Valve clearances (how long to do this?)

[andrewsmith]

Originally Posted by 21QUEST

What's their hourly charge for labour?

about the same as Steve Jordans circa £60 p/h

[andrewsmith]

Originally Posted by SV650Racer

Did you ask for them to ommit the throttle body balance as that should be done at that service?.

If they are working on using OEM parts subject to what their labour rate is then that is in-line with what most Suzuki main dealers would charge working on around 4.5 hours total. In fact its in-line with what some of our local independants charge as per schedule for that service.

TBH you cant say exactly what is required for your bike will be required for another persons. For instance at that service you could be looking at brake fluid change and air filter and strictly to schedule fork oil dependant on the bikes age and condition.

Thankfully not the brake fluid (just emptied the calipers in the last few weeks) and the fork were refreshed last summer.
Going to shop around been recommended a independent thats a twin specialist

Id like to meet someone who can do the full scheduled 14500m service properly in two hours. In fact I will even go as far as lending you a bike so you can show me how that is done.

Thats:

Oil change (filter not inc on that service but we always change them unless owner says not to)
Spark plugs checked and or replaced
Air filter checked and or replaced
Brake fluid moisture tested and if needed replaced
Coolant tested and if needed replaced
Throttle bodies balanced
TPS checked and set
SDS download
Valve clearances checked
Full chassis nut and bolt torque checked
Pivot points checked, greased and lubed
Chain adjusted, cleaned and lubed
Brakes checked - we recommend pins are removed and greased
Tyres checked and pressures checked
Discs checked
Headrace bearings and wheel bearings checked.
Clutch adjustment checked
Road test and possibly other bits i cant remember off the top of my head!

Now none of our tech's work slowly and none of them work fast enough to start making mistakes, I wont allow that to happen. Everything is checked and then double checked. Steve knows the SV inside and out but still works methodically to the schedule.

Parts prices are not inflated, your buying OEM parts at RRP set by Suzuki, our margin is also set. We also offer 10% off to Org members and can supply pattern parts if the customer wishes to have them.

On any bike you will not know whether the clearances need adjustment until they are checked. Assuming one bike doesnt need it doesnt mean any others wont. Thats pure bad advice to anyone.

Does that £3236.38 include tyres, brake pads, oil, filters and other consumables?.

Expensive is only based on what you consider to be expensive. You have to quantify it and often it goes hand it hand with your own personal earnings. Just because someone finds something expensive it doesnt always mean its a rip off either.

Ive been in bikes long enough now to understand this and learn from years of commuting, racing and that was before I worked and owned my own dealership.

Originally Posted by SV650Racer

Id like to meet someone who can do the full scheduled 14500m service properly in two hours. In fact I will even go as far as lending you a bike so you can show me how that is done.

Thats:

Oil change (filter not inc on that service but we always change them unless owner says not to)
Spark plugs checked and or replaced
Air filter checked and or replaced
Brake fluid moisture tested and if needed replaced
Coolant tested and if needed replaced
Throttle bodies balanced
TPS checked and set
SDS download
Valve clearances checked
Full chassis nut and bolt torque checked
Pivot points checked, greased and lubed
Chain adjusted, cleaned and lubed
Brakes checked - we recommend pins are removed and greased
Tyres checked and pressures checked
Discs checked
Headrace bearings and wheel bearings checked.
Clutch adjustment checked
Road test and possibly other bits i cant remember off the top of my head!

Now none of our tech's work slowly and none of them work fast enough to start making mistakes, I wont allow that to happen. Everything is checked and then double checked. Steve knows the SV inside and out but still works methodically to the schedule.

Parts prices are not inflated, your buying OEM parts at RRP set by Suzuki, our margin is also set. We also offer 10% off to Org members and can supply pattern parts if the customer wishes to have them.

On any bike you will not know whether the clearances need adjustment until they are checked. Assuming one bike doesnt need it doesnt mean any others wont. Thats pure bad advice to anyone.

Does that £3236.38 include tyres, brake pads, oil, filters and other consumables?.

Expensive is only based on what you consider to be expensive. You have to quantify it and often it goes hand it hand with your own personal earnings. Just because someone finds something expensive it doesnt always mean its a rip off either.

Ive been in bikes long enough now to understand this and learn from years of commuting, racing and that was before I worked and owned my own dealership.

yer 1 pair off tyres +pads+oil & filters etc etc over 10 years and about 18000 miles the first 10000 miles not included as no history

[yorkie_chris]

What's an SDS download?
And when you say pivots greased and lubed is that swingarm, linkage, headstock, the lot pulled out and cleaned and regreased?

Also what do you test coolant with? I did not know there was a tool to tell you the age/condition of additive pack.


Only thing I would disagree with on that schedule is a dealer has no business cleaning and lubing chains, if the customer doesn't do that themselves they shouldn't be trusted with a motorcycle.

Oh that and the brakes, IME if they've not been touched until 14500 miles they'll need pulling properly apart. Guess that's a prevention better than cure thing earlier or a "leave it until it's f***ed" thing...

[21QUEST]

So lets even call it 4 Hrs..that's £240 for labour , right?

Air Filter= £25(?)
Oil Filte £10(?)
Spark Plugs= £12(?)

Thos are just the bits I can be bothered to put down. So that's what, £287....folks can do the sum to find out where the rest of the monies might be goign to .

Tell you what, perhaps everyone should just buy a Haynes manual, take a day or two off work, sort their servicing out themselves and quit the sometimes pointless and unnecessary moaning.

Even better, open up a workshop, employ some workshop engineers*(if you haven't a clue which way to hold the spanners) and then charge the rest of the moaners the sort of rates they reckon it should be...should make a killing.

[andrewsmith]

YC Machine mart do the testers i think they measure the ethanol/ glycol level, have had one done at the 7500 service.

I think it was the service you've specced, but the dealer in question charges 70 for a brake service

[yorkie_chris]

That's different, that is just checking the specific gravity. Anyone can do that, but it gives no indication of the additive pack, just how much antifreeze is in there.

I agree Ben. No one forces anyone to take their bike to a dealer or workshop for a service. IMHO neither should anyone call to question what people charge or earn if it's justified!

Chris - SDS is one of the most under rated and under used tools available to any Suzuki dealer. If I tell you it's full uses I'd have to shoot you! No seriously it's too much to type from this poop iPhone keypad!

Oh and don't start me on chains! IMHO nearly every bike I see come in needs at least a chain clean and lube let alone adjustment. I've seriously had people think it should only be done on a service and one guy who wanted me to refund him for his new chain as after 7k it was hanging on the floor and he questioned me when I informed him it needed adjusting and lubing ( this was on his invoice for the chain too)!

Yes you can test efficiency of the coolant we have a tester for that and no check lube pivots doesn't include stripping swingarm bearings/linkages etc. If we feel they need attention then we advise to the customer, same if calumets need a full strip/clean. The pad pins are just preventative as we all know how good they are at getting stuck.

Remember not everyone who comes in for a service knows about the maintain side of things, most don't have time! They want their bike to be properly cared for and everything done to keep them on the road as hassle free as poss.

And a final note if so many dealers are going bust, please tell me who is getting rich from this?...seriously as I'd like to know! If not then aslong as it pays me enough to earn a living I will settle for doing it just cause I love bikes!