Sorry to bore you with something so mundane … On Friday I dropped my motorcycle off at a motorcycle repair shop to have some nice ($$) Michelin tires put on it. Well, the next day (when I had time to really look at it), I discovered that the rear tire’s (direction) arrow pointed in the wrong direction!
The tread patterns for the front tire are, as you might expect, very similar to that of the larger rear tire. And so what I’m sure happened was that the guy first put on the front tire (after seeing its arrow) and assumed that the rear tire’s tread pattern would thus go in the same direction.
On Tuesday I’m going to go back and point this discrepancy out, but I’m concerned that they might argue that they put them on correctly (“because it wouldn’t make sense to have a front tire with its tread pattern going in one direction while the rear one goes in the opposite”).
So my question is, Have you ever seen it (on a motorcycles) whereby tire patterns are running opposite of each other (as, in this case, the direction arrows indicate that they should)?
Thanks a lot for your time and comments!!
P.S. For what it’s worth, the bike is a Kaw KLR 650 (on road off road).
Yet many tyres have the tread going the same direction (enough that the tyre guy put the wheel on Benny73’s bike the wrong way.) I think it’s not as straight forward as you’re thinking. The tyres aren’t designed to dig into the ground directly, if they were dirt tyres it might make more sense.
Do any of you guys think maybe I should just keep it the way it is? I ask because I really don’t like the idea of those “mechanics” touching my bike again, now that I know how inept they are. I made the mistake of asking the guy to move the shock to a firmer position without asking how much he’d charge for it (as I assumed he wouldn’t gouge me).
But when I paid my bill, he informed me that I’d have to pay them $50.00(!!) for doing it. I told him that if I knew he was going to charge me that much that I never would have agreed to them doing it. To that he told me that the guy that worked on it took 45-minutes! What a joke. 45-minutes to remove a side cover that has two bolts and doing it with an airgun no less. (It’s no wonder the clown couldn’t figure out which way the tire went if he’s that dumb that it took him that long to adjust the shock. Live and learn, I guess.)
It’s hard for me to understand people like this that are in businesses that live and die on their reputations. But I must admit that I did have a clue before I agreed to let them do the work, because when I pulled in there they were all working on bikes WHILE listening to a very profanity-filled (satellite) radio show that was blaring so loud that I couldn’t see how they could concentrate. My mistake.
Anyway, what do you think, would it be okay, would it be safe just to leave it the way it is? (My forks were also twisted a bit after they worked on it; so that’s another reason why I don’t want them touching my bike again.)
As always, thanks very much for your time in helping me figure things out here!!!
The guy (kid usually) that does the tires is typically the lowest rung on the MC shop food chain. If you take it back they will probably have a more senior employee at least check the work. And yes, you should take it back, and also make sure they re-balance it (mark current location of weights).
Do try to present a “hey, every body screws up once in a while” attitude. Even if it is true, telling them they are price gouging, incompetent, mouth breathers isn’t going to anything positive for you or your bike, and cutting them some slack can often work out much better.
I once bought two new wheels (Motard conversion for an enduro) and tires to suit. Had them mounted. The rear was flat by the time I got it home. So I took it back…hey, I’VE pinched a tube or two in my day. I got a call asking me to also bring in the front. Turns out the “tire kid” hadn’t installed a spoke strip in either one. He was fairly green, and had never encountered a “virgin” spoked wheel before.
No charge for fixing it, and they gave me a $50 gift certificate for my trouble. (two extra trips to shop, bike down for an extra day) That probably wouldn’t have happened if I’d pitched a fit.
Hi benny73; Your 125% correct. There reputation is at stake. Just by word of mouth will hurt there business. Over charging and then not doing the job right could be very dangerous for said mechanics health. I don’t know to many people that like having there life put at risk by an incompetent or inept mechanic.
I once ran into the same problem as you. The mechanic failed to give me a price quote or confirm the price I would pay. I told him that the price was out outrageous. I got a “TO BAD” from him. That set my blood to boil. I said fine. I’ll pay the price we agreed upon before the work was done. I said do you remember what that price was. He said no and I said ZERO. You didn’t give me a price. I had to go as high as the manager to get the problem solved. When the manager realized that no price was quoted or agreed upon. I thought he was going to fire this guy on the spot. Lucky him, it’s just going to come out of his pay check. I received a very apologetic apology from the manager. I didn’t pay a dime for said service. Needless to say, I’ve never given them anymore of my business.
Good, fair, competent mechanics are hard to fine.
Good Luck,
Thanks
qxinfinity
