Bike back from the shop, and i'm pissed- $89 for a tire change...

[Evitzee]

First, by buying the tire yourself you deprived the dealer of a sale (and profit). $90 may be a bit high but I don't think it is insane. Bigger shops can afford to charge a bit less, but maybe your dealer just can't support a lower price. You should have asked beforehand if it was a real concern to you.

 

[Kaisersoze]

A few things people forgot about is. The shop has to pay their employee, pay their insurance, pay their taxes, pay for their tire machine, o yeah and the whole point of being in business is to make money. My dad has a shop in a tiny rural location in upstate NY. His taxes are $15,000 a year alone. I would be willing to bet that anyone complaining about how much it was has never had their own business that requires owning the location and paying the employees..... a air over hydraulic tire machine that is most likely in most of these shops on the cheap end are $4000. Then the electric tire balancer is $1000. To be honest a manual tire changer and balancer is not worth my time. You also stand a very easy chance of scratching the rim....

Whatever the case may be, this particular dealership, after I stripped my bike down the engine myself, checked my valve clearances for $100 bucks. They told me it was an hours worth of labor. $100 for 1 hr of shop time. They want $250 for chaining my tires and putting on new chain and sprockets....after I give them all the parts they need since I bought them myself. Thats 2 1/2 hours of shop time for sprockets, chain, and tires? Thats crazy. I saw youtube vid of guy pulling everything apart in 15 min.

And on top of that, as motogiro has pointed out, you still run the risk of a chain being over-tightened or not aligned properly.

 

[redballs]

Was there an agreed upon rate before the job was commenced? In Ontario mechanic's can not go over 10% of they're estimated cost with out informing the customer.

 

[dxh24]

First, by buying the tire yourself you deprived the dealer of a sale (and profit). $90 may be a bit high but I don't think it is insane. Bigger shops can afford to charge a bit less, but maybe your dealer just can't support a lower price. You should have asked beforehand if it was a real concern to you.

First off, yes it is insane. I don't care that i bought the tire myself, if he had any interest in keeping customers coming back he'd have charged a fair rate. For instance i bought FOUR new continentals for my cage, FOUR. Brought them to my garage he tells me, "it'll be done in about an hour". So i go have lunch come back and sure enough there done. I walk over to get my keys and pay expecting 100 bucks in labor fees. $35 American dollars... thats what somebody who wants my business, and gives a 5hit about the customer, charges.

I'll also note that my garage isn't a big fancy Dealership, just a little garage in our little town, and i'll keep going back there.

As for the bike shop, they can eff off, and until i get an apology and about 40 bucks back in the mail rof they'll have lost a customer.

IMO ANY business should be all about the customer... short of like a repo company lol. If you don't care about the customer why should they give you good hard earned cash?

Not only that but the d-bag kept my bike for a week!

 

[dxh24]

Was there an agreed upon rate before the job was commenced? In Ontario mechanic's can not go over 10% of they're estimated cost with out informing the customer.

The shop rate is all i had to go on ....75 bucks an hr... so i figured... hmm prolly take me 15 mins to take off...10 to replace tire, then 15 to put back on.... evidently i was wrong....

In the end this probably is my fault.... his attitude when i walked in the door was already "i've got better things to do" ....shoulda just walked out... ridden 20 miles to the good shop and been done with it

 

[Kazza]

Lesson is - ALWAYS agree to a price BEFORE you get the work done. Saves any arguments.

$25 in Perth if you supply the tyre. You got ripped off.....

 

[fb40dash5]

I feel your pain. I just moved, and the local shop here wants $100 on the bike, or $50 if you bring them the rim. Having them mount a pair of tires on the bike would run almost as much as a pair of tires. The shop I had been using was charging $15/$30.

Whatever, I was a great customer at the other shop, but I won't buy a single thing from this place.

