I had been putting off purchasing a new rear tyre for as long as possible due to other expenses but, after the rain earlier this week, I started noticing my rear end sliding on corners that it normally wouldn't. It was on the second occurrence that I decided to get a new one. I had been thinking that I would visit a guy called Mick at Goodna to see what he offered, so I booked in for an appointment with him on Wednesday at 3:30pm.
Had a bit of trouble finding his place because it is actually in a large garage at the back of his house in a mostly residential area - luckily there were a few stacks of tyres and a couple of bikes sitting out the front, otherwise I probably would have ridden straight past. My first impression of the place was....well....you know!! Working out of a garage that is chock full of tyres, overflowing onto the footpath and looking very disorganised I started thinking again about coming here. There were a couple of other guys there who were getting tyres fitted so I joined them in watching Mick work. He had wheels off both their bikes and was moving from one to the other in a random manner, stopping to talk to guys as he went. One of these guys told me he had been there for nearly 3 hours watching his and other peoples tyres being changed.
Anyway, one of the first things I noticed was Mick's incredible knowledge of tyres and motorcycles in general. As he fitted each tyre he would let the customer know the ins and outs of the tyre construction and what it was good for and what not to do on it. He also inspected the rim thoroughly before fitting the new tyre and then took his time in balancing it, getting it just right. Try getting that kind of service out of your local tyre store - all is over in 20 minutes with little if any feedback. While changing the rear tyre on a Drag Star that was there before me he picked up a loose bearing in the transfer housing and suggested that the guy do something pretty quick about it - these kind of things are usually overlooked at other places.
I asked Mick if he had a front tyre suitable for my bike and he did so I decided to get one of them as well - total cost was $204 for both. The front is a IRC Wild Flare and the rear is a Shinko Tourmaster. Have heard differing reviews on both tyres - some people don't like them and others rave about them but Mick said they are the best value cruiser tyre on the market. When you consider that a stock Bridgestone for the rear usually costs me $180, I thought his pricing was good but I really need to see how they handle and how long they last before forming an opinion. When he finally got to removing my front tyre he told me that it was actually a rear tyre mounted the wrong way around. You can mount a rear tyre on the front but need to be careful with the rotation direction - this was probably fitted by Pro Honda just before I bought the bike about 40,000 kms back. The front tyre that Mick fitted was a lot narrower (from a 140 to a 120 and a proper front tyre) than what was originally on there and so made it much easier to steer my bike. It now feels about 20kg lighter and lots more manouverable.
So after about 4 hours of standing around and just over $200 I had new tyres. I would recommend Mick to anyone because he does know his stuff and is not in it to bullshit and make a huge profit. Only thing is you gotta be prepared to wait - not such a bad thing coz he can talk and is full of info!! If you want his number let me know.
Had a bit of trouble finding his place because it is actually in a large garage at the back of his house in a mostly residential area - luckily there were a few stacks of tyres and a couple of bikes sitting out the front, otherwise I probably would have ridden straight past. My first impression of the place was....well....you know!! Working out of a garage that is chock full of tyres, overflowing onto the footpath and looking very disorganised I started thinking again about coming here. There were a couple of other guys there who were getting tyres fitted so I joined them in watching Mick work. He had wheels off both their bikes and was moving from one to the other in a random manner, stopping to talk to guys as he went. One of these guys told me he had been there for nearly 3 hours watching his and other peoples tyres being changed.
Anyway, one of the first things I noticed was Mick's incredible knowledge of tyres and motorcycles in general. As he fitted each tyre he would let the customer know the ins and outs of the tyre construction and what it was good for and what not to do on it. He also inspected the rim thoroughly before fitting the new tyre and then took his time in balancing it, getting it just right. Try getting that kind of service out of your local tyre store - all is over in 20 minutes with little if any feedback. While changing the rear tyre on a Drag Star that was there before me he picked up a loose bearing in the transfer housing and suggested that the guy do something pretty quick about it - these kind of things are usually overlooked at other places.
I asked Mick if he had a front tyre suitable for my bike and he did so I decided to get one of them as well - total cost was $204 for both. The front is a IRC Wild Flare and the rear is a Shinko Tourmaster. Have heard differing reviews on both tyres - some people don't like them and others rave about them but Mick said they are the best value cruiser tyre on the market. When you consider that a stock Bridgestone for the rear usually costs me $180, I thought his pricing was good but I really need to see how they handle and how long they last before forming an opinion. When he finally got to removing my front tyre he told me that it was actually a rear tyre mounted the wrong way around. You can mount a rear tyre on the front but need to be careful with the rotation direction - this was probably fitted by Pro Honda just before I bought the bike about 40,000 kms back. The front tyre that Mick fitted was a lot narrower (from a 140 to a 120 and a proper front tyre) than what was originally on there and so made it much easier to steer my bike. It now feels about 20kg lighter and lots more manouverable.
So after about 4 hours of standing around and just over $200 I had new tyres. I would recommend Mick to anyone because he does know his stuff and is not in it to bullshit and make a huge profit. Only thing is you gotta be prepared to wait - not such a bad thing coz he can talk and is full of info!! If you want his number let me know.
posted by Beaker at 12:49 PM
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2 Comments:
Thank you so much for the wonderful words for the PGR. I love your site and all the doodads!
Love that bike too!!!
I think you did a great job going to the effort of showing your support for your fallen countrymen.
I still find it hard to believe that there are people in the US (Westboro Baptist Church) who attend these funerals and use them as a stage to protest against war, publicly stating stuff like "Thank God for dead soldiers". It is great that the PGR try to isolate these people from the family of the fallen soldiers.
Thanks for visiting my site - come back soon!!
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