Because of the abuse I subject my bike to ( a lot of off pavement riding etc) I decided to "have" the front fork totally rebuilt. I didn't want to deal with it myself so I took it to a dealer to have it done.

I'm just wanting to know if any of you have had yours done at a dealership and approx how many hours they charged you for labor? The reason I'm asking is it has taken them several days and the reason I was given is that it was more involved than they initially thought and the tech doesn't have all the tools he needed and had to make some. I understand that a total rebuild of a late model Springer is out of the norm and also understand the tech maybe never doing one before. I was assured that he does have Springer experience however.

They called me last night and told me it's ready, I'm going to pick it up tomorrow morning but didn't ask what the bill is when I talked them last night. I know what estimate they gave me and just trying to get an idea of what a reasonable time would be based on others experience. I don't want to be paying for the tech's time to fab tools etc.

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

I can't imagine what they will charge you, but I'm pretty curious as to what the bill is. I also can't imagine a certified Harley tech not having whatever tools would be needed to rebuild a set of forks that were designed back in the 1930's.

 

I had to get my neck bearing redone this summer which involved complete dismantling of the front end and put back together with springs tensioned and rockers torqued etc..Total shop labor was one full day (8hours)
You should not be paying anymore than that..I am contractor and i would never consider passing on the cost of tool I should already own to the customer..
Also, the specialty tool is no more than a threaded rod that the shop manual shows you how to make

 

Initial estimate was for five hours labor and I was pretty sure that would be low. I can accept a full day but might get a lil bitchy if it goes beyond that.

Parts are going to be a good chunk of the bill as I told them to order every part that might need to be replaced that they didn't have in stock (except springs) because I didn't want to have to wait several days for parts to come in that they might not have (that worked out real well). That was with the understanding that I'd just take any parts they ordered and did not use with me as I'll probably need them eventually anyway.

As far as special tools go, if it's something that rarely gets used it's tough to justify paying what they cost for one but.......If you need it, you need it and it doesn't give a very professional impression to say UH, I don't have the tool I need if you are working in a shop that only services one brand of bike.

 

Is this a dealership? let's give them the benefit of the doubt here and say they booked you for the appt and knew they had to make up the compression lock rod..so instead of tying up a lift, they moved on to another project until they got around to making it on their own time..the guy on the phone usually is told what to say by the mechanic, and only relays half the info

 

I'm with you. I got no problem with how long they've had the bike, just want to know what if any experience others have had as far as time billed for a similar job is all. If what I've been told is true and it's more complicated then they thought to do the total rebuild I don't want to get charged because the tech wasn't prepared.

I have an "official" Harley Flatt Rate manual and could go through and figure it out, just being lazy and wanting to see what others have experienced. I know that Flatt Rate is normally used for giving estimates and isn't a real world do all end all for how long a job actually takes.

 

"About a day..." is what i was quoted and that's what it was..Bike shops can be notorious for overbooking or not getting around to it that day..nothing worse than trying to cover your own bases, taking it in and sitting on yer *** while a week of beautiful weather slips by... or 81 days in my circumstance..I had substantial work done to the bike tho... but the invoice said 30 hours.. go figure

 

A friend had his FX springer completely rebuilt at a Harley dealer...not sure how many hours he was charged, but they only had the bike one day. As long as the bike wasn't way over due...all that is included in a "total rebuild" is neck bearings and a few bushings ...not brain surgery. I might not get bent for them keeping the bike a couple of extra days for the reasons (excuses)they gave you, but if the charge was much more than the estimate, I would raise nine kinds of hell. And rebuilding newer springers is the norm if they have some miles on them.

 

Curious to know the outcome as I'm a "sprung" owner too...

 

Parts should be in the 400 range if you do all bearings and springs. the spherical rockers bearings are 80.00 alone.Springs are like 29.00 a piece.That's all new. I didn't do the rear pivot bolts as they weren't worn at all. 56.00 if you have to replace them.The shock can be had at several places on e-bay for 59.00. Same shock that HD sells for 149.00. It took me right at 8 hrs to do the job the first time. The spring compression tool cost me 8 bucks to build at Lowes. You need a bearing race tool to be quick but it can be done without.