FYI on parts/labor cost at a shop. Shockingly expensive   - this service ($1,297) costs about the same as how much my bike ('01, w/ 14k miles) is worth now, but it does include new tires and new fork springs. Can't wait to see how the bike rides w/ new tires, fork springs and fork oil.

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Hi Gary'
Here is a breakdown of the cost for the work to your GS500.

Labor
Major service with Valve Clearance Check $350
Replace Chain & Sprockets                     $100
Fit, Balance & Dispose Of Two Tires         $60
Replace Fork Springs & Oil                     $100


Parts
Sport Demon 110/70-17 Tire                 $101
Sport Demon 130/70-17 Tire                 $113
Suzuki Cam Cover gasket                    $27
4 Suzuki Cam Cover O rings                $8
Suzuki Air Filter                                  $33
Motorex Fully Synth Oil                       $55
K&N Oil Filter                                     $15
Fuel Filter                                           $3
15W Fork Oil                                      $16
Race Tech Fork Springs                      $110
Brake Fluid                                         $7
Chain                                                 $92
16 tooth Sprocket                               $17
39 tooth Sprocket                               $32


Parts Total                                        $629
Tax                                                    $58
Labor                                                $610

You will be looking at about $1297.00 if you go ahead and have this work done.

whoa air filter and oil are 90 bucks? better last you a lifetime

holy cow that is ridiculously high on the labor, major service, what does that entail? they are already charging you to change the oil, replace the fork springs, replace the sprockets, other than carb cleaning that doesnt leave anything does it? and 350 to check the valves seems really high.  but I do all my own maintenance including mounting and balancing tires, so I dont buy anything but parts

Major service is inspecting/cleaning/adjusting everything, including carb cleaning/sync, valve inspection/adjustment, etc. The labor is at $100/hour. I told them to go ahead...    

and that is why i do all my own stunts

Not going to knock you for having a shop do it.  If you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself (or don't want to bother) there is nothing wrong with paying someone else to do it.  The important part is the maintenance is done.  The parts prices seem a bit high though.  You may want to buy your own parts in the future and just pay the shop to put them on.  My unwanted 2 cents...

-Jessie

Quote from: Gary856 on January 19, 2010, 05:40:21 PM
Major service is inspecting/cleaning/adjusting everything, including carb cleaning/sync, valve inspection/adjustment, etc. The labor is at $100/hour. I told them to go ahead...     

if you dont have access to the tools, or a garage to do it in, then it is worth it I guess.  on the upside, they gave you the prices up-front instead of just blindsiding you with a high bill

don't you ever take your bike in to a shop to have those things done again!  That's why you have a GS...so you can wrench it yourself!  It's easy.  It's part of the fun.   If you are not wrenching your bike, you are missing out on a big part of the satisfaction!
you will save about 3/4 of that dough to buy weed with!

or maybe he has a GS cause he likes to ride his motorcycle instead of spending his time wrenching, and hed rather pay someone else to fix it for him.

I love how people bash dealers for charging more.  It's a BUSINESS. They are there to make MONEY.  Something called "overhead" plagues all traditional businesses.

If you don't wanna pay high prices, don't bring it to them and learn to do it yourself. You're pretty much paying for the CONVENIENCE of having the dealership there so that SOMEONE ELSE does the work instead of you.

Quote from: gregvhen on January 19, 2010, 08:41:52 PM
or maybe he has a GS cause he likes to ride his motorcycle instead of spending his time wrenching, and hed rather pay someone else to fix it for him.

Forgot to quote this one...  PERFECT example.

What if you LOVE working on cars/bikes but you make $400 an hour at work?  Paying someone else $75 an hour plus parts is a smart transaction on your part.  I can't remember what the term is in the business world... can anyone help me with that?  I think it's call "opportunity cost"?

Quote from: daliumong on January 19, 2010, 05:12:01 PM
whoa air filter and oil are 90 bucks? better last you a lifetime

If you search for prices... that sounds about right.

Air filters for bikes aren't cheap. My R6 STOCK air filter is $40 IIRC.  I spent $70 on the K&N filter.  I use Amsoil(sp) full synthetic oil... costs $11 a quart IIRC.

