how long?

[00RedGsx600f]

I turned in my kat today to get the valves reset and carb sync done to it. However i called different stores and got different estimate of hours to get the work done. varied from 2.5hrs to 5hrs. makes a big difference at 80/hr. anyone have experience on how long the job should take?

[Black_peter]

2 hours.. If you know what you're doing.
But it needs to be stone cold (in fact some make sure the engine isn't even sitting in the sun)..

[The CyberPoet]

If you are going to have a shop do it, you need to do the following:

(A) Call only Suzuki authorized dealers to start with;
(B1) Specifically request the 15k Service. Do not ask for the valve adjustment, do not ask for an oil change, ask for the "15k Service for a 2000 Suzuki Katana 600".
(B2) The reason you ask for the 15k service is because it includes a bunch of stuff that overlaps and thus the Suzuki Workshop Time Manual (which is the basis for all time-based billing for work) takes that into account. It's time-spec of 2.7 hours includes removing the fairings, changing the oil & filter, doing the valve adjustment, cleaning/lubing/adjusting the chain, retorquing some 31 critical bolts, blowing out the air filter, adjusting all the cables, doing a safety inspection on the brakes & controls. When you ask for the service items separately, they look them up separately, so you might be getting charged for removing the fairings twice or even three times.
(C) You will end up paying between $302 and $330 for the 15k service, depening on what the dealer charges for oil & oil filters, sales tax percentages, and whether there is an oil-disposal/recovery fee in your state.
(D) If you do have a dealer do it, drop the bike off at close-of-business in the evening, so they can get to it stone "cold" the next morning. Any shop who does an valve adjustment without the engine the same temp as the ambient air is screwing up the task at hand and you might as well have saved your money.

(E) For that same $300, assuming you are starting with NO TOOLS WHAT-SO-EVER, you could buy ALL the tools you'll ever need for the bike, get the manual, get the replacement OEM oil filter, a superior grade of lube, AND still walk away with $30 - $100 in your pocket -- and the next service would only cost you the cost of the oil & filter.
You can find the suggest full tool lists here:

http://www.katriders.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1989

But in reality you only need a handful of specific tools.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[fixer]

+1 for what Cyber said... as long as you have decent mechanical skills and can follow directions. shouldn't need to re-synch the carbs unless you're tinkering withe the pilot jet adjustment screws.

adjusting the valves is fairly simple. everything else should be routing.

[The CyberPoet]

shouldn't need to re-synch the carbs unless you're tinkering withe the pilot jet adjustment screws.

Actually, you should resync the carbs after any valve clearance adjustments as well (because those adjustments have changed the way the engine produces vacuum at that cylinder). Thus, standard procedure is to resync after each valve adjustment service.

In general, any time you change any of the following, you should resync:
(A) The exhaust header, or grind out the exhaust header welds;
(B) The midpipe or muffler (not likely to make much difference, but occassionally it does for some reason);
(C) Do any work on the carbs, be it changing pilot screws, float settings, cleaning them out, replacing the jetting, etc.
(D) Adjust the valves;
(E) Replace anything in the intake tract other than replacing the stock air filter with another stock air filter (switching to K&N or obsoleting the airbox? resync).

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[fixer]

Actually, you should resync the carbs after any valve clearance adjustments as well

hmm, OK... see how wrenching on a thumper can spoil ya! with one carb, it's always "synched"... might need tuning, but it's always in synch with itself! :P