Service costs + valve check

[Trev 18,755]

Just picked my NC up from my independent MC guy who did a 'full' service for me. As I had the first , one year service at 4k due to low mileage on the bike then I was caught with odd mileage for the 'valve service' and, as the bike is a keeper, I wanted to see if there were any surprises in the servicing so asked him to 'do the lot'.

 

Total cost was £323  which I thought was a bloody lot for a 'budget bike' but what do you guys n gals think?:

4 hours labour 

DCT + Oil filters

Oil

Front brake pads

Spark plugs (on back order for 7 days, £23 each!!!) 

brake fluid (full drain and refill)

Fork Oil (full drain & refill)

Labour also included retapping the rad guard thread that had been incorrectly fitted by supplying Honda dealer and fitting the K&N filter I supplied

 

Serves me right for being lazy, next time I will definitely being doing the service myself as won't bother with a brake fluid or fork oil swap for at least 3 years, will only change the plugs at the (long) recommended intervals and the K&N will mean no filter changes only clean off

 

Feedback from Mark the mechanic was:

*all pretty straightforward although a large number of fasteners and fixings which did add a bit of time

*surprised I had worn the front pads so low - I put this down to the linked brakes (I use the rear only a fair bit on all bikes  when just slowing rather than braking, an old habit from pre-front brake light switch days), a fairly progressive riding style and only one disc for what is a bit of lump of a bike

*after 12k mile valve clearances had hardly moved, slight tweak to one but could have been left if not already opened  up  for checking, wouldn't bother again for at least another 16k unless noisy

*chain knackered (I knew that but waiting to sort smaller rear sprocket)

*spark plugs & DCT filter had to be ordered from Honda, both pricey, filter £9 + vat, plugs £19 + vat. Plugs took over a  week to get into Honda

*'that bike's bloody gutless!'

 

Now need to do the ECU reset thingy to allow the K&N to release another 0.002 bhp 

Edited September 25, 2014 by Trev

[Guest bonekicker]

If your happy paying that sort of money for a service and valve check then it's ok, but seems like a lot of money to me that's 6 weeks state pension money for 4 hours work and very few materials.

[bikerbampi 542]

Valve clearances are easy to adjust apparently with usual screw and locknut tappets.  That service although comrehensive looked a bit salty to me for an indy, no doubt the Honda parts required to maintain warranty doesn't help though.  However sometimes it is worth paying a little more when you can trust that the service will be done properly according to the schedule. 

[embee 7,288]

Haven't done the sums, but it doesn't sound entirely unreasonable. What are his hourly rates, £40/hr isn't unusual (he isn't a charity!). 4hrs is definitely not too long for that list, I'd have estimated it at more.

 

I checked my valve clearances at around 5k miles and they were fine, as you indicate I certainly won't be going in there again this side of 20k miles. The spark plugs should be good for 30k plus miles, they are precious metal types and in cars will last 50k miles happily. I've had iridium plugs in my car now for over 50k and they look perfect. I'll be looking towards 50k before changing plugs. They are available from specialist spark-plug suppliers at around £15 each delivered last time I looked. I've had good service from http://www.sparkplugs.co.uk/  , not the cheapest but I can rely on them as genuine items (watch out for fake NGK plugs).

[Guest Lenp]

Said it before on this site,I rang main Honda at Swindon, no need to look at valves,till 16000 miles,that is when I am looking at mine....Ride Safe..

[Tex 36,817]

I think that's a fair price for that amount of work. Ten years ago BMW Park Lane were charging £90 per hour + VAT. I hate to think what a 12K service on a modern Beemer would cost!

[Trev 18,755]

Guys, thanks for the feedback, some useful comments.

 

Labour charge is £48 / hour + vat, not unreasonable and IMO definitely worth it for having someone I trust working on my bike, not only to do a good job  but also not to 'find' things that need doing that I haven't asked for. An example of his attention to detail is that I actually run my tyres about 6 psi up on the book pressures (I'm a big lad and just prefer the better stability over white lines, ridges, etc).  Mark checked the pressures, re-set them to recommended but made a note to let me know he had changed them in case I was unaware that I was running the 'wrong' pressures.

 

Valve clearances - yup, I won't be checking these for at least another 16k and my guy said so easy to do then better I cover it myself and save my cash, in fact that was his feedback on the whole service apart from the bloody fasteners and clips.

 

Thanks for the lead on the plug source, will be a while before I use it but worth having. Again feedback from my mechanic was should really have left old ones in (he gave them back to me as spares) but I wanted to 'baseline' everything prior to me doing future services.

 

Bonekicker, I agree a hefty lump (my Gixer 750 only cost a bit more last year although no brake pads), fortunately I don't have to rely on state pension. Unfortunately that means that although I can afford someone else to twiddle spanners for me I don't have the time I would like to put the miles on the bike in the first place, maybe I need to retire and do my own servicing. That might be the best 'learn' from the responses so far    

[Guest ERIC]

large number of fasteners and fixings is quoted.  I would like to avoid paying a mechanic for having to remove and replace body panels in order to carry out a service.

but what usually needs to be removed?

air filter requires some removal of parts to gain access. incidentally does air cleaner have to be replaced if dirty - handbook says not suitable for blasting with air to clean out.

[nelmo 563]

What the heck is he doing fork oil for at such a low mileage? Is it in the schedule?

I did the fork oil on my V-Strom at 65k miles and I could hardly tell the difference. And it took me hours!

Seems a fair price for that amount of work but didn't need fork oil, brake fluid or spark plugs IMO.

Edited September 29, 2014 by nelmo

[Trev 18,755]

What the heck is he doing fork oil for at such a low mileage? Is it in the schedule?

I did the fork oil on my V-Strom at 65k miles and I could hardly tell the difference. And it took me hours!

Seems a fair price for that amount of work but didn't need fork oil, brake fluid or spark plugs IMO.

 

I wanted to switch to a slightly different grade of fork oil and although I can do it myself the last bike I did took me ages as well so with the bike on the bench and all the right gear it only took him half an hour. Now running 15W but only ridden the bike 8 miles home and couldn't tell any difference, will have a play at the weekend to see if it feels any difference, trouble is not ridden the bike for about 4 weeks and so probably won't be able to tell