It all depends on how involved you are in the sport. There is definitely a point you hit where you realize "I am spending way too much on tire changes", so what I did was spend even more than that ( lol ) and got my own setup. I've had this for a few years now and love it.
https://www.derekweaver.com/bikers-...m894xs-motorcycle-atv-car-truck-tire-changer/
Lots of factors went into the decision to pull the trigger on something like this, but the big things:
- I already had the air compressor to run it
- I have the garage space
- I will use it enough to justify it
- Arriving to the track with your bike ready to rock (no tire changes needed) is just one less thing I have to do once I get there.
I didn't jump straight to this, I first bought a harbor freight setup. It was mediocre at best and I gouged my rims a bit as I learned just how much that setup sucked. I considered the No Mar, but quite frankly the (comparatively) little price jump between those and a full setup like mine made it a no brainer, not to mention I already had a good air compressor. After the struggles with the HF changer, I was done with doing it by hand.
I also have a lot of wheels. I have 3 sets for my R6, dedicated rains, practice set, race set. I also have a spare set of wheels for my ZX10. If you don't have multiple rims I am not sure that getting your own changer would be nearly as beneficial. However, as a CR I am always in need of tires, so it's been a blessing to have the ability to change tires so I can fully maximize tire life. For example, if I have a bunch of tires at 50% life or so and the forecast is a 0% chance of rain, I'll take off the rain tire and have 3 rear wheels mounted with the take off tires. So even if I only get half a day or so out of a tire before it's gone, I'll just swap wheels at the track. It's the little things like this that have made having a tire changer awesome for me and allows me to wear down my tires evenly (left/right balance), thus maximizing the use out of them.
As you can see, the underlying message is that you have to be way more involved in the sport than the average Joe for having a tire changer to really start to make sense. I plan on doing this for the long haul, and part of being in the game for the long haul is minimizing your routine expenses. Yeah it sucked buying that machine upfront, but that machine will literally provide a life time of tire changes for me. That's what made it an easy choice.