Local dealership - RANT

I do them for $40 ea. on the bike, 20 ea. off if they buy the tires from me. $55 on, 25 off if they bought em somewhere else. I also charge a couple bucks more for disposal of the old ones if they bought elsewhere, if I've gotta handle your old ones a couple more times I'm not doing it for free.

 

I would like to see someone setup a trailer at a race weekend and have a sign that says $50 per tire swaps.

I know I had a hobo with a nomar at jennings flip my tire for "tips". I gave him $15.

 

I charge $30 off the bike when the customer supplies the tire. Some I can do quick and then you get the tire thats 10 years old, filled with fixa flat. They get charged extra. If people dont like the price, buy some tire irons do it yourself.

 

I said nothing about how much they are charging for swaps. I specifically mentioned how much they are making per set of tires for a reason. They don't need to seem to justify the profit they are making selling tires. Nor should they. They have many other costs associated with running their business too. So why are people getting on a dealer or shop for trying to make a bit of money running their operation.

 

what were you paying in phoenix?

 

unfortunately at the track and with no other vendor is sight..... guess what you'd pay it or loose you entry fees. And that is a FACT!

I bet you someone crashed John and CTR or Kenny at Mrp isn't giving you that internet deal, FULL POP SON!

 

Once upon a time, they were the race tire for Ninja 250's.


-jim

 

Wheels on bike, tires supplied by me. $40.00 to mount.

 

The cost of the service is what the OP was complaining about. An install costs$15 at my local track. Pretty much the same on race weekends just have more than 1 vendor to chose from.

So I ask... why dont they? Captive audience with a virtual monopoly on the service. Why not raise the prices as high as possible???

 

Ok and that's fine, the cost of living varies from one location to the next. I personally think his price may be a tad, high but in the end that's my opinion. Hell the prices quoted by others aren't that lower than his. What kills me is that because someone thinks it's high doesn't make it so. For all you know he took him a wheel caked with mud and hasn't been changed since the first Bush was in office. If that price isn't too his liking then he has the option to go else where or do it himself. Unfortunately if the task is over your head, then guess what... the person performing the task can ask what he wants. Since you can't do it, you're stuck with the option of learning to negotiate a track or field on a flat tire till the tire flies off the rim or some homeless guy does it for you, but either way if you can't do it how can you set a price the job in question.

I worked as a mitsubishi tech, the 3000 Gt twin turbo was a dual over head cam motor. A customer came in one day with a valve tap, someone set the timing one tooth off. He was quoted, i believe 6 or 8 hr to fix it. I had a way to adjust any cam sprocket with the belt still one the car. It took me an hour and I got paid full pop. Same deal with a plumber and a electrician, people have no choice they pay cause thay can't fix it themselves. It's not my fault cause I'm fast, you agreed to the price pay the bill. Don't ask me how fast can you do it, cause if that was the case you It peeps would be pour.

What I seem to run in more and more is customers who are spending alot of time tryin to look into my pocket. Gettiing quote from online companys or their friends and expecting me to do the job for what their friends quoted them, but at the end of the day 68% of them returned in worse off shape than they were before. Then are mad that they were charged more cause they let their bud work on their toys. So now I have to fix their screw up and then sometimes find the original problem. I had a customer a few weeks ago balk at everything i suggested in regards to fixing his bike. Head bearings shot, front sprocket eccentric, rear sprocket teeth, starting to chip, handle bars set in straight line, clutch adjusted improperly, "partial disengagement" or damn near close, seeing how tight the lever was. He was in for to dyno tune. after everything quoted he didn't want to fix, even said he was cheap thought the repair was too high.

Now the funny thing about that was... he had a yosh ecu, power commander, Pc igniton control module, quick shifter surface discharge plugs and after market "so called" race ig coils. All that crap on the bike and the bike made 40 hp, problem was the secondary butterfiels were inop. Never even mentioned the part about the bike not getting out of his own way. Cheap he said, wouldn't fix any of it, but pulled up one day in a surburban with 24 in wheels and clean, the next time an infinity g35, the final day in AMG benz.

I state all f this to say at no time did I say. Hey you have a lot of nice stuff there dude. Why are you bitching over a couple houndred dollars when it's clear you have alot of money to burn. I know IT guy that gets paid over 170,000 a year, all that for sitting on your ass writing Code, I have yet to see a post about that. So in closing if a shop isn't in your pocket why not try and stay out of his. Why can't he make 140,000.00 a year.


I called a local shop in my area to get a price on Dyno tuning cause I wanted to see what others were charging, I was quoted 450.00 plus shop supplies, and people gladly pay it. Shop supplies.... What shop supplies when dynoing a bike? I can see if it was a Carbed bike, but mostly everythig is FI, wheres the shop supplies, but people pay it and hug their nuts in the process.

Why cause there is a decent mark up on tires if you sell them at what, say parts unlimited suggests.

At the track ,and with "current" race tires there are only a few outlets that you can get them from and they only deviate from the pricing list for special occasions. Ie a earned discount, today online peeps give the stuff out at what most shops buy for or close to it, but people get mad when you don't take up their cause and fight for them when you purchased your product else where and the crap doesn't work. They come on the bbs and say, this guy is a douche and others are like, aw man help the guy out you earned a customer or why cause ill will over something so trivial.

Sorry I make a living off your hobby. For 95% of america a MC is a hobby, people let bikes sit in shops all winter until it's warm or until the real bills get taken care of. Now if that was a car? They'd somehow get the money to fix it.......becasue the NEED it, racing isn't a need riding a bike on the trails isn't a need It's a hobby and Hobbys aren't cheap Let someone get married or need to put a down payment on a house. The first thing to go is the bike and all its contents.

 

i would expect to pay to fix a timing problem on a car thats a nightmare under the hood, but were talking about changing a tire

 

Yeah same difference really, just different degrees!

 

there is a reason dealers with 100.00+ labor rates per hour charge $14.95 for labor on a .4 oil change and lube. like i said how would anyone feel if there local tire place charged 50 a tire to mount and balance your truck tires?

skilled labor is just that, an electrician will charge more to come to your house than the guy cutting your grass

 

What motorcycle shop charges 14.95 on a oil change? Just out of plain ole curosity.

BTW what do you charge for your number plates and a the little characters?

 

car dealers, both shops pay upper and lower skilled techs, have insurance, overhead etc etc etc, maintenance items should always be cheaper than skilled labor, if a shop is managed properly you can do inexpensive maint items and charge full boat for skilled labor, i'm not saying 15 bucks for a bike, but you see what i'm explaining, i have never paid 50 to mount one tire and wouldnt, however if i had a short or injector problem it is what it is

 

What's your definition of Maintenance? list please

 

tires, air filter, oil changes, spark plugs, brakes, as with cars and bikes there are exceptions to every rule, some plugs are easy to get to some you have to take a lot apart to get to them, gold wing rear tires etc

this is pretty basic stuff to ask me to list

 

+1

 

Yeah my Kia Sorento is 4hrs shop rate to change plugs and wires. Needless to say I don't use the shop for plug and wire changes...

 

I have a real problem with people claiming derees of labor difficulty effecting price on a motorcycle.

You have 2 wheels on a bike. You lose 1 you hit the ground. Do you want the bottom feeder at the shop pulling your wheels? I personally think that tire changes are one of the items you want to see the best tech in the shop doing. Oil change same thing, hows that bike handle with 3 quarts of oil spewing out of the filter that was over/under tightened?

Labor rates are high on bikes because the stakes are high and that makes our insurance high.

Just sayin....