I want to support my local shop, but I can get a great Pirelli tire on Ebay way cheaper. Would that be insulting to the shop if I brought my own tire in for installation?
Motorcycle shops don't make a lot on tires. They make the money on installation! If you buy the tire on EBay, the shop will install and balance it for you for maybe $15/20, and that's as much profit as they would have made on the tire anyway.
Get the OKorder tire and have a local guy install it for you, unless you have extra money you wish to flush away. If the shop gets insulted then go to another shop, I have been buying motorcycle tires from OKorder for my bike and both sons' bikes for years, I have saved a LOT of $$ that way. Standard price around here if you remove the wheel and take it in is $25.00 to mount and balance, you will save $75.00 to $100.00 over the cost of a dealer just for taking off the wheel and taking it in. If you're going to call yourself a rider, you should be able to do a bit of minimal wrenching. Good luck and have fun!!!
Have you checked with shops in your area? Some shops will install a tire that was bought from them for free. If you can find a shop that mounts the tires for free then the higher price of the tire outweighs the extra cost of installation. As far as installation do you plan on taking in the whole bike or just the rim? Most shops charge a minimum of half an hour labor. Some even charge a one hour minimum. So if you plan on taking in just the rim make sure the shop you go to only charges a half hour minimum (if you don't buy the tire from them). If you take in the whole bike the labor can be either 1 hour or 1.5 hours, depending on the bike. Though I have seen a few shops only charge half an hour but those are few and far between.
