I need a new rear tire ASAP. Steel braids are showing in a small spot.

Going with a metzeler 880 170/60 & the best price online is $153 shipped.

There is only one indy in town that works on harleys & he said he will only mount & balance if you buy the tire from him (mount & balance is $55) BUT he wants almost $300 for the same tire.

I need advice, I can't afford that to change one tire.
And to true, mount & balance a Jireh 21" front that I laced myself he wants around $400.

Do these prices sound right? approx $750 to true front wheel & mount 2 tires. The tires are less than $300 online by the way, he wants $550 or so.

 

Almost sounds like he is charging dealer rates. Seems high to me. Maybe ask around to see if you can fine another indy.

 

Sounds like he is pretty full of himself and is too busy for your business. He wants it his way or the hiway......
There are a lot of people out there besides "Harley Mechanics" who can do a fine job of changing out tires and truing a spoke rim. I have a dirt bike specialist down the road from me who don't know squat about Harleys, but he sure has a lot of experience with spoke wheels and balancing for race bikes. I used him once to balance my 21" front wheel that I had taken to one of those good ole boy Harley Indies that said he couldn't balance my new ME 880 because my rim must be bent and I needed to leave it there with him so he could try to true it up. Told him I have a manual and a dial indicator with plenty of free time, paid him 10 bucks for his time and hit the road. Got it home and mounted the axle up in my vise and checked the runout and it was in specs. Heard about the dirt bike mechanic and took the wheel to him. He's hobbling around in his shop with a fresh cast on his ankle, up to his *** in alligators with some race bikes he has to get ready but he says "Sure, I can balance your tire". After a couple of attempts, he couldn't get it to balance with any kind of reasonable weight. He popped the beads loose and rotated the tire with the balancing dot 180 degrees away from the valve stem and got a perfect balance with the same weights that were originally on the rim. I asked him what I owed him and he said 10 bucks. I gave him 20 and had to fight my way out the door.
I do my own tires (I use Dyna Beads)and haven't had any reason to use his services, but I was given a bunch of 2-stroke parts (heads, pistons, jugs, carbs, etc). Took the whole load to him and he still remembered me (or so he said). Gave all that stuff to him as a gesture of appreciation.
Long post for me, got carried away.

 

WoW! Those prices are high... He must be the only one in town. Have you tried Mikes Cycle World on Nashville rd.? I know they're Jap shop but when i was racing @ BeechBend, They found me a Harley coil....

 

I have not tried mikes. Honestly, i had some trouble with them a few years back with some parts for my busa & never went back.

but if this were a jap bike, i would have the wheel off & tire changed in less than an hour. Awesome how I have to have a motorcycle jack to get the tire off the ground now instead of one built in.

 

I have three bikes.Bought a nomar tire changer and do it myself.It was about $700.00 for the kit and I'm very pleased with it.Makes me popular with my riding buddies too.

 

I talked to the service manager at the dealer today.

he told me the indy is a bold-faced liar. The indy said the dealer didnt have a machine to true spoked wheels & would NOT change a tire unless I bought it from them.

service man. said he didnt care where I got the tire from & 1 hr labor ($78) total to change the tire if i ride the bike in.

And approx 2 hrs labor to true a wheel ($160)

 

All you need is an auto scissor jack and you can get either Harley wheel out in a blink! Jiffy stand and jack will hold your bike up for you while you get the tyre fixed.

 

where did u get the mtzlr 880 for that $$$ ?????

 

2 different hd dealers quoted me $350 + tax for the rear tire (200 D407 Dunlop) on my FXSTC, bought front and rear ME880's from local indy and had them mounted and everything for $425 out the door...