Wow...
That's insane. I work in a shop and see things like this alot though. I cost $75.00/hr+parts. I'm just doing it to get through school though..then I plan on getting a better paying job. But still man, if you learn how to do this stuff yourself, you will save huge cash, plus have the peace of mind knowing someone else hasn't whored all over your ride, rode wheelies behind the shop, shorted you a little bit of oil, or charged you for parts that are not on it.

Overall, it's your bike. If you feel comfortable w/the shop and don't mind paying the costs...do it! Perhaps you don't have an ounce of mech skills and rather have it done quickly & efficiently...then do it. And maybe there aren't many places to take your bike for repairs in your area...THEN DO IT! The bottom line is you want to your bike to be in the best condition possible everytime you jump on it. And if that means kicking down some major cash to make it happen...THEN DO IT!


Just make sure the shop stand by there work with a warranty, guarantee, etc.

No tools, no mechanical skills, no time, no patience, no interest. You can see I'm doing quite a few things all at once. I have to be honest with myself - if I attempted the work, it would take so long to plan and learn, and I would get so frustrated, it wouldn't be worth it to me. My joy comes from riding, not wrenching. I'm out of school for almost 20 years, so I have a little more money, and a lot less time, than some of you younger guys here. I am in awe of the DIY spirit and abilities a lot of the guys have here.

I was wavering on this decision - should I just sell the GS as-is for about $1,200, or spend the equivalent of the bike's worth into bringing its maintenance up to date? In the end I decided that I still love the GS enough, and I'm very curious how much better a bike it would become with tires and spring upgrades, to want to spend the money. But even now, I'm kind of looking for a DR650 and a ZRX1200R...both are different from, yet similar to, the GS.

Honestly, you'll never get a good price when you sell your gs. It's better to put the work into it and ride it till it rusts out from underneath you. There is hardly another bike thats as reliable as the gs, so if you get another bike someday it will break down and you'll have the gs as a backup. 

Quote from: BaltimoreGS on January 19, 2010, 07:06:45 PM
Not going to knock you for having a shop do it.  If you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself (or don't want to bother) there is nothing wrong with paying someone else to do it.  The important part is the maintenance is done.  The parts prices seem a bit high though.  You may want to buy your own parts in the future and just pay the shop to put them on.  My unwanted 2 cents...

-Jessie

Right on. While i do everything myself, there are times when its inconvenient, and times when i flat out don't want to do the work. If i could afford to pay someone im sure i would from time to time.

Yeesh. I dislike any service item that buckets things up, things like "Major Service." I never know what they're actually going to do, and which parts they'll skip. You're paying them for 3.5 hours work, but it will be hard to tell if you get 3.5 hours benefit. Jobs should be things like "Adjust Valves, 1 hour, $100 + parts." This, I understand. And I want the old shims when they're done. All that said, the main question is whether you trust the guy working on your bike.

I decided a while back to just learn to do these things myself and live with the negative consequences, if any. If I have to hire a mechanic, at least I'll have the sense to know if he's ripping me off, b/c the work will be done due to lack of time, not lack of knowledge.

Except tires. I don't mess with tires. PIA.

I see this all the time with scooters. Broken scooters are worthless; they cost more for a shop to fix than they are worth. But since they're meant to be maintained in 3rd world countries by guys with rocks and poky sticks, you can usually get them running again with zero cash investment, just time. Esp. if you have decent tools.

Here in the SF bay area we have two major motorcycle websites (BARF, SBR), plus Yelp and Yahoo review. Negative comments on those sites hurts business in local shops; that kind of keep the shops honest.

A friend told me in Taiwan, where everyone rides scooters, a lot of those scooters go thru their life time without an oil change or any kind of service. A lot of those guys there have no concept of regular maintenance. 

I could see involving a mechanic if it was some kinda traction contolled race abs electronic fuelie....but a GS?  It's easier than my Murray lawn tractor to work on!  $1000.00 plus?!!! are you kidding?,  I mean save it and buy some land!!  You can go to a flea market and buy every tool you need to wrench the GS for like $45.00.   Wouldn't I love YOU say, son, fix that thing yourself, WTF!  I didn't raise no idjuts!....