Repair Cost?

[Phate]

I brought my bike to a shop that has a good rep in the area to have repairs done to get it in good working order. The bike sat for over a year and needs a new battery, carbs cleaned, new fluids etc. How much do you guys think is reasonable for a full breakdown and cleaning of the carbs and everything? They called me with an estimate that is pretty high but I don't have much choice here since the bike doesnt run whatsoever and my own mechanical skills are a joke...

[Jim]

battery would run $60 - $80. oil, filter, coolant, brake fluid & bleed lines i'd say $75 - $100. cleaning the carbs maybe 30-60 mins of labor at $60/hr.

what was your estimate, and was it a dealer or a bike shop?

[Phate]

estimate was waaaay over that. The place is a dealer/shop that I was given good reviews about from a few people. All told they are giving me a quote of around $700 for the cleaning and everything and then another $400 for new tires/mount/balancing.

[Sheppo]

Jim, Batteries are averaging $120 right now. You shop labor rates are low. and depending on the bike minumum of 2 hours to remove and clean and reinstall, never mind tune or synch, $400 is ok for tires mounted and balanced etc I don't think the $700 is that out of question.

Doug

[noxin]

I got quoted 350/400 by a dealership to clean/rebuild my Carbs.

[GixerJockey]

battery would run $60 - $80. oil, filter, coolant, brake fluid & bleed lines i'd say $75 - $100. cleaning the carbs maybe 30-60 mins of labor at $60/hr.

what was your estimate, and was it a dealer or a bike shop?

Hey Jim... Batteries are over $100, carbs are min 1/2 hour each, not a shop in the world that still works for $60/hr, you can't even buy the chemicals for $75...

Thanks for your professional opinion... however wrong it may be...



Here's what it should actually cost...

Parts:

Battery $100
Oil - Maxima Semi syn - $10/L X 3
filter - $12
Coolant - $15
Brake fluid - $8 X 2
Air filter - $30
carb clean - $7
spark plugs - $6 X 4

Total parts = $234

Labor breakdown:
full service - 2 hrs
brake flush - .5 hrs
carb clean (assumes 4 carbs, 1/2 hr off, 1/2 hr on, 1/2 per carb cleaning) - 3 hrs

Total labor - 5.5 hrs @75/hr = $412.50

Total price = $646 plus tax


This is exactly what my service department would charge to perform what you described. $400 for tires installed is very fair. The shop you took it to was right on the nose with their estimate.

[Pittenger5]

Wow, as if there wasnt incentive to learning things how to do them yourself. Or at least knowing who to bribe with pizza and beer to show you how to do them.

[GixerJockey]

Wow, as if there wasnt incentive to learning things how to do them yourself. Or at least knowing who to bribe with pizza and beer to show you how to do them.

"Those that can... Do. Those that can't... Pay."

[Pittenger5]

"Those that can... Do. Those that can't... Pay."

Look, why does every thread have to eventually lead to talking about my sexlife?

But on the serious, I agree, which makes me glad I learned to do.

[KB]

I wish I could afford to pay cuz I am sick of working on these frikin race bikes. I been holed up in my basement for like 2 weeks straight now.

KB

[Jim]

Hey Jim... Batteries are over $100, carbs are min 1/2 hour each, not a shop in the world that still works for $60/hr, you can't even buy the chemicals for $75...

Thanks for your professional opinion... however wrong it may be...



Here's what it should actually cost...

Parts:

Battery $100
Oil - Maxima Semi syn - $10/L X 3
filter - $12
Coolant - $15
Brake fluid - $8 X 2
Air filter - $30
carb clean - $7
spark plugs - $6 X 4

Total parts = $234

Labor breakdown:
full service - 2 hrs
brake flush - .5 hrs
carb clean (assumes 4 carbs, 1/2 hr off, 1/2 hr on, 1/2 per carb cleaning) - 3 hrs

Total labor - 5.5 hrs @75/hr = $412.50

Total price = $646 plus tax:

hey, i wasnt too far off. i didnt include an air filter and plugs. while i admit i dont know the current prices for batteries, or shop labor rates. i did make a decent guess with my rates. also, i've never dont a carb rebuild, so i dont know the hours in labor involved. just going on what i've heard

[Degsy]

hey, i wasnt too far off. i didnt include an air filter and plugs. while i admit i dont know the current prices for batteries, or shop labor rates. i did make a decent guess with my rates. also, i've never dont a carb rebuild, so i dont know the hours in labor involved. just going on what i've heard

$600 - $700 is ballpark. Jim, the part that you were way off on was carbs, an hour to take then out, and hour to refit them and at good while to clean and then to balance them afterwards. Normal shop rates are about $85 an hour I think.

.. Plus $120 battery (for a decent one, Yuasa).

