First time visiting a motorcycle mechanic

[jfaith15]

Last week, I had a mechanic tow my 2003 VS800 to his shop (it wouldn’t start). I expect he will call within the next few days to tell me the diagnosis, what work it needs, and what the final cost would be.

This is my first time bringing a bike to a mechanic and my budget is really tight. I would greatly appreciate experienced riders’ advice on the following two questions:

Their labor rate is $85/hr, not including the $92 I owe for the tow and inspection - are these average prices for a shop outside a tiny city in middle-of-nowhere, upstate NY?

Also, if they tell me the bike needs other work in addition to the repairs, what should I let them do, and what work can I do myself?

[Herb]

Not knowing how much mechanical expertise you have it is hard to make that call. That said, get a list of the things that need to be done and post it here along with a brief explanation of your abilities and tools available and we can help you decide what can be done by you.
Have the shop give you a written estimate for each job that needs to be done.

[Designer]

Herb's advice is exactly Spot On!!

Follow His Lead and get back to us so we can help you out.

[navigator]

Being from upstate NY, I can tell you the labor rates are what I see around the Albany area.
Where are you located?

[sgtcall]

I think the issue can be found here.
viewtopic.php?f=72&t=14669&p=232485#p232485

First, a new battery that has been dead for an extended period may be dead forever. Having an auto parts store do a load test on the battery would be the first step.

Messed up air filters can cause starting issues.

Any wires that are broken can lead to a short in the system that causes it to not start.

You may have jumped the gun on taking it to a mechanic but lets see what he says.

[jfaith15]

I think the issue can be found here.
viewtopic.php?f=72&t=14669&p=232485#p232485

First, a new battery that has been dead for an extended period may be dead forever. Having an auto parts store do a load test on the battery would be the first step.

Messed up air filters can cause starting issues.

Any wires that are broken can lead to a short in the system that causes it to not start.

You may have jumped the gun on taking it to a mechanic but lets see what he says.

The battery is less than three months old and it got the bike to start a few times — unfortunately, I turned the bike off to do more work on it and only let it run for about a minute each time. I realize I definitely should’ve let the engine run to sustain the charge, but I don’t think that caused it to crank no start.

When I bought the bike, the air filters were partially eaten and covered in mouse shit/nest, but I replaced both.

I’m assuming the chewed wires are the issue because it’s one of the three yellow wires that I believe go to the r/r. The battery seemed like it wasn’t maintaining the charge the last time I tried to jumpstart it. Lights and signals worked, but I could barely get a weak crank for one second before it turned to what I assume was the starter clicking.

Taking it to a mechanic was my last resort, but I decided electrical problems were where I drew the line for DIY work.

[jfaith15]

Being from upstate NY, I can tell you the labor rates are what I see around the Albany area.
Where are you located?

I’m near Cortland, which is where the shop is.

[jfaith15]

Not knowing how much mechanical expertise you have it is hard to make that call. That said, get a list of the things that need to be done and post it here along with a brief explanation of your abilities and tools available and we can help you decide what can be done by you.
Have the shop give you a written estimate for each job that needs to be done.

My bad, I should’ve been more specific. All of the automotive work I’ve ever done has been on this bike in the last three months, and taught by youtube tutorials. What I’ve done so far:

* new battery
* new spark plugs
* gear oil
* oil and oil filter
* front carb rebuilt
* front air filter
* coolant
* new fuel pump
* all new fuses
* back carb rebuilt
* back air filter

I was wondering if there was any other basic work that the mechanic might say the bike needs, that I could do myself for cheaper? For example, I’ve been told it would be feasible and much cheaper for me to do the brake fluid and pads, fork oil, and a few other things (can’t remember).

I wanted other opinions (especially from here) because I’ve found that some of the work that people say is novice level, can be very tedious, complicated, or impossible for a beginner to do on an Intruder. Many parts seem to be placed inconveniently, and I also haven’t been able to find many universal parts that fit.

In terms of tools, I have a decent amount of general ones, in addition to the ones needed to do the work I’ve done so far - I could get more though. I unfortunately do not have a jack.

[Herb]

Since you have done all of those things there are probably a number of other things you can do.
If you need tools to do a job Harbor freight has pretty good tools a a decent price.

The brake pads and fluid, fork seals and oil and even removing and replacing the wheels are not that difficult you just have to pay attention to details and if in doubt take multiple pictures as you take it apart. If you need tires it is cheaper to take the wheels in and have th tires mounted than to have them remove and replace the wheels to change the tires.

Have you downloaded the shop manual? It has pretty detailed instructions in it and there is almost always a you tube video to help you.

A lot of people don't know it but there are a number of sites on line that have the Manufactures parts lists with diagrams that really help in figureing out how things go together.

