$400 tuneup?

[Karitane pete]

Hi, went and visted my GSXR750 (1985) at the bike shop today and made them total up the bill, over $400 for a tuneup to fix a dead patch at 6grand?
and it still won't pull full throttle over 6.
I'm not a happy chappy and the manager knows. :Punk:

Cheers
Pete

[Bren_chch]

400bucks!!!! eek

u better get a book and some tools ;) :Punk:

[Sensei]

Take it back & tell them to put it right or get your money back !!!!!!!!!!!

[Motu]

1985??? It's 10 years past it's used by date,no wonder they can't get it right....a silk purse out of a sow's ear.Oh,I know you love your bike and it's in as new condition blah,blah,blah - but get real! Give the guys a break!

[XTC]

Does it still have an airbox or has it got pods??

[texmo]

1985??? It's 10 years past it's used by date,no wonder they can't get it right....a silk purse out of a sow's ear.Oh,I know you love your bike and it's in as new condition blah,blah,blah - but get real! Give the guys a break!
1985 its still new my bike is from 1962 and runs like new you just need someone who deals with older bikes

[Karitane pete]

Hi all, yes its over 10 years old, and not a minter but is the makings of a good bike and well worth saving, not all of us are willing to spend 15 grand on a new toy and some of us like the original superbikes.
I would have tuned and rejeted it myself if I had the time, but I thought I'll let the experts do it "yerr right"
Stock air box is gone and its running pods and had been for some time, I'm told the air box is a real b to get in and out, she a sweet old bike to ride, but there's not much go below 6 grand.
Cheers
Pete

[Bren_chch]

its hard to find a place that you feel confident with, most of the time u can feel as if they just gana rip u off!

Good luck with getting it sorted, if they are respectable they will take it back in and fix or at least if they cant fix the fault give you some money back.

[Motu]

I'm not rubbishing your bike - I prefer to ride old bikes too,always have...although these days the bikes are no longer older than me! But I work on cars for a living - and anything with a carb we don't want to go near,it's old technology and nearly always worn out,success almost impossible.Even in 1985 the carbs were set very lean,any air leak and mixtures are gone to hell and gone again,some wear makes them lean,some wear makes them rich - all in the same carb at the same time....then you got 4 carbs and the problems multiply,add in iregularities like compressions,valves,ignition and you got a can of worms.

I bet the guys at the shop have spent a lot more time on your bike than has been charged,but the jobs not successful,they won't feel happy about it,and won't feel pleased to do it again with the same result.Then you'll take it to someone else and they'll get it right first time...proving the other guys are dorks.

Been there,done that - I've been the dork who can't tune it....I've been the magian whose done what 4 other shops couldn't.Pure luck.

[250learna]

I'm not rubbishing your bike - I prefer to ride old bikes too,always have...although these days the bikes are no longer older than me! But I work on cars for a living - and anything with a carb we don't want to go near,it's old technology and nearly always worn out,success almost impossible.Even in 1985 the carbs were set very lean,any air leak and mixtures are gone to hell and gone again,some wear makes them lean,some wear makes them rich - all in the same carb at the same time....then you got 4 carbs and the problems multiply,add in iregularities like compressions,valves,ignition and you got a can of worms.

I bet the guys at the shop have spent a lot more time on your bike than has been charged,but the jobs not successful,they won't feel happy about it,and won't feel pleased to do it again with the same result.Then you'll take it to someone else and they'll get it right first time...proving the other guys are dorks.

Been there,done that - I've been the dork who can't tune it....I've been the magian whose done what 4 other shops couldn't.Pure luck.

that all stands, but if they are experianced they should know all of the above and should have given him some indication that the tune-up is "likely" to be a waste of time and money, not just take the job on and keep quiet about it :nono:

[Motu]

Some shops refuse to work on old bikes - they know the outcome.Some mechanics think they can fix anything (me) then get in too deep and it's too late to back out...

[gav]

What sort of miles are on ya GSXR? How long has it been running like that? Had regular service and oil changes for all its life? Mate, as Motu says they were a pretty highly tuned bike when they came out, 20 years later itd going to be pretty worn out, especislly in the carb area, I'd start with maybe another set of carbs and see how you go? Generally with pods they can be hard to tune. What pipe? Whats the ignition like, coils etc man, could be anything, good luck :niceone:

[750Y]

1985??? It's 10 years past it's used by date,no wonder they can't get it right.......

i was thinking the same thing. old bikes require high ongoing maintenance. It's cool if You can do it yourself but if not, You pay for someone that knows what they're doing. Trying to get a bike with worn components to run perfect is a big ask. If You think this $400 is the end of it, think again.
I had an 86 gsxr750 which was a brilliant sportsbike bike in it's day, but that day is long gone.

