the cost of labor

I remember someone telling me that the cost of labor for a full tune up, (clean and sync the carbs, shim the valves etc.) would probably equal the cost of my bike, someone else said that he didn't know what he was talking about. So being I only paid $500 for the Bike and the cost of labor by an real motorcycle mechanic is about $100 per hour, I just wondered just how much the labor prices varied where you live? I live in Las Vegas now but I bought the bike in Los Angeles where the labor is the same (rode it all the way.)

SO if you will where do you live and how much is labor there?

 

I worked in a bike mechanic shop about 10 years ago and we used to charge $50 an hour (we were the cheapest in town).

Doing a service like you've mentioned would be around 5-6 hours labour charge alone, so saying it would cost more than the bike is worth is probably right.

Factor in that most bike shops will NOT want to touch a 30 year old bike and the options for getting someone else to work on your bike are pretty limited.

 

Last time I checked the dealers around here were 80-90. I'm the cheapest around at $60.

 

A Honda dealer 30 miles from Orlando had $96 / Hr on his board until they closed. The 2 small shops I use are at $80 , and they are both 20 miles from "the city".

 

Shop near me in Baltimore, MD has $120/hr on the board and said they won't touch a bike that old during the season.

 

I guess they like the newer bikes because they can make two hours removing and installing the farings. Bikes like boats are going to the "Spaceship" look.

 

It's not that.

The problem is they get the bike torn apart on the lift and find out they need a part that'll take 2 weeks to get. Then they either got to piece it back together or tie up a lift for 2 weeks waiting for a part.

Or they get a bunch of labor into it and find it needs something expensive. Now the shop bill is well above what the bike is worth and the owner walks away. Now the shop has to auction the bike to get back part of what they have in it. This is the reason I usually require a deposit for major repairs on an older bike.

 

there fixed it for you...

IM certainly happy...

 

If I had a Plastic-wrapped Bullet ... I'd pull the Plastic before taking it to the shop.

In the Boston Area ... it's $80.00 @ Hr. (and up) depending where you go.

Many of the Dealers are beginning to refuse working on "Old Bikes" ... saying: "We only Service what we sell!"

 

hey i live in vegas too we could possibly get together at some point. like all the other guys said, the big shops in town like ridenow and carter won't even touch your bike unless its something easy like tires, and then itll cost you an arm and a leg. for example the guys at carter said to swap a front and rear tire on my bike would cost like $120. i paid $120 shipped for the tires in the first place.

there is hope however. ive found a couple places that will work on our old bikes, and even make googly eyes over them if that means anything to you. by the orleans on arville there's a shop called quad mania. the guy who owns the place is cool and they're not afraid to work on anything. i got them to extract a stripped oil filter housing bolt for like $20 which wasn't bad since it took him like an hour and had to keep rewelding it since it was so overtorqued. for other stuff like you're talking about like carb cleaning and valve adjustments their rates are kind of high. their rate is $80/hr and 1hr per carb. so with a 4 carb bike that gets pricey pretty fast.

there is another guy i found whose business is called metricwerks. the guy works out of his house in the summerlin area or makes housecalls. my bike was running like piss and didn't idle properly i took the bike to him to get the carbs cleaned and he only charged $90 and i got it back the next day running like a champ. his rate is $45/hr which is easily the lowest ive found. he said hes worked on a ton of xj's too from when he lived in seattle.

so you have some choices in town and if you spend some time poking around this forum and get a service manual you can save a fortune doing work yourself.

 

My buddy here in jersey, Chris Jones from Cheechschoppers.com, works on my bike. He has never really charged me an hourly rate. He does kind of a piece work rate. I can tell you that to change both tires on my maxim 650 is $60.

 

$60 for both tires, not each.

 

XJ's require labor of love.
Find a semi retired Yamaha mechanic that works out of his garage. Like me. This time of year; $40 per hr. very fair.
Costs more during waverunner season.
good luck

 

Thanks Dave!

I was in a lawnmower repair shop today. $70/hour there. 8O

 

Found my ex jap bike mechanic last summer charged me 180$ for cleaning and tuning carbs tuning bike sync carbs 4 new spark plugs oil change (filter and oil supplied by me). And met him by luck. And seriously he came and get the bike I could not believe it ..........

 

the guy i use (hes a member here! can you guess who it is?) has worked my 550, my 750R and basically resurrected the 900R...

hes about 90 miles away so that should say something about how i feel taking my rides to him...

i had a front tire tubbed last spring at the local honda/suzuki house and it was about $35 i think including the tube, but the wheel/tire combo was carried in. im sure it would have been more if they had to remove and then reinstall...

 

We have a local guy, pretty much specializes in old bikes and charges $65/hr. Good guy too.

Rob

 

Carl, maybe you need to diversify: "Thunder Valley Powersports and Lawn Equipment"

Seriously, though, Metro Detroit area XJ riders are lucky we have Carl.

People who do truly know how to work on these things ARE few and far between, as most of us have learned the hard way.

 

Originally it was mine to fix. Seems to have a rod knock. I told the guy that it'd be about the same money to re-engine it and he'd have a brand new engine with warranty. Suggested he call around that the lawnmower shops might work for less.

He got the impression on the telephone that this place would tear it down and inspect for $35. Turns out it's $35/half hour and they want an hour and a half to do it.

I told him to just let them do it. They are specialists in that type of engine and then we'll really know what he has.

Besides, my lift isn't wide enough for a lawn tractor.