Total Motorcycle Community Forums

A shout out to the Minnesota Riders!!

I need your help locating a respectable motorcycle shop in the Northwest Metro area. My 2003 Ninja 250 needs to have the carbs cleaned. There’s a shop in Fridley called A & M Cycle that I’ve done business with before and have been really happy with the service and turnover. However, I stopped in yesterday to get an idea of what a carb cleaning would cost and was surprised by what the guy told me. He stated that regardless of how many carbs the bike has, the Ninja 250 has 2, the cost is about the same from bike to bike regardless if the bike has two or four carbs. The guy stated it would cost around $250 plus parts. Does that seem right? I’ve never had to have carbs cleaned before but that seems high to me.

So two questions…

1) Where would YOU bring your bike for carb cleaning?
2) What do think it SHOULD cost?

Thank you for your input

Keep in mind they need to spend time removing the carbs from the bike, then disassembling, cleaning, replacing gaskets and reassembling them. After installation they need to be adjusted and synched, so I don't think $250 is too far out of line for a job like this.

I'm with Gummi on this one, the reason its probably not too much different from 2 to 4 is that they have to remove them anyway, and taking out a set of 2 or a set of 4 is basically the same thing (they're kind of connected together aren't they?) Labor is basically what you're paying for, but if you've been to the shop before and they treat you right and the bike, 250 isn't that crazy for something that only has to be done every X amount of miles.

How many miles are on the bike? Why do you think the carbs need to be cleaned? I've got over 15,000 on my Rebel and at every oil change I put an oz or 2 of gumout in the tank. The bike runs like new.

I pulled my own carbs off my 83 XS400 and had them cleaned in a dip tank at a small engine repair place for $40.

Scott58 wrote:How many miles are on the bike? Why do you think the carbs need to be cleaned? I've got over 15,000 on my Rebel and at every oil change I put an oz or 2 of gumout in the tank. The bike runs like new.

Guess I should have given a little history about the bike. I just bought the bike with 229 miles on it about a month ago. The bike is a 2003 so its been sitting most of its life. The previous owner mentioned before I bought it that the bike would only run with the choke on even after warmed up. I have 700 miles on it now and I've run carb cleaner through the first two tank fulls and I currently have Seafoam in the third tank full. After adjusting the idle screw the bike typically idles around 1,600 rpm on a typical day. On a warmer day in stop and go traffic the bike idles at 4,000 at stop lights. If I adjust the idle screw to lower the rpm, the next morning it idles to low. As you can imagine I'm tired of the constant idle adjustments. I just assume that the carbs are gummed and need cleaning. Maybe not?