Does this sound right?

KawiKid860 · October 28th, 2011, 03:27 PM

So I just made a call to our motorcycle shop who's doing the 7500 mile service on my bike to see why they hadn't called me to tell me my bikes ready yet and what the price was going to be. Well their reason for not calling me was because my valves needed to be serviced (tight on exhaust, loose on intake). They also did an oil and oil filter change of course, and changed out my spark plugs and brake fluid because according to them both were beyond their due date (he said plugs had served their time and the fluid in my calipers was nasty and gummy and much worse than the already bad stuff in the reservoirs) now I'm waiting for about another hour for my carb sync and reassembly. He also mentioned that there were a ton of sunflower seeds in my airbox and it looked like a mouse had taken residence there. Sounds to me like the PO didn't take care of the bike much, or just let it sit since he had a 600 and a Z1000 as well. Now the part that really hurts is that it's going to cost me $400ish!!!!!! Does that sound like too much or does it sound alright for the work that they did? They charge $70 an hour and I really don't know how long it would take a professional mechanic to perform all of that... +the cost of fluids, plugs, etc. Also do you think putting almost 2k miles on my bike with it in that kind of condition could've really hurt anything? To tell the truth I thought it was running fine, it always started without issues (the cold weather being taken into consideration) and there was no noticeable loss in performance. My carbs probably need to be cleaned as well considering the condition of everything else but that's not part of the service.

alex.s · October 28th, 2011, 04:36 PM

sounds like a decent deal if they are professionals and really did that much work. make sure you know what you are signing up for next time in terms of cost before you commit. ask for specific services not group services. e.g. "do a valve check and call me if it needs adjusting" instead of "do my 7500mi service". this leaves it open and they will do everything that can be done. a valve job on the pregens is not hard at all.

as for the sunflower seeds... as long as it doesn't get passed the filter who cares just get rid of them... but i guess maybe the mouse burrowed through the filter? i would ask for the old parts back or at least to see them to know what was going on

those changes especially the carb sync and brake fluid will be pretty noticeable... if you get it back and it feels and souunds exactly the same, you might want to question if any work was even done.

KawiKid860 · October 28th, 2011, 05:38 PM

Well $400 sounded like a lot to me because they gave me estimates around $200 all the times that I asked... I think I'll be getting it for free now seeing as my bike started to spew coolant out of the side and top of the engine on the way home.....

nickjpass · October 29th, 2011, 07:54 PM

KawiKid860 · October 30th, 2011, 12:28 AM

It's all good now, they fixed it, was just a cooling hose they didn't reattach properly (I hope its all they didn't reattach properly) My bikes running silky smooth and even sounds better so I'd say $400 well spent :P The servicing was much needed to say the least

alex.s · October 30th, 2011, 01:06 AM

you didn't get a discount for them screwing your bike up?

CZroe · October 30th, 2011, 01:38 AM

My bike spilled coolant through a hose connection after a valve job too. It was tight, but disconnecting and reconnecting solved it. Same for a long-time slow coolant leak I had on the other side of my engine.

KawiKid860 · October 30th, 2011, 05:13 PM

Nawh no discount, it was an honest mistake and they're nice people so I didn't demand it. Probably won't take my bike there again though. Now my bike smells like antifreeze every time I start it :P hopefully that will wear off soon, but it smells kind of good

Jono · October 30th, 2011, 08:58 PM

I had a coolant leak after doing my own valve job too. I didn't tighten the hose clamp tight enough. Coolant was dripping down the engine. It did smell good but it wasn't worth having my engine corrode. The smell goes away quickly.

WhiteRice · October 30th, 2011, 09:14 PM

Reminds me of this...

Link to original page on YouTube.

akima · October 31st, 2011, 05:51 AM

^ love that guy! Did you see him pretending to be Tom Cruise on this american show? SOOooo much energy!

October 28th, 2011, 03:27 PM	#1
KawiKid860 ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Murphey Location: Eastern Washington Join Date: Apr 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2002 Honda 919, 2004 Ninja 500R NAKED Posts: A lot.	Does this sound right? So I just made a call to our motorcycle shop who's doing the 7500 mile service on my bike to see why they hadn't called me to tell me my bikes ready yet and what the price was going to be. Well their reason for not calling me was because my valves needed to be serviced (tight on exhaust, loose on intake). They also did an oil and oil filter change of course, and changed out my spark plugs and brake fluid because according to them both were beyond their due date (he said plugs had served their time and the fluid in my calipers was nasty and gummy and much worse than the already bad stuff in the reservoirs) now I'm waiting for about another hour for my carb sync and reassembly. He also mentioned that there were a ton of sunflower seeds in my airbox and it looked like a mouse had taken residence there. Sounds to me like the PO didn't take care of the bike much, or just let it sit since he had a 600 and a Z1000 as well. Now the part that really hurts is that it's going to cost me $400ish!!!!!! Does that sound like too much or does it sound alright for the work that they did? They charge $70 an hour and I really don't know how long it would take a professional mechanic to perform all of that... +the cost of fluids, plugs, etc. Also do you think putting almost 2k miles on my bike with it in that kind of condition could've really hurt anything? To tell the truth I thought it was running fine, it always started without issues (the cold weather being taken into consideration) and there was no noticeable loss in performance. My carbs probably need to be cleaned as well considering the condition of everything else but that's not part of the service.

