Tyres.........do ya or dontcha?

[sadlonelygit]

fit them yourself i mean.
apart from the last pair of pirelli's (£90 new), i can't remember the last time i bought a new pair of tyres. just plopped on a strada rear with 6mm of tread for £13 delivered. usually in the summer i get a p/w set of diablos for £60 and spoon them on for the 2 days of dry weather we call summer.
am i alone in this penny pinching or do others here partake of the tyre levers?

[Doddsie]

What about balancing the wheel???

[fireblake]

I've got some truck tyre levers from an old  Mercedes I used to drive and often wondered about doing it myself? The place I buy mine from have a roll in roll out service and is also the cheapest place around so always felt it was worth getting someone to change them for me?

[sadlonelygit]

What about balancing the wheel???

mines a bit like this

[Doddsie]

so how does that work?

[sadlonelygit]

heavy point always goes to the bottom

[bludclot]

unless it's over the balance point at the top, of course...

[Doddsie]

.

[Falcon 269]

so how does that work?

Watch how here.

[pitternator]

I think this all depend son the cost of a swopover. I negotiated a price of £12 per tyre for fit and balance to a loose wheel..I buy new off the inetrnet.Its not worth my time for £12 a tyre to mess about doing it myslef , plus I get a dynamic wheel balance for the price...

No doubt someone will get it cheaper !

[pitternator]

I also watched the vid...cool,and seems simple enuff ... but what about the friction of the axle/ stand  itself, ....I wonder if this affects the accuracy of  the method .??

[The Male Whale]

We fit tyres at the shop and we often get chaps coming in with internet cheapies for us to fit to loose wheels.

8 times out of 10 we could have done them a cheaper deal - including the balance and tyre disposal. And they had to wait in for them to be delivered, drive down and then dispose of the old tyres on my home.....

We also usually charge more to fit a tyre we didn't supply cos we offset the (small) profit on the tyre against the labour rate. Most shops use their fitters to do tyres who are the same blokes you pay £50 an hour for to sort out your sticky Exup or such like - not like Kwik Fit who pay monkeys peanuts and make the money on volume.

To fit a pair of tyres on a Fazer "ride in ride out" is the best part of an hours work even with the proper tools...... We charge £40 rather than the £50.

Part worns are a decent price saver but postage cripples it most of the time.

It should be remembered that tyres DO go off on the shelf and a of of the cheapies have been hanging  around a while......

Life is too short in my opinion...........

Whale

[PaulSmith]

Life is too short in my opinion...........

Completely and utterly agree. If you really, really want to save money that badly, sell your bike to someone who might enjoy riding it and get a Honda 50.

I always thought it was blindingly obvious but apparently I was wrong... Your tyres are the bit that connect you with the road. They have more influence over how good, or bad, how enjoyable, or scary, your ride is then any other single factor. A brand new set of 023's (or what ever your preference happens to be) fitted and balanced is going to cost you about 3 pence a mile. (£250 over 8000 miles). Your 2nd hand POS is costing you 2 pence an mile (£60 over 3000 miles). If you are really, really that desperate to save a penny a mile, consider skipping one pint of beer or one meat pie a week and the £3 you save (plus that better MPG you get by not being as fat) will easily allow you to afford a proper set of tyres...

[DryRob]

I buy loose and get it fitted at a shop mainly because it gives me a chance to look over the bike closer than usual when I get the wheel off.

[JayB]

Not many options where I live, within a 30 mile radius, last time I used a bike shop, I got seen off - £125 for a front Metzeler on my R1 @ Yamaha dealer!

With the Fazer, I bought a slightly worn front Diablo for £28 delivered and a new old stock Diablo Strada rear for £76 delivered and paid a mobile trye fitter £20 to fit the pair.

I take wheels off, he turns up, fits, new valves, balances all in 20 minutes, I re-fit and save a packet. Sorted.

If I could afford or want to spend / waste money on using a dealership to service my 10yr old bike and fit tyres, I would, but DIY as much as I can, just can't be arsed with the stress of changing tyres / scratching my rims at home (no garage either)

[sadlonelygit]

None of the 2 local tyre shops do bikes. My local bike shop want £20 a tyre to loose wheels. The nearest supply and fit is 20 miles away.
8k from a set of tyres. . . . . . . .In my dreams
if you get that from a set of tyres perhaps you should sell your bike to someone who will ride it properly and get a batavus gogo

[JayB]

None of the 2 local tyre shops do bikes. My local bike shop want £20 a tyre to loose wheels. The nearest supply and fit is 20 miles away.
8k from a set of tyres. . . . . . . .In my dreams
if you get that from a set of tyres perhaps you should sell your bike to someone who will ride it properly and get a batavus gogo

:lol

[PaulSmith]

None of the 2 local tyre shops do bikes. My local bike shop want £20 a tyre to loose wheels. The nearest supply and fit is 20 miles away.

Oh..? My nearest trustworthy one is 90 miles. Good excuse to break the tyres in by taking the long way home. I have a local car place that will fit and balance on loose wheels for €20, even lets me use their tools to remove the wheels in their shop if they aren't busy.

8k from a set of tyres. . . . . . . .In my dreams
if you get that from a set of tyres perhaps you should sell your bike to someone who will ride it properly and get a batavus gogo

The wonder of modern tyres is that they really are stickier and do last longer. You should try a pair someday.

[sadlonelygit]

The wonder of modern tyres is that they really are stickier and do last longer. You should try a pair someday.

i have, only got 4k from PR2's, 3.5k from roadsmarts and 3.8k from angels
i managed to kill a front 021 in 2k.....in winter.
i've ridden on every type of tyre from speedmaster to slicks/wets and ime longevity is a good thing, however most tyres (even old pirelli dragon stradas) offer far more grip than the average rider uses on the road.
however magazines have advertising to sell and the latest metchelopstone AZRTTTZZ 99 with added sugar is 1/10000ths of a second quicker than the 98 at phillip island.
also have you noticed the funny wear pattern on the rear D/C tyres where they go from hard centre to soft and chewy outers (armadillos...dime bars)
and i'm guessing the answer to my initial post is no then!

[Doddsie]

Handbags at dawn......Im gonna get me some popcorn!!!