cost of dealer maint

[Phil B]

I got new tires today, at a reasonable price. So while bike was there, decided to have them do some maint that was due.
I was kinda surprised at the prices.

Chain lube and adjusting: $30. not at all bad. cheaper than I expected really

Chain oil and filter:   ** $74**.  74? REALLY?
  They claim this is their standard price for sportbikes, and is common pricing.  Seriously?!? when a car is $29 most places?
($25 parts, $44 labor. And I DONT have a fairing on it. Grrr)


I also feel like a little bit of a traitor: they put in "Yamalube 10w40" oil.  I'm sorry little buddy...

[lucky4034]

haha... I used yamalube as well, but changed it myself. 

[burning1]

$29 is a bargain basement Jiffy Lube oil changes are typically to have an under-qualified 'tech' do use bulk, bargain lube/filter, and over-torque your drain plug. Having a proper motorcycle mechanic do the job ensures that they don't ruin anything expensive, and you get reasonable quality fluids and OEM parts.

Due to my taste in fluids and what not, my own oil changes usually cost ~$70.

[Tombstones81]

dont waste your time on simple things like that at a garage.

seriously, an oil change and chain lube / adjustment is so easy, its a waste of money.

just buy a can of actual chain lube and go over it after however many miles it says to.

and now and then when u have a decent amount of free time and the chains dirty.
just go over it with Kerosene and a tooth brush.
clean and relube it, then take it for a ride to warm it up.

oil change.... WAY simpler then a car....
no reason to pay anyone for that unless you dont have the time

[ASUDave]

I was recently quoted $320 for a oil change, lube, chain clean/lube, and valve check/adjustment. Ouch! That was at a large chain dealer. I don't know what the smaller local dealer I bought the bike from charges, but I know they charge $80/hr in labor.  Looks like I need to learn how to DIY quickly!

[Phil B]

$29 is a bargain basement Jiffy Lube...

Actually, $29 is for my mazda, at my local mazda dealer.

Jiffy lube, oddly, charges $39

I can put FULL SYNTHETIC, BY MY DEALER, in my car, for less than the motorcycle dealers are charging to put regular oil (and less of it) in my bike.
I have a 5 quart car engine.

W. T. H.



Speaking of DIY, though... http://wiki.gstwins.com/index.php?n=Maintenance.ChangeOil mentions

"Removal of old crush washer: Grab the old crush washer using a pair of channel lock pliers, and hold the bolt with a wrench. Twist off."

err.. what crush washer, where? and why does it not mention putting on a new one? particularly since this is under the
"New Stuff In" section??

[twocool]

I was recently quoted $320 for a oil change, lube, chain clean/lube, and valve check/adjustment. Ouch! That was at a large chain dealer. I don't know what the smaller local dealer I bought the bike from charges, but I know they charge $80/hr in labor.  Looks like I need to learn how to DIY quickly!

Please my earlider thread about doing y0ur own maintenance..........

Since that service is required every 3,500 miles.........at 35,00 miles you've spent over $3200...just about the price of a new bike..........that maintenance is 10% the cost of the bike!!

My theory is don't do any maintenance whatsoever..and when the bike craps out in two years buy a new one!!!

Cookie

[burning1]

$320 doesn't sound unreasonable for all that, with a valve adjustment included. If you asked me to do that work on your bike, I'd charge at least $200 for my time, energy, and parts.

"Full Synthetic" car oil is just highly refined mineral oil. I'll admit that $13/qt is too much to pay for motor oil, but if that's what your dealer is using, it's not surprising that your bill turns out to be $50+.

[twocool]

$320 doesn't sound unreasonable for all that, with a valve adjustment included. If you asked me to do that work on your bike, I'd charge at least $200 for my time, energy, and parts.

"Full Synthetic" car oil is just highly refined mineral oil. I'll admit that $13/qt is too much to pay for motor oil, but if that's what your dealer is using, it's not surprising that your bill turns out to be $50+.

Motorcycles have a surprisingly high maintenance cost, as compared to cars.........

Ok... a "dealer" has to charge around $100 an hour plus a premium on parts just to make what they consider a reasonable profit....with overhead, salaries, health beneftis etc..etc...

