i hate mechanics!

[yotaman423]

why is that most mechanics wont touch these older bikes? and every one i talked to always says "your carbs are dirty". or suzuki is known for having electrical problems. then i proceed to tell them i have checked over the electrical and cleaned the carbs. then they dismiss what i tell them because im not a mechanic or you dont know what your doin. i hate askin for experience and walkin away feelin like im an idiot. im about done with this this freakin bike.

 

[Steve]

Two reasons, mainly.

1. A 30-year old bike usually has very rusty bolts that will mess up the flat-rate labor that has been set for that particular project.

2. The machine is probably older than the "mechanic" who is only trained to hook the machine up to a computer that reads the sensors and will tell him what part to replace.



I have not been following your threads, what problems are you having with your bike, and what bike is it?

.

 

[Nessism]

I've seen countless threads here where some newbie "cleaned" his carbs, when in reality the only thing they did was a half way job. If I were a paid mechanic I wouldn't believe people saying they performed this work either. If the person was properly capable of cleaning their carbs they wouldn't be looking for a mechanic to wrench for them anyway.

 

[Guest]

firstly i took my Gs1000s to our local suzuki dealer to set me carbs up,the workshop
foreman came out his words were "wot is that never seen one like that before did it come off Noahs Ark".

few months later took it to be put on Dyno at another dealer done couple runs come
out and says who ever set it done great job just about spot on with AFR ,90BHp 68lbs, torque, he says i can get better so he ****zz about with fuel mixture screws and bugger it totaly now got to pay the guy who set it up for to get it right again he isnt happy.

 

[Adler]

firstly i took my Gs1000s to our local suzuki dealer to set me carbs up,the workshop
foreman came out his words were "wot is that never seen one like that before did it come off Noahs Ark".

few months later took it to be put on Dyno at another dealer done couple runs come
out and says who ever set it done great job just about spot on with AFR ,90BHp 68lbs, torque, he says i can get better so he ****zz about with fuel mixture screws and bugger it totaly now got to pay the guy who set it up for to get it right again he isnt happy.

I dont know how things actually work because I've never been to a mechanic, but I would definitely get the guy that messed up your settings to pay for it to be fixed.

 

[Guest]

I dont know how things actually work because I've never been to a mechanic, but I would definitely get the guy that messed up your settings to pay for it to be fixed.

Yep we will see tomorow brings when the old boy gets his hand on it,these were the bikes?.
he was brought up on these bikes and raced them himself so he knows what he is doing with them.
he just hate sorting other peoples work out.
"if it works ok leave it well alone".

 

[Nessism]

I dont know how things actually work because I've never been to a mechanic, but I would definitely get the guy that messed up your settings to pay for it to be fixed.

It's only two screws. Better to learn how to adjust them yourself instead of being dependent on some mechanic to make your bike run properly.

 

[Adler]

It's only two screws. Better to learn how to adjust them yourself instead of being dependent on some mechanic to make your bike run properly.

I couldn't agree more but once you've paid a guy to do something to your bike and they not only don't improve on it but make it worse. On principle, that guy better make it right!

 

[bluewool]

I couldn't agree more but once you've paid a guy to do something to your bike and they not only don't improve on it but make it worse. On principle, that guy better make it right!

It is rare to find a tradesman today with principles other than, "xx/hr two 15minute coffees, and 1/2 hour lunch" when expressions like "Looks good from my house" are handed down as inspiration from foremen.

 

[yotaman423]

80 GS850 i have done the top ten in the mega- welcome. followed bass cliff carb cleaning guide to the T new cycleorings. followed the stator papers flow chart for elec. testing. the bike seems to run great around town good off idle transition pulls strong through all gears. but on three different occations at about 50-60 mph (about 1/4 throttle?) the bike starts to bogg like its starving for gas or air or something. i can slow down or pull over and it fine. so i dont understand what is happening. im just frustrated guys. i completely understand the mechanics reasons for not wanting to work on older bikes

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

why is that most mechanics wont touch these older bikes? and every one i talked to always says "your carbs are dirty". or suzuki is known for having electrical problems. then i proceed to tell them i have checked over the electrical and cleaned the carbs. then they dismiss what i tell them because im not a mechanic or you dont know what your doin. i hate askin for experience and walkin away feelin like im an idiot. im about done with this this freakin bike.

