shop tryin to rip me off !!86 500

I got ripped off in Illinois, too!

About 5-6 years ago. It was in the northwest suburbs, a town called Wauconda. I believe the name of the place was J&K Cycles (We specialize in vintage japanese!). The owner said that he and his mechanic used to work for Bonzai Motorsports in Libertyville, which had a sterling reputation when I was growing up there. I had acquired a 1977 Gold wing, which two shops refused to work on because it was so old. Long story short: He rebuilt my forks, and forgot to put in one of the pinch bolts. Noticed it missing the next day. And then there was a big bill for 1000 that it didn't run right on the way home. He had criss-crossed the #1/#3 ignition wires!
Last time I've been to a shop. Got a manual, got on a Goldwing Forum and started doing EVERYTHING in my garage. If I had that 1000 dollars back, I would have some kick-ass tools in my garage! (a lift, a timing/tach tool, some Motion Pro items, a tire changer,... etc)

 

I'm also questioning the gasket sets! I paid about $45 for a set for one carb from the local Honda stealership (thinking it was for all 4, going by the exploded view, bad on me) so their price is ok on that, but why are there 2 gasket sets?

On the labor charge, if they have a labor guide, that is what they go by. It doesn't matter how long it actually takes, that's up to the technician to get it done in that amount of time. That's exactly how I work (automotive repair) so if it takes me 30 mins to do a 2 hour job, I'm doing well. There are a few jobs out there that just cannot be done in the amount of time published in the labor guide, or aren't published.

Other than the clutch being terribly expensive, and the doubling up on the gaskets, it all looks ok, as long as they can show you where they got the 10 hours of labor. It's not very professional to just throw a line in there saying 10 hours labor, without explaining it. We put the labor in for each job, so there would be a labor charge for the clutch, another for the carbs, etc.... We don't voluntarily offer up what the labor TIME is, unless asked, we just put a dollar amount to it, and most people are fine with that, just knowing how much it cost them for that particular job.

 

I bought my OEM Honda clutch and installed it last year from one of the on line Honda Dealers. The friction and steel plates plus the spring washer was around $85 for all of it. You paid about $200. That's a nice markup to get. The after market clutches were less than the OEM.

If your mechanically inclined you should get a manual, might be able to down load an OEM for your bike. Then start doing your own work. There's a lot of help here and on several other sites you could use. Or find someone else to work on your bike. Did they do a good job though?

 

They must have charged 2 hours labor for the time they waited while the new clutch friction discs soaked in oil.

I would demand an itemized labor breakdown, at the very least, and where those parts went on the bike.

Then buy a service manual (or FIND one online, they're EVERYWHERE for free), and start doing your own work.

 

Before you TAr and feather the guys at the shop . calmly and rationally sit down with the owner (you know him personally) and ask him to go over the bill with you.. he is a businessman and should not be offended at the request... as far as getting screwed. calm down a bit and don't letall these monkeys on the forum get you all head up to do something irrational..... (love to all you monkeys)

remember step 1) go talk to him
step 2) get anunderstanding of what he charged
step 3) get your own book and do the work from now on..

Hope you get it taken care of

Cheers

Crusty

 

I agree with Krusty. Maybe you can get the owner to go halfsies on another large economy size tube of K-Y Jelly.

:biggrin:

 

Yea....good idea. :thumbsup:

 

Costs

I do not think you got burned......Just for the record.The shop has the right to make money and the costs to pay a mechanic,turn the lights on,pay the insurance (probably a whopper), lease the building, blah,blah,blah. I have owned an automotive repair shop and the costs of doing buisness is staggering. You got quite a bit of work done and parts to boot.Just my opinion.

 

I agree crusty, I was trying to get some understanding out there of how things are on the other side. The only big questions I would have are the gaskets being there twice, and some detail on the labor, even if it's a verbal ballpark version.

The amount you paid SEEMS a bit high, but I don't think it's to the point of them ripping you off, unless the gaskets are bveing charged for twice, when it should only be once!

 

toe cutter

I agree with you, I just want to know how when I call them on monday the 24th he said the total was $900 and they were still waiting to install the petcock and the fuel lines. then they called me on the 26th and the bill was now 1383.00. I will pay the total for the work done. I believe a man should be paid for the work he has done. I just want to know what he did between monday and wenesday to raise the bill $500!

 

this is the actual work order form

 

Ya nice poker pop up

 

Looks like they charged you twice for the gasket set 16010-MF2-711 and at a very good markup. This link is approximately what some dealers sell for. They do get it less than the posted price in the link.
http://www.shspowersports.com/fiche...ry=MOTORCYCLES&make=HONDA&year=1986&fveh=3906

You should be able to have them refund you for the double charge of the gasket kit for the carbs. What's really bogus is the same part number and two different prices for it. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Just noticed the dates. They had your bike for about a month and a half?? Yes they have to make a profit to keep the business open. But all on one bike???

 

I agree. I must quote my jobs to customers and I am very careful that I always come in UNDER the quote or I will eat it.It does sound like the service writer was taking a very lazy attitude about dealing with you.Loss of trust with customer is like cancer.

 

talked to the owner

So O talked to the owner about the whole deal and he said that he would look into it in the mourning, he doesn't work in that part of the store and was not told about it at all so I am wondering if they were tryin to pull one over on me not expecting me to know the owner?

 

Any updates did you get the issue resolved?

 

Dude, for real, on a V4 Honda???

 

Clean carbs=one hour??

 

Putting new discs and friction plates in a VF500 only takes 30min tops unless you take a crap in the middle.. then it might get bumped up to an hour. My guess is they rounded up their time. 43min = 1hr type of thing. I would say 3hrs for cleaning and adjusting the carbs is reasonable. You have to figure in the fact that this mechanic might have never worked on a VF500 or a VF at all before so things would naturally take a little longer. Plus it is not HIS bike

 

BUT, what does a labor guide say it takes? I'm sure there are published times for most of this stuff. That is how stuff get's billed, and how the guy working on it makes money. If it says 1.2 hours, takes 30 minutes, the guy's doing pretty well. From the view of the customer it's questionable, that's why many shops don't list the labor time, just a dollar amount.

I'm speaking of how things work in an automotive shop, and I would think it's pretty similar in a bike shop. Correct me if I'm wrong..