Supporting My Local BMW Dealers

[jconway607]

Fair enough. I did buy my gear quite a while ago (remember when the CDN dollar hit $1.05 US?) so I am not up on the current costs. As well, I generally have at least 3 motorcycles in my garage at any given time so my investment has more than paid for itself. There is also the time required to go to a bike shop and wait.......and wait.......etc vs just doing it myself.
Keep in mind this is a "manual" set up, it does take some energy (sweat gives way to technique given sufficient practice).
I feel there are many suitable choices of wheel balance gear at 1/2 of your estimate. Certainly not industrial standard but more than adequate for the home wrench.
I always do my own work. I just cannot give someone money to do a job that I am capable of doing myself. Must be the way I was raised.
Cheers, Flhfxd.

Flhfxd,
I couldn't agree more with everything you say. For people with multiple bikes, or who do a lot of riding (BMW owners) having your own tire changing equipment would seem to be a very good investment. For me, with one machine and not enough time to ride it, sometimes I think it's overkill. But, like yourself, I like to do my own work. I would be interested in knowing the source for some more reasonably priced balancing equipment that you mention. I haven't made that purchase yet. Thanks.

 

[pglaves]

Flhfxd,
I couldn't agree more with everything you say. For people with multiple bikes, or who do a lot of riding (BMW owners) having your own tire changing equipment would seem to be a very good investment. For me, with one machine and not enough time to ride it, sometimes I think it's overkill. But, like yourself, I like to do my own work. I would be interested in knowing the source for some more reasonably priced balancing equipment that you mention. I haven't made that purchase yet. Thanks.

Balancing equipment has several parts. I made my own stand, with ball bearing rollers designed for patio sliding doors. About $5 for the rollers and some angle iron I had. Then I needed the adaptor to bolt to the four-bolt hubs on our K75 and Oilhead bikes. And a 17mm rod. I used an old /6 axle. For our F800S I got the adaptor and axle rod from Mark Parnes. For front wheels I just use the axles.

FWIW, When we are on-the-road for the summer I carry the rear wheel adaptor(s) for whichever bikes we are riding. After I had a flat and ruined the tire, I could get the new tire and wheel balanced at an Arctic Cat dealership in Montana because I had the bolt on hub adaptor with me. That was better than the 5 shop fiasco with an F800 up in Canada a couple of years ago.

 

[selyab]

There is a lot to be said about taking the risk and teaching yourself how to do new things, even though it might be uncomfortable for some. It benefits you much more than the extra cash in your pocket in my opinion.

 

[temesvar]

The dealer removes the wheel, mounts and balances the tire, then re-installs the wheel for 40 CDN?

Would not think so!! If you look, will see that was mentioned by Daboo from Seattle! $40 a wheel. And i suppose that is riding the bike there. We are paying here $30 Can /wheel, and just take the wheel in. I don't think that is bad.

 

[temesvar]

Dude, you're in Winsor.......scoot across the bridge to Harbor Freight and get a tire changer with the motocycle attachment for $70 and do it yourself. And, do your buddies bikes too for free beer. Static balance is all you require. Get one from Balance Master or a similar unit. If you take the time to mount your tires right you'd be surprised how little weight is required to get the wheels bang on.

You are right, and was thinking about it. Is just that would be something to take up more space in my garage, and use it once a year, if that!

 

[36654]

Would not think so!! If you look, will see that was mentioned by Daboo from Seattle! $40 a wheel. And i suppose that is riding the bike there. We are paying here $30 Can /wheel, and just take the wheel in. I don't think that is bad.

30CDN (22.50 US) to mount and balance a tire? Sign me up.. That's a good price.

 

[temesvar]

There is a lot to be said about taking the risk and teaching yourself how to do new things, even though it might be uncomfortable for some. It benefits you much more than the extra cash in your pocket in my opinion.

You are absolutely right!

 

[flhfxd]

There is a lot to be said about taking the risk and teaching yourself how to do new things, even though it might be uncomfortable for some. It benefits you much more than the extra cash in your pocket in my opinion.

+ 2 for me! Couldn't agree more with this statement! This man for president!

Someone wanted to know which balancer I use:

http://bikemaster.com/tools/wheel-balancer-truing-stand.html

But I paid about $60 on ebay.......a while ago.

 

[temesvar]

30CDN (22.50 US) to mount and balance a tire? Sign me up.. That's a good price.

I think it is fair. Is less than 1/2 hour work for both, hardly any expense, and it comes to $120/hour.
Now, that is cash only! That is done by my friend. And am seriously thinking about getting into this..
If you come by, you will be the first served!!

 

[36654]

I think it is fair. Is less than 1/2 hour work for both, hardly any expense, and it comes to $120/hour.
Now, that is cash only! That is done by my friend. And am seriously thinking about getting into this..
If you come by, you will be the first served!!

I'm pretty sure I could leave a six pack to help cover the cost of the wheel weights....

 

[JDOCKERY132445]

I miss my dealer

The Depression of 2008 wiped out my dealer. I miss those guys all being in the same place. The reality is that the owner is gone; but the guys who worked there are still in town and I can get them to work on my bike if i need their help. I remove my tires from the bike, take them and my new tire to the Honda dealer and get them mounted and balanced for $30.00 each.

 

[frenchnew]

As long as the other service shop can do the job and are responsible people I would go to that non BMW dealer. Tires are not that complicated to change, I bought a manual tire changer 4 years ago and a Mac Parnes balancer and do my own tire change.

