What's the deal with tire service?

I think the difference is that Lithium Motorsports was providing the tires and service instead of Sportbiketracktime. In the STT store, 120/70/17&190/50/17 are $235.

 

tires

I have had my tires changed twice by STT and both times mounting and balancing were free. I paid $235 for pilot powers installed and $310 for power races installed. Maybe they do things differently in Chicago but I have yet to pay install fees.

 

Nobody but a dumbass works for FREE, I don't care what kind of service it is. If you think you are getting tires mounted for free, you better do the math on how much you are paying up front for the tires. Only a cheap POS would want to avoid having to pay someone for the labor involved in doing a tire change anyway. I'm so sick of cheapo people in the sportbike and racing world, always wanting a deal, gimme a deal, what kinda deal can ya give me? The absolute best way to save money would be to sell your bike and the $50,000 truck/trailer combo you bought to pull one bike and some spares around with and stay at home on the couch. I like this quote I found in the latest RRX:



"It's kind of a personal piss-off thing for me when some guy comes up to the Dunlop truck straddling a $4,000 mountain bike and staying in Holiday Inns while crying poor and asking for a better deal on tires, all so he can wank around with his friends in 18th place. What the hell ever happened to eating peanut- butter sandwiches and sleeping in your van?"



-Dunlop Senior Road Race Manager Jim Allen



Bottom line is this:



Next time you're at the track, ask yourself: " can I afford to pay this guy to sweat his ass off and change my tires while I stand over him eating my apple"?



If the answer is no, then stay at home. You will be doing us a favor since we won't have to listen to you whine about how broke you are.



Noah Hendrix

STT South Tire Tech

 

Wow, there's a fair bit of anger and unintelligent comments there. Do you expect customers to come to you with that kind of attitude Noah?



That quote from Jim Allen is apples and oranges compared to tire mounting fees. I completely agree with what Jim Allen says there. However, this is about customer support. And whether the company includes that in the price or not of the tires, it's a value added service that you're not seeing apparently.



If you're Pirelli, Michelin, Dunlop etc. and you start charging every racer to mount tires at a race weekend, you'll end up with a lot of free time on your hands. That's just how it is. Call it competition, call it whatever you want. Maybe those tire mounting fees you pull in would put you out of business, but I doubt it. All the tire manufacturers at the track seem to be doing just fine though.



And again, I guess as racers, we've been spoiled. If I have to take my tires to the local shop to get mounted, I understand there's going to be a fee associated with that there. But even then, it's not very much and a couple places even offer racer discounts on the mounting. I've paid at an STT event before, but I've known the guy as a fellow racer, who's being nice and doing tires out of the back of his trailer to help out, and I'd be clueless if I didn't pay him for that. I'm talking about vendors/manufacturers here.



Overall, some companies provide better service than others. Some count every nickel and dime. Some go that extra mile to make sure the customer is happy, comes back, and tells other people about the good experience he/she had with that company. I've worked with companies/sponsors at both ends of the spectrum and it's easy to see which ones are the most successful. There's generally a pattern there, which I'm not sure you would see.



Continue what you think works best though, and good luck.

 

I cannot name one trackday org. that changes tires for free .

Feel free to run this by that Dunlop guy at that other trackday org. an let me know how it goes .lol

























where do they come from ? :?:

 

Sorry - But you are mistaken about the mounting and balancing You were not told mounting and balancing was free. We charge $15 per wheel (off the bike ) for mounting and balancing. I had a buch of Pilot Powers and I decided to run a special... for the Autobahn event. I have and will contimue to run specials from time to time on Polit Powers. When I say it's a "Special" it's just that... I'm not like the furnature or carpet store who jacks up prices so I can run specials, or specials offer even better savings than our every day prices buit when it over.. it's over.



Until a couple of days ago our (for the last two years actually) trackside price on Pilot Powers was $231 for a 120/70 and 180/55 rear and $250 or $255 ( I can not remember as we sell about 70 differnt tires and my price list isn't in front of me.



Rob would never call you a liar, he is much, much more professional than that. Rob would have not been aware of a one or two day special that was run at an event he had nothing to do with.