I was an Auto Technician for 17 years at local Dealerships. In their defence, you do get vehicles in that the owner tried to repair him self and that usually made it more difficult.
Now, thats no reason to treat you, the customer, with and disrespect.
I also agree that at Flate rate, he may loose money but then is the time to offer to repair it on straight time. Pay me for the actual time I have in it. Sounds to me like he just didn't want to do it...

 

[motorcyclebaby]

Too bad you're not in NYC. I know a few great mechanics in Brooklyn.

 

[Charlie G]

80 GS850 i have done the top ten in the mega- welcome. followed bass cliff carb cleaning guide to the T new cycleorings. followed the stator papers flow chart for elec. testing. the bike seems to run great around town good off idle transition pulls strong through all gears. but on three different occations at about 50-60 mph (about 1/4 throttle?) the bike starts to bogg like its starving for gas or air or something. i can slow down or pull over and it fine. so i dont understand what is happening. im just frustrated guys. i completely understand the mechanics reasons for not wanting to work on older bikes

Sounds like what my 450 did when the petcock was going out.

 

[bluewool]

Sounds like what my 450 did when the petcock was going out.

Yeah, mine would behave similarly on prime too.

 

[yotaman423]

i will add that when i bought this bike last summer i rode a 900 mile round trip to GA. and it ran fine.

 

[Nessism]

i will add that when i bought this bike last summer i rode a 900 mile round trip to GA. and it ran fine.

What did you do to the bike prior to your trip? Were the valves adjusted? Fresh O-rings inside the carbs and on the intake boots? Seal up the airbox? Check the charging system and fix any bad grounds? Guess what I'm driving at is...old bikes need maintenance and just because they are running okay at some point doesn't mean there are not mechanical issues lurking just around the corner because of bad maintenance. For example, I've rebuilt about a dozen sets of old motorcycle carbs in the last few years and each and every set had hard/brittle/cracking O-rings inside. Some of these bikes would have run with these old O-rings, but it would have only been short lived.

 

[bluewool]

What did you do to the bike prior to your trip? Were the valves adjusted? Fresh O-rings inside the carbs and on the intake boots? Seal up the airbox? Check the charging system and fix any bad grounds? Guess what I'm driving at is...old bikes need maintenance and just because they are running okay at some point doesn't mean there are not mechanical issues lurking just around the corner because of bad maintenance. For example, I've rebuilt about a dozen sets of old motorcycle carbs in the last few years and each and every set had hard/brittle/cracking O-rings inside. Some of these bikes would have run with these old O-rings, but it would have only been short lived.

see post #10

 

[DanTheMan]

Check out the petcock, it may have some lint around the pickup tube in the tank. I've had that happen before, happens a lot in early spring, fall, cold weather in general. Comes from gloves usually. Also, make sure your gas cap is venting properly, there's a vent hole in the lip on the tank that has to be open.
Of course, another possibility is the diaphragm in the petcock is disintegrating and clogging the screens in the carbs.

 

[steve murdoch]

I like the idea from DantheMan about a clogged gas tank vent. It might not be practical to do but if you are riding it and it happens again crack the gas tank lid and see if it changes anything.
Another area to check...i had similar symptoms with a GS1000 that would start to bog after 5 minutes of riding. Turned out to be a cracked/aged coil that would take that long to heat up, expand, and kill two cylinders. Pull over at the side of the road for 10 minutes, things would cool down and the problem would go away.

 

[Mr.Blue]

why is that most mechanics wont touch these older bikes? and every one i talked to always says "your carbs are dirty". or suzuki is known for having electrical problems. then i proceed to tell them i have checked over the electrical and cleaned the carbs. then they dismiss what i tell them because im not a mechanic or you dont know what your doin. i hate askin for experience and walkin away feelin like im an idiot. im about done with this this freakin bike.

Ok let me start by saying your problem is taking your bike to a "mechanic" when you should have taken your bike to a technician. Another poster is correct about the rust thing. also the biggest thing that keeps technicians from embracing your diagnostic testing conclusion is because he doesn?t know you or your technical ability and if he goes on your word that the electrical system is fine and spends 2 hours looking at different system?s and it dose end up being a electrical problem he?s out cash from believing you.

example that happened to me recently:
customer came in and told me his window didn't go down so he "tested" the window regulator and found it to be bad. After he dropped his car off i tested the switch and then the regulator and the switch was bad. less than 1 hr (1hr min.) of my time and 30$ in parts the customer was out the door for 70$......if i took his word and replaced the regulator it would cost more than 2x that amount not including labor to not solve the problem and I?m sure the customer would pay that without a problem^o

source: myself, formally educated auto technician