[Lou Girardin]

that all stands, but if they are experienced they should know all of the above and should have given him some indication that the tune-up is "likely" to be a waste of time and money, not just take the job on and keep quiet about it :nono:

Except that you don't know until you start the job. What do you suggest then? Drop it and tell the owner to trailer his bike away?
The first thing to do is get the bike back to standard spec. Then they'll be able to identify where the problems are. Or just throw cubic money at it.

[XTC]

Hence my comment earlier about the airbox... Putting pods on the earlier GSXR's invariably led to flat spots and were almost impossible to get rid of. The clever guys kept the airbox. Probably has worn needles and needle jets along with other things they alone would be at least $200-250 to replace....
So what's the mileage?? is the pipe standard? Had regular servicing?

[vifferman]

But.

Surely there are people who are 'experts' with bikes like this, who could get it going well?
On the other hand, mebbe it needs some serious dollars chucked at it, like replacement carbs, a full engine workover, or whatnot? Still be cheaper (even though not easier) than buying a newer bike. Yes?

No?

I dunno.
But I know how Pete feels; surely anything is fixable, and surely the bike's basically good, and is worth fixing? There are older and more cruddy vehicles on the road.

[XTC]

But.

Surely there are people who are 'experts' with bikes like this, who could get it going well?
On the other hand, mebbe it needs some serious dollars chucked at it, like replacement carbs, a full engine workover, or whatnot? Still be cheaper (even though not easier) than buying a newer bike. Yes?

No?

I dunno.
But I know how Pete feels; surely anything is fixable, and surely the bike's basically good, and is worth fixing? There are older and more cruddy vehicles on the road.
Anything is fixable maybe just not for $400?

[F5 Dave]

What do you guys think a tune up is? I mean most mechanics know how to adjust the valves, change the sparkplugs/airfilter & clean the carbs then synchronise them. Fair enough too & they should be able to perform this.

But once you remove the airbox & throw on a different pipe you will need some serious fiddling with jets to get the carburetion correct & even then it won’t be as sweet as with an airbox. Okay they were in their infancy back in 85 but modern airboxes work on resonance & for the street are far better than pod filters.

This is out of the realms of the garden variety but otherwise competent mechanic.

Buy the airbox or you will be screwing around. Then check the mainjet size is std. The same ‘tuner’ who put the pods on probably drilled the jets out. PS if they aren’t K&Ns they will flow stuff all anyway, the cheap aftermarket K&N look-alikes are rubbish.

But buy the airbox. Some wreckers may still have one around.

Also carb needles & emulsion tubes wear, check them carefully. Are they really still round?

[Karitane pete]

Hi all, Good News, at a last resort they pulled the cam cover and found that the inlet cam had jumped a tooth on the chain (should have been done $200 ago), so all the mucking around with jets was a total waste of time, they informed me that they are no longer booking time against it.
Have found out that one of the last owners had done a complete rebuild of the top end (head & bores etc.) not very long ago.
The other good news is there is no frost gravel on the roads down here yet.
Most of the GSXR owner would have seen this site http://www.gixxer.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?Cat=0
Very interesting and usefull.
I'll post back the result of the test flight next week (if it dosen't snow).
Cheers Pete.

[XTC]

Jolly good news for you..... Congrats on sorting your beast. Not something that the mechs would have guessed tho I suppose.

[Bren_chch]

Hi all, Good News, at a last resort they pulled the cam cover and found that the inlet cam had jumped a tooth on the chain (should have been done $200 ago), so all the mucking around with jets was a total waste of time, they informed me that they are no longer booking time against it.
Have found out that one of the last owners had done a complete rebuild of the top end (head & bores etc.) not very long ago.
The other good news is there is no frost gravel on the roads down here yet.
Most of the GSXR owner would have seen this site http://www.gixxer.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?Cat=0
Very interesting and usefull.
I'll post back the result of the test flight next week (if it dosen't snow).
Cheers Pete.

Nice one! :ride:

[Motu]

Good news - as Lou said,the purpose of a tune is to get it back to base line specs,then you start looking for problems,you can't go looking for problems until the basics are out of the way first.Knowing when to start looking deeper is the trick - they were probably tantalisingly close and thought just a bit more here,or there would crack it.Good on them for getting to the root cause,and backing down on the labour....just a hint from the coal face - a small word of thanks would help,don't overdo it,they might get embarassed.

