+1 Not a bad idea. I'd be in for a group buy...Looks like you should start making tire changers. Looks like it would sell well with your front and rear stands.
I need a cheap tire changer machine
- Thread starter RedlineStands
- Start date
XZZR1200
Registered
I just changed mine for the first time ever. Took 20 min. and all I used was the hitch on the van and the jack to break the bead. 2 tire spoons and some pledge. As for balance, whatever, I don't feel any difference. After the first wheelie or burnout are you taking it off and rebalancing, didn't think so. I had 24" spoons, I think 15" would work much better when putting back on. Just search youtube for tire changing and watch the vids. It was alot easier than I thought it would be.
Tire Rack can afford to sell tires for the prices the do, because they have little overhead. They do not have to maintain a retail storefront in a major shopping district with high rent and taxes. They have a commercial warehouse in the middle of a field on the outskirts of South Bend, IN, that they stock the product in that they sell (and buy by the 1000's and take advantage of a serious quantity discount). I have much more respect for Tire Rack then I do for most auto and motorcycle accessory dealers online, since they choose to stock their product and not drop ship from the manufacturer. You cannot expect mom-n-pop tire shop in Anytown, USA to be able to compete with Tire Rack's prices. What you can expect is better service and better advice for your hard earned dollars. On the labor part, they charge what they charge because they have to pay their techs and their overhead. You want the tires mounted cheaper? Find a different retailer or mount and balance them them yourself. I dunno what you expect, getting tires in the mail.Lol...first of all, you're absolutely right about the fact that no one does this at a retail store such as (your examples) Mcdonalds, Home Depot, etc., but before you say that you need to think about why we (consumers) don't do that. IT'S NOT A MAJOR PURCHASE!. How many major purchases do YOU make without negotiating? Did you pay sticker for your last car/truck/SUV? Did you pay full asking price and closing costs for your last house? Did you pay full asking price and closing costs for your business location? I'd certainly hope not. I don't know of anyone above the level of an idiot that would walk into a major purchase and not at least try to negotiate a better price.Honestly, it's really none of your business what the invoice is...BUT...if the customer comes in and I tell him that the discussed selling price is at cost or under, I will pull my invoice and show him. Also, most of you guys have no idea about additional costs incurred, such as flooring. What pisses me off is that you would NEVER think of doing this to any other business and it makes me sick. Would you go into your local Home Depot and ask them to show you their invoice on a Skil saw so you know how much profit they are making? Or your local Foot Locker on a pair of Nikes? Best Buy on a HP laptop? No...not gonna happen. I get these cheap motherfukkers in all day long that will grind me on a $25 visor for their helmet...I tell 'em to try that at McDonald's on a Big Mac and see how that works out for them.Do you or any other bike dealership show the invoice next to the sales price??? Not saying you don't but I've never seen any that do, SO HOW ARE WE (the customer) SUPPOSED TO KNOW HOW MUCH YOU'RE ALLEDGEDLY NOT MAKING ON A SALE???You don't make money selling bikes...Suzuki gives you almost no margin, and when competing with big-box multi line dealers selling bikes at cost, you make none. I don't charge dealer prep/destination/delivery fees. All of your money in a dealership is made on parts/accessories and labor. Like I said earlier, I charge $20 (off the bike) to balance. I WOULD LIKE to charge those who buy their tires off the internet from mail-order businesses that have no shop overhead and that drop ship everything, MORE, just because they are taking away my livelihood...but I don't. I get nothing but a$$holes in my shop ALL DAY LONG who buy a bike at cost from me and then ask for 50% off (or freebies) on all their accessories.i know in the automotive world they get 0.2 (2 tenths ) per tire mount and balance and that includes racking the car up and r&r the tire and any hubcaps,wheel locks ,etc.. thats $16 and 12 minutes so were do they get these crazy prices for bike tires off the bike??? if you bought there overpriced tire they would mount it for free probably, why is the first thing they ask is where did you get the tire?? what the hell doe`s that matter or why doe`s it have anything to do with how long it takes to mount?? my neighboor was charged $67 for 1 rear tire mount and balance from clinton cycle in camp springs,md !!! fn crooks.
maybe if some off these shops would stop robbing people and do fair work/parts for a fair price they wouldn`t have the internet to blame for lack of parts sales/business?? then you could make a fair profit on alot of bikes instead of trying to make it all on a few bikes?? IMHO
Secondly, most dealerships are privately owned which means they have flexibility on just about anything. People know that and they also know that most are willing to come off of a few bucks to make the sell.