I was rebuilding the transmission on my 99 and had all of the parts laid out in order. There are a whole bunch of spacer washers that go in between the gears and many of them are different thicknesses. One of my granddaughters was being helpful and stacked the washers together. The spacers are not marked with part numbers so I had to order all of them, they came in packages with the part number on them and the parts diagrams were useful in figuring out which one went where.

As for what the mechanic says, tell him to make a list with an estimated cost and you will budget it in. If you can do the work you do it and if it is beyond what you are comfortable doing then you take it back to him.

There is a lot of satisfaction and a real cost savings over paying someone else to do the work. It doesn't take much to have real savings over taking it to a shop.

[jfaith15]

Since you have done all of those things there are probably a number of other things you can do.
If you need tools to do a job Harbor freight has pretty good tools a a decent price.

The brake pads and fluid, fork seals and oil and even removing and replacing the wheels are not that difficult you just have to pay attention to details and if in doubt take multiple pictures as you take it apart. If you need tires it is cheaper to take the wheels in and have th tires mounted than to have them remove and replace the wheels to change the tires.

Have you downloaded the shop manual? It has pretty detailed instructions in it and there is almost always a you tube video to help you.

A lot of people don't know it but there are a number of sites on line that have the Manufactures parts lists with diagrams that really help in figureing out how things go together.

I was rebuilding the transmission on my 99 and had all of the parts laid out in order. There are a whole bunch of spacer washers that go in between the gears and many of them are different thicknesses. One of my granddaughters was being helpful and stacked the washers together. The spacers are not marked with part numbers so I had to order all of them, they came in packages with the part number on them and the parts diagrams were useful in figuring out which one went where.

As for what the mechanic says, tell him to make a list with an estimated cost and you will budget it in. If you can do the work you do it and if it is beyond what you are comfortable doing then you take it back to him.

There is a lot of satisfaction and a real cost savings over paying someone else to do the work. It doesn't take much to have real savings over taking it to a shop.

Thank you I appreciate the insight. Also - when you say shop manual, are you talking about the service manual that is available for download from this forum? I have the service manual and I’ve looked in there a decent amount, but I haven’t found much information on how to do the work. I’ve looked in there to find what kind of spark plugs, oil, gear oil, etc I needed, but I had to search youtube for directions.

[sgtcall]

You may want to get this if you plan on doing your own work.

https://www.amazon.com/Intruder-Maraude ... 162092157X

[Herb]

I agree that actual directions can be lacking and that youtube is one of our best friends.

The service manual is written for trained mechanics. That said there is still a lot of information/instructions that are available in the manual including information about system operation, principles of operation and disassembly and assembly. Sometimes it takes searching through related systems to figure it out.

Keep in mind that mechanical and electrical systems work on very logical principles. Sometimes figuring out the logic behind something is difficult because engineers that design these systems and installation are living in la-la land.

I admit that I have a couple of advantage of having worked on cars/bikes since I was 13 and have training in mechanical and electrical systems trouble shooting and repair.

However, there are a lot of people on here willing and able to assist someone that wants to learn and is willing to do the work.

One last note, any information from the mechanic about what is wrong with your bike?

I was writting this when SgtCall posted his link. Haynes usually has very good manuals with instructions and pictures of repair proceedures. Probably well worth the money.

[jfaith15]

You may want to get this if you plan on doing your own work.

https://www.amazon.com/Intruder-Maraude ... 162092157X

Thank you sir! I definitely will once I have an opportunity (and money).

[jfaith15]

I hope I posted these images correctly. The first should be the mechanic’s official-unofficial quote, and the second should be the rough notes I took during the phone call. Apologies if the notes are unclear.. I had just woken up.

Unfortunately, there are more problems than I had previously guessed. I expected him to list regular maintenance operations that a beginner could do (i.e. oil change), but he didn’t. I also know that I caused some of the problems, so I don’t think I am fit to take on any of this work. You live and you learn, I guess :|

My new questions: does any of this - price especially - look questionable?

My gut tells me no, but I would appreciate hearing any of your second opinions.

[hillsy v2]

I haven't taken a bike to a shop to have work done for over 20 years so I can't comment on the charges, but I will say they have probably changed everything they should have to make sure it will run properly.

[Herb]

The overall price for everything doesn't sound all that bad considering that shop time is $85 an hour.

[Designer]

For all the work needed to find/diagnose and fix all this,....it sounds reasonable to me. Though the price/hour seems high, but then, I have never taken my choppers to a shop.

This does make me really glad I can do this myself though.

[Herb]

For all the work needed to find/diagnose and fix all this,....it sounds reasonable to me. Though the price/hour seems high, but then, I have never taken my choppers to a shop.

This does make me really glad I can do this myself though.

Depending on the area most shops are charging between $80 and $100 and hour. Some specialty and dealer shops are charging even more.

Considering the cost of licensing, taxes, equipment, insurance and labor, $85 an hour for shop time is not unreasonable.

Not that I like the idea of paying it but it takes money to do business.