Whats the most you ever spent for service

[WildKat]

At your dealer,what's the largest amount you ever had to spend at a stealer.. not counting if you bought your bike at one. But for maint. or repairs ?

Ive spent 1000.00 already for service when I wrecked my Honda Rebel.. insurance deductible at the time. Needed new signals all the way around, new peg on one side, new exhaust, new rear fender, new tires, and new forks in the front, and few other cosmetic things. Learned my lesson that time, even way back then, now I keep it alot lower just in case.

Recently though, the most Ive dropped at one shot at my dealer was 350.00.

[ThAzKat]

You know my answer bro!!


Take it to a shop and pay top dollar on everything, NOT!!!! Are you kidding!!


And I will be happy to take the $350 to do the work for you!

[WildKat]

well yeah, u say that now...thats its already been done!!!!

[woobie]

The most I spent at a shop was $300US and that was when I got my new tires and had them installed.

Other than that it was the $60 for a service manual and I've been doing all my own work since I got it..

[md86]

Had a mechanic play with the starter on my old Virago a few years ago . Cost me like $200 , and they broke more than they fixed . Now the only time my bike sees a shop is for tires , and I usually just take the wheel in .

[ThAzKat]

well yeah, u say that now...thats its already been done!!!!

and will need to be done again probably

[Mojoe]

Ive spent 1000.00 already for service when I wrecked my Honda Rebel.. insurance deductible at the time. Needed new signals all the way around, new peg on one side, new exhaust, new rear fender, new tires, and new forks in the front, and few other cosmetic things. Learned my lesson that time, even way back then, now I keep it alot lower just in case.

There...now I have to say something. Don't take this the wrong way, but you are doing it half-ass backwards. I grew up around a a garage and my dad has repaired a ton of accidented vehicles, so I know alot of little tricks.
First, it is not financially wise to take a $250-500 deductible. Lower deductible means higher premiums. Within 3 years you could save the cost of the deductible (the difference between the 2) if you take a $1000 deductible.
Second, for the cost of the $1000 deductible, you could locate every part you listed on Ebay. I could easily find all that stuff for $1000 on Ebay.

So there is 2 ways you can do it depending on how "convenient" you want it compared to how "profitable" you want it.

1- you can keep the lower deductible and just walk into the shop when something happens and have it all done by them. This will cost you the deductible, plus whaterever you pay for premiums. If your insurance is say $1000 a year and the deductible is $250, it cost you $1250 to have your bike repaired.

2- Or you can take the higher deductible...say $1000, and pay say maybe $750-$800 for your premiums. Then if something happens and you take the bike in for an estimate and there is say $2000 damage, you buy all the parts for WAY less on Ebay....say $5-600. Then you fix it yourself. After it is all done.....and even add in another $400 for having something painted if needed, the total cost is $1000. Then you collect your check for $2000. Minus the $1000 it cost you out of your pocket (your deductible), you have $1000 left. If your premium for the year was was less than $1000, the difference goes in your pocket. So if you play it right, it didn't cost you a cent to insure your bike and you actually make a profit. If it actually costs your $2000 for insurance, you end up only paying $1000 in the end.

But it all depends on what you want. If you want convenience and just don't want to be bothered with all that, then go ahead and pay the $1000 deductible and the $1500 premium....for a total of $2500. If it is worth it to you...all the better.
Or you can do it the way I suggested and put a little effort into it and have it all for free and possibly make a few bucks.

Remember one thing though....either way you are making a claim and the premium may go up afterwards. But usually they don't raise your premiums on one claim. However, they do not lower it either, as they are supposed after a while with no claims made and the bike depreciates in value. So another option is take the $1000 deductible and fix it yourself with parts off Ebay and make no claim at all, which will leave you a clean file with the insurance and lower rates in the future.

As it is right now, you are doing just what they like. They actually prefer you take a lower deductible so they can charge higher rates. Even if they have to pay a bit more to repair your bike, they make more money off you through the years with the higher premiums. But if you are older and get really good rates....say $500 or so, then it is not so bad going with the "convenient" way. But if your rates are over $1000, then "convenient" is costing you ALOT.

Just my 2 cents.

[The CyberPoet]

In 1984 I plopped a hefty $1280 down at a dealership to pay the repair bill for my then-bike. Considering that I didn't pay a whole lot more than that for the bike new, it was outrageous, but the deal I bought mine under wasn't available anymore (it had been a winter-closeout from a snow-bound dealer who shipped a whole truckful south at a great loss). My instructions had generally been followed on the repair, which explains the high cost -- if a part was bent, scratched, scuffed, damaged in any way (visually or physically), replace it with a brand new OEM part from Honda; no repairs, replace everything/anything questionable. That meant a whole ton of stuff, from tank to handlebars, levers to forks, etc. But I knew the bike I got back was the bike I wanted without concern or issues.