Thirdly, if someone wants to tell me about how much they're not making or even losing on a deal and that that's why they can't lower the price, I wanna see the proof. If they're not willing to show then that tells me I don't need to do business with them. (I understand that was said in your previous post)
Why am I so angry about how dealerships treat people? Happened to me several times with car tires. I have not a rare, but a slightly uncommon tire size and people want to murder me with the prices when I find some locally. I can order the same product from Tire Rack shipped for nearly $35 less per tire ($140+tax)! Not to mention the fact that I would have still had to pay the same place to mount and balance them. If I'm going to pay the same price to have them mounted and balanced, I might as well at least get the tires cheaper. Just my
Dealerships put themselves out of competition.
As for the negotiation aspect of it, that is completely different. I negotiate on a house. I negotiate on a car. I negotiate on a motorcycle. I, however, do not go to Lowe's and ask them to sell me a $379.00 hot water heater for $200.00. I do, however, get @ssholes ALL DAY LONG though that come in and ask for a $380 helmet for $200. I do not go to Circuit City and tell them to sell me a $250 stereo receiver for $150. I do get customers though, who offer me $150 for a $250 pair of Alpinestars boots. You have no idea what my customer base is, here in SoCal. They are UNBELIEVEABLE.
Harbor freight changer here.
I use this lever. Mojo Lever
Then I put on his Mojo Blocks to avoid damage to edge of the rim. Mojo Blocks
Then I use a static balancer from Marc Here
I use this lever. Mojo Lever
Then I put on his Mojo Blocks to avoid damage to edge of the rim. Mojo Blocks
Then I use a static balancer from Marc Here
I use dynabeads to balance, seem to work fine for me... but I rarely break the 140-150 range, mostly <100... so I can't tell you of any effects at higher speeds. I order my tires online just because of convience. the shops don't stock pirelli stradas and if I order through them, I have to wait longer to get them. the last time I did this, it took a little over 3 weeks to get it. also, before my trip, I bought a new chain, put it on myself, loaded it on a trailer and took it in to get the master link rivets spun (the cover was already pressed on by me) when I got it inspected. they wanted to charge $60 because it took a "special tool". ended up settling up for a $20.
bought a No-Mar myself for the same reasons... Was tired of paying nearly $50 a rim for a carry in tire! Those days are gone and I'll soon be doing them myself!
Okay, see if you can figure this one out.
Local dealership has the prices on Qualifiers known to man. Even beats the internet prices.
They charge $45+tax+stems to mount and balance any tire, regardless of whether it's on the bike or if you bring the dismounted wheels in yourself. Completely negates the cost savings of the tires themselves.
Question is, why wouldn't they give you a break if you bring in the wheels dismounted? Strange at best.
They also don't cut you any break on mounting and balancing if you buy the tires from them, regardless of the brand of tire you buy. The rest of their brands have no such smokin' deals.
Strange doin's.
--Wag--
Local dealership has the prices on Qualifiers known to man. Even beats the internet prices.
They charge $45+tax+stems to mount and balance any tire, regardless of whether it's on the bike or if you bring the dismounted wheels in yourself. Completely negates the cost savings of the tires themselves.
Question is, why wouldn't they give you a break if you bring in the wheels dismounted? Strange at best.
They also don't cut you any break on mounting and balancing if you buy the tires from them, regardless of the brand of tire you buy. The rest of their brands have no such smokin' deals.
Strange doin's.
--Wag--
Supergank1
Registered
damn!!! saws,burgers,home depot,micky d`s...azzhole customers?? forgeddaboutit!! sounds like somebody needs a vacation. sure glad i got a guy around the corner that does my mail order tires for $20 while i wait...oh yea, the customer doesn`t care about yor employee payroll,taxes,floor charges from the manu that you pass on anyway or your overhead . we have our own set of problems to worry about. trippin
bigoltool
Registered
This thread seems to be heading off on a tangent so I wont throw any more gas on the fire, But I will say this. There are some people who are mechanically inclined and quite comfortable working on their rides and even changing a tire. There are are vastly higher percentages of people who couldn't be bothered with working on their own rides. I am all for doing what needs to be done when the time comes and changing tires (for me anyway) falls into that category. [Next time it comes to mudding drywall or wiring my garage for instance I will let an expert do it for sure!] But the last thing I would do is go on a public forum and start irrationally lashing out at consumers who for one reason or another choose to do the work themselves. Call it being cheap or spiteful if you want but it is a discussion as old as motorcycling and it will go on for a long time I am sure.
I don't think anybody here is lashing out at anybody for wanting to do the work themselves. $20 a tire off the bike is what I charge to mount and balance...you want it done for less, buy the tools and do it yourself and see how long it takes you to amortize the cost.This thread seems to be heading off on a tangent so I wont throw any more gas on the fire, But I will say this. There are some people who are mechanically inclined and quite comfortable working on their rides and even changing a tire. There are are vastly higher percentages of people who couldn't be bothered with working on their own rides. I am all for doing what needs to be done when the time comes and changing tires (for me anyway) falls into that category. [Next time it comes to mudding drywall or wiring my garage for instance I will let an expert do it for sure!] But the last thing I would do is go on a public forum and start irrationally lashing out at consumers who for one reason or another choose to do the work themselves. Call it being cheap or spiteful if you want but it is a discussion as old as motorcycling and it will go on for a long time I am sure.
