Discount Motorcycle Tires; can you take advantage of them?
The sales of discount motorcycle tires over the internet are one
of the fastest growing in the motorcycle parts, accessories and
related products market. But are you in a position to take
advantage of them? Michael Holmes takes you through the pros and
cons of buying discount motorcycle tires...
Picture this scene. You are surfing the net, looking for some
extra chrome to stick on your pride and joy (that's your
motorcycle not your 4 year old daughter by the way), when you
come across a site selling discount motorcycle tires. Not just
discount tires; positively slashed bare to the bone discount
motorcycle tires! You think back three weeks earlier, when you
had your new tires fitted at your local shop. The little fat
bald guy who sells tires told you they were cheap right? You do
some quick sums in your head and realise you paid twice as much
as the ones advertised on the web. Your blood starts to boil,
you start to mutter under your breath, all those unutterables
that you definitely don't want your four year old to hear.
And you swear, there and then, NEVER to buy your tires from the
shop in town again. Oh, no, from now on your will order discount
motorcycle tires online....
......that's great, really great. But let me ask you this;
Do you actually know HOW to fit a motorcycle tire? Because I
hate to be the one to shatter your dreams of discount motorcycle
tire heaven, but if you don't know how to change a tire, you
could be in an extremely embarrassing situation of asking your
local shop to fit discount motorcycle tires that you had the
nerve to go and buy behind his back! And how much do you think
he will charge you for that dubious privilege? (That much? Now
double it mate!)
So a little bit of personal development is in order. Now don't
be put off, you can still take advantage of those cheap tires,
you just need to learn how to fit them yourself. And it is not
as difficult as it sounds or as high tech as it looks in the
tire shop downtown. The difficult bit is actually getting the
tire off the rim, and the fiddliest part of that is breaking the
bead, which is the seal that the motorcycle tire makes with the
rim. Under pressure after a few thousand miles, that tire is
going to be well bedded in. But, you can buy a bead breaking set
for less than 200 dollars. If you search around you will quickly
find some guidelines for building your own tire removal and
fitting station. Heck if you are really keen you will find a way
of breaking the bead on your motorcycle tire using nothing but a
2" by 4" piece of timber and a pick up truck (I kid you not !) I
must confess that last method looked a little risky even for me
to attempt.
After breaking the bead, a bit of brute force and manhandling
(on the tire not the wife) and you should be able to fit your
discount motorcycle tires with pride.
Oh a couple of points, make sure the bead is seated properly
around the rim when you put some air in those suckers. All the
literature you will find on changing tires will mention this,
but if you don't get the tire seated properly, it could cause
some major "issues" later on. And the tire will probably need
balancing. Some makes claim they don't, but most do. That's all
on the web as well.
That's about it really. The rest is up to you. Do your homework
and you too could be taking advantage of all those discount
motorcycle tires; one set for winter, one set for summer, one
set for track days...
Just remember the general idea is to SAVE money buying
discounted motorcycle tires, not spend more, OK?