[CB750F]

shit $700. i bought the clymer manual for my bike, for 25 bucks and it has been the biggest money saver ever. i tore down cleaned and rebuilt my carbs(all 4) for just the cost of new carb gasket rubbers and 2 cans of carb cleaner. $30 bucks ... oh yeah baby. i bench sync'd myself, reinstalled and sync'd carb while running with a homemade sync tool($1.98)( which turns out to be even more sensitive then the $100 ones u can buy.)
bought a pilot jet adjust tool off ebay $15 bucks. and my shit is running SWEEEEEEEET. best part of all i did it all myself with NO experience even working on a bike. so for roughly $80 i got a complete non runner gummed to shit bike running like a top. wahoooo. Fuck spending $700. thats almost 2 sets of tires. learn to do it yourself you will be glad you did.

[Phate]

Thanks for the replies, this makes me feel a little bit better. Still sucks that this whole deal is going to be well over $1k but not much I can do about that at this point.

The shop rates are $75 an hour and the battery is $98 just for some more figures. I'm getting Pilot Powers put on and the $400 for that was alright by me. I certainly wish I had some capability for doing this all myself but theres just no way. I will certainly be taking MUCH better care of the girl from now on though...

[Jim]

I'm getting Pilot Powers put on and the $400 for that was alright by me.

you'd get a better price with Boston Moto for Pirelli tires. you may want to PM them and ask what they'd suggest for your bike.

[GixerJockey]

you'd get a better price with Boston Moto for Pirelli tires. you may want to PM them and ask what they'd suggest for your bike.

Good recovery...

[union]

I wish I could afford to pay cuz I am sick of working on these frikin race bikes. I been holed up in my basement for like 2 weeks straight now.

KB

KB it really isnt that much work to get the gas cap off

[RandyO]

"Those that can... Do. Those that can't... Pay."

there are also those of us whose time has some value, I can't afford not to pay someone to maintain my bike

[SSearchVT]

I wish I could afford to pay cuz I am sick of working on these frikin race bikes. I been holed up in my basement for like 2 weeks straight now.

KB

Best move I ever made was to run cable out to my shop and put in a color TV... I've also learned to clean and degrease what ever I'm working on before I start taking it apart - makes it a lot more bearable...

[Awesome]

there are also those of us whose time has some value, I can't afford not to pay someone to maintain my bike

Your time is worth more than $1000 a day? I'm in the wrong industry.

[Billy]

I'm getting Pilot Powers put on and the $400 for that was alright by me.

I bought PP 2CT's online and Derek (Degsy on NESR) mounted them for me. Total cost was well under $400. He was telling me great things about the Pirelli Diablo Corsa III's. Next time I'm just going to do everything through Boston Moto. As for bike maintenance, buy a service manual and start on some of the more simple tasks and go from there. You'll save a lot of money doing things yourself. Give it a shot!

[Phate]

I have a service manual that I have read. I also have a 100% lack of tools of any sort and lack of a garage. I appreciate all of the words to try and do this myself and if I thought there was ANY way whatsoever I could have done a competent job I would have done so. I have 0 experience wrenching and 0 available resources on this stuff at the moment.

In regards to the tires I wish I could have gone with Boston Moto and the package deal but since I live in Jersey and the bike was not even road worthy with the old tires that wasnt really an option at this point.

Trust me guys I would have done anything to avoid paying this much of my hard earned green for work on my bike but for me, for now, it was a necessary evil.

[Jim]

they do track days at the new tracks in NJ. if the commute isnt too bad, you could probably do local pickup & stock up on tires.

[RandyO]

Your time is worth more than $1000 a day? I'm in the wrong industry.

my dealer only get $75/hr or $600 for a day, yes, if I spend a day working on my bike, I loose out on $1000 + worth of chargable time

[FlynGSXR1k]

I have a service manual that I have read. I also have a 100% lack of tools of any sort and lack of a garage. I appreciate all of the words to try and do this myself and if I thought there was ANY way whatsoever I could have done a competent job I would have done so. I have 0 experience wrenching and 0 available resources on this stuff at the moment.

Phate.. I feel your pain and Im in the same boat a lot of the time. What I do have, however is an unfinished walk/ride out basement, a beer tap at the house and a year round grill - ie... network around with some friends that know their shit, make a rainy weekend of ripping the bikes apart and learning small stuff, and if they're doing somehting you just dont want to attempt, pour them another beer, or cook up some steak tips for them, or whatever it is you're good at... im an IT guy.. so I fix their PCs for free if they help with my bike. As far as the tires... check out the tire install threads on here, most of the guys will hook it up for you dirt cheap (as long as you're not like me and dont wait till your threads shred on the highway and have to bring it in right away) they can usually cut you 50% of 'stealership' (ripped from Stoneman) install rates!

Good luck man...