This is my first time to replace tires...do most people buy them online?

[cavenger]

CycleGear and Revzilla don't seem to have any available.

 

[jimmy z]

A lot of people buy tires online for the s10.I buy from revzilla a lot.All depends on what tire you want to put on.Many choices,many threads here on tires for the s10.

 

[Cycledude]

Best prices I have found, have bought several sets of motorcycle tires from them
http://www.americanmototire.com/catalog/

 

[RCinNC]

I haven't bought a tire anywhere but on line for over five years. Mostly, I buy from Rocky Mountain ATV; best prices I've found at any of the various on line retailers. I change them myself, with a Motion Pro Bead Popper and a handful of Motion Pro tire irons.

 

[Madhatter]

if you can mount them yourself then online buying works great. if not going through a dealer might be best....

 

[Checkswrecks]

I've only bought online for years and usually mount them myself. If pressed for time, on a daily basis I pass a little independent shop who does unmounted (off the bike) wheels for $30 and one farther away who will for $25.

 

[stomp347]

I usually get mine from Compacc, they have good prices and fresh tires. I have bought a few sets for friend at Jakewilson in the past month and they have really good prices as well. They even send in the rebate for you.

 

[snakebitten]

My Yamaha dealer is the only dealer I have ever had such a wonderful customer relationship with. (in 50 years of riding)

As a result, I do my shopping online, but then let Carl (my parts fella) know what I'm wanting.
If he can get it, and can get in the ballpark on $price (always has), I purchase from him\them.

The more often the owner sees me in her various departments, the more goodwill I believe exists.
It's lead to a fantastic atmosphere when I visit. I'd go so far to say I have a few friends in the business who take pleasure in serving me.

I like doing business with "people", when possible.

 

[stomp347]

My Yamaha dealer is the only dealer I have ever had such a wonderful customer relationship with. (in 50 years of riding)

As a result, I do my shopping online, but then let Carl (my parts fella) know what I'm wanting.
If he can get it, and can get in the ballpark on $price (always has), I purchase from him\them.

The more often the owner sees me in her various departments, the more goodwill I believe exists.
It's lead to a fantastic atmosphere when I visit. I'd go so far to say I have a few friends in the business who take pleasure in serving me.

I like doing business with "people", when possible.

Couldn't agree more. Too bad our dealers suck around here. The kid at the Honda dealership knows me very well now, but they are marking up the tires like crazy.

 

[EricV]

I always pull my own wheels and take them in to a local shop for the tire R&R and balance. Over the last 15 years or so, I've always had a shop near me that charged less than $20 each to mount and balance a tire that I walked in with. For several years, up until just recently, one of my local shops was charging me $9 for a mount and balance of a tubeless tire that I walked in with, wheel off the bike. At those prices, it just didn't pay to buy my own equipment to mount and balance my own tires.

Now, also over the years, I have made attempts to convince these local shops that I WANTED to spend money there. But when they routinely quoted me $100 more for the same tire I can buy online, I just couldn't go there. A lot of dealers will only order tires from Tucker-Rocky, a huge moto distributor, and they can't come close to matching the average online tire price and charge mark up while being competitive. I even tried to get them to just order them from the same online place I would, add some profit for the shop and I'd be willing to pay that to support the shop that I liked. No go.

Now the only time I buy a tire at a shop is if I'm stuck needing a tire right now and don't have time to order it online. I have a Rocky Mountain ATV location near me, but their store prices for tires are not always as good as online and they don't usually stock what I want for the Super Ten. They currently are charging me $20 each for mount and balance when I walk the wheels in with my own tires. The shop that used to charge me $9, started charging me $35, so I moved on.

If you're not pulling your own wheels off the bike, just get the tires from the shop you have do the tire change. If you're going to pull your own wheels, then shop around online for the tires you like and shop around your area for a shop that will charge a decent price for the mount and balance, wheels off the bike. A tubeless tire change on a tire machine is a less than 10 minute job for an experienced tech. It's not worth an hour labor charge, though I have seen that as the listed charge for one tire at some shops.

 

[RCinNC]

We no longer even have a bad motorcycle shop in my county. Literally, there is one motorcycle dealer in the county, and it's a Harley shop. If I need anything done at all to a bike, my closest choices are a 90 minute round trip or a two hour and twenty minute round trip, not counting how long I have to wait at the shop to actually change the tire. The shop I went to before it closed charged thirty bucks to mount and balance a tire, had a huge markup on tires, and if I wanted anything besides a street tire or a dirt bike knobby, they had to order it ("it'll be here in about two weeks"). That stuff (plus some pretty bad customer service) all combined into a perfect storm to convince me to stop buying tires at a shop and having them installed there. It took some practice to get the techniques down pat, but I put on a new set of Shinko 705's two days ago in my garage, and the whole job (including removing the wheels from the bike and putting them back on when it was done) took about three hours. Not NASCAR pit crew quality time, to be sure, but satisfactory to me.

