Time for new Metzler ME 888 rear tire for my 2010 Dyna Super Glide. The prior owner and I got 15,000 miles out of the last one so I replaced with another. Now at 13,000+ miles I am down to 3/32's" so rather than wait and try and squeeze a few more miles out of it I went on line and began shopping. Eastern Performance Cycles {my personal favorite}, was at the high end along with JP at $207. Dennis Kirk came in at $176 and I ordered from them.

I called Eastern first and asked if they wanted to match the lower price from DK and they declined due to the narrow margin on tires. When I replaced the front with a Metzler Eastern did match the best quote I had gotten, go figure.

The only problem with DK was trying to use their website {good luck with that}. Despite ordering the 160/70 B17 blackwall they kept showing my order as a whitewall... no thank you. I called them direct and eventually they straightened it out and should have the tire by Friday. My local Indie will mount and balance for $75. An extra $31 would not be the end of the world but why pay more? Everybody has their favorites but the Metzler's are working well for me.

 

My 2009 Ultra has 80,000 miles on it, so I've replaced a number of tires. For years I was buying tires online at the best price I could possibly find, which would vary depending on when I was buying the tire, from a few different websites. Currently, Ride Now dealers (which are a large group of dealers in our area, not sure if they're in your area or not) will order the tire and install it for the sale price and it's usually within just a few dollars of where I can buy it online for. The convenience is well worth an extra $10-$20 but often I've found it's no more money. Check the metric dealers and the new Indian dealers, I bet they'd do something similar for you.

 

I was buying tires on-line when I noticed that a local private accessory place had them for the same prices and $20 mount and balance. Every now and then they have sales as well.

 

The first time I needed a tire I offered to buy it from my Indie. He just laughed and said he didn't/couldn't make any money selling tires. Told me to get the best deal I could on line and bring it to him for the install, which I am happy to do. In changing the tire everything gets looked at/checked and adjusted as needed which is always a good thing.

 

I get them online and mount balance myself. no way I am paying for service I can do on my own.

 

When I need tires I shop Jake Wilson, Dennis Kirk and several others. I have bought my last 6 tires from DK. Hits my house in 3-4 days, always fresh date codes and always lowest price.

 

I have had a few people tell me buying tires online you get old dated tires. Since I have not ever bought tires online I had no idea if true or not. Your prices sounds a heckova lot cheaper than my HD wants. I have looked on the JP site but will shop too. Thanks for the thread

 

I love the 888 and just got 13,000 out of a rear which is my personal best. Have one ready to go on I ordered a couple weeks ago from EP for $152. Usually find the best price there, JW, DK, ebay or even Amazon. Yep, sure pays to shop around. My Indie lets me have them shipped to his shop and puts them on for $40.00.

 

OP here with a followup. As previously noted I ordered my Metzler ME 888 from Dennis Kirk as they had a good price on it at $176.88. Ordered on Monday and the delivery was scheduled for Friday night. My indie is closed Monday/Tuesday so Wednesday I called him and he agreed to squeeze me in first thing Saturday morning.

Friday night the tire arrives with a date code of 3916, just a week shy of one year old. When I ordered I specifically told them not to send me a stale tire nothing over 90 days. Never had this problem with JP Cycles or Eastern Performance Cycles, always a fresh tire.

Since I ride 15,000+ miles a year this tire will be toast in a year or less so it will not "time out" on me... but DK didn't know that. If I was buying for the full 5 year life of the tire riding 3,000 miles a year as some do they would have shorted me 20% of the tires life.

Rather than inconvenience my indie and have to deal further with the folks at Dennis Kirk I elected to just accept the tire and move on. In the course of mounting the tire my indie discover that both rear wheel bearings were in need of immediate replacement. My time is a lot cheaper than his so I drove the 2 hour roundtrip down to Tucson Harley and picked new ones, $50 out the door. So glad he caught the problem now as it was certainly going to get worse {the fronts had already been replaced}

I called DK customer service this morning and had a lively discussion. First she said it was not a stale tire I replied it was not fresh. Then she said it was only 6 months old and I told her to redo the math, it was a week shy of one year old. Then she said that DK did not put the DOT manufacture date on the tire... DUH! Ya think?

Then she said they had just received that tire in June and I began to see the light... speculation on my part {pure conjecture}, Could it be that DK bought a batch of old tires, cheap and is now selling them without regard for their Dot code dates?

I post this followup just to let everyone know that if you buy tires from Dennis Kirk you may or may not get a fresh tire. Specifically asking for one does no good.

This is third time I have had issues with Dennis Kirk. Lots of folks here love them and I can only assume they have had better luck than I but three strikes and you are out... Buh bye DK!

 

I have purchased 7 tires from DK over the past 8 years. They have all been "fresh" , lowest price and delivered promptly.
I ride about 8K a year, I wouldn't think twice about mounting an 11 month old tire stored in a box.
DK is my first go to place for motorcycle parts and maint items. Has been since 2005. Fair price and in stock. Their website is one of the best I have ever used, after you get used to it. For apparel and helmets, free returns and all items are sent to consumer with a return label. Easy peasey.