Dry Rot?

Message

SilentComposer · Wed Jul 18, 2007 2:08 pm

Hey everyone.

Here is the deal. I bought my 2000 Ninja EX250 about a month ago but started noticing a few issues with it. Not really knowing much mechanical stuff I decided to take it to a shop to see if they could diagnose the problem. Well I came out with $700 worth of repairs needing to be done. I am not sure if they are just trying to take me for a sucker or if the guy who sold it to me was just a bad lemon. I have talked to the guy who sold it to me and he says they are just trying to suck money out of me.

Apparently according to the shop both of my tires have dry rot(Among other things). My question for you guys is, is there some way I can tell myself if the tires have dry rot?

The guy who sold me the bike wants me to take the bike back to him so he can look at it. I am not sure who to trust. Someone is trying to trick me... I just don't know who.

According to the diagnostic-

My bike needs

To repair an oil leak-
Clean and rebuild the carburetor-
Replace both rear and front tire due to dry rot-
Tighten my handle bar-
Repair and hook-up my front turn signals-

There might be a couple more minor things I am missing but some of this stuff looks like I can do it myself. Or do you think it's reasonable to pay $736 total?

Parts $239
Labor $454
Other $20

Is that reasonable?

Alright, sorry for the long winded post. I appreciate any help.

(Sorry if the post isn't clear, it was a long story and I tried to spare any details that were not important)

#2 Unread post by **Sev** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 3:06 pm

Seems about right... you're looking at aprox $100-150 per tire, plus 0.8hours each to change. I'm not sure what shop rates are like down there.

Where is it leaking oil? The place determines how much it'll cost to fix, but throw in $20 for gaskets.

Electrical stuff takes time and you need to be careful with it so that'll add to the labour.

And rebuilding a carb bank properly takes a couple hours... so all in all that seems pretty fair to me, depending on what the shop rate is.

As for your tires, if they look dull, or show cracking it's time to replace them. How old are the tires? Don't expect to get more then 4 years out of a set. Tires on a 250 are prettttttttty cheap because they're small, and really they're all that stands between you and the ground, so it's worth while to keep on top of stuff like that in my opinion.

Gnarlyroad · Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:12 pm

Pretty normal for a shop. Do some learning about your bike. Do some of the work yourself. For instance the shop charges (here) 80$ an hour to remove your tires and rims, then charges for tire replacement , then charges to replace said tires and rims. Easy to do yourself and save a few bucks. Remove the tires and rims take them in replace tires reinstall your self. Got a volt meter check the wiring to the turn sigs yourself or hey check the bulbs first. Hope you got or bought the repair manual for the bike. Some oil leaks are relatively easy to fix. Did they say where the leak is. Carbs can be a pain but if I can remove them then just about anyone can. Then if you don't feel confident to do it yourself take them in then reinstall yourself. Hey you'll learn lots about the bike and yourself.

Have fun and ride safe.

Johnj · #4 Unread post by **Johnj** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 4:48 am

Sounds about right for this area also. Get a manual, and a set of tools and have a go at it.

SilentComposer · Thu Jul 19, 2007 6:47 am

Excellent, thanks for the replies everyone.

I think I will try and do as much as I can myself, and for the stuff I don't feel confident in I'll just take it in. Where can I get my manual for this bike? 2000 Kawasaki EX250 Ninja

Johnj · #6 Unread post by **Johnj** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 7:26 am

You might want to look here.