MSmith Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 In my area, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find shops that are willing to change tires that you didn’t purchase from them. My local dealer stopped this practice a while back. I don’t understand their reasoning. There is still profit to be made, just not as much. I’m looking for reasonable cost DIY options. I usually change tires once or twice a year. What set-up do you use? Pictures would be nice. Thanks everyone. Link to comment
bobbybob Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 http://www.cyclehilltirechanger.com/ have it--works great--made by Nomar--costs less Link to comment
OoPEZoO Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Harbor freight tire changer $59.99 (LINK) Harbor Freight motorcycle tire adapter $59.99 (LINK) These can usually be bought cheaper if you watch their local sale fliers Mitch's Mojo Lever $99 (LINK) If you want to get real fancy, you can get a nice wheel balancer from Marc Parnes as well for $105 (LINK). Personally, I gave up on balancing about 2 years ago and haven't found a reason to go back to it. Link to comment
DaveRT Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Redneck tar mochine. 20 gal. drum, bag of cement, 5/8" threaded rod down the middle, split heater hose around the edge of the drum, wing nut for rod, a few washers and bushings. A few parts from the junk bin at work and a few minutes welding and I made a tool to brake the bead. The front disc fits down inside of drum out of harms way. Home made stand for a Mark P. balancer. I made a bar with a derlin (non marking) end to get the tire off and on the rim, (no picture) or use tar irons. Link to comment
OoPEZoO Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 OK Dave.......enough with the teaser pics. Lets see the rest of the garage. The floor looks great Link to comment
DaveRT Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 OK, OK. 2 1/2 car garage, only 2/3 of one side has the tile. Here it is off season. Link to comment
Funride Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 Gave up on balancing the tires?? Interesting. Don't you notice a lot of vibration when going at 50 or 60???? I assumed you gotta balance the tires so that the bike does not vibrate off the side of the road??? I have ridden in your "neck-of-the-woods" and the only thing that scares me is the "cow-pies" from the horse buggies. The are fun when your going into a corner. Link to comment
jfremder Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 Gave up on balancing the tires?? Interesting. Don't you notice a lot of vibration when going at 50 or 60???? I assumed you gotta balance the tires so that the bike does not vibrate off the side of the road??? I have ridden in your "neck-of-the-woods" and the only thing that scares me is the "cow-pies" from the horse buggies. The are fun when your going into a corner. I also quit with the weights a few years ago. I do throw it on the balancer, and rotate tire 180° on the rim if it's way out of wack. Link to comment
EffBee Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 I don’t understand their reasoning. There is still profit to be made, just not as much. Simple. They have decided that they are in the business of SELLING and mounting tires. If they don't sell it, they don't mount it. It's their business, and their call. Try this. Go to Stuart Anderson's (Black Angus, or any other steak restaurant) with the steak you bought for less at Piggly Wiggly and ask them to cook it for you. After all, there's still profit to be made, just not as much. What do you think their answer will be? I buy my tires either through mail order or through my local dealer if they're willing to come reasonably close to mail order prices (after all, my dealer has greater overhead, what with a nice building and air conditioning for me to enjoy, vs. some $h!thole warehouse in Ratville). However, I make sure that if I'm going to buy mail order, that I can get them mounted. If I can't, I understand. It's each business's call. Link to comment
smiller Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 There's no question that it's the business owner's call and I don't think that was ever in dispute. What is being called into question is the business decision to turn a customer away and generate a bad experience, in which case there's a reasonable likelihood the policy may ultimately cost the business more than they save by insisting on some tire mark-up. Perhaps the business owner has this well in hand and knows that foregoing that mark-up will cost him more than lost business from PO'ed customers. Or maybe he's wrong. But yes, it's a free market and he can make his decision... and potential customers will make theirs. Link to comment
OoPEZoO Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 Gave up on balancing the tires?? Interesting. Don't you notice a lot of vibration when going at 50 or 60???? I assumed you gotta balance the tires so that the bike does not vibrate off the side of the road??? Nope, I don't notice any vibration at 110+ either. And I'm still getting the same amount of tire mileage I was getting when I was religious about balancing. I did balance each wheel once without a tire installed, but I have been through probably 5-6 sets of tires and haven't touched the weights since then. Link to comment
Ken H. Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 I have the NoMar, the orginal version. It's great but a bit pricy. Link to comment
jjg3 Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 Simple. They have decided that they are in the business of SELLING and mounting tires. If they don't sell it, they don't mount it. It's their business, and their call. Try this. Go to Stuart Anderson's (Black Angus, or any other steak restaurant) with the steak you bought for less at Piggly Wiggly and ask them to cook it for you. After all, there's still profit to be made, just not as much. What do you think their answer will be? .... It's each business's call. Aren't you comparing apples to oranges (in my opinion making a pretty far reaching comparison)? How many restaurants let anyone bring their own food in for cooking? There may be a few out there but I doubt many of us know of even one. Don't most cycle shops have a service dept separate from parts which is also separate from sales? Maybe not all, but quite a few. How many shops won't work (cook) on your bike (steak) unless you bought it from their sales dept (restaurant)? It is their option, but most will work on a particular brand wherever it came from. Or won't sell you a part (steak) unless you contract with their service dept (restaurant) to install (cook) it? I suspect parts would be a losing proposition if this were true. Certainly they can have such a policy, but really, how many do? So I think the restaurant comparison is a bit of a reach. I don't know why a shop would not install a tire, wherever it came from, but as has been noted, it is their call to do or not do whatever work they want. Maybe they won't install any parts not sold by that shop and tires are just another part that won't be installed if not sold. To get back on thread, I install my own tires with a bead popper and spoons. It's too easy to do rather than pay someone else and I'd suggest to anyone to do likewise. Considering you already have a compressor, about $20 for a bead popper and a pair of spoons for another $20 should get you going. Link to comment
