Tire mounting and Balancing

[brindle19]

I bought some new tires for my bike off the internet. I took them to the local zuki dealership and they said they wont mount and balance them for me because I did not buy them from them. So i called the yamaha shop and they said the same thing. Does a regular tires shop mount and balance motor cycle tires. and how important its it to get them balanced. i would think very important right

[BarMatt80]

yes i want my tires balanced. But some just mount by hand and then place the lite spot of the tire(designated by a yellow dot...usually) and place it at the valve stem, and that is it. But i could never find a dealership that would mount something they didn't sell. Find a local custom shop or soemthing, but has to be a motorcycle, check dyno centers. Just crack open the local paper and look under motorcycles.

this might help.

http://www.clarity.net/~adam/tire-changing-doc.html

[Najus]

well if they are not balanced you will feel vibration when riding down the road...and it will only get worse as your speed increases.

[iwannadie]

call around, not to dealers but smaller shops. all the local big dealers wanted around 40-50$ per tire Off the bike to mount/balance. i found a smaller dirt bike shop that does all kind of mechanic work. they did my tires for 20$ per tire.

[Trigger]

CycleGear
What part of the country are you in?

[iwannadie]

CycleGear
What part of the country are you in?

the cyclegear near me wanted alot, the guy at the counter actually told me to go to the other place cause they are cheaper and didnt have a 2 day turn around....

[DreKat]

try and find a dealer who sells tires for car and big rigs. The one nearest me will mount any size tire and for cheap too.

[md86]

Yeah , just make some calls . SOME places that mount car tires can do bike tires , too . Most dealers near me are pretty much the same , though . $20 per wheel/tire off the bike .

[The CyberPoet]

Re: Tire mounting and Balancing

I bought some new tires for my bike off the internet. I took them to the local zuki dealership and they said they wont mount and balance them for me because I did not buy them from them. So i called the yamaha shop and they said the same thing. Does a regular tires shop mount and balance motor cycle tires. and how important its it to get them balanced. i would think very important right

The only states I've seen where all the dealer's won't mount tires from other vendors is Virgina or West Virginia. If you've got the space in your home/garage/etc for a tire mounter, you can build your own tire-mounting and balancing station for about $100 - $150 (including the various spoons, tire mounting rig & balancer) and start charging others to mount their tires
There's a good write up on what you need around here somewhere, with a link to a webpage that has the full write up of how to, what tools to use, etc.

the cyclegear near me wanted alot, the guy at the counter actually told me to go to the other place cause they are cheaper and didnt have a 2 day turn around....

Send HS (Jimmy) a message -- if they are turning away income like that, I'm sure he'd want to know. There's no reason they shouldn't have mounted them on the spot, or at least same-day.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[tzortn]

Re: Tire mounting and Balancing

...The only states I've seen where all the dealer's won't mount tires from other vendors is Virgina or West Virginia. ...

I can say for a fact that this is not true for all of VA. I bought my tires online from Dennis Kirk then I had them mounted at a local Honda/Yamaha dealer. The Suzuki dealer wanted way too much.

BTW here is a great write up on wheel balancing:

http://www.katriders.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2541&