Am I being ripped off?

[photons]

I own a suzuki Maraunder 125cc 1999 motorbike, and last friday my chain came off and so I decided to get it repaired at a local garage. I had a general chat with the mechanic who was very freindly and after a general chat about my bikes poor speed performance I was pursuaded into getting a service as well.
He suggested that I bring under £200 with me and he was adamant that I would get at least some change from both the repair on the chain and the servicing.
On Saturday he phoned me and mentioned that he had to get a few parts from suzuki in order to complete the service.
Today he mentioned that the parts he needed to order included a clutch cable and several other items.
He said that the overall cost of the job would be £150 or £180.
I was warned from a freind from work that the mechanic who is fixing my bike has charged her husband over excessively, enough so that his refusel to pay this amount resulted in legal action. The owner of the bike contacted trading standards and the case was dropped because the mechanic was apparently known by trading standards.
I am concerned that I may be charged unfairly, so I would be happy if any of you think that £150- £180 is a common service and chain repair charge taking into account that the bike is in good nick with low mileage (apart from the poor egine performance)and has had a recent MOT.

[ancientd]

Sounds like it, the question is if you knew about him why on earth did you take your bike there. Fitting a chain and sprockets is about an hours work, and I would say that you should be paying well under £100 for the chain and sprocket set, in fact checking on M & P's the chgaim is under £20, the rear sprocket under £10 and a front sprocket less than £5. My charge for the job would have been about £50. A service is generally about 2 hours and depending on what the mileage is would depend on how thorough the service was. The most labour that I would charge would be 3 hours and that would be for the full service including oil, filter, spark plug, air filter and checking on valve clearances, brakes and bearings.
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I ride 3 bikes, a Thundercat, an FZRexup 1000 Streetfighter and a Jawa 350 Combo, something for all seasons.

[stinkwheel]

Depends on how thorough a service. I was about £140-£180 for dealer servicing on my MZ baghira (4-stroke single, dry sump so small oil capacity). That was to include everything in the book so oil and filter, air filter, tappets, fork oil, brake fluid, oil cables, new plug etc. (they didn't actually do it all which is somewhat besides the point and I have dealt with that in my own way.)

So if he is doing all this with a chain and sprockets I would say it is expensive but not totally excessive (in the same way that you could buy the same TV in Argos for a lot less than it would be in Dixons).
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[BenBray]

Marauders have expensive parts. I'll just copy up the parts bill in an hour or so when I have more time, but the sprockets aren't standard - likewise with a lot of parts on the bike. I took it to a well known an approved garage too, very nice people, so I have faith that it's the proper price.

Again, marauders are bloody expensive.
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Current Bike: nc30

[Kickstart]

Hi

Depends on what the bits are. Suspect from Suzuki a clutch cable will be £10~£20. Air filter at least £10. Plug £5. Chain and sprockets £35 (assume on those he doesn't get them from Suzuki). Oil filter £5. Oil £10. That is at least £75 before you pay for the labour. Not sure what his hourly rate is but even at £25 an hour that is around about what you are expecting.

All the best

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

[BenBray]

Chain: £25
Front Sprocket: £10
Rear Sprocket:£15

I'd go with what keith expects for the other parts.

The rear brake cable from Suzuki for the marauder is £50 odd quid. Whatever you do, dont break that
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Current Bike: nc30

[Knowlsey]

after hearing that he is known to trading standards, i cant understand why you would want to go there in the first place, grab a book and some spanners and do it yourself, nothing on that bike is hard to get to, not like he has to remove a load of plastics

[photons]

Just to make a point, I heard complaints about the mechanic during the servicing, so I was too late in canceling the service.
I took my bike to the garage on friday, he started the servicing on saturday,monday, tuesday and tomorrow he said I may be able to collect my bike.
He said that my rear bike pads were dangerous and werent attached properly and yet my bike passed its MOT in October 05?
I've just found out that the cost of the Servicing and the repaired chain will set me back £215.
I'm getting my bill itemised and I will get it sent to another garage to check whether any new parts have been fitted, if not I will get onto Trading standards.
Has anybody got any advice onto what other action I could take?

[BenBray]

Heres a list of some of the parts I've had replaced:

Rear Tyre: £75.00
Front Brake Pads: £16.50
Chain: £25.00
Front Sprocket: £10.00
Rear Sprocket: £15.00
Rear Brake Cable: £55 [wtf ]
Cable Comp, Stop Lamp: £14.50
Spring: £3.00

Take out the rear tyre, that ads up to about £125? Thats about 2-2.5 hours labour, 96.94 after VAT.

What you're being quoted for a service and new chain and sprockets does seem fair.

Not included in the above is the new front caliper I should get, as when I binned it something snapped off in the caliper. It's not life-or-death, but shit gets to the pistons a lot faster thus it needs overhauling regularly. New front caliper for a marauder125 is over £200 [from Suzuki].

Marauders aren't cheap bikes dude, I think you may just have to suck it up.

Edit: Got all of the above discounted cause I'm good mates with the owners kid
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Current Bike: nc30

[photons]

The rear tire hasnt been replaced, so why would it cost £75 for the rear tire? I mentioned that the Bike passed its MOT in oct 05, so why would the rear brake pads be worn out enough to pose a danger? I'm not too sure, the bike has a low mileage and has had a recent MOT. I was quoted from another bike garage that a service would cost £50-£100, it just does not seem to add up. The mechanic could easily mention that a particular part needs replacing but how do I know he isnt conning me into spending more, and how would I know whether he has replaced the parts or whether he has just left them?
Being aware of his dodgy profession I am not totally convinced that my bike has been serviced fairly.

[ancientd]

£50 to £100 sounds reasonable for a service £200 + seems over the top, wait till you see what he's charged you and for what, remember some of these people charge £45 an hour for labour, it would be interesting to see why he had it so long, it's only a mornings work at most. When you get the list make sure the parts that you've been charged for have actually been replaced.
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I ride 3 bikes, a Thundercat, an FZRexup 1000 Streetfighter and a Jawa 350 Combo, something for all seasons.

[MikeH]

[BenBray]

I know you havn't had a rear tire or new rear brake line. I'm just giving you some costs to think about later on down the line - trying to be of some help so you will know how much your parts should cost you in the future. Why're you so focused on this guy ripping you off? If he's known to trading standards - he probably knows it. With summer coming, I bet he doesn't want to be out of business.

The MOT was October, right? My bike passed it's MOT in the middle of october. Needed new rear shoes and front pads since then. I've needed to change the oil and oil filter since then. I've given the air filter a blast with compressed air. It's had two new tyres, and I've had to replace a headlight bulb. I've probably done many more miles than you, but the point is, I've had to do it.

Work like chaning your oil and oil filter is dead simple. Installing front pads seems relatively simple, and if I had a paddock stand I'm sure I could do my chain and sprockets. I've never looked into clutch cable replacement before, nor have I looked at rear shoes, but I can imagine shoes being fairly straight-forward.

The great thing about a motorbike is that its fairly easy to do work on it yourself. You'll save loads of money.

You mentioned the service to the other garage. Did this include chain and sprockets, or any of the other things the other guy has found?

We're trying to help here, if you're determined to believe he's ripping you off then so be it.
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Current Bike: nc30

[Guest]