My dealer wanted $120 to change two tires. I decided instead to watch a few youtube how to videos on this and buy the tools (Motion Pro tire irons, bead popper and rim protectors ~$50 total) and do this myself. I wish I had done this 10 sets of tires ago. As it turns out it is not much more difficult than changing a bicycle tire. Used dyna beads to balance and dish soap and water as a lubricant on the beads to get them over the rim. How many of you change your own tires? I now kicking myself for having wasted money by not having done this several sets of tires ago.


To add insult to injury I found the same tires the dealer had for 50% less online.

 

Similar price around here, thinking about doing the same.

 

I figure I saved about $450 dollars by buying online and installing myself vs dealer not including the one time cost of the tools and the $25 spent on the dyna bead kit and two filtered valve stems (dyna bead sells these for $3 each, keeps the dyna beads from clogging the valve stems). Another option is to by a static balancing stand from some place like Harbor Freight for $50 to apply traditional lead weights - how to youtube videos on this too.

 

i do my own tire work. i found this write up in the under 50 bucs thread in the dyna section that works for me. https://www.hdforums.com/forum/dyna-...ml#post4542622

 

I've been doing my own tires for a few years now. I bought the Cycle Hill tire changer. Works good. Use dyna beads for balancing. I've saved enough money on tires and labor to more than pay for it. Of course, having 4 scooters makes the payback quick.


carl

 

Great intel. I had two dealers in my area quote me prices of about $750 for WWW tires for my 2012 Heritage. Both dealers were within a few dollars from each other on their quotes. I bought them online, shipped free and had a local Indy mechanic installed them for a fraction of the dealers' quoted prices.

 

Good for you, Tony! You'll really be saving money when you factor the discount on the tires and the labor. I did invest in a nice balancer and ended up buying a bead breaker from Harbor Freight. Marc Parnes sells a nice balancer. I use soapy water as a lube to remove but for mounting I found an aerosol tire mount spray (sold by Yamaha) that works really well. It's very slippery then tacks up when it dries but doesn't leave any residue.

What I appreciate as much as the savings is the convenience. I order new tires well ahead of time so their here, then take advantage of a rain day or evening to install them. It's a good opportunity to detail the wheels while the tires are off too.