Just don't ask me to work for free.
I would imagine a long time. When I used to ride street exclusively, I used to get almost +/- 2K mi before I needed some new rubber. And in most instances, I just replaced the rear with the similar tire. Front would be golden.I'm curious now....How often do the NON-TRACK members need to change tires. It would take a while to recover the cost of a good quality changer and balancer, right?
I do most of my own work on my bike now, order up all the parts online.
If I purchase my tires from the dealer + mount and balance; they'd be making some HUGE profit margins off me alone since I go thru tires every other trackday/race. I now buy thru the track vendors who sell as competitive/or better than say tireexpress dot com. And they'll mount and balance for free. For those who are curious, some of the track tire vendors do sell regular DOT street tires and will mount and balance for free. As long as it's off the bike. The only thing is you gotta go to a trackday/raceday to get it done. I've actually seen quite a few ppl who don't do trackdays or race, drive up in their car, pull the wheels w/ old tires outta there trunk, go to vendor, purchase tires at deep discount and get a free mount and balance. Vendors also sell "take offs" which are used race and street rubber, but would actually still be pretty good for the street b/c all the tread in the middle is actually intact. For those that live near a track that host trackdays/races, it's something to think about in this tight economy. But many here may not be as accessible to a track like us SoCal guys.
This is probably the way I will go. I have already been changing my tires. Tire spoons and 2x4's have been my tools so far but I am ready to upgrade. I was doing trackdays and it was pretty much a necessity to do my own tire changing.
Here is another hitch mount changer
Sorry but that's the cost of doing business. You can't get mad at Tire Rack or any other company on the internet for having a better business plan and being more efficient. The costs of your business practices aren't enough to make me nor apparently the bulk of the other posters feel guilty enough to willingly pay insane prices.Tire Rack can afford to sell tires for the prices the do, because they have little overhead. They do not have to maintain a retail storefront in a major shopping district with high rent and taxes. They have a commercial warehouse in the middle of a field on the outskirts of South Bend, IN, that they stock the product in that they sell (and buy by the 1000's and take advantage of a serious quantity discount). I have much more respect for Tire Rack then I do for most auto and motorcycle accessory dealers online, since they choose to stock their product and not drop ship from the manufacturer. You cannot expect mom-n-pop tire shop in Anytown, USA to be able to compete with Tire Rack's prices. What you can expect is better service and better advice for your hard earned dollars. On the labor part, they charge what they charge because they have to pay their techs and their overhead. You want the tires mounted cheaper? Find a different retailer or mount and balance them them yourself. I dunno what you expect, getting tires in the mail.Lol...first of all, you're absolutely right about the fact that no one does this at a retail store such as (your examples) Mcdonalds, Home Depot, etc., but before you say that you need to think about why we (consumers) don't do that. IT'S NOT A MAJOR PURCHASE!. How many major purchases do YOU make without negotiating? Did you pay sticker for your last car/truck/SUV? Did you pay full asking price and closing costs for your last house? Did you pay full asking price and closing costs for your business location? I'd certainly hope not. I don't know of anyone above the level of an idiot that would walk into a major purchase and not at least try to negotiate a better price.Honestly, it's really none of your business what the invoice is...BUT...if the customer comes in and I tell him that the discussed selling price is at cost or under, I will pull my invoice and show him. Also, most of you guys have no idea about additional costs incurred, such as flooring. What pisses me off is that you would NEVER think of doing this to any other business and it makes me sick. Would you go into your local Home Depot and ask them to show you their invoice on a Skil saw so you know how much profit they are making? Or your local Foot Locker on a pair of Nikes? Best Buy on a HP laptop? No...not gonna happen. I get these cheap motherfukkers in all day long that will grind me on a $25 visor for their helmet...I tell 'em to try that at McDonald's on a Big Mac and see how that works out for them.Do you or any other bike dealership show the invoice next to the sales price??? Not saying you don't but I've never seen any that do, SO HOW ARE WE (the customer) SUPPOSED TO KNOW HOW MUCH YOU'RE ALLEDGEDLY NOT MAKING ON A SALE???You don't make money selling bikes...Suzuki gives you almost no margin, and when competing with big-box multi line dealers selling bikes at cost, you make none. I don't charge dealer prep/destination/delivery fees. All of your money in a dealership is made on parts/accessories and labor. Like I said earlier, I charge $20 (off the bike) to balance. I WOULD LIKE to charge those who buy their tires off the internet from mail-order businesses that have no shop overhead and that drop ship everything, MORE, just because they are taking away my livelihood...but I don't. I get nothing but a$$holes in my shop ALL DAY LONG who buy a bike at cost from me and then ask for 50% off (or freebies) on all their accessories.i know in the automotive world they get 0.2 (2 tenths ) per tire mount and balance and that includes racking the car up and r&r the tire and any hubcaps,wheel locks ,etc.. thats $16 and 12 minutes so were do they get these crazy prices for bike tires off the bike??? if you bought there overpriced tire they would mount it for free probably, why is the first thing they ask is where did you get the tire?? what the hell doe`s that matter or why doe`s it have anything to do with how long it takes to mount?? my neighboor was charged $67 for 1 rear tire mount and balance from clinton cycle in camp springs,md !!! fn crooks.