October 28th, 2011, 04:36 PM	#2
alex.s wat Name: wat Location: tustin/long beach Join Date: Sep 2009 Motorcycle(s): wat Posts: Too much. Blog Entries: 5 MOTM - Oct '12, Feb '14	sounds like a decent deal if they are professionals and really did that much work. make sure you know what you are signing up for next time in terms of cost before you commit. ask for specific services not group services. e.g. "do a valve check and call me if it needs adjusting" instead of "do my 7500mi service". this leaves it open and they will do everything that can be done. a valve job on the pregens is not hard at all. as for the sunflower seeds... as long as it doesn't get passed the filter who cares just get rid of them... but i guess maybe the mouse burrowed through the filter? i would ask for the old parts back or at least to see them to know what was going on those changes especially the carb sync and brake fluid will be pretty noticeable... if you get it back and it feels and souunds exactly the same, you might want to question if any work was even done. __________________________________________________

October 29th, 2011, 07:54 PM	#4
nickjpass #squid Name: nickypoo Location: Five Guys Join Date: Jul 2011 Motorcycle(s): Track dedicated 2008 ZX6R Posts: A lot. MOTM - Jul '16	__________________________________________________

October 30th, 2011, 01:06 AM	#6
alex.s wat Name: wat Location: tustin/long beach Join Date: Sep 2009 Motorcycle(s): wat Posts: Too much. Blog Entries: 5 MOTM - Oct '12, Feb '14	you didn't get a discount for them screwing your bike up? __________________________________________________

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October 28th, 2011, 05:38 PM	#3
KawiKid860 ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Murphey Location: Eastern Washington Join Date: Apr 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2002 Honda 919, 2004 Ninja 500R NAKED Posts: A lot.	Well $400 sounded like a lot to me because they gave me estimates around $200 all the times that I asked... I think I'll be getting it for free now seeing as my bike started to spew coolant out of the side and top of the engine on the way home.....

October 30th, 2011, 12:28 AM	#5
KawiKid860 ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Murphey Location: Eastern Washington Join Date: Apr 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2002 Honda 919, 2004 Ninja 500R NAKED Posts: A lot.	It's all good now, they fixed it, was just a cooling hose they didn't reattach properly (I hope its all they didn't reattach properly) My bikes running silky smooth and even sounds better so I'd say $400 well spent :P The servicing was much needed to say the least

October 30th, 2011, 01:38 AM	#7
CZroe CPT Falcon Name: J.Emmett Turner Location: Newnan, GA Join Date: Apr 2009 Motorcycle(s): '08 CP Blue EX250J, '97 unpainted EX250F, 2nd '97 unpainted EX250F (no engine), '07 black EX250F Posts: A lot.	My bike spilled coolant through a hose connection after a valve job too. It was tight, but disconnecting and reconnecting solved it. Same for a long-time slow coolant leak I had on the other side of my engine.

October 30th, 2011, 05:13 PM	#8
KawiKid860 ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Murphey Location: Eastern Washington Join Date: Apr 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2002 Honda 919, 2004 Ninja 500R NAKED Posts: A lot.	Nawh no discount, it was an honest mistake and they're nice people so I didn't demand it. Probably won't take my bike there again though. Now my bike smells like antifreeze every time I start it :P hopefully that will wear off soon, but it smells kind of good

October 30th, 2011, 08:58 PM	#9
Jono ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Jono Location: Memphis, TN Join Date: Sep 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Triumph Street Triple, 2009 KLX250SF, 2003 Suzuki SV650S (Sold), 2006 Ninja 250 (Sold) Posts: A lot.	I had a coolant leak after doing my own valve job too. I didn't tighten the hose clamp tight enough. Coolant was dripping down the engine. It did smell good but it wasn't worth having my engine corrode. The smell goes away quickly.

October 30th, 2011, 09:14 PM	#10
WhiteRice Kamikaze Squirrel Name: Zach Location: NJ Join Date: Sep 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2010 250r Posts: 300	Reminds me of this... Link to original page on YouTube.

October 31st, 2011, 05:51 AM	#11
akima Nooblet Name: Akima Location: England Join Date: Jul 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2011 Ninja 250R FI Posts: A lot. Blog Entries: 5 MOTM - Oct '13	^ love that guy! Did you see him pretending to be Tom Cruise on this american show? SOOooo much energy!