[Motohaus]

We wil only touch bikes with the stock airbox espesially gsxrs they are notorious (all of the above) has it still got the flat sides even harder when worn out to tune.
hey give the bike shop a chance to fix it as better to go to them and give them the opportunity then if still not satisfied you can complain all you like as most people like feed back good or bad not to hear about it third hand and never see the complainant again as that is not fair to anybody

[Karitane pete]

Hi, The mechanic didn't think of the cam timing it was the salesman!
A mechanic from another dealership told me that the base line for a GSXR with pods is not the standard jetting, he was a race mechanic from the mid 80's & us to set up GSXR750 for racing, he is also the man I'll be seeing inthe future for tuning and problem solving. (better hourly rate & bikes are under cover all day).

Cheers Pete.

[250learna]

Except that you don't know until you start the job. What do you suggest then? Drop it and tell the owner to trailer his bike away?
The first thing to do is get the bike back to standard spec. Then they'll be able to identify where the problems are. Or just throw cubic money at it.

its a 20 year old highly tuned bike, and the owner knows whats been done to it and what been replaced , as Motu says from just that info, its a small chance of being able to fix it. Surely they could have given some suggestion of the likely outcome. It would only be fair, specially if that kind of money is involved.

[Motu]

No,it won't be the mechanic working on the bike who thinks of the solution,it will be someone else who comes along and says...''hey,what about??''. In a workshop a mechanic having a problem will often ask one of the other guys over for some input,a fresh brain will be onto the obvious pretty quick.Working sole charge I would often just walk away from the job,come back later and like,hey...what was the problem eh? I was once having trouble setting up a V8 Commodore and I was told to check the cam timing - it was out alright,from the factory.The guy who put me onto it had been a dealer mech at the time that model was built.

[gav]

Workshops, huh? Watched the boss ring a customer last week, and explain that the $1500 (!!!!) bill he was holding for sorting out the miss in her Nissan Primera would be at no charge, she'd already had a bill for $900! Ungrateful cow then rung when car was delivered back that the aerial was broken, was noted on job card when car arrived, aerial badly bent, she agreed but said now it was broken and hanging off. Never mind, we replaced that at no charge as well........ :wait:

Any guesses what the miss turned out to be?

[Jantar]

Welcome to the site KP, its good to see another southerner on here.

From your description I'm guessing you took the bike to M&V in Dunedin. I would recommend that you stick with them. They did find the fault, and its not one that they would expect when doing a tune up. They also have a long history of Suzuki bikes, even if they did switch to that other brand H.... for a while.

[saiko]

Welcome to the site KP, its good to see another southerner on here.

From your description I'm guessing you took the bike to M&V in Dunedin. I would recommend that you stick with them. They did find the fault, and its not one that they would expect when doing a tune up. They also have a long history of Suzuki bikes, even if they did switch to that other brand H.... for a while.

jesus mate I've had nothing but shit 'service' from M&V. Dealers are better up your way.

[Brian d marge]

Hence my comment earlier about the airbox... Putting pods on the earlier GSXR's invariably led to flat spots and were almost impossible to get rid of. The clever guys kept the airbox. Probably has worn needles and needle jets along with other things they alone would be at least $200-250 to replace....
So what's the mileage?? is the pipe standard? Had regular servicing?

See the above ,,,its on the money ....get shot of the pods and go back to the original air box ..with soft rubbers etc

OR spend ALOT of time jetting at 6k ( most likely just into mid throttle and on the needles
Stock replacement may not have the required taper , so you may have to machine differiing tapers etc ( read a lot of shagging about if you are sticking with pods)

The airflow around and into pods are not the best to say the least ...cause more trouble than they are worth.

Finally a quick check for worn carbs is they will almost never balance properly .....once second they are even , blip the throttle and one will start creeping ...
Stephen

[Karitane pete]

Hi all,
No its not M&V (but close).
I have the original air box and have been reading about the f model gsxr in early road/track tests and they all were a little werid around the 6 grand mark from standard
so I'll see how the pods go before throwing them away and investion in 4 main jets, pilot and god knows what else.
I believe the air box is a real bastard to get in, something about unbolting engine to get it in the frame?
Hey Jantar "RE5" cool (now theres a carb to setup?), looked at one down here, was offered it for 8G, was looking for a GT750 at the time and settled for the gsxr (much lighter).
The weather for Monday looks great for a test ride if the bike is ready, did someone say snow :yes:

Cheers Pete.