New Front Tire

I discovered that I needed a new front tire and needed one soon. I called around and found a few places with tires on sale and some local shops who could change it for me for a nominal fee. But, the one local guy was going to be out of town this weekend so that would mean I couldn't get it done until the following weekend. I didn't want to wait that long so I began to talk myself into taking it to a dealership. The price difference between the FLIBS and the stealership was about $40 with install and new tire. That's pretty significant. But, I rationalized, I'll be putting $40 of gas in my car to drive to work for the next 2 weeks anyway. So, I got online to look at the hours for the dealership closest to work. Low and behold they were having a tire install special in the service department. Buy your tires there and they'd install for free! Woo hoo!

I've had fairly lousy experiences at another dealership - the one closest to my house. They always seem to be so put out that they have to work on a Rebel. And I'm not even reading into anything here. The service manager will call out to a service tech, "Will you pull this CMX450 into the garage?" The service tech rolls his eyes and says with a whine, "A Rebel!?" They usually don't find anything wrong with it when I bring it in with a question. I'm pretty sure they don't even try. So, it was with some trepidation that I drove over to Colorado Powersports not because of any prior experience there but because of my past experiences elsewhere.

There was no attitude at all. In fact each time I talked to some one on the phone and told them what kind of bike I had, there was no hesitation about it at all. Now I know some places don't work on older bikes no matter what make or model. But, they seemed to be pretty happy to have me there. Maybe it was because it was just a tire install and just the front tire at that. I don't know. But, I was glad to give them my money. And the tire special is a great deal too.

So, now I've got a brand new Dunlop 404 on the front. The rear is Cheng Shin and still has lots of tread on it. The wrenching bike has a new Dunlop on the rear and the front one is in horrible shape - no tread and much cracking from the weather. I think it may be the original. I saved the old front Cheng Shin so I could practice replacing the tire on the wrenching bike. I'll probably take it to the local shop when it is time to replace it.