 

[ChevyFazer]

A few things people forgot about is. The shop has to pay their employee, pay their insurance, pay their taxes, pay for their tire machine, o yeah and the whole point of being in business is to make money. My dad has a shop in a tiny rural location in upstate NY. His taxes are $15,000 a year alone. I would be willing to bet that anyone complaining about how much it was has never had their own business that requires owning the location and paying the employees..... a air over hydraulic tire machine that is most likely in most of these shops on the cheap end are $4000. Then the electric tire balancer is $1000. To be honest a manual tire changer and balancer is not worth my time. You also stand a very easy chance of scratching the rim....

Think about it this way all of that stuff you have listed can be classified as "overhead cost" most place add 10%-20% to the price to make up for it, most tire mechs make less then $20 a hour and it only takes about 30min to mount and balance a tire....so lets say the mech is slow and takes a hour to change even then $90 is a complete rip off

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[FB400]

As ChevyFazer pointed out you can get the Harbor Freight tire changer cheap and begin doing your own tire changes.

For the DIY'r there's a good feeling of having control over cost and flexibility to do changes when you want and not have to schlep the bike or wheels to a shop and deal with the inconvenience and cost.

I have the HFT motorcycle attachment mounted to my work bench so no need for the base. For bead breaker, I built my own
http://www.600riders.com/forum/tire-tech-talk/34042-homemade-bead-breaker.html

Basically, the first set of tires, mounted myself, paid for the HFT machine.
The 2nd set of tires, mounted myself, will pay for the MojoLever.

I did the first change using tire irons. Not terrible, but labor intensive.

For balancing, the dynabeads have worked well so far. I have over 8,000 miles on the current set of PR2's

 

[08fz6]

As I agree with most you say, $90 to mount and balance a tire is insane!

Agreed I think it is a little steep, but I don't know the area as far as prices go. I live on the other side of the state. Also many shops where I live won't mount a tire unless bought from them. Mounting a tire you bring in is a huge insurance liability!

 

[QwickFliCk]

i was charged $50 to change my front tire....i brought them the rim w the tire...i thought that was OD! now i bought:

THREE TIRES IRONS $8 each
MOTION PRO CHAIN ALIGNMENT TOOL $16
RIM PROTECTORS $6

i run dynabeads for balancing

total of $46
now i dont have to pay anyone to change my tires

 

[08fz6]

i was charged $50 to change my front tire....i brought them the rim w the tire...i thought that was OD! now i bought:

THREE TIRES IRONS $8 each
MOTION PRO CHAIN ALIGNMENT TOOL $16
RIM PROTECTORS $6

i run dynabeads for balancing

total of $46
now i dont have to pay anyone to change my tires

How are you going to break the bead and hold the rim to get the tire off?

 

[oldschoolsdime92]

local dealership near my house charges 1/2 hour labor per wheel , even if you bring them just the wheels. for a grand total of 84.65

 

[ChevyFazer]

How are you going to break the bead and hold the rim to get the tire off?

You can do it without a machine its harder but ive done one on the side of the road with a crutch for a jackstand and 3 tire spoons, broke the bead by standing on it and someone help hold the wheel to remove and.install the tire

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[oldschoolsdime92]

i was charged $50 to change my front tire....i brought them the rim w the tire...i thought that was OD! now i bought:

THREE TIRES IRONS $8 each
MOTION PRO CHAIN ALIGNMENT TOOL $16
RIM PROTECTORS $6

i run dynabeads for balancing

total of $46
now i dont have to pay anyone to change my tires

How long have you been running the dynabeads? I've had them in this set of tires, and im not the least bit happy with them.

 

[QwickFliCk]

How are you going to break the bead and hold the rim to get the tire off?

ive done it b4 w a 2X4 and someones help...i have to swap my rear tire i might make a video soon

crutch for a jackstand and 3 tire spoons, broke the bead by standing on it and someone help hold the wheel to remove and.install the tire

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wow ur a real MACGYVER! lol

How long have you been running the dynabeads? I've had them in this set of tires, and im not the least bit happy with them.

almost 7 months now in my front tire...my tires shows very little wear.. y r u not happy w them?

