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?
Michael Holmes is an enthusiast for all thing motorcycle.
His website, Motorcycle
Parts, Accessories and More, is a great resource
of articles aimed at motorcyclists of all levels, including
a page specifically for discount
motorcycle tires.
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