I need to put tires on my bike,I have a 2 hour ride to the dealer,but there is a local Kawasaki dealer in town and will mount the tires for me,I asked how much and believe it or not he's charging me the same price as the dealer,50 bucks per wheel including balancing.Now I asked him how he balanced and he said it was the bubble balancing,I asked how good this was and he said so so,I like to save money as much as the next guy but I don't want to risk my life on a wheel that wasn't balanced properly,I do trust the dealer but the ride will take 4 hours round trip compared to a 3 minute ride to the local kawi dealer,and the shop tech doesn't have any experience working on harleys,mounting tires are the same aren't they?

 

Well, to me, it is more about the ride...any excuse to ride 2 hours is a good one IMHO. Hey, dear, I am going to get my bike tires changed...see you in a couple of days.


Then there is the safety concern and peace of mind you mentioned. I took mine to a local indy because he could get to it quicker than the local dealer, he was an old HD rider, and he came highly recommended...not because he was cheaper or closer.

 

That's high no matter who they are.
I just did my rear tire on my 2012 CVO street glide and they gave me 20% off on the tire with free mounting.
Check to see if there is a indy shop close by or a private bike shop.
We have one that does the tire for 20 each tire for mounting and balancing.

Gravity balancing is a lot better than bubble.

 

There is no indy near by,the main reason for this post was to get opinions on the bubble balancing compared to what HD does,I kinda made up mind when the local guy said it was a so so balancing,just didn't know much about the bubble balancing and he doean't use dyna beads either.The 2 hour ride is not a problem we usually don't mind trips to the dealer.Thanks.

 

Put in dyna beads and forget about ballancing

 

This

I have the local dirt bike shop install the tires and put the dyna beads in myself.

 

I am having new tires installed this week at an Indy shop by me. He will be using Dyna Beads.....No more weights. Order some Dyna Beads and have the indy put on the tire.

 

Another fan of Dyna beads. They are all we use here at the shop.

 

I use CounterAct balancing beads. Work the same as Dyna Beads but are made from tempered glass.
Rick

 

I don't even balance mine. My last rear lasted around 11k miles.

I used to have them mounted and balanced at cycle gear. I started just swapping tires myself when all of the weights on my front wheel came off one at a time and right into my knee.