what should tire mount and balance cost?

[mvalenti]

Just a question for the group. What does it cost typically to mount and balance a tire? I was quoted $45, I provide the rim (with old tire),new tire and tube... Sounds high to me....

[tkent02]

Free if you do it yourself. About $20 the first time if you need to buy tools.

[Brendan W]

That sounds about double even from here.

[jsandidge]

Last time I did it myself. The time before, I found a little local used tire shop that did it for 10 bucks a wheel.

[Steve]

Around here, it depends on whether you buy the tire from the shop.
$20 if you buy the tire from them
$30 if you bring your tire in

Since this is a TIRE shop, not a motorcycle shop, you have to bring in a wheel that is not mounted on a bike, they do not remove wheels from bikes for you.

Of course, taxes, tire disposal fees, etc. are on top of that, but our local recycle facility allows you to bring in up to 10 motorcycle tires per year at no charge, so I just take my old tires with me, if there is a charge at the tire shop.

.

[mvalenti]

Thanks for confirming my feeling.. No shops around here sell wheel weights so i'm kind of screwed there...

[tkent02]

Go to a place that sells dirt bikes.

[nejeff]

Just a question for the group. What does it cost typically to mount and balance a tire? I was quoted $45, I provide the rim (with old tire),new tire and tube... Sounds high to me....

When I don't do my own there is a place close that does it for $25 off the bike. I have paid $40 before. I have my own manual machine but still sometimes I send it out, no logic in it except I am very busy and don't like doing tires much

[ShadowFocus603]

Up here for the longest time everyone wanted a fortune (~$80) if you brought them your tire and that was off the bike. Reason was some shop down state got a lawsuit after they mounted a customer tire and there was some failure (not sure of specifics). Recently just found a newer shop where the fella only wants $20 mounted and balanced. I was doing all my own but I ran into an issue with the last one which was the front wheel of her 750L. Couldn't get the tire off to save my life. Good to have for future use just in case.

[robertbarr]

My local dealer keeps bumping his rates up and up and up.... I just paid over $50 per wheel/tire, twice, when I bought that DL with really old tires. It's to the point that I'm probably headed toward equipping myself with tools to DIY.

I've heard of various balancing schemes -- beads, and something called Centramatics (for GL's, anyway) and the old tried & true mechanical technique with an inverted fork-type fixture that allows the wheel to rotate freely, so the heavy spot sinks to the 6:00 position.

[tkent02]

I would sometimes pay them if it was the same price as car tires, it takes about the same amount of time, four or five minutes per wheel, so why so much more money?

But I really like seeing what's inside, corrosion, inner tube if there is one, valve stem, spokes, condition of the bead, all of that stuff. I do way too many tires to pay out the nose, and it's quicker for me to change a tire than it is to drive to the bike shop.

[bobgroger]

Jeez, give the poor guy a chance to keep the doors open another month. You think it's easy having a million in inventory on the floor? Services are the only way you and me are going to be able to make a living in the future. Amazon will crush everyone else in retail. And Amazon is collecting service providers, and offering same day delivery. What are you worth an hour, and is it worth it to pay someone else to do it?

[tkent02]

Well if they come to my house to do it, and charge something like $100 per hour which would be about $10 for a six minute job, and if they inspected the rim, the rim strip, the spokes, check for corrosion on the wheel's rim, the wheel bearings, check the grease on the axle, and all of the other things I look at when I'm doing my tires, and if they would come about twice a month to see if I need any tires done, then I might let them do my tires once in a while. Kind of like my last post said.
But probably not very often, because I like to do it.