Tire changing fees.... crooks!

Brick and mortar shops are struggling due to online sales.  They have to try to make money on the places where they know you can't go online (new bike setup fees, tire changes, etc).   They hate when people buy tires online cheap and then expect a hookup putting it on.  If you plan to be in moto any length of time, it's best to change your own tires.

It’s all like that now.

For bringing your own tire that doesn't seem too outrageous. But I do know some shops around here will install free when you purchase a set of tires from them.

That sounds not far off, depending on their hourly rate that's .5 or .3 hours probably, assuming you brought in a tire off the bike? The shop I used to work for would charge .3 hours for an off the bike tire change, or $25 if you bought the tire there (which was a screaming deal even 10 years ago) or .5 to .7 (depending on the bike) for taking the tire off of the bike.

You're paying the tech, and keeping the lights on in the shop for that 42.50. The tech probably only sees $10 of that.

Yes - It's a business.  

Years ago I had the same shock going to a dealer, now I'll buy from the track side guy that installs on the spot if you buy from him.

Plus I have a tire changing stand just in case, however I don't like wrestling with a back tire if I don't have to.

My local shop will not mount tires unless purchased at the dealer. They cite liabilty as the rationale. 

Doesn't seem outrageous to me. Invest in tire irons, maybe?

This vid is fantastic, and cracked me up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XftXThgerC4

Standard, I'm sure their labor rate was at least $100.00 a hour, you got charged less than a half hour.  Been working in dealerships for over 30 years. Buy the tire from the dealership and price would have been cheaper. You say you bought the bike there, why not the tire? Oh its cheaper on line. Not really.  Next time talk to your dealer, they will work with you on the price of tire and labor.  LOTS of dealers will not mount mailer order tires. When an If you have a issue with your mail order tire, guess what, you'll have to pay again to get it taken of the wheel to send back. Do you go to the grocery store an buy a steak and take it to the restaurant and ask them to cook it for you? Support your local dealer , you won't get the bad vibe YOU created.   

Yeah probably best to change your own tires, its not that hard. Jay Clark has probably 100 videos on his process.

...who pays someone to change their tires?  

Call me old school, but unless you are a pro rider on a team, paying someone to do a 10 minute tire change seems a little weak...

anyone who needs to learn can go find one of Jay Clark's YouTube videos, he can change a rear Dunlop in 4 minutes easy.

Try changing one yourself and determine if it's worth it or not to have someone do it. 

Tire changes were a struggle for me until I invested in a good stand and good irons, it’s actually one of my more favorite types of maintenance now. Nothing beats spooning a tire on and not even breaking a sweat, once you get the technique down it’s not a struggle at all. 
 

Fuck those 10” tires though, someone can take my money to do those. 

If they pinch a tube will they charge you for it? There are costs in doing business and everything is going up. 

Shop labor is always expensive, no matter what. 

Set the tire in the sun to get it warm, use decent tire irons and bead soap and take small bites with the irons. Pay yourself the money you saved,

It takes less time to change a tire than it does to trash the shop on Vital

Pretty basic setup. A tusk stand w/ the bead breaker that my boss gave me, a couple of the cheaper motion pro irons and a tusk bead buddy. The only time I really have problems is dismounting old crusty tires. Just took off a set that was about 10 years old off the bike I just bought and had to get my dad for some extra hands. Need to invest in one of those really long irons, but other than that my setup is cheap and works for me. 

Seems totally reasonable to me, for a tire you bought somewhere else. Change it yourself and decide if is worth it to pay someone??

You already took your business elsewhere to purchase the tire. 

It boggles my mind when people buy online and expect the tire changing guy to be there like Tiny Tim: "Please Sir, may I have some more." when it comes to putting the tire on. I've been on both ends, I've been the online retailer and the local place and if you brought me tires, I didn't sell you I'm telling you to kick rocks. 

Yeah...no. That is certainly reasonable in my opinion. In reality "most" people don't have a tire stand and this 10-minute change is really close to 30-minutes plus on the ground plus a possible set of bloody knuckles. Idk, maybe that's just me.

Considering global, national and local economies, I'm not surprised.  Probably close to the expense of a set of irons.  The value of knowing a good, successful tire changing technique however, is priceless.  When you are ready to learn: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE1qG9iQZlg

So, you want them to invest in heavy duty machinery and not pass the cost along? 

If I had the ability to order a bike shipped to my door to skip the set up fee (most of us end up going back through when we get home anyways) I would in a heartbeat.  Online convenience is the name of the game these days.  It wouldn't surprise me if we didn't eventually get to the point where we can order them and skip the shop altogether.  I would say the BMV/ titling is the only thing holding it up at the moment. 

Jay Clark from Dirt Bike Tv has videos all the time.  It is not that hard to do.