What would you do?

It's time to get new tires on my bike, and i want to have it ready by riding season. I have decided on the Dunlop GT501s in the stock sizes based on price, availability, looks, and I think that they will perform great for my needs.

But heres the dilemma...

I can order the set from my local bike shop for $220, or from motorcycle superstore for around $190 with free shipping. I love to save money just as much as the next guy, but the local shop is struggling a bit, and I'd like to support them all I can. Its nice to have a place in town to buy lubes and other supplies on a moments notice.

Would it help the shop out more if I ordered the tires through them and installed them myself, or ordered them online and payed them to install the tires for me?

 

ask them what their price is for purchase and mounted then weigh the odds, they can not compete with online wholesale retailers, but they can give discount on mounting and balancing.

 

I run a small bussiness. I do not own it, but as the sole employee and manager I run it. We sell phones. The internet kills us.
We offer the best customer service including hands on tech support, you wont get that from the internet. It is impossible for us to stock everything and we really value the customers that understand that and let us order for them and make our profit. It is what keeps our doors open, and allows us to offer support when things go bad, or when someone needs support in general.
That said, I am open and honest with all my customers and they know this. Sometimes I simply cant compete with things like the ebay or places like walmart. I simply dont have the buying power. At that point I advise my customers that I cant match whatever deal they have found, but still hope they will buy accesories and services from us. I have a pretty good repoire with my repeat customers and love it when one of them to give me the first shot, even if I can't match a better deal that they found.
I would ask your local shop whats best for you to do ( as mentioned above ) and also make sure and mention that you want to help keep them in bussiness, but you have a budget to stick to as well.
That may sound like a wierd thing to ask a service advisor or mechanic, but it really is not. Customers ask me about that kind of stuff all day long. If it werent for customers like you that want to help local bussiness, we would have shut our doors long ago.
Kudos to you for being concerned with the small bussines owners - that is one of the MAJOR things that might help get our economy back on the right track.
-C

 

Thanks guys, thats what I needed to hear.

Tomorrow, or whenever I can get back out there, i'll ask them what it would cost to purchase them and have them mounted/balanced. They are really nice people and I'd hate to see them have to close, but as already mentioned, I do have a budget. I hope they are as understanding as you are Cundalini.

 

Cundi appears to be one of those who wants all your business and some of your money instead of someone who wants all your money and some of your business. Good on him. I have posted in another thread that I understand things such as overhead. But so long as the local shop does his best and comes close, then this is good enough for me. I have just taken delivery of a set of tires from an on line source (first time ever for online purchase) but they will be taken to a shop for installation and ballancing. Just not the shop that I have spent one hell of a lot of money at in the past 3 1/2 years and all they do is offer me a 10% discount, that I am sure everyone gets just for asking. But I can't help in noticing the difference you quote here is $30.00. Is this a fair cost for piece of mind for you? I can't answer that for you.

 

With an administration that is setting the stage to kill local business, I personally will do anything to support the local guys. If it were me, I would have the local shop do it. Who knows, within the next year, they will likely no longer be in business.

Didn't intend to turn this into a political statement, but in light of all things considered, I felt compelled to speak my gut feeling!

 

ZP, just another thing to think about... Does the local shop do alot of tire business? By this I mean, if they do then they're rotating their stock regularly. Rubber wears out after time, even if it's sitting on the shelf. With the internet guys, you don't know how long the tire has been in the warehouse. At least with the local guys you get to see what is going on the bike before it's there. I saw a news report about this for cars and it's the same for bikes. Look at the DOT number on the side of the tire. Mine reads DOT ENYO VNH 0309 for the front and DOT ENA5 DHN 4908 for the rear. The way you tell is the number at the tail end. My fronts were made in the 3rd week of 2009 and my rear was made in the 49th week of 2008. I put my tires on in October of 09, so mine aren't that old. The internet is nice for alot of things, but check it out before you buy them. You may end up with 5 year old tires being sold as new. And tell me, how far would you trust those at 65 mph in a corner?

