750 Seca Rear Tire

I went to the dealership to have them put on a rear tire on my xj750 seca. They told me it was going to be $450. I have the shop manual for the bike. I was wondering if it is really hard to change the tire. Is it worth the money to have them do it or is it a project i could do on the weekend? I would really appreciate advice from anyone. Thanks

 

Sib5033, I would have a hard time swallowing the replacement unless they mentioned replacing the rear rim at the same time. What type of tire were you intending to place on the rim will also make a difference. Racing tires can be very pricy. More details would be nice. I know of a website that some enthusist was kind enough to host and it has the pictures and text to walk you through the hard way (with just a couple of fids) to the easier way (using a few tools made of 2X4's and bolts). Either way, you will spend a few dollars for the right tools (namely a bead breaker and some tire fids). I'll get that post out to you as soon as I get home tonight. Rob.

 

It is NOT hard to change the rear tire, and any street tire you are likely to find won't cost more than about $120, and some are under $100.

You should go back and laugh at them loudly while pointing. :lol:

Seriously, I want to know how they justify that price. Get their name and give it to us, so we can say bad things about them all over the Internet. :twisted:

 

We have a page on the 250 forum for just that Dean - we point out good dealers and bad dealers (along with gear and online stores)... it's a little helper for karma

 

Wow that's way to much, the Honda dealership down the road charged around $75 to put new tires on for me. Stay way clear of that place for anything.

 

Even $75 is too much unless you have a lot of extra money and are really lazy. I say get your lazy butt off the couch and change it yourself!

 

$450 thats crazy money ?

 

I'm going to assume that's their price for a tire change when you drop the bike off, let them do everything, with balancing -- right? Know what? It's still high - they need to give their heads a shake.

Take the wheel off yourself - it's not tough. By removing and reinstalling the wheel yourself you should save the bulk of the labour cost.

Find a better dealer - if you bring the wheel in, they shouldn't be charging more than around $50 on top of the tire cost for the installation and balancing.

 

Alright, I'm home with a few minutes. Here is the link I promised you. Please pass it around, it is fantastic. http://www.clarity.net/~adam/tire-changing-doc.html Do give the nice man who put it up his due acolades, he deserves it for his efforts! I was very inspired to do just as he outlines but I had the $70 to buy the nice changer from Harbor Freight along with the motorcycle tire adaptor. Need to drill 4 holes in a slab of concrete to mount it but I have used this unit and it is sooooo much easier than the 8" fids I started out with. Good luck my "one expensive wheel" friend. Tell us how it all works out. By the way, a good set of Dunlops is only about $120 each mounted in Southern California. There are a number of on-line places that will sell you a tire for WAY less than your hoodwinking friends down at the shop. All the best, Rob.

 

Great tip on the balancing dot, if only I knew what that was. Could you expound on that please Sno? I'm curious now!

 

Oh! I've never noticed that. Would that be because I buy touring tires and not sport tires? I'm going to visit the bike shop this week and check out some new skins. Thanks for getting back to me! Your efforts are appreciated. Rob.

 

Here's a quote from http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_9512_hand/

The next point of interest should be the balance marks. The yellow paint circle on Dunlops denotes the light spot and should be mounted at the tire valve. Metzeler uses two red dots for the same designation. Check with your tire source for any details pertaining to your particular tires.

 

Thanks Nick. I'll check that out too.

 

80 Bucks @ harbor freight tire changer and motorcycle attachment.About the cost of a dealership mount?

http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/ite ... emid=34542

http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/ite ... emid=42927

 

the valve stem is not always the heavy part of a rim

 

Correct. After removing old tire and cleaning rim - mount new valve. Then find and mark the heavy spot on the rim. Mount paint mark on new tire to the mark you just put on the rim. Neither of mine was heavy right at the valve, if I recall correctly one was 1/4 way around.

BTW - good idea to mark both sides of the rim so you don't have to put the tire on backwards to align the marks.

 

Switz1, that is exactly the setup I purchased. Sad to say, I have yet to have mounted the bugger (can't decide if I ought to drill the holes in the garage or outback on the side of the house). I need to swap the front tire on the FZR since it is now showing the wear bars. Near as I can figure, I should mount it outback since I can pour a new piece of concrete there rather than cut the mounting bolts off when I move. Any thoughts on this one gang?

 

You shouldn't have to cut off any mounting bolts. Use some "drop-in" anchors in your garage floor. They're easy. You drill a hole, drop in the anchor, and then run your bolts down into the anchors. Then, when you move, just undo the bolts and either fill in the holes or leave them as is.

 

I would love to hear how you like or dislike it after you get her mounted (been since high school since I have said that)

 

I built the homemade stand out of a toyota tire rim and bolted it right to my workbench. The original tires were still on the beast when I bought it and I almost had to hacksaw the tire off as it was melded onto the wheel. Then I cleaned up the rim a bit and put shiny fresh rubber on. I used ar tire jacks and a long bolt thru the axle to balance the wheel.

I bought motion pro tire irons and they work good for me. The place that sold me bulk tires online threw in some tire slime for free too after I asked for it, nice touch.

 

Thanks Floogle, I'll have to pick some up.