A mom and pop shop can probably charge 1/2 that ($50 an hour)...and a guy working out of his garage can charge even 1/2 of that.. $25 an hour)..........If you do the work yourself...it's 1/2 of that ($12 an hour..actually "free" because you don't have to pay yourself at all)....

There is a market out there for every level I described...so there will be dealers, Mom and Pop shops, guys working out of the garage, and guys who do their own work...

There is also a "barter system" if you get to know the right people...."I'll fix your motorcycle if you tile my bathroom...etc..."

I personally would help anybody with motorcycle maintenance, for free and not expect anything in return..since this is a "hobby" for me, not my way of making a living...Of course "free" help is worth every penny you pay for it.....

Pick one!

[noworries]

Do the dealer workshops ever really check your valve clearances when they say they do? Lord, forgive me for my cynicism and distrust.

[Dr.McNinja]

I got new tires today, at a reasonable price. So while bike was there, decided to have them do some maint that was due.
I was kinda surprised at the prices.

Chain lube and adjusting: $30. not at all bad. cheaper than I expected really

Chain oil and filter:   ** $74**.  74? REALLY?
  They claim this is their standard price for sportbikes, and is common pricing.  Seriously?!? when a car is $29 most places?
($25 parts, $44 labor. And I DONT have a fairing on it. Grrr)


I also feel like a little bit of a traitor: they put in "Yamalube 10w40" oil.  I'm sorry little buddy...

Change oil at filter is almost 100 bucks here. That's why I do maintenance my self.

30 dollars for chain lube and adjustment? It's literally 10 minutes to lube the chain and maybe 5 minutes AT MOST to adjust it. Their labor fees are like 100 dollars an hour. They also charge from a book that tells them how many hours to charge for regardless of how long they actually work.

Worse yet they used shaZam! oil too. You got ripped off. Bad. There's no reasonable justification to pay a dealer anything unless you're trying to save your warranty (which is voided as soon as you do anything aftermarket on it).

As a joke I called up a Suzuki dealer to see what they'd charge me to install a full  system + air filter + rejet with parts supplied by me (~400 bucks). Quoted me 900 f%$king dollars. 900 DOLLARS. I can do the job in two hours, and the pro I'm paying to tune my bike so it runs better in this climate (I'm paying him for his $6000 dollar tuning tool basically) is only charging me $160 for the rejet and install + he's going to tune the jetting better so the bike is running at it's best vs. using the guess and hope method a DIYer would usually do.

As an aside: $900 job at the dealer equates to roughly 300 dollars an hour if they were so retarded it took them 3 hours to do it. NEVER pay dealers. EVER.

[Phil B]

Chain lube and adjusting: $30. not at all bad. cheaper than I expected really
...

30 dollars for chain lube and adjustment? It's literally 10 minutes to lube the chain and maybe 5 minutes AT MOST to adjust it. Their labor fees are like 100 dollars an hour. They also charge from a book that tells them how many hours to charge for regardless of how long they actually work.

yeah... but on the other hand, it would probably take *me* over an hour to do it, AND I'd adjust it poorly, and I'd get covered in chain grease. (I tried just the clean n lube once. thats what happened :-/ )  I feel okay paying them the money for that.
They did a really nice job cleaning the chain, too. My prior efforts were terrible

The oil swap and filter change, though.. $40 for just labor alone? for something I could do in 10 minutes myself AND stay pretty clean?
Three stinkin bolts off and on, plus draining out oil, and toping off.
Aint no way I'm paying them the money for that again.

[Dr.McNinja]

Chain lube and adjusting: $30. not at all bad. cheaper than I expected really
...

30 dollars for chain lube and adjustment? It's literally 10 minutes to lube the chain and maybe 5 minutes AT MOST to adjust it. Their labor fees are like 100 dollars an hour. They also charge from a book that tells them how many hours to charge for regardless of how long they actually work.

yeah... but on the other hand, it would probably take *me* over an hour to do it, AND I'd adjust it poorly, and I'd get covered in chain grease. (I tried just the clean n lube once. thats what happened :-/ )  I feel okay paying them the money for that.
They did a really nice job cleaning the chain, too. My prior efforts were terrible

The oil swap and filter change, though.. $40 for just labor alone? for something I could do in 10 minutes myself AND stay pretty clean?
Three stinkin bolts off and on, plus draining out oil, and toping off.
Aint no way I'm paying them the money for that again.