 

I want all your money, and that watch, gimme that watch. And that necklace, gimme...... the ring too....

 

So, I ended up ordering the tires from the shop. As far as installation goes, I can take the wheels off myself and have them remove the old tires, and mount/balance the new tires in about a half hour per wheel. So I'd be paying around $300 with the cost of tires. Not too bad of a deal, and they definitely are friendly people!

 

I would find a new shop. I am all for helping the little guy, but I pay $23 a tire off the bike for M/B

 

But its just too dang easy to take car of it without leaving town. And the people seem really nice, I'd love to help them out.

Is $65/hour labor high?

 

the labor cost is actually low (I pay $75 in DC). It's the time - you are paying $110 for a $46 job!

 

They said it would take 30 min a wheel, so around 65 between both of them. Add that to $225 for the tires themselves, and its around $290. Sorry if I misled.

 

My local guy charges $85 an hour for general labor. Tire install is a fee set-up; $65 if you purchase the tires from them, or $95 if purchased elsewhere.

 

The BEST tyre deals are usually found in the monthly 'cycle mag ads.

Take the wheels off the bike yourself: it's good experience. Then take wheels and new tyres to the shop.

Anything over about $30/ wheel is alot.

 

Sounds like this shop is doing a little razzle dazzle on you. This in more PC terms is called " the business advantage" , and ain't got squat to do with being friendly especially over a set of tires. Business is negotiable. Had you just popped for the tires at shop price and headed for the door. The friendly dude behind the counter who just took your money would have "suggested" that you bring your bike in, let them remove the wheels at another half hour/wheel, dismount your old tires and mount and balance your new tires for who knows how much more. Your counter offer would have been how much if you brought in the wheels. Ten bucks says that that shop rate and time for services, changes like most of us change skivvies. Just an example. If a VFR has a centerstand, how long does it take to remove the rear wheel? Half an hour? No way Jose'.

Skivvywise, most of us anyway, I can't speak for everyone nor do I want supporting data or feedback on that. Do what your moms told you in the first place..

 

I have to agree with Badbilly,

I just did the same thing with my local shop. I took them the internet price and they could not match it, obviously, but they had a decent price on tires and when purchased from them mounted for free, I just had to ride up on the bike and ride away when I was done. That right thar is customer service.

 

If "friendly" is needed to toss out 300+ bucks for a set of tires, IMO one should go to a McDonalds before the visit to the bike joint. They always smile and are friendly. The food is crap but sometimes the little chicas are sort of cuties.

If y'all want the straight poop on cellphones without the combination of razzle-dazzle, buddy-buddy BS and the latest thing in hair shirts, this is a good source:

Cell Phones & Plans on clarkhoward.com

Note the disclaimer at the top of the page stating that the ads are not from the host but are generated by one of Google's gigantichumungous supercomputers. Now that is straight shooting IMO.

Like I always say, What this country needs is a cellphone that will fry up a really good hamburger.

 

$65 for mounting and balancing 2 tires is a good price. Having said that seeing as you bought the tires from them and paid $30 more than you could have on line I would have charged you $35 for mounting them BOTH. The rear on a VFR is pretty easy and quick.
$65 an hour is a good rate but here's the deal. If you wanted your oil changed/lube in your car which takes about an hour would you pay $65 + $30 for parts. I doubt it.
Dealers should offer a packaged price for tires and mounting and they would get a lot more business.

 

Update

Well, I was finally able to start the process. Took the rear wheel off in no more than 10 minutes. It probably took me more time to find the tools than to do the wrenching.

I took the wheel in, and it will be mounted and balanced by the time I am done with classes tomorrow. I'll throw the wheel back on (which will probably take a little more time than it did coming off) and move to the front.

Did I pay too much for a set of tires with mounting? Probably.

Will I regret paying too much if the shop did a good job? Not a chance.