Good morning gents and femmes,

So... a few calculations... a new set of Shinko Tires are about $160 shipped.

Then HD wants to charge $180 to change and balance. That's about $340

If I hand carry the new tires and old wheels they only charge $80.

HOWEVER - I am thinking that if I get a tire lever and only need HD to balance them.. I could save even more.

Any input here? Does anyone have any horror stories or DIYs on changing their own tires with a tire lever? is it worth it just to take it in?

Thanks for your input.

 

Why use a dealer at all? I always use local independent bike shops for all my tires. $40 front/$45 rear tires on the bike. Cycle Gear mounts tires off the bike real cheap.

 

There doesn't seem to be an indy shop close to me that does motorcycle tires.

 

I change my own tyres, always have up to now. I use a spade as a bead breaker and then work the tyre off using levers and a rubber mallet. I've chipped the finish on a few wheels though. So I think when I change them on my Harley i'll probably take the wheel to my local tyre place as its free fitting if I buy the tyre from them.

I assume the $180 is for HD to remove the wheels from the bike? Is it not cheaper if you take the wheels to them?

 

Yes, it's only 80 if I hand carry them in with the new tires.

That's kinda my question. Are the wheels easy enough to take off that it's worth the 80 bucks to avoid the headache of tire removal?

 

$80 for both tires mounted and balanced? Seems ok for a dealer. My local place does $20 per if you bring wheels. $80 if on the bike. I just started using dyna beads for balancing and they worked awesome.....so if you change the tire, no balancing fee. And beads are reusable to a point. Dealer sold me beads for $14, enough to do both. And I'm using Shinko 230 tourmasters, so far so good after about 1000 miles. Wheels are not hard to get off. Harder to put back on. Have a manual handy, take "before" pictures, and follow tips from other posts here. Take special care where spacers go....ask me how I know......

 

well I'd do that... but HD wants 180 on the bike, 80 if I bring in just the tires and wheels. Seems ludicrous and I don't have a local indy shop that I've found thus far that will/can do motorcycle tires.

 

You still need a decent way to break the bead, there's some clever methods on youtube. How comfortable are you with wheel removal? Only you can tell that.

Otherwise tires off and on a wheel is very simple with levers and just use a dynamic balancer in the tire (like dyna beads) and you're good to go.

 

They're charging your for an hour of labor. That's not unreasonable for removing and replacing g both wheels. Took me longer for both, that's for sure.

 

well. I just found a local shop that will do it for 30 per tire plus 12 dollars for the beads.

So... score 1 for the indys!