That seems a bit high! Back in October I had my local dealer put a new set of OEM Dunlops on my Ultra Limited. $225 for the front, $314 for the rear. Labor was $278 (2hrs at $139). Tire disposal $6. So about $823 before tax. But this is also last year, so I'm not sure how much that would be now.
cheers

 

I got four brand new Kelly tires mounted and balanced on my 2018 Lariat for less than $700 all in. That’s gotta be 6X the material of two motorcycle tires.

 

You only pay $139/hr for labor...??

Around here, at dealerships, it is $185 or more...

 

$185/hr ---------quite a bit o money........

 

I saw one dealership that was only showing their rate per HALF AN HOUR!

When I saw $75 bucks I thought WOW, until.I read the fine print.

 

I shop the usual JP, Dennis Kirk, etc, then mount them myself. The rear on my Fatboy is a real bear to change, the low profile doesn't have much side wall to work with, I really work up a sweat. I just use spoons, and a static ballance stand. A couple weeks ago I took the FB rear wheel and new tire to a large powersports dealer, they charged $40 total for replace, balance, and tire disposal. It was well worth it. I'll still do the front and the other bike myself though.

 

Dunlop is offering a rebate Dunlop Rebate Finder Tool - U.S. & Canada| Dunlop Motorcycle Tires

this outfit is who i bought my last set from ATV Parts, ATV Tires, Dirt Bike Parts, Motocross Gear, Motorcycle parts and Motorcycle Tires | Rocky Mountain ATV/MC

 

That is a true statement as for material quantity in bold above. I would argue it is probably more like 8x to 10x overall.

But that is where the comparison really stops. It becomes apples and oranges from there.

My previous job took me to customers that manufactured automotive and aircraft tires on a regulator. Every tire sector is very different.

Watching aircraft tires built or retreaded is like watching paint dry. It a very slow highly documented and regulated process.

The auto tire plants are huge, with 100's of presses making millions of auto tires annually.

The more you make the cheaper you can build them. That is true with almost any product.

This allows the manufacture to spead out their R&D, testing cost, advertising, etc over many more tires reducing the add on per tire that we pay for.

Speaking of R&D I have had the pleasure of meeting engineers in Daytona for Pirelli and Michelin. There is a lot that goes in to motorcycle tire safety and performance.

Does Kelly Tire sponsor race tems and gather R&D? I do not know, Pirelli pretty much leads the 2 wheel race world. We have 600 lb sport bikes plus riders and fuel going 180 to 200 mph around tracks on contact patches on both tires combined that are less than the contact patch on one single auto tire.

My former boss paid almost $2k for four performance run flats last year for his 2016 Corvette. A set of tires for a Bugatti is $30k as I recently learned from an owner on You Tube.

Add to that the side wall technology that keeps us up in the event of a blowout or failure causing instand air pressure loss. Then most quality motorcycle tires have dual compounds for maximum handling and mileage. On my Michelin Commander III's they are also infused with silica for wet rain traction.

I personally think motorcycle tires have become too expensive, but I understand why they will be more expensive that automobile / truck tires.

Just my 2 cents from an average Joe that appreciates motorcycle tire technology.

 

I got really lucky whenI bought my Ultra limited that they we're running a free tires for life promotion. Still, it was over $400 for the installation last spring.

I need to replace the Sportster tires and will remove the wheels myself and take it to a local independent store.

 

I have a hard time paying almost $1000 for tires for my HD when I paid $440 per tire for my Ram 3500 with load range E tires.