Thumbs up for Jake Wilson.

[steve murdoch]

Just bought tires from Jake Wilson and have to say it was a great transaction. http://www.jakewilson.com/

Order was placed Tuesday night at 9pm[based in Utah] and they were delivered to Niagara Falls at 10am Friday morning. Tracking info was provided and free shipping in the States.

They had the bastard sizes i needed and the build date showed the tires to be only 6 months old.
BT45 140/80-18-$111.00
BT45 110/90-18-$99.00

Good prices for the States, excellent prices compared to Canada.

[bwringer]

Agreed -- I have purchased tires and other GS goodies several times from Jake Wilson, and I have spent an unholy amount of money on KLR650 and V-Strom bits on their "dirty" sister site, RockyMountainATVMC.com .

Always a seamless experience and great prices.

[Jethro]

I buy all my tires from JakeWilson. Good prices, selection and the tires come fast.

[bccap]

Thanks Steve. Last time I used Petes Superbike for my Pirelli Sport Demons. Their prices are close but add the shipping and sales taxes and Jakes looks pretty damn good. Like you I can ship to the states.

[steve murdoch]

I bought my last 6 tires from Petes' in Montreal and was very happy with the deals but his prices have gone up close to 20% over the winter.[for my tires]
I went to my local dealer before ordering from JakeWilson to give them an opportunity to not neccesarily match but at least lower their price and they would not budge.

[spyug]

This is an interesting thread for me as I've been having a running battle with some other folk on a local bike site about the attitude of bike shops in our region and their short sightedness on pricing. I know all the arguments about the cost of doing business in a bricks and mortar environment but not only will they not lower their prices even a little bit, they seem to go out of their way to turn away prospective clients.

A case in point concerning tires. In my town there are 3 major dealers and about 5 or 6 independents. All have a shop rate of between $30 and $40 per tire for mounting. But that is only if you have bought the tires from them. Bring in your own tires to 4 of the 8 and they won't touch them period. The others will do them but charge you $75 to $100+. I don't get that at all. Isn't it better to get no profit from tires that you didn't sell but $80 for mounting two skins than $0 for trying to charge $200 and ****ing a prospective client off?

As a small businessman myself I'll take a little bit of cash and an opportunity to have a new client over diddly squat and an annoyed and possibly vindictive person that would slander my good name anyday. Don't these guys remember the maxim,"make one client happy and he'll tell 3 friends, make one client unhappy and he'll tell 10 friends" ?

Our models for commerce have changed, like it or not, and I would say if the bricks and mortar guys want to stay in business, they better learn to co-exist with the online sellers and make what they can when they can. They also need to pay close and serious attention to social media which has the power to make them or break them in the blink of an eye.

As far as purchasing tires from the US what kind of duty/taxes do you pay on them? I've been looking at Pete's too but that price is substantially cheaper than anything they would have.

Thanks for posting. Good thread.

[bccap]

I purchase pretty much all my bike stuff from the states. When I go through the border I am always honest telling them I've been gone about half an hour and have the receipt in my passport. I've bought as much as $500 worth and they have never batted an eye. They seem only concerned with booze and cigs. They have a trailer outside the business I use in the states that is chock full of car tires awaiting pickup by Canadians.

[spyug]

Well oddly enough, when I checked their site for the sizes I need they are actually about $20 per tire more than Pete's ( for Metzlers). So with that in mind I guess I stay domestic.

[steve murdoch]

spyug, i showed my receipt for $210.00 at the Border and they made me pay tax only.
Roughly $28.00, down the road i went.
The last tire i bought from my local Honda dealer[Clares] was 3 summers ago. Big price but free installation. I was in a bind so i bought it. Pick it up later and had $22.00 added to the bill. What gives?...install was free but $22.00 for shop supplies, balancing and disposal.
Down the road i went.

[amxsteve]

I have always had fantastic dealings with Pete's for a 180 Shinko hook up its less than 200 to my door. Shops in Toronto want 250 plus. Never waited more than 4 days

[Jethro]

Bring in your own tires to 4 of the 8 and they won't touch them period. The others will do them but charge you $75 to $100+. I don't get that at all.

I had the same experience with my favorite shop. Had them quote tires and the price difference was so huge that I couldn't say no to buying them online. When I brought the wheels and tires in to them to have them mounted, they stated that their insurance doesn't let them install tires that were bought elsewhere. So I went to a local tire barn, a place that sells and installs car and truck tires- that is all they do. They said no problem to my install, 10 bucks a wheel, just warned me that they don't usually do bike tires so I should be aware that they may scratch my rims. I could care less, my rims are black and a black sharpie is a great repair for that- and they haven't made any marks so far. They also don't have a balancer that works for motorcycle wheels, so I was on my own there, but they install correctly with the factory marked heavy spot closest to the air stem. I used to bring them home and static balance them myself, but after three sets of Michelins that needed no balancing, I don't even bother anymore.

So find a local hole in the wall tire barn and see if they will press your new shoes for you, you might be surprised. I was going to buy the tools to install my own tires, but no need.