My garage - are they being idiots(no)? *Result!*

[rac3r]

Following my other post about the brakes I took my bike to a small garage near me called Bob Thomas, pretty much a 2 man crew(old guy and a mechanic). The guy had a quick look at the bike outside the shop and said it may be the calliper is seized on one side 'but you'll have to book it in for a proper look' so I said i'll bring it to him later on in the week. Today I remembered to ask him the costs etc, so I phoned him up and said how much will it cost to have a look at it NOT to repair and

he says 'I don't know until we've had a look at it'

I say ' I'm not asking repair charges i'm talking about having a look'

He says 'but I don't know it might take 1 hour or 10 hours, I don't know till we've had a look'

I say ' OK so what is your charge per hour'

He says ' £46 per hour'

What should I do? DIY or just chance it and hope he doesn't rip the shit out of me?
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Bikes : 2006 CBR125R - 2004 Monster 620ie - 2004 ZX-6R B1H - 2005 Monster S2R 800 - 2011 Street Triple - 2009 Streetfighter 1098 - 2014 ZX-6R 636

[Hetzer]

No, they're not being "idiots", they're being capitalists.
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"There's the horizon! Ride hard, ride fast and cut down all who stand in your way!"

[Pernig]

If you can do it yourself, then do. But it's your brakes. If you're in doubt take it in to a mechanic. It's not something you want to go wrong five minutes down the road .
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H100 Breaking for spares

[Kickstart]

Hi

Which bike is this on? CBR125? Think it is a single piston sliding caliper on the back. 2 main ways these can stick. Either the pins they slide of stick or the piston in the caliper sticks. I would suspect the pins first. Take the caliper off (should just be 2 bolts, don't undo the hydraulic line) and have a look. Pads will be cheap, but if BOTH pads are pretty equally worn then I would say likely the caliper is not sticking, you have just left the pads too long. See whether you can move the carrier the caliper slides on.

Front will basically be the same, just a 3 piston sliding caliper.

As to the mechanics, sounds like they are just being over cautious with giving you a price. Probably to avoid this kind of accusation.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Itchy]

They are just being sensible , in that if they quote a price and something else is wrong with it? , a builder once quoted my dad a price and wrote it down and signed it...

The builder took down a wall and noticed something very wrong and incurred £3000 of extra costs to fix this problem.


Speedy is the same in that having a look may reveal other problems,

But fir £46 you might as well jump to £70 and get a piston puller.
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[james169]

If you can do it yourself, then do. But it's your brakes. If you're in doubt take it in to a mechanic. It's not something you want to go wrong five minutes down the road

[rac3r]

That's the thing i'm not really sure what to look for, pads I can check but with the pistons and stuff I'm not sure. I was asking him for the price to have a look at the problem not to repair it, he only told me he doesn't know how long it takes to have a look at the rear brake and that he charges £46 an hour

I don't have a picture of the brake any more but one side of the disc seems do have a dark line along the tracking area and it squeaks when pushing the bike and riding at low speeds. (rear brake)
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Bikes : 2006 CBR125R - 2004 Monster 620ie - 2004 ZX-6R B1H - 2005 Monster S2R 800 - 2011 Street Triple - 2009 Streetfighter 1098 - 2014 ZX-6R 636

[Kickstart]

Hi

From his point of view, the pads could have welded themselves to the disk, and so virtually impossible to remove the caliper to check it. More realistically there could be a serious lip on the edge of the disk making it very difficult to remove a sticking caliper to find what on it is sticking.

Suspect the 10 hours mentioned was just basically saying that he cannot really say.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Pie-Roe]

[rac3r]

[Sparks!]

[rac3r]

[Kickstart]

[Skudd]

I'm sure the mechanic will look at it for free, giving you the wisdom of his knowledge will cost you and the skills of his hands will cost you more.
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Famous last words of Humpty Dumpty. " Stop pushing me "
Petty Anarchists look at "1984".............. The Visionary looks at "Animal Farm".

[rac3r]

I'll probably end up taking it to the garage because I'd rather not try and fix it if i'm not sure especially as its the brakes. Is £46 an hour about right for labour charges?
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Bikes : 2006 CBR125R - 2004 Monster 620ie - 2004 ZX-6R B1H - 2005 Monster S2R 800 - 2011 Street Triple - 2009 Streetfighter 1098 - 2014 ZX-6R 636

[Itchy]

[nick606]

My mechanic charges about £25 an hour.

[Skudd]

[nick606]

jeff davenports. Well mike is the mechanic near Morrisons

[LeeR]

To be honest you could probably do the inspection yourself; armed with a can of brake cleaner I removed and inspected my calipers the other month.

There's no mistaking a seized piston as you'll struggle to slide the caliper off the disc.

Once I'd got the pads out and cleaned most of the debris away with a toothbrush and brake cleaner I realised I was going to need the caliper overhauling.

I had the pads and piston seals replaced as part of a minor service at the local Suzuki dealer's, they also charge £45/hr which for a main dealer is very reasonable imho.

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As an aside what the hell is going on with the karma on this thread? Keith I think you might need to sort the nadgers out.
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My claim to fame: Austin Vince nicked my pen...

[Itchy]

[Mudskipper]

[Skudd]

[nick606]

nar thats not mike. Mikes is the austrailain been there for about a year now, use to work at mmc.

[Skudd]