fair price for repairs?

brought my 750 seca to a local bike shop to have the carbs and front bakes worked on. The mechanic told me today that the carbs and master cylinder needed rebuilt and the intake boots for the carbs needed replaced. He gave me a quote of 850. Seems a bit steep to me, any thoughts on if this is a good price or not? Just curious, thanks guys.

 

about $600 more than if you did your own wrenching.

 

Concur with Wizard on this one. It will be a pain in the butt, but for $600 in savings, I wouldn't mind taking some pictures to remind myself where everything went, make some notes along the way and have it done the right way (which you can only know for sure if it's done the right way if you do it yourself... just about everything I've done to my bike was with information I picked up off these forums and in the Haynes manual [and the forums had better information than Haynes in a vast majority of cases]).

Master cylinder getting rebuilt... wouldn't do it. Not worth the effort versus the cost of a replacement IMHO. Get one working used off a donor bike.

EDIT: Whoa... $850 for some rubber boots that slip on (though with quite a bit of colorful language along the way)??? Dude, if that's all he's offering to do to your carbs and rebuilding the brake cylinder, then you're definitely being taken to the shed. I misread your post originally and was thinking he was rebuilding your carbs along with the brakes.

 

he did say he was going to "rebuild the carbs & master cylinder" coach

 

And on that note, I obviously need to go to bed.

 

If he's talking INTAKE MANIFOLDS as in the ones that bolt to the head then the price is a tad more realistic but still a bit much. The rubber intake manifolds usually run somewhere just this side of $100 for the set, and installation (actually removal of the old ones) can be a nightmare. IMHO, it's still really steep tho, and Wizard is right, about $600 more than doing it all yourself.

 

When I first bought my bike, so 2 years ago, I had the shop go through it to make sure it was safe.
The shop flushed the brakes, replaced brake fluid.
Drained replaced fork oil.
Did the service, oil, filter change, final drive fluid changed, sparkplugs, adjust cables, tighten to spec all bolts 10 or 12 mm? and up.
Inspected bike.
This ran $260, was worth it for piece of mind and now I was starting out with everything working properly.
This year was the carbs, shop said $225 to clean them up plus parts.
I did the carbs myself thanks to this site.
So complete service, brake flush, fork oil change, carb cleaning, inspection total $485 cash.
Gives you something to reference.

 

That's not a bad price, if done right. Dealers around here would charge closer to $400. Likely not do them right either........

 

thanks for the input guys. I have been looking over the parts cost etc. and i think I am going to tackle the issues myself. The reason i took it to a mechanic in the first place was i wanted a bit of piece of mind that a pro was doing the work and not some borderline inept slob (me) but for a difference of around 600 i can do it myself. The intake manifold (rubber boots, whatever they are called) needed replaced and i contacted chacal about them. Other than that i know the carbs need rejetted since i put pods on them and with regards to the master cylinder I know nothing. I would prefer getting a new one but don't know where To find one. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

as always, thanks for the help guys!

James

 

You already know where to get the part: Chacal. I believe he offers both OEM and aftermarket.

 

Or post a WTB in the classifieds section. Plenty of people here have extra stuff laying around. New gets you peace of mind though I guess.

 

If you go to a dealer you're almost guaranteed the inept slob isn't borderline.

Congrats on your decision to do it yourself.

Please update your signature to show the year and model of your bike so we can keep track of what you're working on.

When it comes time to remove the carburetor holders (intake manifolds) be very careful. If the screws don't break free easily STOP. They are notorious for breaking.

 

WoW I thought $225 was alot.
At $400 it would start to reach the cost of the whole bike.
Yes, the local shop is very good.

 

You should agree to have the Shop do it for the $850.00
With the following proviso!

You get to have somebody come in and set-up a Live Web Cam so we can all watch whats going on every single step of the way.
Make it a Pay-per-view.
People who want to watch have to pay!

I'm willing to be one of the first to pay to see this job get done right!
Actually, it would be a lot of fun.

I don't want to miss watching the guy remove the old Intake Manifolds!
While you are selling "Viewing Time" ... I'm going to be making-book on how many Manifold Cap Screws the guy breaks-off trying to get them babies out!

What?
Nobody told you about that?
Oh, man ...
Before you decide to embark upon this "Mission from God" ... you'd better search the Forums a little bit.
Don't let a few enthusiastic Members of our Forum cheer you on to doing this job by yourself.

There are a few Trolls hiding beneath all of the bridges you need to cross before you pull the Carbs and begin removing the Intake Manifolds; each one a mean bastard intent on making the journey more expensive and harder to complete.

