Needed new tires. Dealership said what?!

[SLICE]

I called 2 dealers to replace my tire.

Both said only with a Kenda OEM tire.

One quoted $380- and can get me in July 27.

the second stealership quoted $350- and he could do in the first week of August.

I went and bought myself this (https://www.harborfreight.com/1500-l...torcycle+lifts ) and in 2 tire changes I'll have broken even.

[BajaRon]

You will find yourself using it for much more than just tire changes. I think it will pay for itself much more quickly than you might think.

Loved to have done the work for you. Just can't be everywhere, or even close to it.

[SLICE]

You will find yourself using it for much more than just tire changes. I think it will pay for itself much more quickly than you might think.

Loved to have done the work for you. Just can't be everywhere, or even close to it.

The older I get the less maintenance I want to do as it takes me a day or 5 to recover, But when I see stealer labor rates I hike up my pants and suck it up and remember why I spun wrenches and fired the parts cannon for 31 years... well longer if you count before they called me a professional and of course retirement.



OK OK OK truth be told I hate working on anything that does not include the words boobies and moonshine.

I'm old.

I'm cranky.

I'm worn out.

And I fart....a lot.

B.T.W. Ron your super duper incredible 3 piece (well 5 really ) was so easy even a grouchy old man like me can do it.

[Flamewinger]

I know a Honda Goldwing owner that had both tires replaced at the dealer and it was just over $600. Motorcycles are not cheap.

[chipveres]

The older I get the less maintenance I want to do as it takes me a day or 5 to recover, But when I see stealer labor rates I hike up my pants and suck it up and remember why I spun wrenches and fired the parts cannon for 31 years... well longer if you count before they called me a professional and of course retirement.



OK OK OK truth be told I hate working on anything that does not include the words boobies and moonshine.

I'm old.

I'm cranky.

I'm worn out.

And I fart....a lot.

B.T.W. Ron your super duper incredible 3 piece (well 5 really ) was so easy even a grouchy old man like me can do it.

Don't think of it as a fart - think of it as a motorcycle supercharger.

[Gwolf]

All my tire changes have been done by a local place 10 miles away. They do mostly automotive, tractor, and truck tires. If I pull the wheels off and take them in, with the new tires, I bought from where ever, this place will swap the tires, balance the wheels, and throw them back into my truck, in about 30 minutes or less. Around $20 per wheel is reasonable enough, and the Spyder never leaves my shop.

To get a dealer to do it would be two 120 mile round trips, and unknown amount of time the Spyder might be parked at the dealership. Also unkown amount of wasted money that could be better spent grilling T-bone steaks or shrimp shish-K-bobs.

I have a couple of roll around floor jacks and a couple of scissor type motorcycle lifts. All the jacks and lifts have paid for themselves many times over. Also use the floor jacks on the tractor, farm trucks, and many other jobs that come up.

I am old, my warranty has expired, but still operational at lower speeds on a smooth surface.

[hypurone]

The older I get the less maintenance I want to do as it takes me a day or 5 to recover.

I FEEL your pain!!

20160607_100829.jpg

[SLICE]

I FEEL your pain!!

20160607_100829.jpg

Were twins I broke all of mine on the right side October 28th 1979 at 11:35 pm'ish .

Hit a guard rail in my 67 Mustang fastback and rolled it a few times, spent 2 months in I.C.U.

[sledge]

I called 2 dealers to replace my tire.

Both said only with a Kenda OEM tire.

One quoted $380- and can get me in July 27.

the second stealership quoted $350- and he could do in the first week of August.

I went and bought myself this (https://www.harborfreight.com/1500-l...torcycle+lifts ) and in 2 tire changes I'll have broken even.

i bought the tires I wanted ( car tires ) and removed the front wheels first , took both front wheels and tires and the 2 new front tires to a regular tire shop , had them changed and balanced , about $20 for each . took them home put them back on , then read the manaul and watched a video .. and I removed the rear wheel , and did the same as the fronts ... had about $60 in the whole deal . and I learned exactly how to remove and replace the wheels on my spyder.... thats just what I did and I'm not smarter than anyone . just saying.

[SLICE]

i bought the tires I wanted ( car tires ) and removed the front wheels first , took both front wheels and tires and the 2 new front tires to a regular tire shop , had them changed and balanced , about $20 for each . took them home put them back on , then read the manaul and watched a video .. and I removed the rear wheel , and did the same as the fronts ... had about $60 in the whole deal . and I learned exactly how to remove and replace the wheels on my spyder.... thats just what I did and I'm not smarter than anyone . just saying.

Some 50 years ago when I was a young man of 14 I successfully replaced the drum brakes on my dads Plymouth Fury III.. and it stopped.
The rest is history.
Machine shop and welding in school.
licensed Millwright.
Maintenance Mechanic for the worlds largest razor blade company.
Class A truck driver.

