Topic: Got a quote on labor. Cheap enough?

[gregwaits]

I received the carb overhaul kits I bought on Ebay last week. Out of curiousity I called my local mechanic (him and his partner pride themselves with undercutting the dealers, who in his words "rape the riders with their high hourly rates"

I asked what he would charge to overhaul my carbs if I provide him the kits. I expected a quote of $100 or more. He said $10 a carb. I was prepared to do it myself (although I dreaded the idea!), but at that price, what the hell. Is that cheap or what?  

[BobbyR]

I received the carb overhaul kits I bought on Ebay last week. Out of curiousity I called my local mechanic (him and his partner pride themselves with undercutting the dealers, who in his words "rape the riders with their high hourly rates"

I asked what he would charge to overhaul my carbs if I provide him the kits. I expected a quote of $100 or more. He said $10 a carb. I was prepared to do it myself (although I dreaded the idea!), but at that price, what the hell. Is that cheap or what?  

Man where is this guy i have a set he can work on tomorrow if he is any good.

[gregwaits]

He is a certified mechanic with degrees from Suzuki and Kawasaki. He and his partner specialize in old metric bikes. He is a God send for sure!

He is in Garland (Dallas suburb). If you are in this area, pm me for a phone number.

[medic09]

That's DIRT CHEAP.  I'm almost suspicious, that's so cheap.  The dealer I trust gets over $70 hour labour, and I think they once told me they charge 3 or 4 hours labour on carbs.  Then there's *their* price for parts (not relevant here).  Our local private repair shop still gets almost $60 for labour, and I think they told me back then that they also get about 3 - 4 hours for it.  Of course, it's all a bit cheaper if you bring in the rack off the bike; but you got quoted an amazing rate.  It's almost silly to do it yourself.  If they're good and you trust them, you could bring them the carbs and go work on something else in the meantime.

[Einyodeler]

I would ask him what he means by the term overhaul, is he going to strip them completely apart to clean them or just pop the bowls off to change out jets.
Thats a couple hours labor vs 15 minutes.

[medic09]

I would ask him what he means by the term overhaul, is he going to strip them completely apart to clean them or just pop the bowls off to change out jets.
Thats a couple hours labor vs 15 minutes.

Good point there.

[mrbreeze]

I'd be a little wary.......are they gonna dip em' and reaassemble everything the way it should be done properly? It sounds too dirt cheap to me. I'd ask a few questions if someone told me they could totally go through my carbs for $40. I know I would charge a bit more than that to do it just based on the time I know is involved in the job. Hope it turns out OK.

[gregwaits]

Thanks for the input. I will ask him what specifically he does with the carbs for that rate.

I'll be dropping them off this weekend. More later.

[Sam Green Racing]

Don't tell him he is to cheap....he may put the price up

Sam.

[TwoTired]

Be wary.  There is a difference between cheap and inexpensive.

Good luck!

[mick750F]

I received the carb overhaul kits I bought on Ebay last week. Out of curiousity I called my local mechanic (him and his partner pride themselves with undercutting the dealers, who in his words "rape the riders with their high hourly rates"

I asked what he would charge to overhaul my carbs if I provide him the kits. I expected a quote of $100 or more. He said $10 a carb. I was prepared to do it myself (although I dreaded the idea!), but at that price, what the hell. Is that cheap or what?  

    If you think that you're are capable of doing the job yourself then go ahead and do it. You will gain an understanding of how your carbs work. The experience you gain will increase your knowledge of your bike and boost your confidence about doing other work on it. Yeah $10 a carb is cheap...silly cheap and I would be hesitant to let anyone "overhaul" my carbs for that kind of money.

$10 carb overhaul...cheap. The experience of doing it yourself...priceless.  Just my 2¢...

Mike

[eldar]

So is that what everyone here has turning into? So used to things being expensive that when something comes along that is low cost, you all are saying it is too cheap or to do it yourself. What is the deal?  Are some of you so jaded that when some one finds a low-cost, possibly good mechanic, that you all have to jump on it?

You people know nothing about this mechanic t obe cutting on this. Sure 10 MAY be too cheap but then, what if he is really good and really knows what he is doing? Maybe it does not take him a long time to do a set. Not like these carbs are really that hard. Sure they might take some time but they are not hard.

Why not actually give the benefit of the doubt and see if this guy is any good. Not like you guys are risking your carbs right.

[Lumbee]

...post his address, and I'll send him a big box of carbs to rebuild for me!!!   

