Total Motorcycle Community Forums

What kind of rates are you all seeing at your dealerships and shops?
The dealerships out here are between 70 and 85 dollars an hour! I think that's nuts. There are no bike shops around so we are at the mercy of the dealerships.....

VulcanNasty wrote:What kind of rates are you all seeing at your dealerships and shops?
The dealerships out here are between 70 and 85 dollars an hour! I think that's nuts. There are no bike shops around so we are at the mercy of the dealerships.....

I'm not at the mercy of any shops for any work short of machine work, so I don't know what the three local shops charge. I can tell you why they charge so much: they have special training your average motorcycle mechanic probably doesn't have. They also have access to a large network of other techs who work on the same things day in and day out. You pay for their knowledge, which makes the tech's time more valuable.

B.S. they charge that much because they know we can't go anywere else. I need to get a front tire mounted, and they are calling this a 1.0hr job. I turned wrenches for 3yrs and we could bust a whole truck in an hour.

Indeed, they have the market cornered and are exploiting it.

You pay doctors for their knowledge, you pay mechanics to fix your bike.

Basic stuff shouldn't leave you with 3/4 of your limbs.



Now, advanced crap (like rebuilding an engine) sure, I can see that.

On a truck, if you "fudge" up on a wheel you dent a rim, or run off the road.

If you "fudge" up a wheel on a bike... you'll be very lucky if your customer doesn't dump the bike. So the mechanic needs to be certain that the job he did was perfect, otherwise you the customer might be laying on the side of the road, because your brake failed to engage. Or because the axle bearings are wrecked, or because a cotter pin is missing.

However, if you are a mechanic, capable - as you said - of being able to pull apart a truck in a hour you should be able to easily change and balance your own tire. Everything carries right over from a truck to a bike, but you only need to balance the wheel in the static plane.

Now... why does it cost so much? Well up here there is a masive labour shortage. As in Alberta needs about 200,000 more workers or labourers. So if you have skills like the ability to service and repair a motorcycle then you carry with you a high value. Especially when teenagers are making $15 an hour working at a donut shop.

Average mechanic is making between $25 and $35 an hour, to which you need to add costs like, rent, heat, electricity, bike lifts, other electronics, specialised tools, and the models sitting on the floor.

Yes, part of the reason the prices for maintenance are so high is because they can charge that much. But like was said above there are very few people willing to do the work, and there are fewer still who are good at it. So with more and more bikes ending up on the street, the value of the knowledge the bike mechanic has inceases.

wow sev, yer just getting all smart and stuff with that there fancy school dealy yer goin to.

It just bothers me when someone says something like, "they shouldn't be charging me this much, because I can do the same work in 1/4 the time." Then do the work in 1/4 the time and save yourself the money. There is nothing about a tire change that you cannot do yourself with ease (and a little training). This includes balancing the tire.

The thing is, if they trusted their own work it wouldn't be an issue. But they want a professional to work on their bikes... just don't want to pay for the training that makes them a professional.

Sevulturus wrote:It just bothers me when someone says something like, "they shouldn't be charging me this much, because I can do the same work in 1/4 the time." Then do the work in 1/4 the time and save yourself the money. There is nothing about a tire change that you cannot do yourself with ease (and a little training). This includes balancing the tire.

The thing is, if they trusted their own work it wouldn't be an issue. But they want a professional to work on their bikes... just don't want to pay for the training that makes them a professional.

thats why I do all my own work except for the tires. I dont trust myself in balancing tires because I dont know how to properly do it. I could, however, bring it to my uncle who has the equipment and would do it for free but then that would require a 14 hour trip lol.

Sevulturus wrote:It just bothers me when someone says something like, "they shouldn't be charging me this much, because I can do the same work in 1/4 the time."

I think most people have a problem with the factory flat rate charts.

It's like the joke about the lawyer that died at 35, he asked St. Peter why he died so young. St. Peter checked his book and said "we checked your time sheets and thought you were 105 years old."

If shops charged on a "real-hours" basis, there wouldn't be such hate. You can justify the flat rate charts seven ways to Sunday, but that's the main thing that upsets people.

Seca Girl wrote:

Sevulturus wrote:It just bothers me when someone says something like, "they shouldn't be charging me this much, because I can do the same work in 1/4 the time."

I think most people have a problem with the factory flat rate charts.

It's like the joke about the lawyer that died at 35, he asked St. Peter why he died so young. St. Peter checked his book and said "we checked your time sheets and thought you were 105 years old."

If shops charged on a "real-hours" basis, there wouldn't be such hate. You can justify the flat rate charts seven ways to Sunday, but that's the main thing that upsets people.

very true. Just like when I had the tires replaced on my mini van (hey its done for free when you buy the tires). they told me I needed my front brakes replaced (Duh I already new that at the time and I knew they were going to try and CON me into paying up for the service). They said 3 hours to replace the brakes and that would be $190 for the labor. WTF took me a total of 45 minutes to replace the front pads and at the time I was making $20/hr so it cost me $15 to replace my brake pads myself. The only reason it took me 45 minutes, however, is it was the first time replacing the pads on a GM vehicle. Only did it on Fords before this time lol.