An Outrageous Fortune for servicing costs?

[TimeOut]

yeap.. saw the receipt ...
It does seem a lot.....
Will see if i can contact him,, and post the receipt up.....
The only thing is.. iam in Australia ,,,, and he is in coromandell....

I think they put the decimal point in the wrong place

[nosebleed]

Dude...simply ask them to break down the cost(s), before you come on here and slag them off


Steady on! I was not slagging them off! I was asking whether $350 is normal??

Thats nothing. Wait till "miloking" gets here, he's gonna go fukkin banana's when he see's what you've been up to.

[robo555]

I could have disposed the tyre for $200!

[Waxxa]

[QUOTE=Hotpoker;1129927004]

Steady on! I was not slagging them off! I was asking whether $350 is normal??

yep, this is about normal pricing.

I will be going for my 12k service soon and the bike shop has its prices listed for the various kilometre services for the public to see on the workshop counter...

It may be cheaper at the fuel station to fuel a bike but servicing them is much the same as cars.

[AllanB]

No way someone got charged $250 to dispose of a tyre and if they indeed did it was just a genuine mistake by the dealer when invoicing (I'd understand $25 MAX).

A front tyre costs $250 new. What you need to ask is why would your friend actually pay that? Ie did he really shell out $500 for one front tyre fitted, balanced and the old disposed of? I'd say NO.

Servicing costs. I have found that the typical motorcycle workshop hourly rate is usually well under the rate of a franchise car dealer - ie if you get your Honda car serviced by Honda you'll looking around $90 per hour (in CHCH) - the Honda bike shop will be a LOT less per hour.

The thing to watch with either is how much time you are getting charged for - ie what are they doing for that 1, 2, 3 etc hours.

Check your KTM manual - it should state what is done on a 5k service, most bikes are a oil/filter and a quick squiz over - ie say a hours work plus consumables, but you may find it has some fancy shit that needs to be adjusted. Plus if they plug it into a diagnostic computer there is usually a set base cost for that pleasure so that may be additional to any time spent on the bike.

Plus in that 350 you may well have a $100 bucks worth of slippery full synthetic oil.

Also consider on a lot of modern bikes that there is often a fair bit of time spent removing plastics just to get near the engine and all that shit goes back on (usually minus at least one screw ....) later.

There is nothing wrong with asking them to account for the cost and it should all be itemized on a invoice prior to paying.

I do not agree with the term Stealship. They are running a business and as such charge a fair rate for hopefully, very good service. If you don't do your own work (oil etc) then that's the cost and feel free to shop around.

Me I do my own servicing apart from valve adjustments as I really enjoy working on the bike. But I tell you you'd not want to even pay me $20 a hour for the time it takes me!!!!!!!!!!

[Max Preload]

If you pay $350 for a 5000km 'service' you're a sucker.

[Flip]

A mechanic was removing a cylinder head from the motor of a Harley, when he spotted a world-famous heart surgeon in his shop. The heart surgeon was waiting for the service manager to come take a look at his bike.

The mechanic shouted across the garage, "Hey Doc can I ask you a question?" The famous surgeon, a bit surprised, walked over to the mechanic working on the motorcycle.

The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, "So Doc, look at this engine. I also can open it up, take valves out, fix'em, put in new parts and when I finish this will work just like a new one. So how come I get a pittance and you get the really big money, when you and I are doing basically the same work?"

The surgeon paused, smiled and leaned over, and whispered to the mechanic, "Try doing it while it's running."



I think that $100-120 $/h is about right for a good mechanic. An apprenticeship is still 4 years, plus it takes ages to learn all the specialized tools, processes and electronic-computer skills necessary to fix just one brand of motorcycle. If a mechanic these days is ham fisted or careless he is soon out of business. I would much rather insure the mechanic is a highly skilled, has the right equipment and well paid because he is working on my pride and joy.

[BuzzardNZ]

Not really. I had a root canal done by my friendly dentist a while ago. It cost me $1500.00, and would've taken him around 2hrs over the three visits. If he'd done it incorrectly...I could've ended up with more tooth ache, and another expensive visit.

I suspect the dentist added danger pay into that amount, poking about in that mouth of yours Pete

[Crasherfromwayback]

I suspect the dentist added danger pay into that amount, poking about in that mouth of yours Pete

Wouldn't blame him

[EJK]

I once had a root canal treatment without anesthetic. Now thats what I call mouth fucking.

[Crasherfromwayback]

I once had a root canal treatment without anesthetic. Now thats what I call mouth fucking.

Tough cunt. Fuck that!

[spacemonkey]

I inquired about getting my KTM 690 serviced today at TMG - the new KTM brand holder in Auckland.

It is it's first 5000km service, and they quoted $350 which seems outrageous! Surely it is about $80 of fancy oil, a couple of oil filters, and an hour of labour!? There cannot be that much do at a 5000km service?

I would be keen to do it myself - however I i do not want to void the warrantee.

Is this about normal?

Sounds about right to me, the 1000km run in service on my Aprilia was $581.
But that was ok cos when I brought it I had them put in the sales agreement that the first service was on them.

[jellywrestler]

A dentist needs room for a chair, and fuck all else.

clearly you haven't been to mine which has a ceiling mounted LCD screen with 'finding Nemo' on it.
that fucken DVD was $3 at the warehouse 6 years ago, clearly i'm not paying them enough to afford another one to put in their machine!

[awa355]

Dont call em Stealerships for nothing fella,wouldnt be so bad if you could depend on them but as its just a service theres every chance the job will be palmed off to someone that looks more akin to a boil with legs with no understanding of the correct way to wear a cap let alone have any idea on the workings of something as simple as an oil filter and theres better than a 50% chance will fuck it up therefore requiring more of your hard earned to get it sorted by someone past puberty.

And charge you $90 per hour for said wally's time.

[warewolf]

If you pay $350 for a 5000km 'service' you're a sucker.

Or a realist. It's probably quite a fair price. 5000km on my LC4 is the equivalent 'big' service to 20,000km on a road multi, ie oil, filters, valves. The 5000km service on mine was $358.27, in Nelson in 2005.

The oil system has 2+L of full-synth oil, 2 oil filters, 4 drain plugs, and requires the frame oil reservoir to be 'burped' afterwards. If the dealer is not clued-up, they will probably use loose parts for the oil filter/gasket consumables, $80 rather than the $56 kit that includes everything you need.

Doing the valves for some dealers means draining the coolant and removing the radiators. Not sure if that is the book method, but it's unnecessary. You only have to remove the fan and a handful of other fittings and hoses. It's a bitch of a job with the cam cover jammed up underneath the frame spine, but hey a pro should handle it with practiced ease.

The 690 being the new hotness is supposed to have been designed (successfully) to be easier to work on.