Sticker shock........

marchyman said:

So how much does it cost to dispose of friends?

As for tires... Find someone with friends who are enamored with doing burnouts. I did. My friend took my tires so his friends could have some cheap fun. Worked for me.

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My English teacher cringes somewhere...

sadly the tires will not fit my burnout lovin' friends bikes.

I was gonna build one of those earth shelters out of tires like the ones outside of Taos...no time since I am retired

Since I have personally changed some tires on the tire machine at Nick's BMW, I can say that $25 to $30 to demount/mount a tire, make sure the tire valve is good, balance the tire properly, and dispose of the old tire, that $25 to $30 is pretty damn cheap. Even with the fancy powered tire changer there is still some work to it, and to avoid marking up a rim.

Now, if you bring in a bike and want the wheel removed and mounted, and all that done within an hours time, you are getting the full shop rate worth of work.

RoboRider said:

I was seeing $50 per wheel if you took the wheel in (off the bike). My No Mar tire changer has paid for itself now. I also use it for may cars since I can get tires for them much cheaper on line as well. I've done buddies tires for a fee of a good lunch. I'm way ahead and I've only had it 3 years. I like the No Mar balancer but the Marc Parnes looks sweet, too.

So, yeah, that price is 'fair'. But, if you own multiple bikes like I do, it pays to do your own.

There are two other advantages, too. One is that you can really clean the wheel much more thoroughly than anyone else will. Also, you can run your tire to the bone and not worry about making an appointment to change it. And I'm open Sunday nights till 1 AM!

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BMW quoted $40 per uninstalled wheel and the other all-brands dealer charged $30 per wheel.

I'm thinking like RoboRider here too. I have considered buying a no-mar also. Between my two cars I need 6 tires changed. That will cost me about $180-$200 because I like to shop for tires online also.

Hmmmm thinking here....

I guess I'm showing my poor mountain upbringing and general cheapness. When I was growing up in the late 50s and early 60s, we didn't have tire changers back in the mountains. On cars and trucks, we ran over the tire with a vehicle to break the bead loose and dismounted the tire with tire irons. I have continued that method with variations with motorcycle tires. I break the bead with a large C clamp and two little blocks of wood and remove the tire with the tire tools that were in the tool kit of my first K bike. Before I had BMWs, I used different tools that I felt were appropriate for the job. I then mount the tire with the same tools and put the dot at the valve stem. I have installed tires on BMW K100RT, K75RT, R80RT as well as Honda Magna, Kawasaki GPZ550 and several others since the mid 70s.

Ken

Honestly the best solution if you don't want to pay the dealer is to find a friend near by with all the right tools, then drop by with the new tires and a six-pack

We HAD a great small independent shop that changed tires for $20. He went out of business.
My son and I bought a no-mar, it was worth the money

+1 on the No-Mar changer....I've been quite happy w/ it and have surely paid for it in the 1-1/2 yr I've owned it. I'm on my 8 th set of tires on my R1200rt. I not only save on Mnt/Bal charges but save quite a bit on tire purchases. I've been getting a set of PR2's for $246 w/ free shipping from Southwest Moto ( I usually order two sets at a time ). I'm not particularly happy w/ the No-Mar balancer mostly because of the cone devise they sell for the rear wheel ( I machined my own precision wheel mount for that ).

Dave
'08 R1200rt