Ducati Monster Forum

Bought Michelin pilot power 2ct
120/60x17 and a 160/60x17  $110 for the front, $150 for the rear. Came to $261.90 after tax for tires.

Bought in store, figured I'd support a local business.

I ended up paying about $60 for the front and $70 for the rear to be installed and balanced. Tire weight was $10.

The whole deal ended up costing: $400.65

Seems a bit high to me.

Next time I'm bringing in just the wheels instead of the entire bike. Or am I just being cheap?

I've spent more (wheels on the bike)...won't do it again, unless the bikes going to be in the shop for other stuff at the same time.

I usually try to bring it all in dismounted, but you pay for convenience/laziness.

Alot. The Pilot Powers, 2CT, are the cheaper kin to the Pilot Road2s.
I got the powers delivered for under $200 this winter, for both, mounted them myself.
I ordred from Derby Cycles, haven't priced them recently.

I believe my sizes were the same as yours, for the baby Monster.

edit: I paid about $190 locally for a PR2 rear, mounted a couple seasons ago.

If I told you what you'd pay in Australia for the same thing..... would that make you feel better?  :)

Buy a tire changer and it will pay for itself in 3 sets of tires.

+11tyb.

I have a no-mar setup and it rawks.

I don't even bother balancing them either.  Never a problem and Ive probably done 20 sets of tires.

Haha. Alright, I feel a bit better now.  [laugh]


I'm considering this. I have a local guy who will balance for me, If I mount them.

Plus a ton on the NoMar.  Huge savings in PITA.  Nomar and others have balancing equipment too.  If you ride a lot, have more than one bike, a bunch of riding buddies, it will pay for itself in spades.

Rather than charge folks to do tires I ask them to bring me a jug.  Saves on my whiskey bill, costs them far less than going to a stealership or dinging up the rims DIY.  And then of course we can break out the glesses and ice after the tahrs are mounted.

It all depends on what area you are in.  Buying online will save you alot on tires, but many shops will then charge you more to mount them.  Even bringing the wheels in seperate from the bike, I usually get chaged 1 hour labor, about $70 were I live for 2 tires mounted & balanced.  I am looking to pick up my own mounting & balancing equipment, will look into the no mar.

ding ding ding

Anyone ever try DynaBeads for balancing? http://www.innovativebalancing.com/motorcycle.htm (http://www.innovativebalancing.com/motorcycle.htm)

Have a local independent guy that mounts and balances mine. He has a No Mar and yes it does rock! He has even mounted several sets of tires on BSTs (no, not mine [bang]) and is very proud of the zero scratch job he has done on them. He's very careful and methodical.

He even likes to check the balance of the wheel before he mounts the tire. He found the rear wheel on my Gixxer 1000 to be WAY off! It took a shit load of weight to get it right. He even covered the weights with 2 part epoxy and waited until it dried before mounting the tire and re-balancing. Said it must have been a manufacturing snafu, he'd never seen a stock factory wheel that far off. 

Recently I ran over something and had to replace the rear tire.  My dealer was out of the size I needed for my 696 and he told me it would be quicker and cheaper to buy the tire online.  He had me ship it to the shop and he installed and balanced it for $35.  I paid about the same price as you.  I would actually prefer to buy it from him even if it is $20 or $30 more because he is the only Ducati Dealer within 4 hours of my house and I want him to stay in business.  So I think the price of the tire was pretty good but at least compared to my dealer the install seems a bit expensive.

Jim

Do you go to Williamsville Competition?

Recently paid $70.00 for have two tires mounted and balanced from wheels that were off the bike.  Will be paying that again by the end of the week on another set. 

there is a whole thread on this that I think was locked due to the flamewar that resulted...

end result of the thread:

they seem like they work from people trying them, but the second you start to think about the physics of it, people's heads explode and someone kills a kitten.

Ha ha! It's amazing how some of these threads degenerate so quickly.

any time you make a recipe that calls for a cup of bullshit, that's what happens.  :-)

rofl


If I split the cost between me and 2 friends the no-mar would be really affordable.

I've got 2 bikes in the garage and both get at least 1 set a season.

I'm all for supporting my local shop. I have no problem paying 10-20 more for the rubber, but his service fees are just too damn high (unless you live in Australia)

Yes I did.  I love that place [thumbsup]

Jim

That doesn't sound like Al...you must have spoke with Jeff.

Al always gives us shit for buying tires on the net and having him install them.

Oh well.  How's Monza doing?

Haven't made it down there in a few months.

If you bring in the wheels and not the bike it'd be a bit less and you'd be fine on the cost. It only makes sense in getting a tire changer if you are doing lots of wheels/tires. For one person with one bike it's not really cost effective.

Most of the shops around me charge a flat $35 for mount/balance with the rims off the bike, and then $70+ if they have to pull the rims for you. One shop even has a sign saying "full dressers, expect a lot more" on the pricing sheet.

I've always seen it as being easier to pull the rims myself and haul everything in the car, but that's me.

Get a Cycle Hill changer, it's made by no-mar but is a slighly cheaper version, it is still very solid and made in USA. I've used the Dynabeads on several sets of tires now, and I have zero complaints about them and continue to use them.

+1 on all counts. I have a Cycle Hill changer and it is very nice...and Dynabeads work fine. Balancing with weights isn't hard either though.

MCN reviewed DynaBeads in 2006:

 [roll]

We've been over this...their in-house test was flawed due to the axle being fixed. I don't know about their road test, but I call BS on it too. I have them in my SMT and everything is great. They either work (if my tires/rims are out of balance without weights) or they don't make a difference at all (if my tires/rims are in balance without weights). Either way, my bike rides fine so I like them, and that is the test I'll use.

Their claim of heavier steering is flat out laughable...you use less bead weight than normal lead weight to account for the positioning. Plus, I doubt such a small amount of weight could be felt by anyone short of a professional racer at full race pace.

Their only downside I've seen is they're a bit of a pain in the ass to use if you put them in after the tire has been installed. They also cost more that lead weights, so if you have a balancer it doesn't make sense to use them.

Here's the thread...it isn't locked. The discussion progression is very similar to the plane on the conveyor belt.  [cheeky]
http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=39383.0 (http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=39383.0)

That's the problem:  balancers' axles are not fixed.  They move slightly to allow the out-of-balance tire to shift so that the weights can be determined.

No such thing as a fixed axle balance machine, not the computerized ones at least.  The old fashioned type is fixed, but no one uses those anymore.

And the only place I can find someone saying the MCN test was flawed was the seller of Dynabeads claiming so, because the balance machine's axle doesn't flex (which it does).

I was in the other thread...

I know.  ;)

I am using them now and they seem to work. If they acted as MCN claims I would feel it, and I don't.

i wonder how different it owuld be for you if you just took them out and ran unbalanced.  you might just have a "close" tire/wheel combo

I might.

But if what MCN is saying is correct, the beads would cause an imbalance which I would feel. The theory behind the beads is that if the tire is balanced the beads just distribute themselves relatively evenly around the tire, thus not affecting the balance. Either this is happening, or they are balancing my tires. Either way...it shows they work.

I do agree with MCNs statement that the Dynabead claim of the beads increasing tire life 100% over weight-balanced tires is BS. Balanced is balanced.

Have you looked at your warranty?

Just keep in mind that every tire manufacturer will state that adding anything like those will void your warranty.

Poke around, I can post samples.

Nope. I suspect most manufacturers would void the warranty on a plugged tire as well though, and people still do that.

I doubt I'll continue to use them because I now have my own balancer and weights, which are cheaper and easier to come by.

Nope..  Tire repairs are perfectly fine if done properly: