Valve Clearances

Just phoned Chiswick Honda to book in my Hornet to get these checked.

They want 4 hours labour plus vat, well over ?200!!

This seems steep, anyone else have had these checked on their bike and if so what was the cost?

Doesn't sound too bad. It's a pretty involved job, and would take me more than 4 hours (but then I don't do it every day). 200 squid may be a bit steep but it is a Honda garage. Could try a little independant place maybe. i don't think you'll ge a main dealer to do it for much less.

I just had my checked. 16k servise. 4 hours of labour plus bits. They did not need adjusting (they rarely do be TBH). They may just balance the carbs whilst there are in there. I think that's a fair price mate.

It just seems weird as Reading Honda are quoting two hours labour plus parts. Chiswick would be much easier but not at that price. Ah well, I guess it's Reading then.

Cheers guys.

EDIT: No, Honda dealers are taking the p*ss. Spoke to 3 independat dealers and they charge 1 hours labour plus the shims if they need new one's (although I'm sure they just move them around). £85. That's 168 quid cheaper than a Honda dealer. What a rip off, I shall be having words with Honda dealers.

EDIT:2

AMS have quoted £190 for full service including valve clearances. They also collect the bike and will deliver back on a Sunday. Legendary!

Originally Posted by HooliganDan

It just seems weird as Reading Honda are quoting two hours labour plus parts. Chiswick would be much easier but not at that price. Ah well, I guess it's Reading then.

Cheers guys.

EDIT: No, Honda dealers are taking the p*ss. Spoke to 3 independat dealers and they charge 1 hours labour plus the shims if they need new one's (although I'm sure they just move them around). £85. That's 168 quid cheaper than a Honda dealer. What a rip off, I shall be having words with Honda dealers.

EDIT:2

AMS have quoted £190 for full service including valve clearances. They also collect the bike and will deliver back on a Sunday. Legendary!

2 hrs yes. But only for taking the tank and bits off and measuring the clearences. You may as well get all the engine work done at the same time. Unless you do it yourself in which case why don't you do the clearences too?

I was going to take the bike to my local bike place to get the clearances and the valve synch done, however I might actually test the clearances myself. If theyre out then ill take it in, if not then I might just buy a kit to do the valve synch myself and then just get it dyno'd to see if its putting out full power.

Originally Posted by HooliganDan

It just seems weird as Reading Honda are quoting two hours labour plus parts. Chiswick would be much easier but not at that price. Ah well, I guess it's Reading then.

Cheers guys.

EDIT: No, Honda dealers are taking the p*ss. Spoke to 3 independat dealers and they charge 1 hours labour plus the shims if they need new one's (although I'm sure they just move them around). £85. That's 168 quid cheaper than a Honda dealer. What a rip off, I shall be having words with Honda dealers.

EDIT:2

AMS have quoted £190 for full service including valve clearances. They also collect the bike and will deliver back on a Sunday. Legendary!

Dan, I just got mine back from AMS, ?190 for full service inc valve clearances. Simon seems a nice guy, picked up and delivered when he said he would. All mine were fine and didn't need any shims but the engine sounds quieter and seems smoother than before , they gave it a quick clean too

Originally Posted by HooliganDan

It just seems weird as Reading Honda are quoting two hours labour plus parts. Chiswick would be much easier but not at that price. Ah well, I guess it's Reading then.

Cheers guys.

EDIT: No, Honda dealers are taking the p*ss. Spoke to 3 independat dealers and they charge 1 hours labour plus the shims if they need new one's (although I'm sure they just move them around). £85. That's 168 quid cheaper than a Honda dealer. What a rip off, I shall be having words with Honda dealers.

EDIT:2

AMS have quoted £190 for full service including valve clearances. They also collect the bike and will deliver back on a Sunday. Legendary!

Dan , I just had mine back from AMS , Simon seems a nice guy and picked up and delivered when he said he would. It didn't need any shims as all was good but it seems quieter and smoother than before. They gave it a quick clean too

Just said about this on the bandit forum.

Many people seem to think its a cam cover off job.

But its mearly a case of plugging a machine to the carbs (via vacum pipe) and letting it work it out. We also done my carb balancing while i was there.

Otherwise, they will try to charge silly labour hours on it. Its acutally a 10-20 min job.

Umm, I'm talking about Valve Clearances not balancing the carbs. I takes 5 mins to remove tank, 5 mins to remove rocker cover tand then 30mins to check shims. I would do it myself but I don't have a micrometer.

Nick, cheers for recommending them, they seem awesome.