Just called the local stealership...

[DakRatFink]

I wanted to see how much their price for tires mounted would compare to a few catalogs and online outlets I have looked at. I asked for parts and service, got put on hold. The hold got answered, by a voicemail. They still have not returned my call after mowing my entire lawn. I guess they don't want my money anyway. :bang head:

 

[RaWarrior]

Yeah, that's pretty much par for the course with dealers, don't take it personally. They treat everybody like that.

Order the tires online...MC superstore tends to have good prices. Last year when I got new ME880's the dealer price was $50 higher for the rear and $30 higher on the front than MC superstore's price was(free shipping).

I believe Harbor Freight sells a basic tire mounting machine for like $100 that people have reported works well for MC tires and you can do the mounting yourself, but balancing is still up in the air. Some say it's not really needed, others trust the dyna-beads thing, I'd still prefer to have them on a spin machine, especially if you plan on going faster than 55 with them.

I ended up paying $60 for mounting/balancing both wheels, off the bike. $30/tire isn't really that bad....I've heard some places try to get $50-$60 per tire. Definitely call around local dealers, or independent bike shops(look in the yellow pages) to see who has the best price there.

 

[DakRatFink]

Definitely call around local dealers, or independent bike shops(look in the yellow pages) to see who has the best price there.

Probably the closest good independent bike shop to here would be about an hour and half away. The good news is I have heard one of the local tire places for cages does cycle tires. So I have that going for me

Order the tires online...MC superstore tends to have good prices. Last year when I got new ME880's the dealer price was $50 higher for the rear and $30 higher on the front than MC superstore's price was(free shipping).




I was also looking at Dennis Kirk to order the tires through, but i will check out MC Superstore,too. So are the ME 880s that goo. I torn between them and some Bridgestone Exedras

 

[Rollie]

Check out you local Craigs List for bike mechanics . I found a racer who reps for Maxxis and bought a set for the GSXR for $ 250. , take off , mounted , balanced and O.T.D. :clapping:

 

[slobmanrf]

I,ve had real good luck getting all my tires fromthe motorcycle accessory warehouse. or MAW.they ship fast and sometimes you get close outs cheap. get mine mounted&balanced at the local shop for $30 with love.

 

[jfeagins]

I bought the Harbor Freight bottom 1/2 stand - it is for doing car tires only. They quit selling the motorcycle tire top 1/2 addition several months back for some reason. I bought a Wikco brand top half, but they are very pricey. I just got tired of going to the stealership to be bent over every tire change. Plus, I can do the change out any time I please with no more waiting at the dealership.




I have to add this piece to do the back tires on our Runes as they have no center hole in the hub.



I always shop on-line to get the absolute best price on any tires I need, but then call the local dealership where the parts/service manager knows me well. "Perry" and/or Lori will most usually meet the best on-line price and save me any shipping fees because they know I'll buy them elsewhere if they don't. I don't mind giving them the markup if they don't try to mark it up too far.

 

[dannymax]

I bought the Harbor Freight bottom 1/2 stand - it is for doing car tires only. They quit selling the motorcycle tire top 1/2 addition several months back for some reason. I bought a Wikco brand top half, but they are very pricey. I just got tired of going to the stealership to be bent over every tire change. Plus, I can do the change out any time I please with no more waiting at the dealership.

View attachment 22236


I have to add this piece to do the back tires on our Runes as they have no center hole in the hub.
View attachment 22235


I always shop on-line to get the absolute best price on any tires I need, but then call the local dealership where the parts/service manager knows me well. "Perry" and/or Lori will most usually meet the best on-line price and save me any shipping fees because they know I'll buy them elsewhere if they don't. I don't mind giving them the markup if they don't try to mark it up too far.

+1 on the Wicko! I mounted the base to my lift table so the working height is adjustable.....it works just fine.