Since then, I've never paid that kind of money again and I think the most expensive service I've seen since was about $600, which 15k service, fork seals & fluid, brake fluid & pads, new chain, new tires. These days even that is too high, and I think in the past two years the highest I paid was $70 or so for tire mounting & balancing...

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[GSX1100FL]

I once paid close to $700.00 for service at the local shop, the mechanic they had always did a top service on all the bikes he worked on, well worth the money, IMO.
Since they fired him quality of service sucks & I'm sure it still sucks.

Ever since they left a piece off of my Kat & I had to replace it myself.
I have never had another shop(yet) touch my Kat & if I can I will be the only one working on my Kat.

[WildKat]

Ive spent 1000.00 already for service when I wrecked my Honda Rebel.. insurance deductible at the time. Needed new signals all the way around, new peg on one side, new exhaust, new rear fender, new tires, and new forks in the front, and few other cosmetic things. Learned my lesson that time, even way back then, now I keep it alot lower just in case.

There...now I have to say something. Don't take this the wrong way, but you are doing it half-ass backwards. I grew up around a a garage and my dad has repaired a ton of accidented vehicles, so I know alot of little tricks.
First, it is not financially wise to take a $250-500 deductible. Lower deductible means higher premiums. Within 3 years you could save the cost of the deductible (the difference between the 2) if you take a $1000 deductible.
Second, for the cost of the $1000 deductible, you could locate every part you listed on Ebay. I could easily find all that stuff for $1000 on Ebay.

So there is 2 ways you can do it depending on how "convenient" you want it compared to how "profitable" you want it.

1- you can keep the lower deductible and just walk into the shop when something happens and have it all done by them. This will cost you the deductible, plus whaterever you pay for premiums. If your insurance is say $1000 a year and the deductible is $250, it cost you $1250 to have your bike repaired.

2- Or you can take the higher deductible...say $1000, and pay say maybe $750-$800 for your premiums. Then if something happens and you take the bike in for an estimate and there is say $2000 damage, you buy all the parts for WAY less on Ebay....say $5-600. Then you fix it yourself. After it is all done.....and even add in another $400 for having something painted if needed, the total cost is $1000. Then you collect your check for $2000. Minus the $1000 it cost you out of your pocket (your deductible), you have $1000 left. If your premium for the year was was less than $1000, the difference goes in your pocket. So if you play it right, it didn't cost you a cent to insure your bike and you actually make a profit. If it actually costs your $2000 for insurance, you end up only paying $1000 in the end.

But it all depends on what you want. If you want convenience and just don't want to be bothered with all that, then go ahead and pay the $1000 deductible and the $1500 premium....for a total of $2500. If it is worth it to you...all the better.
Or you can do it the way I suggested and put a little effort into it and have it all for free and possibly make a few bucks.

Remember one thing though....either way you are making a claim and the premium may go up afterwards. But usually they don't raise your premiums on one claim. However, they do not lower it either, as they are supposed after a while with no claims made and the bike depreciates in value. So another option is take the $1000 deductible and fix it yourself with parts off Ebay and make no claim at all, which will leave you a clean file with the insurance and lower rates in the future.

As it is right now, you are doing just what they like. They actually prefer you take a lower deductible so they can charge higher rates. Even if they have to pay a bit more to repair your bike, they make more money off you through the years with the higher premiums. But if you are older and get really good rates....say $500 or so, then it is not so bad going with the "convenient" way. But if your rates are over $1000, then "convenient" is costing you ALOT.

Just my 2 cents.

At the time I had the service done on my rebel, I was 18 or 19, in college part time, and working part time, so when that happened, I was flat broke after that and had to borrow the money just to get it fixed. Since then, I've tried to keep it at 500.00, which is what its at now. With the thinking of..I can usually come up with 500.00 if need be, but I cant always come up with 1000.00. Now back then too, ebay, my god, was it even around then? and I didnt have many connections w/ people who worked at a garage, etc., so if something happened, and I couldnt fix it myself, I had to take it somewhere. Hence the logic behind the 500.00 deductible. Probablyjust force of habit, and a somewhat antiquated way of looking at it now, especially since I know alot more now, have more connections, and of course ebay being what it is now.

I tend to get decent rates on bike insurance, and my premium for full coverage is nowhere near 1000.00 for my Kat, and actually when it gets renewed here coming up in May, as long as the status quo stays in affect, it should be alittle less than 600 yr. and with the older bikes I've had here of late, before getting my Kat, I've carried just liability on some of them.

But I see your points, and it's given me some food for thought. Thank you.