maybe if some off these shops would stop robbing people and do fair work/parts for a fair price they wouldn`t have the internet to blame for lack of parts sales/business?? then you could make a fair profit on alot of bikes instead of trying to make it all on a few bikes?? IMHO
Secondly, most dealerships are privately owned which means they have flexibility on just about anything. People know that and they also know that most are willing to come off of a few bucks to make the sell.
Thirdly, if someone wants to tell me about how much they're not making or even losing on a deal and that that's why they can't lower the price, I wanna see the proof. If they're not willing to show then that tells me I don't need to do business with them. (I understand that was said in your previous post)
Why am I so angry about how dealerships treat people? Happened to me several times with car tires. I have not a rare, but a slightly uncommon tire size and people want to murder me with the prices when I find some locally. I can order the same product from Tire Rack shipped for nearly $35 less per tire ($140+tax)! Not to mention the fact that I would have still had to pay the same place to mount and balance them. If I'm going to pay the same price to have them mounted and balanced, I might as well at least get the tires cheaper. Just my
Dealerships put themselves out of competition.
As for the negotiation aspect of it, that is completely different. I negotiate on a house. I negotiate on a car. I negotiate on a motorcycle. I, however, do not go to Lowe's and ask them to sell me a $379.00 hot water heater for $200.00. I do, however, get @ssholes ALL DAY LONG though that come in and ask for a $380 helmet for $200. I do not go to Circuit City and tell them to sell me a $250 stereo receiver for $150. I do get customers though, who offer me $150 for a $250 pair of Alpinestars boots. You have no idea what my customer base is, here in SoCal. They are UNBELIEVEABLE.
showtime @ Jul. 31 2008 @ 9:05 AM said:
Again, evidently you (like many others here) have reading comprehension problems. I never said I was mad at Tire Rack. In fact, I said I have RESPECT for Tire Rack because they actually maintain a massive inventory and don't just drop ship.
I never said to pay INSANE prices either. I have had the same issues that all of you had with dealer price gouging. Everett Powersports in Everett, WA wanted $60 to mount a tire OFF THE BIKE one time when I was passing through. I charge $20 to mount and balance off the bike, is that insane?
I agree being a business owner is VERY tough now a days... With global trade and the internet at your finger tips, its hard to make a living. We can't really appreciate the insight your giving us only because most of us haven't walked in your shoes. But, the shoes we have walked in are more than likely forcing us as well to change the way we normally do business. That could mean a lot of folks are treading down roads best not traveled... As to the original question posted in this thread, I think we all agree that no matter what your buying, sound/level decisions must be made by all or your gonna get taken to the cleaners. That is something WE have in common... Businesses and consumers!
You either get on board with the Internet business plan and work it or get out of the way.. I have spoke with a couple vendors here about this and the consensus was "after changing our price structure and way of doing business, (meaning less margin) we actually started making more money.."
I myself have done ok with web based business (IPP) and have dropped my prices more than 50% in the last 3 years..
But to stay on target here, I just ordered 3 HD OEM tires for riders here in the FT... They saved $65 a tire and I am mounting them at $15 each... They save almost $100 over local dealer/shop prices around here.. I used to get $5-$7.50 a tire on the car at my shop... just a matter of competition IMO.. if everyone is going to charge $35, I know I can do just fine at half that.. I hope they keep up the good prices myself... (Free enterprise at work)
I myself have done ok with web based business (IPP) and have dropped my prices more than 50% in the last 3 years..
But to stay on target here, I just ordered 3 HD OEM tires for riders here in the FT... They saved $65 a tire and I am mounting them at $15 each... They save almost $100 over local dealer/shop prices around here.. I used to get $5-$7.50 a tire on the car at my shop... just a matter of competition IMO.. if everyone is going to charge $35, I know I can do just fine at half that.. I hope they keep up the good prices myself... (Free enterprise at work)
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