ltljohn Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Every shop I have been to has one price if you buy the tire from them and a higher price if you bring your own. I was looking over the bikes in the garage today and realized that I would be changing 4 tires soon and the HF tire machine was on sale for 49.99 today so I went and bought one. 4 tires at any local shop if you buy from them = $80 if you buy on line 4 tires = $120. I will come out ahead. Link to comment
OoPEZoO Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Which is exactly why I learned to do it myself. No local dealer around me will touch a tire you didn't buy from them (at a big mark up). There are a few local shops that will do it for me reasonably, but get a little testy when I want to bring in my own tires. My problem here is that I have to do it during their business hours. I work over an hour away from home and it is not convenient. So I bought my own crap to do it and now I can change tires any random Tues night while jamming out to some tunes and drinking a beer. That and changing 2-3 sets of tires a year on my own bike, plus friends and family tires as well. Mine has paid for itself many times over. Link to comment
bobbybob Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Every shop I have been to has one price if you buy the tire from them and a higher price if you bring your own. I was looking over the bikes in the garage today and realized that I would be changing 4 tires soon and the HF tire machine was on sale for 49.99 today so I went and bought one. 4 tires at any local shop if you buy from them = $80 if you buy on line 4 tires = $120. I will come out ahead. Now all you need is a Mojo Bar and Mojo Blocks from Mitch and you'll be ready to go! Link to comment
Funride Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Anyone try mounting an HF tire changer on a 4' X 4' piece of 3/4 inch wood flooring??? I kinda hate drilling holes in my new garage floor to mount the thing and have the bolts sitting in the middle of the floor forever. I figure I am a big guy and my weight will hold the thing down while I remove the tire. When done I can unbolt the wood base and put away till next time. Link to comment
E30TECH Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Anyone try mounting an HF tire changer on a 4' X 4' piece of 3/4 inch wood flooring??? I kinda hate drilling holes in my new garage floor to mount the thing and have the bolts sitting in the middle of the floor forever. I figure I am a big guy and my weight will hold the thing down while I remove the tire. When done I can unbolt the wood base and put away till next time. A few people here have used plywood. I set anchors in the garage floor, so the bolts come out. http://www.confast.com/products/single-expansion-fastener.aspx Link to comment
KER Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Anyone try mounting an HF tire changer on a 4' X 4' piece of 3/4 inch wood flooring??? I kinda hate drilling holes in my new garage floor to mount the thing and have the bolts sitting in the middle of the floor forever. I figure I am a big guy and my weight will hold the thing down while I remove the tire. When done I can unbolt the wood base and put away till next time. That's exactly what i did since i needed to keep it completely portable. I used a 4'x4' piece of plywood and installed some lag bolts through the bottom. I would just slip the changer over the bolts, hand tight the nuts on and it was completely sturdy, even when torquing on the wheel since you are standing on the plywood. Also, to prevent scratching the wheel, i would use a piece of carpet over the bead breaker leg. I no longer have the changer and in the market for a new one. I got pretty quick with the HF unit and the mojo bar, and you cant beat the price. But i am still considering getting a cycle hill changer.... Link to comment
Funride Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 I am thinking of going with the wood. I hate to put holes in the garage floor. My bike is new so I have some time before worrying about changing tires. Link to comment
allikanbe Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 My HF is set up on 2'x4' plywood that I put away each time. It works ok. It's still a bit annoying to remove the rear tire from the KS bike, but I get it done. I keep the bolts in the plywood with nuts permanently. I then put the HF on the bolts and use wing nuts to keep the HF in place. When I am done changing tires, I put away the plywood (bolts and nuts still in the wood). It's easier this way. Link to comment
Funride Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Thanks for info. I am going to do the same. Probably put a big flat washer on both sides of the plywood just so it does not pull the bolt thru the wood. Link to comment
Matts_12GS Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I know that Huzband has run some lead anchors in his garage floor to bolt his HF machine to. Link to comment
MrHondamatic Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I used this type http://www.concretefasteners.com/anchors-fasteners/lag-shield/pricing.aspx to anchor my HF tire changer. I used the ones sized for a 3/8 lag bolt. I picked mine up at the local hardware store in packages of two each. I store my tire changer out of the way, and only anchor it to the floor when I need it. Since I park my lawn mower over that spot, having holes in the floor is not a big deal. I did find that drilling the holes in two stages (pilot hole first), and adding some water as I drilled, makes the job much easier. Link to comment
Albert Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Sounds like the exact same method I used. My HF is set up on 2'x4' plywood that I put away each time. It works ok. It's still a bit annoying to remove the rear tire from the KS bike, but I get it done. I keep the bolts in the plywood with nuts permanently. I then put the HF on the bolts and use wing nuts to keep the HF in place. When I am done changing tires, I put away the plywood (bolts and nuts still in the wood). It's easier this way. Link to comment
Willie Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Gave up on balancing the tires?? Interesting. Don't you notice a lot of vibration when going at 50 or 60???? I assumed you gotta balance the tires so that the bike does not vibrate off the side of the road??? Nope, I don't notice any vibration at 110+ either. And I'm still getting the same amount of tire mileage I was getting when I was religious about balancing. I did balance each wheel once without a tire installed, but I have been through probably 5-6 sets of tires and haven't touched the weights since then. I was gonna say... I've ridden with you before and I don't think your RT runs in the 50-60mph zone Link to comment
OoPEZoO Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I was gonna say... I've ridden with you before and I don't think your RT runs in the 50-60mph zone Hey hey hey.....I slow down for cross walks and school zones Link to comment
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