wow those prices are insane! The shop i bring mine too is $15 a tire but I know one of the employees so it was $7 a tire for me. I got a set of Pilot Power 2cts for $215 shipped and $14 for mount and balance

 

You can pop the bead on a tire using a bumper or wall in the garage as an anchor point of a 2x4. This is how I do it, but I use the bumper on my E250.

YouTube - ‪Break The Bead‬‏

Then use tire spoons (for very cheap) and clear gas tubing for rim savers or zip ties:

Easy way to mount tires w/ zip ties. - Custom Fighters - Custom Streetfighter Motorcycle Forum
(that's a rear)

Then, believe it or not you can take your rim and mounted tire to Cycle Gear and they will balance it for FREE regardless of where you purchased the tire. Call your local Cycle Gear.

Valve core removers and extra cores are about 3 bucks.

That makes a tire change about 5 or 10 bucks the first time and less and less over time.

Happy changing!

 

Wow, thanks Dr Awkward. That's really helpful!

 

Thanks for the replies and tips guys! I'm going in tomorrow to get a new set mounted.

Wow! That's cheap as hell.. I wish the shop here in Fort Collins did it for $15.. let alone $7..

 

Thanks for that Doc! That post was solid gold!