 

[magic]

I keep a couple sets of tires on hand just in case. If I walked into one of the area Yamaha dealers and asked for a set of Heideau K60s or some Mitas EO7s they wouldn't even know that they were tires. I always buy them online and mount them myself. Rocky Mountain ATV usually gets my order. Right now I have a set of Battlewings and a set of K60s in stock.

 

[Sierra1]

My Yamaha dealer is the only dealer I have ever had such a wonderful customer relationship with. (in 50 years of riding)

As a result, I do my shopping online, but then let Carl (my parts fella) know what I'm wanting.
If he can get it, and can get in the ballpark on $price (always has), I purchase from him\them.

The more often the owner sees me in her various departments, the more goodwill I believe exists.
It's lead to a fantastic atmosphere when I visit. I'd go so far to say I have a few friends in the business who take pleasure in serving me.

I like doing business with "people", when possible.

Same here. Between my sons and I, we have at least three bikes needing maintenance and/or parts on a regular basis. My dealer, Burleson Power Sports, will often price match or at least give a good discount that comes close to online prices. Since I have never removed a motorcycle tire from a rim, bicycles are challenging enough, and I do not want to damage my rim, I let my great dealer do the install. There's not much I won't tackle when it comes to fixing cars, but I let the pros take care of my bike.

 

[RonH]

I buy a few locally. Here in Denver we have Performance Cycle, and I've known the owner for almost 40yrs. They do pretty good at pricing. Otherwise I've always bought through the internet or magazine adds. Shops used to always have the excuse "those magazine add tires are seconds, no good". Well I've never to this day got a bad tire. As to mounting, I mount my own and have since I was 15yrs old. I enjoy mounting tires as goofy as that sounds, and like to do it. Even if the shops offered free mount and balance, I prefer to do it myself.

 

[blitz11]

Best prices I have found, have bought several sets of motorcycle tires from them
http://www.americanmototire.com/catalog/

Yikes! Good find. Wow. Thanks for the tip.

 

[markbxr400]

I've bought my last two sets of E-07 Dakars for $295 shipped from moto-race off eBay. My Yamaha dealer will mount and balance them for $30/ea if I bring the wheels to them. Worth every penny on the Dakars to have dealer mount them, IMHO.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mitas-E-07-DAKAR-Dual-Sport-PAIR-Motorcycle-Tires-110-80-19-150-70-17-BMW-GS-SET-/182618040722?hash=item2a84e22992:g:yxkAAOSwLs5XLMfk&vxp=mtr

 

[holligl]

Best prices I have found, have bought several sets of motorcycle tires from them
http://www.americanmototire.com/catalog/

Doesn't look like they carry Mitas. I got my recent E-07 Dakars from Twisted Throttle. Manufactured early this year (make sure they aren't aged wherever you get them). Others here are lucky, I'm being quoted $50-60 per tire off bike. Planning to attempt my own mounting at this point when I get time.

 

[Kabish]

I haven't bought a tire anywhere but on line for over five years. Mostly, I buy from Rocky Mountain ATV; best prices I've found at any of the various on line retailers. I change them myself, with a Motion Pro Bead Popper and a handful of Motion Pro tire irons.

I was just about to purchase my tires form Americanmototire.com till I realized they applied tax and shipping.. Gave Rocky Mountian a look and they had the tires even cheaper, plus not tax or shipping!!! And its going to be here in two days!! Can't beat that deal at all. $260.76 to the door for front/rear Trail Attack 2's... This is actually my first time replacing the tires on my bike, they gave me about 8,000 long miles, but after my 4th puncher its time for new ones.... That staple actually went through all the way... ::010::

So thanks for saving me some bucks with the Rocky Mountian site!!!

 

[dmulk]

Extremely happy with the Shinko 804/805 combo. Just about to install my second set. Should be around the 6-7k mark on my rear. Front looks like it will go to 8-9k but so cheap that I just replace them in pairs though... I think $170 for a pair shipped.

<D>

 

[Kabish]

I thought about getting some Shinko's, but while tires are tires I just could not pull the trigger on them. I know a lot of people on the forum use them though.