A place I use for my tire purchase is Pete's Superbike, a Canadian vendor located in Vaudreuil, Quebec and they ship across Canada.

https://www.petes-superbike.com/index.php

I just purchased some Dunlop Roadsmart III for my 2016 K1600GT from them (120/70ZR17 front & 190/55ZR17 rear) for $333 all taxes included (I picked up my order, with shipping it would still be under $400)

For your 2014 R1200RT Michelin Pilot Road 4GT 120/70ZR17 $160.95, 180/55ZR17 $202.95, shipping to Pickering L1V 1B8 by Fedex Ground is $32.48 plus applicable taxes. (Around $400 plus Taxes) This dealer source their tires from Canadian Distributors like our Canadian BMW dealers.
Regards,

Robert

I try to support the dealer where I bought my bike, but sometimes I think I'm being taken advantage of, at least to some degree.

A specific example I can discuss is with tire replacement. I had two Michelin Pilot Road 4 GT's put on the bike last spring and was charged (with taxes) $800 by my dealer. Looking at the invoice, it seemed to me that the dealer had marked up the two tires by a total of around $150 over what I would pay for the tires if I bought them elsewhere.

I need tires again now, so I contacted all of the BMW dealers in the area (I'm lucky enough to have access to 5!) to get quotes and they all came in in the same ball park (+/- $75).

But, I've now found a non-BMW service shop with a great reputation, who have a BMW certified master mechanic, and they are doing them for me for $600. I spoke to the guy at the non BMW shop and he knows his stuff.

Am I expected to pay a $200 surcharge to support my dealer?

I have a similar issue with some of the basic service visits (oil changes with a few other simple tasks) seem to run $300 or more. I'm still going to the dealer for those because the bike is still under warranty, but I'm strongly leaning to going with non-dealer servicing once the warranty is up - at least for the things I would consider simple.

What do you guys think?

 

[glenfiddich]

My local dealer looked up the price for tires on Revzilla or Motorcycle Superstore and quoted that price to me. Mounting and balancing will be $40 a wheel.

It shows they are being realistic at what the consumer will do by purchasing online if they have higher prices.

Chris

If our Vermont dealer had that attitude I would have bought my last three GSAs and several accessories from him. The price he quoted me for a set of TKCs was $230 more than I could have gotten them online, plus he wanted $70 per wheel (off the bike) to mount and balance. When I told him the price I could get them online for and asked if he could meet me halfway, he flew into a rage and began lecturing me, demanding to know how I'd feel if he closed shop. I walked out and haven't spent a penny there since. There's a reason locals call him Lord Farquaad!

The good news is as a result I discovered Max BMW four scenic hours away. There they greet me (and my dog) by name, and treat me like they are genuinely happy to see me. Ditto with the dealer in New Philadelphia OH; on a cross-country trek I dislodged one mirror and as luck would have it that was the one size wrench I'd left behind. We pulled in to a warm greeting, Barley got a big bowl of chilled water, and in less than a minute the mirror was tightened down and we were on our way.

I'll support a dealer - even if I can do better online - if he treats me with courtesy.

 

[Omega Man]

I'll support a dealer - even if I can do better online - if he treats me with courtesy.

There you go
Respect and courtesy begets respect and courtesy......or at least it should.
OM

 

[KenDittrick]

There you go
Respect and courtesy begets respect and courtesy......or at least it should.
OM

 

[36654]

If our Vermont dealer had that attitude I would have bought my last three GSAs and several accessories from him. The price he quoted me for a set of TKCs was $230 more than I could have gotten them online, plus he wanted $70 per wheel (off the bike) to mount and balance. When I told him the price I could get them online for and asked if he could meet me halfway, he flew into a rage and began lecturing me, demanding to know how I'd feel if he closed shop. I walked out and haven't spent a penny there since. There's a reason locals call him Lord Farquaad!

The good news is as a result I discovered Max BMW four scenic hours away. There they greet me (and my dog) by name, and treat me like they are genuinely happy to see me. Ditto with the dealer in New Philadelphia PA; on a cross-country trek I dislodged one mirror and as luck would have it that was the one size wrench I'd left behind. We pulled in to a warm greeting, Barley got a big bowl of chilled water, and in less than a minute the mirror was tightened down and we were on our way.

I'll support a dealer - even if I can do better online - if he treats me with courtesy.

New Philadelphia is Ohio. Philadelphia is PA and the home of Revzilla

 

[Paul_F]

I was somewhere in the US once when my headlamp blew. At that time I did not know how to change the bulb, other than what I had read about taking the glove box and knee pad off my K. Didn't feel like doing that at the side of the road. Stopped a dealer and remembered how well I had been treated once in another state at a BMW dealership where two, possibly three worked on a intermittent headlight problem for an hour and refused to charge because "You're on a trip." I expected a similar treatment so I asked them to supply a bulb (even though I had one with me.) The installation took less than five minutes. The service manager asked if there was anything else I'd like done as I had most of the hour (minimum charge) left.

So told them that my hyper lights had stopped working and could they get them up and running. After inspecting the bike, they told me it would run in the $500 range. I declined, but did get the information from the mechanic how to quickly change the bulb myself in the future.

Went to an independent BMW mechanic nearby the next day. It took him 20 minutes and $30 to get the hyper brake lights working again.

I certainly feel sorry for the clients of the dealership that I visited.

 

[pglaves]

New Philadelphia is Ohio. Philadelphia is PA and the home of Revzilla

New Philadelphia, PA is on US 209 just northeast of Pottsville,

 

[wbrownell9]

I wasn't aware of a dealer in New Philadelphia, PA. Hermy's is in Port Clinton, about 15 miles south. Good people. Charged me about $25 more than Revzilla for a set of TKC 70s which I can live with.

 

[glenfiddich]

New Philadelphia is Ohio. Philadelphia is PA and the home of Revzilla

Must have been a case of autocorrect being my worst enema. Or I'm going senile. Correction made. Thanks!