Along with a $59 balancing stand and you're no longer at the mercy of the stealerships or pimply faced kids at the LBS (who will mount your new ME880 front tire on backwards and you won't notice it till it starts to cup, but by then it's too late to..........). Sorry for the rant! :bang head:

 

[[email protected]]

Any chance you guys with your own tire changing tools could get a couple close up photos of the working ends of the mount/demount bars?

 

[jfeagins]

For some reason, I can't get a capture on the individual pics at their site, but here is the web addy for the lever I bought. I notice one on Wikco's site that looks exactly like this, only painted matching blue.

http://home.comcast.net/~prestondrake/mojoweb.htm

 

[[email protected]]

For some reason, I can't get a capture on the individual pics at their site, but here is the web addy for the lever I bought. I notice one on Wikco's site that looks exactly like this, only painted matching blue.

http://home.comcast.net/~prestondrake/mojoweb.htm

Thanks for the link. Those are the pics I was looking for.

 

[Woody]

we have a great independent shop called cycle clinic.
these guys sell alot of tires and do good service work.prices are like 30
for a dismount and mount. is you walk in with the wheels off the bike. otherwise it's 40.
or i just swing by the dealership . that sponsored me when i raced dirt bikes 3 wheelers and quads. sometimes they charge me sometimes they don't. depends on if i help. LOL

 

[dannymax]

For some reason, I can't get a capture on the individual pics at their site, but here is the web addy for the lever I bought. I notice one on Wikco's site that looks exactly like this, only painted matching blue.

http://home.comcast.net/~prestondrake/mojoweb.htm

This is the lever I always see mentioned as the one to have....'The Mojo Lever'....it sure does look like my Wicko lever tho.

 

[jfeagins]

This is the lever I always see mentioned as the one to have....'The Mojo Lever'....it sure does look like my Wicko lever tho.

When I bought my mojo lever, I didn't see one like it on the Wikco site. Not saying it wasn't there, but just that I didn't see it. I don't know which one came first, and possibly Wikco may be sourcing them from Mojo? :confused2:

The Mojo lever works as advertised though.

One hundred and fifty years ago, and in a different lifetime, I wrestled tires off of, and onto a rim with nothing more than a pair of dulled flat-blade screwdrivers. That can be a real PITA, plus your rims get all marked up and tubed type tires end up with a pinched tube. I don't recommend anyone try that at their home. :biglaugh:

 

[dannymax]

When I bought my mojo lever, I didn't see one like it on the Wikco site. Not saying it wasn't there, but just that I didn't see it. I don't know which one came first, and possibly Wikco may be sourcing them from Mojo? :confused2:

The Mojo lever works as advertised though.

One hundred and fifty years ago, and in a different lifetime, I wrestled tires off of, and onto a rim with nothing more than a pair of dulled flat-blade screwdrivers. That can be a real PITA, plus your rims get all marked up and tubed type tires end up with a pinched tube. I don't recommend anyone try that at their home. :biglaugh:

I think the Mojo Lever came first, it's part of the No-Mar changer tooling isn't it? Then Cycle Hill is a sub-company of No-Mar somehow, then I believe Wicko copied the Cycle Hill stuff....maybe even bought up their spare blue paint! :rofl_200:

I think that's the set-up anyway. It all seems to work well though....no more black & blue fingernails from those big levers mashing them against the rims.....SHIT, that hurt!! :bang head:

 

[[email protected]]

One hundred and fifty years ago, and in a different lifetime, I wrestled tires off of, and onto a rim with nothing more than a pair of dulled flat-blade screwdrivers. That can be a real PITA, plus your rims get all marked up and tubed type tires end up with a pinched tube. I don't recommend anyone try that at their home. :biglaugh:

I've done that a few times and it SUCKS! I broke a couple tips off my screwdrivers using that method. The worst part is when you want to ride, you just put a new tire and tube on your CR5, and your wrestling the last part of the bead onto the rim. I always got to a point to where 3/4 of tire was on but the last 1/4 was a real bear. Thats where I broke the screwdriver tip. Then, you gotta fish the piece out :bang head:

I bought a set of motion pro levers shortly after....They've helped a lot but I would not use them on the vmax wheels.