good mechanic in bay area california??

[Anonymous]

hi everybody!

well i'm a little bit discouraged because a mechanic in san francisco has had my 1986 gs450L for about three weeks and has made NO progress on it! now he's convinced that he can't fix it so i have to take it somewhere else - anyone have any recommendations?!

the bike was started off a running car - yeah i know, big mistake - about two years ago and lay dormant for a while. my mechanic couldn't really get spark to the bike so i ended up buying a new CDI box, electronic ignition, starter solenoid, and rectifier but for whatever reason it's STILL not getting spark. the battery's also been replaced...my mechanic claims that all those parts were below specification so i went out and made good use of the salvage yards around here.

i'd really like to get this bike fixed! i'm thinking of taking it to the suzuki dealership in oakland but i'm not sure if they deal with bikes this old, i mean they said they could take a look but i don't wanna get ripped off.

any ideas?? (i know absolutely NOTHING about bikes myself, i'm just telling you guys what my mechanic told me!)

thanks much!!

 

[earlfor]

Re: good mechanic in bay area california??

No one has mechanical knowledge to start with. We all have to learn it.
The biggest difference between your 450 and my 1150 is you have two less cylinders. Other than that, everything works the same. Do you have a place
garage, etc that you can work on it. Do you have access to a few wrenches and a multimeter? You have nothing to loose and everything to gain by fixing it yourself. There are a lot of members in the forums that can build a bike in their sleep. All you have to do is ask and we will walk you through the process. Why not?

Earl

hi everybody!

well i'm a little bit discouraged because a mechanic in san francisco has had my 1986 gs450L for about three weeks and has made NO progress on it! now he's convinced that he can't fix it so

 

[Anonymous]

hi there,

thanks for the encouraging post but, i'm a student that lives in a mechanical-work-unfriendly apartment complex, so it'd be tough to say the least to work on the bike. plus i have no access to tools of any sort aside from a basic set of socket wrenches that i have ....

i'd really like to avoid taking this bike to the stealership - but the mechanics i've contacted in the area don't seem able/willing to work on a mid-80s suzuki with a finicky electrical system.

any other suggestions?

 

[earlfor]

Ok then, I understand in your situation its impractical to do it yourself.
I would look for a small privately owned shop. One preferably with an owner/mechanic and possibly one other helper mechanic. Look for someone that is old enough to have been a mech in the 1980's. Youre looking for a guy that is probably 45+ years old and has been wrenching before the advent of computer chips, mapping, fuel injection and all the new computer analysis crap. Youre looking for someone that can work on a bike using their head and their experience rather than needing a machine to tell them which part to replace. If there is a local bike business that sells/trade used bikes, they may be interested in doing the work for you.
If not, they will know who in the area is reliable and does good work.
Independent shops that repair and sell dirt bikes would also be a good source of locating a decent mechanic.

I would stay away from any large volume new bike dealerships. My experience is all they want to do is shove bikes out the door and collect their money. The couldnt care less if the bike is actually fixed. I used to wrench for a dealer 25 years ago and the attitude towards customers was one of the reasons I quit.

Earl

hi there,

thanks for the encouraging post but, i'm a student that lives in a mechanical-work-unfriendly apartment complex, so it'd be tough to say the least to work on the bike. plus i have no access to tools of any sort aside from a basic set of socket wrenches that i have ....

i'd really like to avoid taking this bike to the stealership - but the mechanics i've contacted in the area don't seem able/willing to work on a mid-80s suzuki with a finicky electrical system.

any other suggestions?

 

[Mr. Jiggles]

You can try Doug's motorcycle repair in San Mateo - 1053 S Claremont St, San Mateo, CA 94402 (650) 570-6768. I've used him just for tires so far and he gave me a great deal on a set of metzelers. He seems to run a honest and busy shop.

You might want to get a multimeter and run some simple tests yourself before sending it off to another mechanic. I think that there's more combined knowledge about GS's here in GSR than you're likely to find in any mechanic.

 

[Anonymous]

hi earl,

thanks for the tips, when i picked up a few parts at a salvage yard in hayward i was impressed by how the workers ran the shop and the customer care/attention to detail they seemed to exhibit.

thanks also for confirming my opinion of dealerships! i would like to avoid them at all costs...

 

[Anonymous]

hi mr. jiggles,

thanks for the contact info! i will give him a call and see what's up...

yeah, actually the other thing i was a bit worried about was whether my mechanic was testing the components right - he tested them according to specs found in the haynes manual for my bike, but i dunno - i already sunk $350 in parts not knowing if that was completely necessary.