[dusterdude]

damn,i hate to agree with eldar ,but it doesnt take that  long to disassemble and reassemble the carbs.if he dips them,then its no skin off his nose anyway,it doesnt cost money to let them sit in a carb dip.

[Master Ted]

I followed the well worn rebuild road and replaced only the gaskets! You may want to search the threads a bit more concerning quality of replacement jets compared to OEM in the carbs (if that is what you still have).

As for me, I cleaned and recycled my jets.

[crazypj]

He's doing that for fun or a hobby.
 It takes about 3 to 4 hrs to do carbs properly (including removal and refitting)
Dipping without stripping is a recipe for destroying all the 'o' rings and it still costs for the carb dip
Obviously he has a job to pay normal bills and get insurance so he doesn't have to make enough to live on from side work.
I wouldn't want to do it for less than $80.00, even then I'm not sure it would be worth the time I spend
PJ

[mick750F]

So is that what everyone here has turning into? So used to things being expensive that when something comes along that is low cost, you all are saying it is too cheap or to do it yourself. What is the deal?  Are some of you so jaded that when some one finds a low-cost, possibly good mechanic, that you all have to jump on it?

You people know nothing about this mechanic t obe cutting on this. Sure 10 MAY be too cheap but then, what if he is really good and really knows what he is doing? Maybe it does not take him a long time to do a set. Not like these carbs are really that hard. Sure they might take some time but they are not hard.

Why not actually give the benefit of the doubt and see if this guy is any good. Not like you guys are risking your carbs right.

    All I was saying is that in the long run you're better off doing as much of the work on these old bikes as you can. As you say...it's not that hard to clean/rebuild these carbs. So why pay someone else to do it?

   As far as jumping on it...I'd say a word of caution is just that, a word of caution. $40 in most garages will get the carbs off of the bike and maybe part way back on. Where does the actual rebuild come in? In these parts $10 is about 5-6 minutes of work. As easy as these are to work on who can tear one down, examine it, clean it and reassemble it in that time? Even if you cut the rate in half it's still only 10-12 minutes per carb.

   You seem pretty eager to donate someone elses carbs to the great unknown. Care to donate yours and report back to us?

Mike

[TwoTired]

  You seem pretty eager to donate someone elses carbs to the great unknown. Care to donate yours and report back to us?

Mike

Well put.

[eldar]

A word of caution is fine but this was virtually outright saying the work would be junk and was bad and the worst idea ever, in a nutshell.
Carb dip costs next to nothing with as much as it can be used before it needs to be replaced. Maybe for this guy, carbs are a nice side job as opposed to rebuilding a blown engine re-wiring the electrical system.

As for sending my carbs, A: my bike is in storage for the winter. B: I distrust the postal and even ups system more than some unknown mechanic. And as this mechanic is in his area, it is not the great unknown. So again, a word of caution, fine, basically saying someone is stupid for even thinking it, not fine. Kinda like chewing on someone cause they want to try and modify the electrical system, eh tt.

[mick750F]

   Who said anybody was stupid Who said the work would be junk Did I miss a post? Wait a minute here...Is somebody deleting their posts? 

   gregwaits came looking for opinions and he got some. If he decides to have them do the work and is satisfied with it then he's found a good place to deal with. Aside from my suggestion that he try the work himself if he's comfortable with it I hope he does find someone that can do capable quality work for a decent price. It would do me well to hear that there are people out there that aren't out to finance their boat with every little job they do.

Mike

[eldar]

Well he says it is a local. That means he can check on things whenever, he can meet the guy face to face, he might even be able to watch the work. Sure it is good to learn to do it yourself, but some people cant do that. You wouldnt find me pulling apart a hard drive to work on it, yet others think nothing of it. See what I mean here. I mean if he had to mail his carbs off, then by all means question it. I certainly would then too. But since it is local, well that really changes things.

So really what people should have said is, "talk to the guy and see his work" or "ask if you can watch" or "talk to others he does work for". That would have been more appropriate in this case.
I may have been a bit gung-ho on this but I get tired of people cutting on others for not doing the work themselves or cause they found someone to do it for cheap. I mean, elcheapo says he can(or could) drill rotors for 10 bucks and some virtually call him a liar or severely question his methods and he is a member.

[Gordon]

So really what people should have said is, "talk to the guy and see his work" or "ask if you can watch" or "talk to others he does work for". That would have been more appropriate in this case.

Or you could just say those things yourself and let everyone else have their own opinion like you do. 

[eldar]

ok then I guess we can all revert back to being #$%*s more concerned with spouting garbage then trying to be helpful or friendly. Let the poo fly then.