reasonable?

[Bracechenko]

A mechanic quoted me 105 quid to replace the fork seals on my fzs600 which is for parts and labour. Is that in the right ballpark?

[Fazer Jake]

I paid £70 for mine including all the parts 

[griff86]

I've just done some ER500 forks for someone and charged £75 all in.

He might be changing the bushes too so price sounds good.

[Bracechenko]

Well he didn't mention anything about bushes so i'm a little dubious. I'll get another couple of quotes first I think, he was bemoaning how with this bike it's more difficult to do than with other bike.....got a little bored so tuned off but will see what other people think first!

[topgun44]

cant u do it yourself it so easy to do it take only few hours

[steeeve66]

Does the price include taking the forks off the bike? 100 quid sounds about right to me but, as has been mentioned here already, it's well worth doing yourself if you've the space, not as difficult as you might imagine. s

[Bracechenko]

Yeah Steve, the price does include removing the forks. I'd ride the bike to him and expect him to do it all and then ride it back.

I'm pretty willing to try things myself but history teaches me that the 1st time doing anything new usually involves more time than anticipated and a cock up or 2.

This is my commuter bike and I can't really do without it so might just bite the bullet this time for peace of mind.

So, with removing forks as well, that seems about right?

[griff86]

What I'm charging is for taking the forks off too, but unfortunatley one of the stanchions is bent so it needs a replacement but I'm not charging any more for replacing this as I have to strip the forks down anyway.

I know what you mean about there being a chance of a cock up. £105 then would seem cheap if you'd had a go yourself and it turned into a nightmare.

[DryRob]

There's a full guide on here:

http://foc-u.co.uk/index.php/topic,42.0.html

It's really not that difficult, once you've done the first one you'll fly through the other fork. I did it over a couple of hours as it was the first time I tackled it but I gave myself the full day. The hardest bit is getting the dampener assembly off but if you can get hold of one of the tools from the guide you'll have no problem although I did use a broom handle. Other than that you can probably manage with basic tools. Having a vice is helpful and some way of propping the front end up is essential (remember a paddock stand won't work).
As with most jobs, the prep is just as important as doing the work.

[steeeve66]

..at the risk of hectoring you to the point where you start shouting at us:
"drivenandriden.com" do an excellent self help DVD called Bike Essentials where some foliclly challenged chap talks you through, among other things, replacing fork seals - worth the 18 quid someone else spent buying it me for Christmas...

Otherwise 105 squid which, if I were taking the forks off the bike and putting them back on, is at least what I'd charge

S

[Bracechenko]

Cheers peeps, i'll have a think about it then. Moving to a new house very soon which has a garage so should promote DIY even more than my current back yard!