Did I pay to much?

Message

Beer Runner · Thu Sep 08, 2005 5:23 pm

I have a 1981 XJ650 and the carbs were shot, I could only get 79 km from a tank full of gas. I took my bike in and as it turned out they need to replace a lot of parts on the carbs. This is the first time the carbs are worked on so I expect to pay. I was told the bike will be ready next week and the cost will be around $675.00 CDN. Is this to much for totaly rebuilding the carbs? I was thinking it would cost about $400.00 for this kind of work.

Wizzard · #2 Unread post by **Wizzard** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 6:10 pm

That seems a little excessive to me . However I do not know how that would transpose into USD .
Regards, Wizzard

Scott58 · #3 Unread post by **Scott58** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 6:16 pm

Time to learn how to rebuild carbs.

Toyuzu · #4 Unread post by **Toyuzu** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 6:44 pm

It does sound a bit steep, but probably close to current competitive pricing in Canadian dollars. Repair work on bikes tends to be costly, due to a shortage of available competition. The more popular bikes become, the more affordable repairs will be.

TechTMW · #5 Unread post by **TechTMW** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 7:20 pm

Toyuzu wrote:It does sound a bit steep, but probably close to current competitive pricing in Canadian dollars. Repair work on bikes tends to be costly, due to a shortage of available competition. The more popular bikes become, the more affordable repairs will be.

I'd have to disagree... With four-cylinder bike carbs going the way of the Dodo, I think prices to do carb work are going to increase over the long haul. New factory service trained techs spend more lime learning how to computer diagnose problems than actually doing something like learning the ins and outs of carburettors.

As someone else mentioned - Time to learn how to do your own work!

For the Original poster - That price is excessive. You might want to try and find an independant shop - that sounds more like a dealership service price ... If that is an independant shop, you might want to learn how to work on your own stuff.

Chip Beazley · Fri Sep 09, 2005 1:17 am

From my experience the price seems in line. A friend of mine rebuilt the carbs for his Vmax himself and the parts alone were just over $400 from a discount mailorder warehouse. If he had gone to the dealer for the same parts the total would have been closer to $700. This was for jets, needles and replacing all the rubber parts which had gotten hard or brittle over the years on 4 carbs. Sad to say, but motorcycle parts are outrageously expensive.

paul246 · #7 Unread post by **paul246** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 4:16 am

Dealer quote for a friend's CB900 4 carb rebuild was $650.00cdn, so you are in the ballpark. As mentioned, you might find an independant to do it cheaper. It is not cheap no matter who does it, unless you are capable of doing it yourself.

Beer Runner · Fri Sep 09, 2005 5:48 am

Good I feel better now that $675.00 is a fair price. I do my own work on the bike most times but the carbs I don't touch.

We only have one dealership in this town and they said they can do the work. When I called the Yamaha dealer they told me they don't work on bikes more then 6 years old.

BTW $675 is about $500 USD I think.

canuckerjay · Sun Sep 11, 2005 11:25 am

I agree - sounds like it's in the ballpark. But if you've got a decent repair manual, and aren't in an EXTREME rush, you could order the necessary parts and do it yourself.

I always feel guilty paying someone to do what I know I could pull off myself with a bit of reading and patience.

sidecarguy · Mon Sep 12, 2005 1:10 am

hmm i shudof done it yerself!

you'd not only learn about your carbs,

but it could've been lot cheaper!