Yeah, oil changing is easy. Not as easy as on other bikes (the gs500f is quite complicated in that respect) but easy none the less. Filter bolts are at most 1/4 turn past hand tight and you can pull specs on the drain bolt for the torque needed. I didn't have a torque wrench handy so I tightened it considerably tight and then did some leak testing. Nothing so far. In the next 100 miles I'll properly torque it down. I tend to batch my work together too, which saves a lot on time. Spark plugs + oil change is a pretty good thing to change at once. If you've got a reusable air filter you could probably even clean it while you're waiting for the oil to drain. Changing out spark plugs takes all of 5 minutes.

Oil changing is messy however. Even if you do a fairly "clean" job it will probably take you around an hour to do it properly and you're guaranteed to get oil all over your hands and maybe even your arms (if you're unlucky).

$40 in labor is unbelievable. Even a faired bike has easier oil filter/plug/bolt access than even a lifted truck and it's rarely over $30 to get your car oil changed at some mom-and-pop shop. That being said my father had his oil changed at the dealer and it cost him almost 80 bucks.

[slipperymongoose]

Most dealerships around my area are spruking 149.00 - 150.00 for a service including oil n filter n check over.

[burning1]

Do the dealer workshops ever really check your valve clearances when they say they do? Lord, forgive me for my cynicism and distrust.

I'm... Not sure. If you ride the bike in, and they say the valves are adjusted an hour or two later, no... They aren't.. Or they are doing a bad job of it. Valves must be adjusted with the engine at ambient temperature.

Personally, I'd insist on being provided a document stating the measured clearances. If they pull the cams, I'd also request that they note all existing shim sizes, even if it costs a little extra. Having those notes will save you money in the long run.

[noiseguy]

I've noted the same, premium prices for standard services on motorcycles, and chalked it up to the relatively low numbers of bikes on the road, compared to, say, cars.

During the last gas spike, scooter shops started popping up everywhere selling chinese 50 and 150 scooters. I found their labor rates comparitively low at ~$40/hr, but then, you're getting what you pay for in terms of mechanic qualifications. There were tons of dealers, all competing on price for what they sold, and servicing it.

My point is, if there were more bikes on the road, and they were used for transportation (rather than for diversion), the prices overall would be lower due to competition and growth of services. Jiffy Lube *would* change bike oil, and charge a comparitively low price for unfaired standards (sorry, I don't buy that changing the oil on my GS is more complicated or messy than my car... I don't have to jack up my GS on stands and the filter basket is no harder to remove than a spin-on filter.)

As it stands, I do my own maintenance, b/c I have the time and knowledge. If I didn't have the time, I'd sell the bike or find a trustworthy independent. And I'd ask for those valve clearances documented

[BaltimoreGS]

My point is, if there were more bikes on the road, and they were used for transportation (rather than for diversion), the prices overall would be lower due to competition and growth of services. Jiffy Lube *would* change bike oil, and charge a comparitively low price for unfaired standards (sorry, I don't buy that changing the oil on my GS is more complicated or messy than my car... I don't have to jack up my GS on stands and the filter basket is no harder to remove than a spin-on filter.)

Kay and I met a motorcyclist from Canada at one of the campgrounds we stayed at during our cross country adventure.  He seemed surprised when I told him that he probably wouldn't be able to get an oil change on his bike in this country at any place besides a motorcycle shop.  Do oil change places in Canada do cars and trucks??

-Jessie

[SAFE-T]

Chain oil and filter:   ** $74**. 

What the heck is a chain filter 

Some punkchewayshun would be helpful. Did they change the chain as well ? Or maybe you meant they CHANGED the oil and filter ?



You are making me think too hard for a Saturday morning after only one coffee.

[BaltimoreGS]

Chain oil and filter:   ** $74**. 

What the heck is a chain filter 

I assume Lube chain, Change Oil, Replace filter   

-Jessie

[uninhibited]

$118 for the 6000km service.