Author Topic: Anyone else feel ripped off by a mechanic? (Read 2272 times)

brett_bike · « **on:** December 23, 2009, 08:09:16 PM »

Let me warn all who reads this that it is poorly written. Maybe because of the 8'ish beers in my belly.

I've been riding now for a few years now and I've always had newer machines. When I started riding I had a "84 Suzuki 650 (first generation Katana?), then a Honda Hurricane, GSXR 750, etc, and Ive always taken it in to have service performed. Now that I am into vintage SOHC bikes I thought I would do the same, take it to a local family owned Honda dealer and mechanic, let them go to it and clean the carbs, look everything over and do the work. Besides I was a little intimidated to get onto it on my own. I just want to say that in my my experience I feel like I was taken.

The shop was supposed to pull, disassemble, "sonic" clean and tune the carbs, they claimed that it would run like new. When I picked up the bike, gave them $400.00 and rode home I thought it ran pretty well for a 35 year old bike, and I kept riding it for about a month. The more I rode it the more I realized it probably shouldn't idle this erratically and accelerate with stumbling and flat spots. I should add that during this time I have been studying how to rebuild carbs like a high school senior cramming for his SAT's. So I mustered up the courage and decided to take on the carbs for myself.

The first time I tore apart the carbs I knew I was taken. There was still S**T caked in the passages and crap in the emulsion tubes. By the way, I have cleaned and lined the tank and there was nothing caught in the petcock screen or fuel filters (now gone). So after multiple (6) times in three months pulling off the carbs, adjusting jets and needle height, going extreme rich to extreme lean and learning how to use my awesome Morgan carb tune I'm bummed that I wasted money bringing my bike to a shop to get it "fixed".

Moral of the story... If you have even the slightest mechanical ability, take your time and learn how to do it your self. The relationship you form with your bike will be rewarding and the pride you gain by doing it yourself feels great.

Gordon · « **Reply #1 on:** December 24, 2009, 12:02:04 AM »

Quote from: brett_bike on December 23, 2009, 08:09:16 PM

Moral of the story... If you have even the slightest mechanical ability, take your time and learn how to do it your self. The relationship you form with your bike will be rewarding and the pride you gain by doing it yourself feels great.

Well said.

I'm sorry it took $400 to learn that lesson, though. Yours is just one of many stories from other members who've had very similar experiences with getting carb work done by a shop. Carb work seems scary to a novice home mechanic, but once you get in there and see how everything works it's really not all that bad. It's just really time-consuming and tedious, but can be done by just about anyone who is able to work methodically and thoughtfully.

Duke McDukiedook · « **Reply #2 on:** December 24, 2009, 01:05:01 AM »

+1, you know how well the job is done when you do it yourself. This ain't rocket science or state of science technology.

I am kinda glad that no shop around here would touch my bike- anything older than 10 years, a lot of dealers won't work on it. Gave me a better understanding of how these bikes work.

dave500 · « **Reply #3 on:** December 24, 2009, 04:10:50 AM »

so long as you have an air compressor and some pressure pack carb cleaner,,if the bike runs and you just want to clean it out somewhat,,without removing the carbs you can drop the bowls and pull the air screws,floats and needle valves,,hose them out and blow air through them,,truly dissembling the carbs by a novice can be fraught with many stuff ups ,,like burred over small screw slots,mixed up similar parts ,plus you have to sync them,,tackle it if your confident,,im with you though brett bike,the attention to detail is none better then your own,if you hadve cleaned those carbs ,not a smudge would be found!!!

6pkrunner · « **Reply #4 on:** December 24, 2009, 04:18:21 AM »

These places are in business to make money. Somewhere along the line the quest for more money overrode the desire to "do right by the customer". Most , not all but most, shops both automotive and otherwise will charge vastly more than the effort put into the repair and some just plain are ripoff artists charging for work never performed. They rely on the limited knowledge of the customer to allow them to carry off their sham.

I know there will be some catcalls for a few honest folks and I do know there are a few honest one out here. But the number of crooks outweigh the honest ones by a large margin. Both for poor to no work done and for severely overcharging the customer. We could all spend months just telling tales of woe from these places.

BobbyR · « **Reply #5 on:** December 24, 2009, 08:46:58 AM »

The problem is most of these places have punk kids who have no experience with these, or old geezers that figure they can do it quick and dirty. Either way you were screwed. The good part is now you know something you did not know before.

wardenerd · « **Reply #6 on:** December 24, 2009, 09:03:03 AM »

I use southeast cycle in Fayetteville, NC. Rob does good work. He aint cheap but as a regular customer hes done some adjustments and small stuff for free. My bike would barely run after I did the cqrbs and after he fixed them it will snatch your hat off.

Really? · « **Reply #7 on:** December 24, 2009, 09:57:19 AM »

These carbs were surprisingly easy to take apart, clean and put back together. Getting over the intimidation you might feel the first time (to even just get started) is the hardest part.