We have changed our prices on some tires on line because I just purchased a large quantity of tires and got a "special" from Michelin. When the special tires are gobe... prices go back to normal. That's how specials work.

 

Re: tires

I think you are mistaken on the powers.... unles Dave forgot to charge you for M & B. The Power Race Mediums were $280 or $285 for the tires and $30 for M & B, which puts you at $310..



Guys... we charge for mounting and balancing, if yo get it for free it's because someone forgot to collect for it which happens now and then.

 

I'm always a broke ass and tend to go over my head with blowing my money at the track, but I've never had a problem for paying somebody for there business. Like my Grandpa always told me. Business is business.

 

+1 on that. I don't have any beef with a dealer charging to mount tires or even charging extra for tires at the track. He's carrying the overhead, hauling the tires and gear to the track (at today's gas prices to boot) and otherwise just working for a living. How can you call that poor service? I don't work for free even though my customers would really like it if I did. But I like to eat and the kids going to college. When I used to race cars we bought tires at the track and it was always more expensive but the price included mounting and balancing. We could have had tires shipped to our shop and pay a fee trackside for mounting but the convenience was nice. If you really need to save the cash then why not always get them mail order and mount them yourself?

 

Ok my turn! Let me tell you guys somethin'. I was the big ogre lookin' sob sweatin my ass off in the trailer changin tires sun. morning. Like 10+ sets that day. I don't bitch very often but i'm sorry for the 15-30 $ charge maybe i'll use it to put my nuts on ice after the weekend :shock:

I have never worked with Rob before, but what i know is I would gladly work again with him! First class he is! Did i mention it was f-in hot that morning but hey at least you got your tires mounted so you could ride! That is all for now, thanks, Frenchie.

 

I 100% agree, hell, I sweat my nuts off changing tires in my air conditioned basement, so I totally understand where you are coming from Frenchie!

 

tires

Hey Mr. STT Guy if I paid mount and balance I didn't realize it but even with that included its a great price so either way it doesn't bother me. If I changed tires constantly I might consider doing it myself but for the $30 it is worth paying somebody. I priced the power races at a few places and STT mounted and balanced was about $100 cheaper than the other prices I found once you add shipping and mounting and balancing.

 

After reading Noah's post I'm just glad I don't live down south, lots of anger down there :roll: [/quote]



No anger down here. Please relize though that we average changing over 50 tires a weekend down here and its 100 degrees plus very often. Noah and Jacob bust ass to make sure everyone gets great tire service promply. Its just that sometimes people do tend to complain about the small charge we collect for this service, and unfortunetly its usually a racer in his $50,000 plus rig.

Mark

 

Gee, maybe I should bring my tire changer and balencer up to help you guys out....lol..



I think it's fun to change tires, but I'm not doing it in 100 degree weather and doing a big amount.....

 

Yeah, everybody's a "racer" nowadays, but nobody actually has the money to do it. Real racers get sponsors and don't complain about the cost involved.



I run my own business when I'm not working with STT, and with over 2400 100% positive feedback on eBay, plus the positive feedback from our website, I think it is a pattern I do see. You have me confused with somebody else.



I don't think what I said is any different from what Mr. Allen said- in both situations it comes down to some cheapo trying to keep an extra $30 in his pocket, after spending all the other money to get to the point where he is. Riding/racing and improving your skills is the sport- don't make a sport out of bargain shopping at a racetrack, of all places.



BTW- I'm not an angry person. Most people who come to the track understand what I mean, as do most people who are in business.



It looks like there is an alternative to my original method of saving money:



Go Racin'! You too can save an extra $30 by simply avoiding the pesky activity of practicing, and just jump straight in!



Noah "we love our customers" Hendrix

 

To me it's very simple, you want to play (race, do track days) you have to pay. Now I may search around for the best deal on something but owning my own business I know that myself and my employees won't work for free and neither should anyone else. If you are so broke you complain about having to pay $30 to get a set of tires mounted, maybe you shouldn't be riding. IMHO of course.

 

Or you can sacrifice some things and move somewhere ALOT cheaper and cut some bills :idea: :roll: (That's what I'm in the process of doing right now.) I'm broke now, but I'm trying to fix it so I can play.