Carb rebuild/repair Price Question

[GS482]

I have a wonderful 1983 GS1100e that has been sitting in a garage for 8.5 years. It has been well taken care of and well loved. I have new battery, new wheels and tires and the forks replaced. To finally get her running again I need a carb overhaul. I took the bike to 2 shops. (Both had good reputations and had pretty good reviews and knew what they were talking about.) 1 shop quoted me $1,200 for the parts and labor of a carb, rebuild, cleaning, syncing, etc. and the other $550 for a complete overhaul with parts and labor. Is the shop charging $1,200 trying to rip me off. The guy charging me $550 said I can watch him work if I like.
I would do it myself, but I am a novice...and I adore my bike so I want it done right until I can do it myself.

I am in Phoenix Arizona. Thanks.

 

[mike_of_bbg]

Do it yourself. It's really not that hard. Ed (Nessism) has worked very hard to make a very good guide. O-ring kit, float bowl gaskets, pilot jet plugs, and a can of Berryman's or Gunk will be easily less than $100. Add $100 or so for a Morgan CarbTune and you can do the sync yourself too! It's something you'll want to do at least annually as long as you own the bike.

I thought about making a video this week as I dipped a couple carbs this week. It wouldn't have been as technically useful as Ed's document, but it would have shown just how easy it is....

 

[GS482]

Thanks, so I am guessing the $1,200 is a little ridiculous .

 

[FiremanBob]

I'm facing a carb clean and rebuild on the 550 this week as well. I have already ordered the full o-ring kit from Robert Barr. Should I go to Z1 and buy a set of new jets etc. as well (as in http://www.z1enterprises.com/Carburetor-Rebuild-Kit-GS550-198082-505.aspx)? That'll run about $100. But removing and reinstalling the carbs is such a pain that I want the job to last a long time.

 

[mike_of_bbg]

FB, I would not use the jets in the rebuild kit unless the ones you have are ruined and you cannot find someone with the correct OEM jets for your bike. The workmanship of carb rebuild kits is usually well below OEM equipment: the jets usually don't go bad, they just get dirty. Gas cannot do much to wear away the brass jets.

Yes, $1200 is absolutely ridiculous. If you really don't feel like you can tackle it yourself, go to the GS Services forum and see if you can find someone there to rebuild your carbs for much, much less. Of course if they're rebuilding with the carbs not on your bike they can't do the sync. But, that's something you really should learn to do anyway.

We were all novices once. Most shops won't even work on bikes as old as ours, and if they do they charge an arm and a leg. Some do good work, but most don't. Unless you're independently wealthy it's going to put you in the poor house pretty quickly to own an old bike but not do the wrenching yourself.

There are frustrations that go with it. One of the biggest reasons that shops won't work on 30-year-old bikes is because of things like stripped screws and broken bolts. Stuff happens.

 

[TheCafeKid]

If you decide that you don't want to do it yourself, (and I do encourage you to try, as working on your bike yourself will teach you how to maintain it for a lifetime) and assuming the carbs are in good shape as far as the pieces all being there etc, I clean and rebuild carbs for $150, which includes new oring kit, full tear down, dipping and scrubbing, all brass parts polished, caps and bowls polished or repainted (if they were black) float levels set, mix screws set at baseline and bench syncing. That price also includes return shipping. Basically they come back to you ready to install, and will only need to be, if you choose to do so, vacuum synced.
If you have black carbs, and want them re painted black, as the dip will eat the paint off, it would be $25 extra simply because of the amount of time involved in masking and prepping them.

Before I take payment I have you send them to me so I can inspect them to be sure no major components need to be replaced such as a whole body because of a broken float post or whatever, or a slide because of a torn or pin-holed diaphragm. If there are issues, I would then contact you before performing any work and let you know what your options are and can send you pictures of said problem so you can see there is no funny business going on...I give you your options ( do you want me to replace said parts, or simply return them to you. I pay return shipping) or source another set altogether. Etc. this way there are no surprise charges on either side.

If you'd be interested, let me know.

 

[mike_of_bbg]

I clean and rebuild carbs for $150, which includes new oring kit, full tear down, dipping and scrubbing, all brass parts polished, caps and bowls polished or repainted (if they were black) float levels set, mix screws set at baseline and bench syncing. That price also includes return shipping.

That right there is a deal. I wouldn't hesitate to trust Mr. TCK with my carbs.

Heck, if I ever need mine cleaned again...

 

[RickW]

You know what; I am in the Phoenix area also and have been slowly amassing the materials to do the carb work my self. I'm a counselor, not a mechanic, but have been reading the tutorials, and a ton of input on this forum and I think I can do it.
I purchased a vacuum sync tool and am merely waiting for the dollars for a new petcock, since the current unit split apart and while fixing that I discovered the vacuum must not be working because it drips gas continuously.
So perhaps we should get together and tackle this together. I too, will be doing this for the first time but anticipate, based on my reading here, it will not be the last, and of course, am not at all stunned to hear such widely varying price quotes.
Let me know what you think

 

[Vmass]

A vote of confidence: Last year I purchased a Suzuki that had been idle in a basement for 10 years. Having never pulled carbs from a bike, and certainly never rebuilt a set, I was concerned that if I yanked them, they would never be put back on the bike.

I decided to give it a go with the help from this site and the tutorial from Nessism, which I printed every page so I had it available through out the process.

I followed it to a T, with only one set back....even though I followed the directions, I still ended up breaking a float post and had to find a donor body.

Trust me..if I can do it, you can do it. I took pictures along the way for reference, which definately came in handy for review.

The more you tear into the carbs, the easier it gets.

Impact driver is a must and use it before you know if you have to!

$1200 dollars is crazy money for that amount of work.

$550 could be justified by some if that includes an exceptional, start to finish job, including proper tuning.

I did a bench sync (also a first) and later had help from a fellow member with who checked with his gauges, I was very close.

 

[GS482]

Thanks for all the input guys. Ya'll convinced me to give it a run myself! I have downloaded the guides you suggested and am going through them right now. There are lots of pictures...so that is good. I'll let you know how it goes. Keeping fingers crossed.

I had a feeling the $1,200 estimate was bananas.

Long live GS Resources!

 

[AJ]

For reference, you can buy a bank of BRAND NEW Mikuni RS36-D3-K smoothbore racing carbs ready to bolt up for less than $815 plus shipping from Niche Cycle. Did I say they are brand new?
http://nichecycle.com/ProductDesc.aspx?code=RS36-D3-K&type=0&eq=&desc=Mikuni-RS36-Carburetor-Rackhttp://nichecycle.com/ProductDesc.aspx?code=RS36-D3-K&type=0&eq=&desc=Mikuni-RS36-Carburetor-Rack

TheCafeKid's offer to you is outstanding. Heck, I may send him my next set of carbs. I'd charge at least $250 to do this WITHOUT the polishing and painting!