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You're all correct, local shops/waste of money.

  • Thread starter Thread starter oldpara
  • Start date Start date
caligs said:
So the moral of the story is that you should take up on those offers these guys give you close to you,you'll never regret it.(except if the guy's name is NOS of course).Cheers:)..Gabor
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LMAO!!!!

Daniel
 
That was funny.

Seriously, be appreciative of any effort they put in and you'll be okay. Just trust yourself and ask questions as needed. Heck, if i can do work on my bike than anyone can.
 
With the little wrenchin skills I have and GS resource. I get by fairly well thanks to everyone who shares info cause its made it a lot more understandable and enjoyable ,Maybe even a better speller LOL
 
tlg1100 said:
With the little wrenchin skills I have and GS resource. I get by fairly well thanks to everyone who shares info cause its made it a lot more understandable and enjoyable ,Maybe even a better speller LOL
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It isn't called the General Spelling Resources for nothing. hehe

Earl
 
no shops for me

no shops for me

I recently bought a 80 GS750E. I got it cheap because it was leaking oil bad and randomly dying. Took it to all three local shops.... Two of them laughed at it and said they wouldnt touch it and one said 1,200 to fix it.

Then I came here and got excellent info and help and bought a valve cover gasket and cam seals on ebay for 30 bucks. Changed the valve cover gasket in 45 min, ( most of the time spent carefully scraping off old gasket ). Cleaned all of the electrical connections,changed the oil and filter, and now she runs perfect and leaks NO oil for under 50 bucks.

I am so glad I found this place and for all the great people here, sad how the shops wanted to burn me or told me to scrap the bike.

Jerry
 
The shops are really not in business to burn you. They are, however, going to do whatever they can to keep themselves from being burned, and if that leaves you feeling a little hot, so be it.

Working on a random 25 year old bike is a thankless job for them; the owner will complain at the prices, there's probably fifteen things wrong with the bike that the owner didn't tell them (or know) about, and any specified fault is probably due to three different failures anyway.

Once in a while you will find an artist that, like us, appreciates old iron and is

  • Masochistic enough to take on a project,
  • while being financially healthy enough to allow them to basically subsidize your request,
  • while having the skills and experience to do so.
That is NOT a combination you can plan on, however!
 
lol

lol

Sooo if a shop quotes me 1,200 dollars to change a valve cover gasket that is not trying to burn me ? That would be your opinion. Why is it harder for them to change a valve cover gasket on my 31 year old bike than a new one ? The shop told me one reason my quote was so high was they would have to remove my fairing. It is 4 bolts, LOL.

You might have had good experiences with shops, but I have been to many and every single time they tried to take advantage of me. I know they have high overhead and understand they must charge 65+ am hour to make any money. But quoting me 12 hours of labor and 400+ dollars for parts to change a valve cover gasket is a total rip off. And your entitled to your opinion that since our bikes are old they are justified in charging us way more than a newer bike but I could not disagree more.

IMHO there are probably good shops out there that are just trying to make ends meet, and you must of dealt with some, but the ones I have dealt with were trying to burn me so the owner could have 4,000 dollar wheels on his hummer, LOL.

Jerry
 
smokydog said:
Sooo if a shop quotes me 1,200 dollars to change a valve cover gasket that is not trying to burn me ? That would be your opinion. Why is it harder for them to change a valve cover gasket on my 31 year old bike than a new one ? The shop told me one reason my quote was so high was they would have to remove my fairing. It is 4 bolts, LOL.

You might have had good experiences with shops, but I have been to many and every single time they tried to take advantage of me. I know they have high overhead and understand they must charge 65+ am hour to make any money. But quoting me 12 hours of labor and 400+ dollars for parts to change a valve cover gasket is a total rip off. And your entitled to your opinion that since our bikes are old they are justified in charging us way more than a newer bike but I could not disagree more.