ColinMc · « **Reply #8 on:** December 24, 2009, 10:10:37 AM »

The worst I had was with a car. Before I had any wrenching ability I used to bring my car to a shop that was supposedly good, and honest...I also worked as a NAPA delivery driver at the time. So they let me give them the parts to install, i'd pay cash...it'd go right in the mechanics pocket. I had them do a Camshaft sensor, crank sensor, both front wheel bearings, and random other stuff. The main problem was one wheel bearing was toast...the rest was preventative stuff.

I checked their account history for the month following, they returned one wheel bearing, two sensors, and every other part I gave them (besides the ONE wheel bearing that had to be done) for credit on their account. Stuff I had paid for out of my paycheck and they were supposed to install. This was oddball stuff too...so the odds of them having another car they ordered this stuff for and didn't need is slim. So I gave them the benefit of the doubt at the time...even though I know I was being too nice

The kicker was a year later when I did tear the car down to rebuild the motor, I had the whole front end apart...sure enough, one newer wheel bearing, one original wheel bearing, old sensors...

I was pissed, never given a shop anything of mine since then, except my Mini that gets free maintenence...

noahspop · « **Reply #9 on:** December 24, 2009, 10:25:40 AM »

I had friend who worked at a local autobody shop. When the cars needed parts the company would send him to pic and pull places all over Northern California to get the parts. The Sacramento area is where he went the most.

The sad part is the customer thought they were getting new parts, and the insurance was being billed for new parts.

If you can always ask for the parts that were replaced, and box that the new parts came in. I know it seems trivial, but hey what else can you do.

754 · « **Reply #10 on:** December 25, 2009, 01:02:47 PM »

Tell them you want to see the old partsand boxes. if they cant produce, tell them you cant pay..

That guy thart returned the Napa parts for credit, I would be talking to his BOSS.. HE DESERVES IT..

Retro Rocket · « **Reply #11 on:** December 25, 2009, 07:08:32 PM »

If you know what parts are damaged just put a mark of some kind on them before the work is done for ease of identifying if the work they say has been done really has been done or not. I HATE thieves....

Mick

Uncle Ernie · « **Reply #12 on:** December 26, 2009, 07:09:46 AM »

For the most part, I stopped going to regular repair shops long ago, BUT-
You don't say you gave them an opportunity to explain or make it right. There are still some places who would like to give it another try.

754 · « **Reply #13 on:** December 26, 2009, 08:07:44 AM »

I am actually surprised that the media, in their constant hunt for sensantionalistic news, does not do frequent exposes on this sort of thing..

You know, check a car thoroughly by a good mechanic team, then send a woman out with the car for quotes, or get the work done on a simple thing like brakes or wheel bearings...

Would be tremendously entertaining.. like the muffler place video on Youtube, back a few years..

Would break my heart to see places that charge 80.00 per hour & up , to ACTUALLY HAVE TO PERFORM WORK & REPLACE PARTS to get paid...

MötleyRöx · « **Reply #14 on:** December 26, 2009, 12:33:50 PM »

Only when my wife takes her car to the local auto shop rated number 1.
I guess she's paying for the rating... oh wait, nope... its all the parts they throw at problems instead of diagnosing!

bucky katt · « **Reply #15 on:** December 27, 2009, 11:28:30 AM »

the only time the saturn goes to a shop is when theres a code lighting up the check engine light, happened for the last time at 206,000 miles. ended up being a bad egr valve. since then i'm the only one thats worked on it (except for the new muffler) i've worked at several different shops (car and bike) so i know what kind of crap they pull. i have a spare, used motor sitting in the garage now that will get rebuilt nice and slow so that it wont be an emergency i have to rely on a shop to do.

Duke McDukiedook · « **Reply #16 on:** December 28, 2009, 12:11:47 AM »

Bucky, get an OBDII code reader, they're only like $40 at any auto parts store.
It will save you some more $$$.

tortelvis · « **Reply #17 on:** December 28, 2009, 06:56:38 AM »

Quote from: wardenerd on December 24, 2009, 09:03:03 AM

I use southeast cycle in Fayetteville, NC. Rob does good work. He aint cheap but as a regular customer hes done some adjustments and small stuff for free. My bike would barely run after I did the cqrbs and after he fixed them it will snatch your hat off.

I had a mate back in England that worked in a similar fashion. On some jobs I would take a deep breath when he told me the cost but I sucked it up as he was a really good wrench. Other times I would drop by with a problem and he would say "no charge". I guess being a regular customer as well as a mate helped. The moral must be "if you find a good mechanic, keep him sweet!".

333 · « **Reply #18 on:** December 28, 2009, 07:02:39 AM »

Our second new vehicle, a 93 Chevy Astro van, was only worked on at the dealer. I figured that while under warranty, only the dealer should do the work. It never needed much. I had a problem with the radio once. They mostly only did PM. But....

