubber and balance without scratching the rim.

Considering world changes in the past few years, I thought that was fair market value. Higher than before, yes.

 

[peterbaron]

CAN24 is good price

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

CAN24 is good price

Last year it was $20 Cdn.

I suspect it will continue to rise.

 

[TX Silver_imp]

One of the hazards of being frugal I guess (wife says I’m cheap).

I think over $100 puts me in the not spending money in the cost/benefit part of the equation. Would probably be different if I didn’t find working on my bikes a bit relaxing. It will be a good excuse to buy new tools as well.

I do pay to get my lawn mowed because it’s not worth the allergy issues. I kinda miss pulling out the manual reel mower though.

 

[Charlie Bravo_imp]

Having my tires done is money well-spent. Many tasks are not difficult, but they're a PITA.

 

[misterprofessionality]

truth. the agony i went through during my phase of going "hurr durr i'm gonna learn how to change tires" was not worth it. i went from trying tire irons, to trying a whole tire machine before just completely giving up. just buy tires with good high mileage potential so you don't have to do it too frequently and let the nice man with the hydraulic machine do it when its necessary.

 

[Gone in 60]

I used to change car tires for a living during college, and figured how hard could motorcycle tires be? Sorta hard. I have a fairly high pain threshold for mechanical processes, but there are some that I will pay to have done. For cars, I will pay to have timing belts and air conditioning work done, but I'll tackle everything else myself. For motorcycle tires, I started on the Bonneville, which has chrome steel rims, so less prone to scratching the edges if I made a booboo. Tall, narrow tubed tires turn out to be the most challenging, so anything else I try should be a cinch.

I'm most afraid of the rims on the CB1100, but there is a no-tool method involving wrapping several large zip ties around the collapsed tire to gain room to slide off the rim. I have an unlimited supply of large zip ties at work, so that will be my method when the time comes for that bike.

 

[dave]

I change all my dirt bike and dual sport tires, and I used to change the tires on my street bikes when they were the chrome, spoked rims, because these resist scratching, but I don't do any of my street bikes with painted rims because I will scratch them.

I had the dealer put a pretty big scratch in the rim of my VFR800 years ago. I complained to the manager, and they refused to have it repaired (it would have to have been powder-coated). I refused to pay for the tire swap (I provided them the rim, off the bike), and they were happy with that (I wasn't) because they got away cheap.

I had a rear tire swap on this same bike performed another time, and when they handed it back to me without any tire weights on it I asked them if they had balanced it, and they said yes (they charged separate fees for mounting and balancing at that time). I thought this was strange, but I accepted their word. The next time this shop swapped a rear tire it came back with no tire weights and I again questioned them if it had been balanced. The counter guy went back and asked the mechanic if he balanced it, and he stated that he had not, and that was because their balance machine required a special adapter to work with a VFR800 rear wheel (it has a single-sided swingarm) and they didn't have this adapter. My bill had the separate charges for mounting and balancing. Needless to say, I never used this shop again.

 

[TX Silver_imp]

Really enjoy seeing the different opinions. They all make perfect sense. I personally refuse to do oil changes on any of the cars any longer because I’ve had to clean up enough oil from the garage floor, clothes, and my hair in the past to make me avoid it, but will do a brake job before I’ll pay someone to do that.

In addition to being cheap, um, I mean frugal, a big part of is not trusting other folks with MY stuff. My glass half full attitude makes me believe that others won’t necessarily take the same care that I will.

 

[emullick_imp]

I change all my dirt bike and dual sport tires, and I used to change the tires on my street bikes when they were the chrome, spoked rims, because these resist scratching, but I don't do any of my street bikes with painted rims because I will scratch them.

I had the dealer put a pretty big scratch in the rim of my VFR800 years ago. I complained to the manager, and they refused to have it repaired (it would have to have been powder-coated). I refused to pay for the tire swap (I provided them the rim, off the bike), and they were happy with that (I wasn't) because they got away cheap.

I had a rear tire swap on this same bike performed another time, and when they handed it back to me without any tire weights on it I asked them if they had balanced it, and they said yes (they charged separate fees for mounting and balancing at that time). I thought this was strange, but I accepted their word. The next time this shop swapped a rear tire it came back with no tire weights and I again questioned them if it had been balanced. The counter guy went back and asked the mechanic if he balanced it, and he stated that he had not, and that was because their balance machine required a special adapter to work with a VFR800 rear wheel (it has a single-sided swingarm) and they didn't have this adapter. My bill had the separate charges for mounting and balancing. Needless to say, I never used this shop again.

To balance a wheel, slide the axle in place, place the wheel supported by the axle between two chairs, spin the wheel slowly. The heavy part part drops down, place a small weight on the high side until it never stops in the same place, moving it as needed. I have a stock of adhesive backed wheel weights since the 70's, quick and easy. Use duct tape to hold the weight in place if needed, on the inner rim, (contrifugal force)

 

[max]

Good advice from Gone in 60, recently replaced the front ( a bit harder than the rear ) on the cb1000r, took 2 hours with the zip tie method, using the correct white lube and warming the tire in the sun makes a big difference.
No need for wheel weights this time, balance was very good;

Got some large tire levers and made plastic protectors, no marks on the rim.

Take care the brake disks are clear of any surface to prevent distorting them and lubricate the rim so the beads pop on positively, i had some trouble in the past where the rim was not lubed and the tire was not seated correctly..

To inflate the tire i use a 5 liter weed sprayer with a clear plastic hose which fits over the valve.
Block the hose, build up the pressure make sure the tire is seated on the rim and take the vise grips off the hose, it inflated fine and popped both beads with just the weed sprayer

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

... yummy specimen m in sc.

 

[dave]

To inflate the tire i use a 5 liter weed sprayer with a clear plastic hose which fits over the valve.
Block the hose, build up the pressure make sure the tire is seated on the rim and take the vise grips off the hose, it inflated fine and popped both beads with just the weed sprayer
[/QUOTE]

Max, you don't own an air compressor? I am shocked! I thought you had at least one of every tool known to man!

 

[Charlie Bravo_imp]

I'm gonna need an oil change soon, and I'll probably just have it done. It's easy enough to do, but I'd have to lay on the ground to do it, (no lift), and then take the used oil back to where I bought it, only to have them tell me the tank is full (happened before). Too much hassle.