motorcycle shop blues

Three weeks ago I went to "Ridenow on 22nd street here in Tucson to get a price on new Shinko front tire mount and balance for my 2005 Swing. They quoted around $70.00 . I told the service guy order it after leaving a down payment on Saturday. I was told it would be in the following Wednesday and they would call. I waited till Friday and called them. After twenty minutes on the phone ,was told they forgot to place order after reassuring me Wednesday the order was placed. I reordered and waited five days before calling. They said tire was in. Took the front wheel off ,cleaned it and marked weights location. After four more days I called (they never once called me) and was told tire was ready. I get there and looked at the wheel; 1)grease smudges all over a previously cleaned wheel ;2) no valve cap;3) one wheel spacer missing ( they were tied to wheel when delivered); 4) previous wheel weights adhesives still on;5) no air in tire ;6) too much wheel weights. They corrected the air,found the other spacer and put on valve cap after I mentioned the problems. No apologies or thank you. This is my first and last dealing with these monkeys.

Diabolical service, go elsewhere next time

best way on tires in US----order yourself---Dennis Kirk has worked for me for years....their tires are fresh. Do mounting yourself, I use "Ride On" as balance medium.

John, I usually do my own tire change ,but these tires were over ten years old and are very hard to get off rim. I like either Dennis Kirk or Chaparral or sometimes the Superstore. The back Michelin was done by me and so I'll be adding Ride-On when it arrives.

Little tip on doing tires when you are old----longer tire irons are needed. 13 inch rim getting getting tire off rim---help(helper makes it easier, but I can do alone,too) is needed to hold tire/rim getting final bead off---that and 24 inch tire iron from India and then getting tire off rim works for me with help of rubber hammer For removal, I use WD 40 as lube. /assembly a little thinned out dish soap.

John, I used 24" tire irons, long screwdriver and thinned dish soap on my rear tire but like you said a helper would be nice. Removing brake disc sure would help also.

I have 2 local motorcycle shops in my area, and both started using tire irons on any wheel under 16". They both say it takes to much time to switch the tire machine over for smaller wheels, so they ding up the rim instead using irons! I discovered a guy at work has a tire mounting machine in his garage, and he only charges $5 to use it-to cover materials. No more paying $20-$50 for dinged up rim lips!

Oh, and removing the old tires. Once the bead is broken loose from the rim wall, I cut the center of the tire to the wire bead and cut it with bolt cutters. Smaller the rim (10" on Zuma's) harder it is to remove the old tire. I have really good industrial cutter that go thru the tire very easily.

Sad to think, scooters used to have split rim wheels----rear wheels easy to get off, too and of course spare tire----2 of the 4 2 stroke Vespas I had (PX150E and PX200E) came with spare wheel and even a little prop to aide in rear wheel removal---the two 125's I had did not have spare wheel and tire. cheaper price?

I liked the easy to change tire split rims and of course spare----I think only BMW scooters have single sided rear swing arm for easy wheel removal today. I know there is argument on tubeless vs. tubed tired-----either one has worked for me.

Even rusted wheels still allowed bead to be broken......with a little beating!

scOOter, you are right about cutting the bead to remove old tire. Besides you are not touching the rim. I have to get a decent bolt cutter for the next tire change. Good post.

John
I still have my trusted PX, and put new split rims & tyres on it last weekend (front & back) and they have an advantage, after I had put them on and with my 2 year old grandson watching and helping Grandad, I noticed that I had put tread wrong way round !!!! (had to count to 10 as he was by my side , so undone the split rim and corrected it, thus not having to break the bead. Phew