I'm just at the point in my life were I want to travel a bit and not have to lift a finger to fix $*#t simply because I end up in pain for days.

But I spent all my money on building fast cars/motorcycles/jeeps and rehab.

So now I have to bite the bullet and just do what I can on my own and deal with the pain.

[BajaRon]

If you remove the wheels and take wheels & tires to most tire shops. You can get them done at a very reasonable price. They won't be able to balance the rear. But then we've found a good tire doesn't need that much weight. Balancing Beads or Ride-On has always been sufficient. Many times, nothing at all works fine.

Good Luck! Glad to see you're not taking this lying down....

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

If you remove the wheels and take wheels & tires to most tire shops. You can get them done at a very reasonable price. They won't be able to balance the rear. But then we've found a good tire doesn't need that much weight. Balancing Beads or Ride-On has always been sufficient. Many times, nothing at all works fine.

Good Luck! Glad to see you're not taking this lying down....

..... however after 5-6 rear tire changes I haven't balanced any AUTO tires and Never had a problem ..... JMHO ... good luck .... Mike

[BajaRon]

..... however after 5-6 rear tire changes I haven't balanced any AUTO tires and Never had a problem ..... JMHO ... good luck .... Mike

My "Nothing at all" remark was meant for the rear wheel only. I think balancing the fronts, since it isn't difficult to do, is not a bad idea. Haven't tried going with unbalanced fronts.

[sgerksinwi]

So how if they do.
Balance the rear??
Don't tell me BUDS..

[CloverHillCrawler]

I was able to find a local auto shop from an HD mechanic referral (after an exhaustive search of my area) that also does a lot of work on side by sides and atv's and they were able to balance all three tires for me as they had the equipment to do it.

Look for a shop like this in your area first. A lot of the local tire dealers I checked with were not equipped to or didn't want to do it.

I feel your all's back pain as well, I had surgery done on mine in 2009. I have the same lift that slice bought and I love it and yes it pays for itself very fast.

[BajaRon]

So how if they do.
Balance the rear??
Don't tell me BUDS..

No, you don't need BUDS to balance these wheels. They are just small car wheels. Nothing special except that the rear wheel takes special adapters to mount to a balance machine. That's where the balancing beads or Ride-On comes into the picture.

[CloverHillCrawler]

Also watch out for Red Harbor freight jack stands if you have any. One of the guys I work with just told me there was a recall out on them.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

My "Nothing at all" remark was meant for the rear wheel only. I think balancing the fronts, since it isn't difficult to do, is not a bad idea. Haven't tried going with unbalanced fronts.

" after 5-6 rear tire changes " .... did you think I meant tires other than REAR ???????? ..... JMHO .... Mike

[sgerksinwi]

Just joking on needing BUDs.

[BajaRon]

" after 5-6 rear tire changes " .... did you think I meant tires other than REAR ???????? ..... JMHO .... Mike

Sorry, wasn't sure and I didn't make myself clear in the 1st post.

Just joking on needing BUDs.

Should have caught that. I thought it was a strange question to begin with.

[Quickdraw]

I have that same lift I bought at the local harbor freight a couple of years ago. It's gone up $40 in price. Nice lift though.

[carbonation]

I called 2 dealers to replace my tire.

Both said only with a Kenda OEM tire.

One quoted $380- and can get me in July 27.

the second stealership quoted $350- and he could do in the first week of August.

I went and bought myself this (https://www.harborfreight.com/1500-l...torcycle+lifts ) and in 2 tire changes I'll have broken even.

Crazy. Although I will say that at 110.00 an hour for service time in a shop that's probably close. BUT, you'll be back in another 8000 miles on that Kenda, and still have the same poor performance from it.
Kumho from eBay was 95.00 delivered. Mount and balance local was about 30.00 . 3 ounces of balance beads tossed in when mounted, 10.00 from Amazon. Cheap hydraulic floor jack, some wood blocks, and 4 hours of my time.

[BajaRon]

I have that same lift I bought at the local harbor freight a couple of years ago. It's gone up $40 in price. Nice lift though.

Actually, the price hasn't gone up at all. What really happened is that your money is simply worth $40.00 less than it was when you purchased your 1st one.

[Gwolf]

Actually, the price hasn't gone up at all. What really happened is that your money is simply worth $40.00 less than it was when you purchased your 1st one.

You should not confuse people with facts.

[K80Shooter]

I went and bought myself this (https://www.harborfreight.com/1500-l...torcycle+lifts ) and in 2 tire changes I'll have broken even.

Just wondering if you have used this jack yet? Wanting to make sure that it is indeed low enough to reach the center frame of the Spyder without hitting things.