How long to service the bike?

[bigfootpete]

I'm booked in for 36k service - which the stealer has said will take about three hours - does that sound a little excessive? Or about right?


They also want to add 1 1/2 hours for the chain and sprockets...

[ghostbiker]

1 .5 is a hell of a lot for C+S , my local garage charges me 20 quid to fit
So that's about 30mins Labour.

Service cost realy depends on what they DO on the service. It's ott for plugs, air filter and oil + filter.
But add in break fluid, lube cables, exup and valves then its good.

[The Male Whale]

1 .5 is a hell of a lot for C+S , my local garage charges me 20 quid to fit
So that's about 30mins Labour.

Service cost realy depends on what they DO on the service. It's ott for plugs, air filter and oil + filter.
But add in break fluid, lube cables, exup and valves then its good.

C & S takes us a good hour....


For a major service, we would take around 4 hours to do everything BUT add in more time if the shims need changing - at least another hour as the cams need to come out and go back.


I think you re getting a bargain. If they do everything.....


Whale

[Lazarus]

the big Question is IF they do everything.

[The Male Whale]

I refer the Honourable Gentleman to the reply I gave earlier.  Not everyone does what they should... 


An example is to do a compression check rather than actually measure the shim tolerances.... "if the compression is good then they must be ok..."



We usually take 6 or 7 hours to do a major on an in line 4 water cooled bike - we usually only charge for around 5.....


BUT we do tackle everything (coolant and brake fluid change as well as shims and Exup etc) and we usually take photo's of the before and after bits as we work through it.


People do trust us but it is always good to show them the state their bike was in before we fixed it. Tends to justify the bill....


Does slow up things though, we have a Speedmaster up on our bench since Saturday now as we are waiting on an inlet shim. They had one but not the two we needed. Customer is ok but we could do with the bench!


Whale

[Falcon 269]

I really admire guys like MW who believe in doing it right.  Shame he's in the minority but I agree that 3 hours about right if they're being thorough. 

If they're fitting an endless chain, it's a swingarm out job so that time estimate is pretty good.   If it's a soft link fitting, 90 mins is doing it carefully and not rushing - again, I'd prefer it that way if it means it's done 100% correctly.

[Tmation]

I had my chain and sprockets replaced in July by Hammer and Tongs in Warrington. It took about 1 1/4 hours but they only charged me 30 mins labour. The mechanic took his time and was chatting to me about bikes etc, then he had a senior moment with the shift rod (he screwed it all the way on on one end) which took him a little while to realise his mistake, no harm done though.

[bigfootpete]

thanks for the replies, I took it in at 9 this morning and still no word... so I'm hoping it hasn't taken them all day... I asked them to undo and lube the undersuspenders nuts which were well and truly seized.
The guy said they were doing the same as the 12k service.

[bigfootpete]

Well, no mention of shims or valves, the front sprocket only had two teeth left :-) and they were pretty thin...

5 hrs labour...

[The Male Whale]

thanks for the replies, I took it in at 9 this morning and still no word... so I'm hoping it hasn't taken them all day... I asked them to undo and lube the undersuspenders nuts which were well and truly seized.
The guy said they were doing the same as the 12k service.

12k Service is two hours tops. 


£120 for that with us including the oil and filter etc.


Grease the linkages would be another 30 mins I reckon.


My personal record for the oil and filter (before I got the shop - in my own garage at home) was 12 minutes. Wanted a pint see....


Sounds like your valve clearances still need doing then..... 


Whale

[Hedgetrimmer]

3 hours/approx. £120 sounds about right to me for the service base price - although I'm a little surprised that labour rates in the bike trade haven't increased beyond this by now - depends on shop and make of bike I suppose, I'm guessing a BMW dealer would charge a higher rate, and don't want to know what a BMW car dealer would charge!
If they quoted a figure and then found further work required, they should have the courtesy to call you with costs before going ahead with that work. The mileage your bike is on wouldn't require valve clearances being done if the previous services had had everything done as per Yamaha schedules (25k miles).
Would be interested to hear the final outcome - cost, work carried out, what they said about further expense etc.
 

[The Male Whale]

BMW are £82.00 an hour locally. Honda are £85.00. Both are plus VAT. 


We are £50 including the dreaded...... 


Whale

[bigfootpete]

£370 was the total, from the service sheet it looks like he just replaced the plugs and oil, sync'd the carbs and checked the usual stuff. he did mention the rear suspender bushes and bearings
would need doing soon. Sounds like a normal service to me. He checked the interim service boxes on the sheet.

This was the local Yam stealer, living up to the name.

[Hedgetrimmer]

Well, a fair chunk of that would have been for the chain kit? Plus the labour he mentioned to fit it (perhaps a bit on the steep side). I think a lot of dealers lose out by not giving the customer a proper account of what they actually did, i.e. full chassis check (steering, wheel, s/arm bearings etc), caliper service, full lubes and report on tyre and brake pad condition, cleaned/replaced air filter, carb balance etc. Given the chain kit replacement, I'd say not too bad a price, but without the full report it's hard to say for sure, and this is where trust is lost.
Lost trust means lost customers, and all it takes is someone sparing a few minutes to talk to you.

[bigfootpete]

I supplied the DID chain and sprockets... £113 - I did see another post and someone thought the aftermarket front sprocket was
really noisy, mine is as quiet as the original.