It's Getting Ridiculous
Tourer
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 464
Likes: 4
From: W. Pa
+1 Spend the labor savings on a nice trip.
Road Master
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,240
Likes: 82
From: Columbus, GA
Some people say the two happiest days in a boat owner's life are the day he buys it and the day he sells it. I'm beginning to think the same may be true of bikers. I went to pick up mine today after it had to be towed to a local H-D dealer because of a dead battery. While it was there, they told me that I probably would need to replace the rear tire in a thousand miles. So, since I am planning on a mountain trip this Spring I opted to have them go ahead and replace the rear tire. Bottom line, $540 for the tire and battery and labor. If I had to pay that for a car, I would trade it. In my opinion, $160 for labor is a bit much for changing a rear tire and installing a battery. Oh, they said the labor charge on the battery included checking the charging system. That probably took all of five minutes.
Either that or learn to do your own maintenance.
Road Master
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,178
Likes: 5
From: Central Calif
The cost is in the oil and filter. 4 qts syn and a chrome filter run you $65 so for a $100 oil change you're only being charged 20-30 min labor. Not unreasonable. Takes that long to move the bike in, drain the oil and change filter and refill and then wash down the bike.
however -- not all dealers put in syn unless they consider it a high performance engine and then the 100 cost goes up
1) 4 qts of syn 30 bucks (no not Harley syn)
2) black filter not chrome -- thats just me as I can't see the filter down there any way
so now I have 40 bucks in oil and filter --- 15 min to drain oil and change filter -- even at $100 an hour labor is 25 bucks for a total of 65 bucks. Having been a mechanic -- we didn't receive time to move the vehicle in an out of the shop.
when I do the services on the bike, even if I am putzing around, it doesn't take me the time quoted by the dealer - and since I am able -- I do the services. --
Advanced
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 66
Likes: 0
From: colorado
Any toy is going to be expensive. I've spent 100,000 miles in the saddle of a Harley. 50,000 were trouble free on my dyna. The road king has cost me untold thousands. I had a stator replaced under warranty. The compensator I did myself. Rear wheel compensator I had done at the dealer since my throttle by wire also needed looked at. Some stuff I don't mind doing. Anything electrical goes to someone who hopefully knows what they're doing. I used to argue that Harley needs real competition to get their prices down on everything from the bike, to service, to parts. Then I looked into buying a Triumph Rocket or a Honda Valkyrie. Turns out Harley pricing isn't too bad after all. Riding just isn't cheap no matter what you're on.
Intermediate
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 38
Likes: 1
From: NH, US
An awful lot of you aren't considering your time to be worth anything. When I do consulting work for a discount rate, I charge $125/hr. My time riding is priceless. It would take me hours to remove a tire, take it off the rim, realize I damaged the rim while removing the tire, take it to a dealer for new rubber and balancing, then mount it back on the bike. That's pretty much a day of swearing and running around town.
Road Warrior
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 1,879
Likes: 10
From: Jacksonville
An awful lot of you aren't considering your time to be worth anything. When I do consulting work for a discount rate, I charge $125/hr. My time riding is priceless. It would take me hours to remove a tire, take it off the rim, realize I damaged the rim while removing the tire, take it to a dealer for new rubber and balancing, then mount it back on the bike. That's pretty much a day of swearing and running around town.
Now they charge $350 to install header pipes. There's no way I can do it that fast. I tried it once and it took me about 8. I let them do the header pipes because I'd rather have 8 hours and not have a sore back for a couple weeks.
The OP stated he is 68 and can't do it himself anymore, so he's at the mercy of the dealership.
In come a lot of **** bags giving a 68 year old complete stranger a lot of **** because he can't do his own work anymore and is complaining that rates keep going up, which they are. It's as if they've never had a struggle in their life.
Last edited by Clubber; Apr 2, 2015 at 08:01 AM.
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Road Master
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 872
Likes: 237
From: Covington, Ga
An awful lot of you aren't considering your time to be worth anything. When I do consulting work for a discount rate, I charge $125/hr. My time riding is priceless. It would take me hours to remove a tire, take it off the rim, realize I damaged the rim while removing the tire, take it to a dealer for new rubber and balancing, then mount it back on the bike. That's pretty much a day of swearing and running around town.
Truth is, it is not cheap to have hobbies.
I work on my own because I have more time than money.... and I really don't have any time.
My time is worth something, in the real world, if oil prices ever rebound, I can consult for $1500/day + travel and per diem, 15 days on, 6 days off...
I STILL won't pay $450 for a service.
Time spend working on my bike is almost as enjoyable as time riding my bike. Not everyone sees it that way.
If a man can't afford to have his toys worked on, and can't work on them himself, it's time to find a new hobby... but golf ain't cheap either.
I work on my own because I have more time than money.... and I really don't have any time.
My time is worth something, in the real world, if oil prices ever rebound, I can consult for $1500/day + travel and per diem, 15 days on, 6 days off...
I STILL won't pay $450 for a service.
Time spend working on my bike is almost as enjoyable as time riding my bike. Not everyone sees it that way.
If a man can't afford to have his toys worked on, and can't work on them himself, it's time to find a new hobby... but golf ain't cheap either.