I just wanted to give props to Shovels Cycle Solutions in Kerrville. Some friends and I took a trip down last weekend to ride the Three Sisters. One of my buddies who rides a V2K thought he'd get another thousand miles outta his rear tire before he had to change it...only got about 400. On 337 we noticed that cords were starting to show on his rear tire. Our ride was cut short, but he pulled off and let us run the good part of 337 several times before we headed back into town. This was Sunday afternoon. My friend on the V2K and another took off ahead of us for the hotel, and noticed Shovel's sign as they pulled back into town. Outta desperation they pulled in to see if anyone was there, and luckily the guys were there. After seeing the condition of the tire and hearing we were from outta town they were more than willing to open back up and change his tire, but they didn't have a tire that would fit his bike. They took my buddy's phone number and said they would check around for a tire, and they left their number in case we found a tire. Once we were all back at the hotel my friend and I were looking for tires and discussing his tire eating problem
. He's gettin about 6k per rear tire...
I suggested that he might consider going darkside. After some discussion he decided he'd give it a try. We found a 225/60/16 Michelin Hydroedge at the local Discount Tire, but they were closed and said we'd have to come by Monday morning if we wanted the tire. He called the guy from Shovels to let him know that we found a tire, and he offered to come in and open up his shop early and take care of him so we could get going. They were a little hesitant on the phone to mount a car tire cuz they'd never done it before, but were more than willing to open up early and give it a shot anyway. We got to the shop about 8:15 am and they were there and waiting for. They said they'd pull the wheel off the bike, mount and balance the tire, and reinstall for a whole 70 bucks. Not bad at all. Within a few minutes they had the wheel off and were mounting the Michelin. They had to pull the pulley off to balance the wheel, but they did get it balanced no problem. By 9 or 9:30ish the bike was back on the ground and my buddy was taking it for a test ride. When he got back they noticed one of his saddlebags had come come loose from the stay, and they fixed that free of charge. Really good guys.
We thought they were great for opening up early to help a brotha out, and we were really surprised when they only wanted 70 for the job. They even called Tuesday to make sure we got back home alright...really good guys. No problems mounting and balancing a darkside job.
I'm not associated with these guys whatsoever, just thought I'd pass on some info on a good shop. We were outta town with limited tools and on a schedule and they were a lifesaver. Kerrville is a heavy motorcycle touristy area, so I hope some of you guys will look them up if you get in trouble down there.
On a side note, I picked up a nail in my BRAND NEW EFFIN rear tire on the way back home. I ordered a new Avon and I'll be changing the tire and my wheel dampers tomorrow. I'm gonna have the damaged tire plugged and patched while I'm at the tire shop, so I'll have 2 spares if anyone is passing through the DFW area and needs an emergency tire. One will be repaired, the other has less than 3k on it, but is about 5 yrs. old so I decided to change it. Both are MC tires. Either one will get you home in a pinch. Let me know if you could ever use one.
Sorry for the long post.