IMHO there are probably good shops out there that are just trying to make ends meet, and you must of dealt with some, but the ones I have dealt with were trying to burn me so the owner could have 4,000 dollar wheels on his hummer, LOL.

Jerry
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My experience with shops is that the are generally VERY much against working on any bike more than about 5 years old. Older than that, instead of just telling the customer no, they give them a quote equal to what the bike is worth regardless of what the work would be. You want a turn signal bulb changed, uhh $1200.00 and it'll take about two weeks if we can find the time to do it. LOL I was quoted $180.00 and three weeks to put a new tire on a rim and I was going to take them the rim and new tire. That was the last time I asked a shop to do anything, never again.

Earl
 
oldpara said:
SNIP
He says I can usually tune a HD carb(s) fine but four are too difficult, don't really have the equipment and it would cost you too much ($400-500). SNIP
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another reason I love twins :)
 
davidduarte said:
another reason I love twins :)
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About 9 times out of 10, it takes less than 60 seconds to vacuum synch a 4 carb rack on a GS. Once in a while, they don't want to cooperate and it might take two or three minutes.

Earl
 
With a shop repair manual and this forum there is no need to look for a mechanic for your GS.

.02
 
jwhelan65 said:
With a shop repair manual and this forum there is no need to look for a mechanic for your GS.

.02
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QFT. Even if you have to buy expensive tools, it's STILL cheaper to bite the bullet and grab the tool, do the job yourself and be sure it's done right.
 
I have nothing against dealer prices BUT then again my bike has never been in a shop. Neither has my car. The money you save can buy some nice tools !!!
 
earlfor said:
About 9 times out of 10, it takes less than 60 seconds to vacuum synch a 4 carb rack on a GS. Once in a while, they don't want to cooperate and it might take two or three minutes.

Earl
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On my last sync I didn't run out of fuel in the bowls.
 
I find it the same way with machine shops. I was quoted $120 to cut new intake seats on my head (8 intake valves). I found I could buy the tool to do the job for $110, and I can use it over and over again:cool:
 
gearhead13 said:
I find it the same way with machine shops. I was quoted $120 to cut new intake seats on my head (8 intake valves). I found I could buy the tool to do the job for $110, and I can use it over and over again:cool:
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To do it CORRECTLY takes 3 different cutters. Call it a MINIMUM of 2. You can get ONE cutter for 110 bucks but not the 3 it takes to do the job CORRECTLY! Just trying to keep someone from getting bad information about doing valve jobs. I have a Serdi that uses a machined cutter that cuts the entire "radiused" seat shape all at once. Ray.
 
I wouldn't trust my local shop to patch a ripped seat with duct tape.

I'd be impressed if they could figure out where the choke is on my 78.
 
rapidray said:
To do it CORRECTLY takes 3 different cutters. Call it a MINIMUM of 2. You can get ONE cutter for 110 bucks but not the 3 it takes to do the job CORRECTLY! Just trying to keep someone from getting bad information about doing valve jobs. I have a Serdi that uses a machined cutter that cuts the entire "radiused" seat shape all at once. Ray.
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I didnt mean it to sound like you only need one cutter to do the job. I already have 3 of them as well as pilots etc. The one 45 deg cutter I have does a good job on exhaust valves, but is too small for the larger intakes, so I needed a bigger cutter. Especially since I was going to open the seats up for bigger valves.
 
I have been listening to all of the stories about taking your bikes to your local mechanic. i have been through all that this summer and haven't had a chance to ride at all. Everything on my bike is new, (carbs, rectifier, gas tank, coils, etc.) just cant get everything to sync properly. Nobody wants to touch it. (78 GS1000). I think I have found a guy in Va. That works on nothing but vintage bikes. Randy's Cycle & Restoration. Has anyone heard of this guy ? any feedback would be helpful .
 
Geronimo, where do you live compared to this guy in VA? THe carbs CANNOT be synched properly if they are not on the bike. Put your location in your profile so if someone is close by they can possibly come help.
 
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