We took it on a trip. About 50 miles from our destination, a loud oscillation noise buzzed all through the van above 35 mph. Went to the dealer in town and they wanted to know why a junkyard part had been put on the van. Apparently, when it was in for an oil change, someone had taken the input bushing housing on the transfer case (all wheel drive), and replaced it with one that had been painted with that cheap silver paint, over grease and all.

my78k · « **Reply #19 on:** December 28, 2009, 08:04:14 AM »

I couldnt agree more with the OBD reader. Had the engine light come on in my van and Canadian tire wanted like 75$ just to read and diagnose! I looked on the shelf and they had a decent digital reader on for half price...also 75$

I figured that for the money I would buy the reader...I did, and in 30 seconds I had the code. Then quickly googled the code to see common fixes. In my case it was a minor Evap code and they recommended changing the gas cap as the quickest, cheapest and most common fix. Picked up a new one for $10 and sure enough code cleared and has never been back. You can bet your butt that the crooks at Canadian Tire would have wanted to change a bunch of sensors (or claim to!) and still would have needed to change the gas cap.

I have used the code reader a bunch of other times to help diagnose probs on my own car and others. At the very least if I do still need to take it in I know roughly what to expect and if the mechanic is talking out his arse!!

Dennis

CycleRanger · « **Reply #20 on:** December 28, 2009, 08:33:42 AM »

You don't have to buy a code reader. Places like AutoZone and O'Reilly auto parts will let you use one for free, just leave a refundable deposit. Usually these are the better units that give much more info than the cheaper ones.

donny · « **Reply #21 on:** December 28, 2009, 08:34:52 AM »

The shop owner should to be informed of what happened. He could be a crook. It could be a honest shop, but as said before, some kid or geezer in the back told the shop owner or mgr. the repair was done.
Local indie shop kept hiring pimple faced kids to work on bikes, snow sleds, etc, they made 1/2 of the labor cost the shop charged. So you can figure out all the advantages the mechanic would have by running a lot of bikes thru the shop.
These kids wouldn't last long, they would show up at work only whenever they felt like it.
And you can do a fair job of cleaning carbs without removing them, sometimes.

HavocTurbo · « **Reply #22 on:** December 28, 2009, 01:43:33 PM »

It's a good thing I specialize in older bikes and the like.

I charge $45 an hour shop labor and while I usually don't keep track of hours over my estimates... I tend to do a TON of little things for free.

Like if you buy something small (i.e cables, grips, etc.) I install them for free.

Or buy 4 oil changes get the 5th free.

Or get carbs rebuilt to OEM specs and have tuning for free.

Many dealerships will not diagnose older bikes/sleds/ATV's because there can be a huge amount of time and money invested in them. For example.....

I had a jet ski that was always melting down the front piston. Even at idle it would get so hot that the piston would sieze. Even with a terribly rich mixture.

After 2weeks of calculated hours (168 billable hours) it turned out to be the crankcase pressure release valve (for winterization) had a leaky seal. They aren't rebuildable and he needed a whole new piece.

It costs $20 and takes 6 hours to replace. (yea crazy I know). So that's what I charged him. Yes it cost me time and money.... but I gained that knowledge for next time and I got a customer for life.

74cb750 · « **Reply #23 on:** December 28, 2009, 01:54:48 PM »

I stopped working on other peoples' bikes years ago;
this lady came in for an oil change on her GS750, only problems were the drain plug was stripped.
Took one off another GS750 I had lying around, and viola!

2 weeks later she came in screaming/yelling that I had split her front tire!

No more, thank you very much.

peace,
michel

dave500 · « **Reply #24 on:** December 29, 2009, 02:13:44 AM »

im with 74cb750 somewhat,,im pretty handy and have done lots of other peoples (friends of friends)stuff like oil changes and carb syncing for real cheap!!cars aswell!!dirty brakes etc!!,,ive only had a couple of small wingers(complaints)nothing to do with what i touched,so now im selective with these friends of friends,ive done plenty of little things like a blown globe for free ,,then a fuse blows on a different circuit and i get"are you sure you didnt touch anything?"man!!no more good samaritan..our hyundai (alpha 3 motor)had the engine light on,this place diagnosed it as the map sensor(manifold absolute pressue)70 bucks for the check,i heard plenty of reving from the workshop and ours was the only car ,,anyway he says its 210 dollars because they are a real pain to fit,,!!yeah right ,,,its two 6mm screws right on top,,i bought one elsewhere for $145 and spent 2.5 minutes fitting it ,(280 bucks???),ive gotta get a code tool..hey im a qjet 4 barrel guy,,,had the same 308 cid v8 holden for 26 years!!how many have been ripped of elsewhere??its always been the same youll find.

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Author Topic: Anyone else feel ripped off by a mechanic? (Read 2272 times)

MötleyRöx