$550 + tax front & rear tire purchase and change quote from dealer. I didn't pay that. Ordered the tires on-line, took wheels off myself, indy changed & balanced, and I remounted. $276 my cost and labor.

 

I buy my tires online and take the wheels off myself and take it to a Indy shop $15.00 a wheel...Bubble balances it. Hard to beat.

 

Local HD stealer quoted me $580.00 to purchase and install. Went to the Yamaha dealer down the road and I was out the door at $270.00. Oh, and while it was on the lift they noticed I needed rear pads so they run me to HD in the shop truck so I can purchase them and he throws them on no charge.

Don't think HD would have done that for me....................

 

I take my bike to my local self for all my tire and wheel work. The rates I charge myself for removing both wheels, dismounting and mounting new tires, balancing and replacing are very reasonable and the quality is top notch. The first time I used my self to do a set of tire/wheel changes, I wasn't happy with the turnaround time, so I complained. My self basically told me to take my business elsewhere if I wasn't happy paying zero for labor and all the extra care given to the job. I had a good point. Since then, I continue to use my self for all work whenever possible.

 

Excellent Avitar and excellent post. You win.

R. Todd

 

I have an indy that removes the wheel from the bike and installs the tire for me and reinstalls on the bike for $20.00 thats right $20.00 I will NEVER have to do it myself as long as this guy is working. And I hope his son takes over for him when he retires.

 

I used to take the wheels off myself and run them to the dealer. In April I ordered both 402's for $235 delivered. Took tires & wheels over to a friends house that has a manual contraption from Harbor Freight to mount them and a balancer similar to what they use in MotoGP. Rides just as nice, at least $70 saved on labor alone.

 

 

We do the same thing. We took a 14" car rim and covered the endge with a split garden hose and covered that with duct tape.
We then put a pair of 2x4x8" long mounted on the wall above it over the work bench, spaced 4" apart creating a block pocket.
Took a 6' water pipe, 1-1/2" dia., and drilled a hole 3" from tip to place bolt through it and the blocks on each side, creating a fulcrum.
We then drilled another hole about 12-16" from the wall end tip and placed another bolt with a semi-wedge shaped 2x4 to use top break the bead of the tire.
We use pieces of anti-freeze jugs to line the inner part of the rim to protect from the tire pry bars and just take our time doing so. We also do our own car and truck tires the same way.
He then uses a pair of jack stands with a roller bearing set-up to balance the tires using flat stick on weights we order. Been doing it this way for years and have never had a problem with any of the tires we have done.

 

I hope this isn't reflective of your love life. Just sayin'.....

Very funny post CTop!