I took my car wheels, w/ tires on them, and a new set of tires in the back of my truck to Wal-Mart and got all 4 used tires removed and disposed and the 4 new tires mounted and balanced at the air pressure I told them I'd be running for $39.50 out the door. I went to my local bike shop yesterday and asked about putting a front tire on if I brought in the wheel and tire and was quoted $32.50. Something just doesn't add up there.
do you want a kid making 8.00 an changing a tire your going 160 on . most shop owners donot want to pay good techs what there worth. all about the bottom line.
The car those tires were going on I drag race and it ran 132mph in the 1/4 mile with no issues. It seems the tech at wal-mart, who was older than me, did a damn fine job of mounting and balancing the tires.
You guys need to compare the number of tires changed in Wal-Mart in a day, and the number of tires changed in a motorcycle shop a day. Quantity does change things.
Hyperdyne.... Call Dennis at R&D Cycle off Preston if your in Louisville... Tell him Marc reffered you and he will take very good care of you... Will be way way less than most other places.. If your ever in Atlanta let me know.. I will change your tires for nothing... or a Six pack... I too got my own changer after wrestling with the HF hunks of crap in the hot summer Months down here... Mine has paid for itself 5 times over... I can change both tires and balance in 10Min...
That's exactly the point. I have a small shop, and I do tire swaps for track day guys and some of the local boys fairly frequently, but I don't do anywhere near to the amount of business that the local dealerships do. But I swap tires out for $30 (for the set) and the dealerships charge $40 per tire. If a customer can't come to me for something as simple as a tire swap and not feel like they are getting ass raped, how can I expect them to come back to me for more involved work? Based on what I've seen (at other shops and dealerships), most customers will only tolerate you raping them once, but they'll give you the opportunity to give them good service at a reasonable price for the rest of their lives.
Yep, socal prices are decent. When I moved to Madison Wi I brought my wheel and a DOT tire into a little shop and not only did the guy try to charge me $50 to change the tire, he was an ass. Asking me if I bring my own steak to a resturant. I went to his shop after I saw him at the track and wanted to talk about doing some additional work. We never made it to that conversation. I bought a no-mar changer, the thing is great. Anyone in Madison need tire changing I'll do it for $5 a wheel or New Glarus beer.
that doesnt hold water, your the owner of a shop mounting tires at a cheaper rate so you'll take your highest paid tech and have him do it, you wouldnt last long as a business, the key is hire good people show them the right way to do things, i was 18 once and was never a screwup, i did my job well and didnt damage stuff, were your work ethics different just because you were 18?
if a shop charged a low price like that, i doubt many people would resort to changing themselves, then imagine this: the quantity increases
I'm betting that any shop, bike or car, that mounts/balances for "free" already has the mark up in the sale price. In that case, do you discount the tire price if it is a "carry out" that you don't install? That's how Costco tire centers operate. If I could sell tires for SRP, I'd m&b "free" aaalllll day long. It seems location has alot to do with pricing.
When I was 18 all I wanted to do was learn. My work ethic was better then than now simply because I was eager. A good and fast tire guy that can knock out oil changes is bread and butter.
That's what my local guy charges. He's gone up from $10(about 10 years ago) a tire to $20 last time I was in. Not bad at all. I think he charges his one hour($70 IIRC) rate to mount sportbike tires if you bring the bike in. He would probably come off of that if he sold you the tires. He's the only guy that works on my bike other than me.
Haha. I wasn't aware we were arguing. And if we were, I'm not sure how stating that Wal-Mart does more volume and has lower prices than the car dealerships even means anything compared to a shop like mine that does way less volume and has way lower prices than the local motorcycle dealerships. It's not even apples and oranges. It's apples and a triceratops.