 

[ChevyFazer]

ive done it b4 w a 2X4 and someones help...i have to swap my rear tire i might make a video soon



wow ur a real MACGYVER! lol

Its funny you say that it was on a dual sport ride that my dad invited me on and hisname on bsb is redneckmaguiver lol

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[fb40dash5]

A few things people forgot about is. The shop has to pay their employee, pay their insurance, pay their taxes, pay for their tire machine, o yeah and the whole point of being in business is to make money. My dad has a shop in a tiny rural location in upstate NY. His taxes are $15,000 a year alone. I would be willing to bet that anyone complaining about how much it was has never had their own business that requires owning the location and paying the employees..... a air over hydraulic tire machine that is most likely in most of these shops on the cheap end are $4000. Then the electric tire balancer is $1000. To be honest a manual tire changer and balancer is not worth my time. You also stand a very easy chance of scratching the rim....

Well, all a $15k a year tax bill means is that he makes a pretty good profit, or the shop property is worth a WHOOOOOLE lot. The cost of the employee, like ChevyFazer pointed out, isn't really a cost. I work for a friend who owns his own auto shop, and I point this out to him all the time. I cost him $10 an hour, and he bills at $75 an hour. If I finish a job at billed time, I just made him $65, plus whatever profit he made on the parts I installed. Even if I take double the time, he's making $55 on every billed hour. An official employee making more than that, and with payroll taxes and such, isn't that profitable, but they're still making you money.

The tools are a cost of doing business, they either let you do the job period, or let you do it faster, so you can make more of that sweet profit. If you charge less money, but still make money, you'll attract more customers and make those tools pay for themselves faster. Who am I gonna pay to put my tires on, the shop that charges out the yingyang and makes a bunch of profit, or the one that has a reasonable price and only makes a few bucks? And while I'm there, I'll probably buy more stuff, too.

 

[Kaisersoze]

One of the reasons that small businesses are suffering so much is that they are owned by people with a pre-80's mentality about business. (Most youngins today work for corporations) They dont modernize their marketing or understand that they are cutting off their noses to spite their faces when they snub potential customers.

Read this:

WHY I REFUSE TO DO BUSINESS WITH SPEER YAMAHA of PASSAIC, NJ - Passaic County Sport Bikes - Leaning In The Twisties (Florham Park, NJ) - Meetup


I actually go to this dealership because the shop guys are awesome and willing to help out and give me good advice. But as you can see from the thread, the owner tried to spite the customer who purchased something online and bit himself in the ass because he got blasted online.

 

[08fz6]

Well, all a $15k a year tax bill means is that he makes a pretty good profit, or the shop property is worth a WHOOOOOLE lot. The cost of the employee, like ChevyFazer pointed out, isn't really a cost. I work for a friend who owns his own auto shop, and I point this out to him all the time. I cost him $10 an hour, and he bills at $75 an hour. If I finish a job at billed time, I just made him $65, plus whatever profit he made on the parts I installed. Even if I take double the time, he's making $55 on every billed hour. An official employee making more than that, and with payroll taxes and such, isn't that profitable, but they're still making you money.

The tools are a cost of doing business, they either let you do the job period, or let you do it faster, so you can make more of that sweet profit. If you charge less money, but still make money, you'll attract more customers and make those tools pay for themselves faster. Who am I gonna pay to put my tires on, the shop that charges out the yingyang and makes a bunch of profit, or the one that has a reasonable price and only makes a few bucks? And while I'm there, I'll probably buy more stuff, too.

Out of the whole post all you got was taxes and mechanic's pay..... I believe I added a few more things to that list. Also the shops that charge you more are more likely to stand behind their work. The ones that do it for cheap don't really care what they screw up because they know you will be back because you pay the cheaper rate. Also at the cheaper rate, is the driveway blacktopped? floor clean? nice equipment? You also made a very simple statement you work for him. I am sure there are things that cost him money that you don't even think about. At least where I live the shop that does everything at the "reasonable" rate has nothing its not even really a shop, its an old barn with a dirt floor. Their idea of dismounting ATV tires is to shove a screw driver through the side wall...... Also things are much different in Oregon! have been there had to have 4 tires mounted on my scion XB there. I was in Corvallis. I was charged $800 for 4 Good Year ice tires and alignment. Tires were only $115 a piece and the alignment was $90......