 

Rick, I didn't think this site was about ducking out of the wrenching.

 

In reading this thread, I've discovered a question for any and all of you?

Will your local Yamaha dealer work on your older bikes?

The dealers here won't work on anything older than a 1996.
They have no problem gouging us for parts but heaven forbid they offer to install them for you. Luckily I've found a couple non-dealer shops that are more than willing to work on the old classics.

 

Windlover,

I live in Vancouver, Wa. And should probably know the names of the shops who will work on the oldies. Can you drop me an email with the names of the shops?

Wamaxim

 

windlover, i actually did get shot down by a non-dealer shop prior to going to this dealer shop which agreed to do it.... after letting the bike sit in their shop for three weeks prior to looking at it

 

I think what Rick is trying to say is that there are some things you need done to your bike that are not for the novice mechanic or the faint of heart, especially XJ-wise. Intake manifolds are one of the XJ land mines, an apparently simple task that can lead to a much bigger headache within seconds. I think Rick is just trying to keep you from rushing in and getting in over your head before you realize what you've gotten yourself into. You CAN do a lot of this stuff yourself; depending on your degree of mechanical experience and ability you can do it ALL, but if you're on unfamiliar ground you must go easy.

 

It's not!
We espouse doing what we are capable of doing by ourselves.
The keyword ... capable!

I wouldn't want to tell someone to dive into a project that could place them in hot water way over their head without at least point to the DANGER Sign.

In this particular case, the project is fraught with possibilities that could turn an otherwise ROUTINE Project to one that is anything but.

If an inexperienced and uninformed New Member states that he needs BOTH the Carbs Cleaned and a set of New Intake Manifolds ... I am going to alert that Member that said project ... although seemingly one which is quite straight-forward ... could all too easily become a complicated affair and more expensive than it looks on paper.

We all know ... all too well ... the DANGER involved in removing Intake Manifolds.
The "Broken-off Cap Screws" are entirely too commonplace to not make a New Member aware of the situation, its complications and remedies.

In a perfect world, advising someone to remove four pairs of fasteners to remove the Manifolds and hang some new Manifolds on the bike, himself, in order to save some money, would be good advice.

I am not prepared to offer that advice without a stern warning that the New Member acknowledges before hand, because breaking-off the Manifold Fasteners could result in having to remove the Cylinder Head to have one or more sheered-off fasteners drilled-out at a Machine Shop.

I won't tell the Lad to take a shortcut across the frozen pond.
The likelihood of falling through thin ice is too great.

Further discussion about the process and the Members understanding of how this seemingly easy project could detour off Easy Street to elsewhere is needed!

 

Rick, have a look at this for a possible scenario, just say this shop that is charging $850 was to snap a cap screw or 2, do you not think they would pass the cost of that agro onto our member? & as someone said in this post, doing it yourself is the only way of knowing it was done properly, also you get to check over other items on the periphery, i,e, a frayed cable or a rounded nut, you would replace these things, I doubt the shop would.

 

I am not worried at all about breaking off intake bolts. I am not going to try and break them off, but I had several snap off while working on my bike and others bikes. You do not have to pull the head off and take it to the machine shop. All you need to do if you happen to break any is pull out the phone book. Find the number of a good professional welder. All they have to do is either weld a nut to the end of the broken bolt or make a T on the end of the bolt with the welder. The heat from welding breaks loose the corrosion on the threads and the broken off piece then unscrews very easily out of the head. This also works great for broken exhaust studs. The best part is that welding shops usually charge less to remove them then the head gasket costs.

 

That doesn't work so well if the bolt snaps off flush or lower.

Best not to break them in the first place.

 

Actually, it will still work when the stud is broke off flush or inside the head...it is just a little more difficult.

 

Mission accomplished!
The scary details surface for discussion.

Just as long as our New Member knows that the job has a degree of difficulty between "Cake-walk" and "Twilight Zone" ... I'm OK with him tackling the job himself.

Be sure to include:
Stuck Fuel Bowl Drain Screws
Stuck Float Hinge Pins
Fragile Float Hinge Pillars
Proper Tools for Removing Jets
Staying Organized
Stuck Pilot Mixture Screws ...

Most of the Forum "Regulars" have been there and back. We all Know where the bumps are in the road.
I don't want to send a Noob on a Mission that looks like one thing and works-out to be another.

Maybe I'm playing it too safe.
I don't know.
I'd rather be be Safe than Sorry and have to deal with: "Nobody told me this might happen!"

Especially, when we all know what could happen!

 

now you're on message, Rick, it's all about supporting endeavour.