I have found that finding a mechanic is very hard, I have one for my cars. For my bike I do all the work myself, that way I know it was done right.

Mark

 

I don't think there are many good mechanics out there that work at dealers so I do all my own work. I have heard way too many stories just like yours.

 

Years ago I took my 82 GPZ1100 B2 to the local dealer in San Diego for a fork seal replacement, Caught the bus, went downtown, called and was told it's ready,came back and before I paid any money, I looked the bike over.

I found a gouge in one of the sliders,the front axle pinch nuts were finger tight, and the front disc calipers were binding. I got the service manager and he and I walked around the bike noting what was wrong.

As a result the mechanic doing the work did not get paid for his time and they took a big chunk off of the bill and new sliders were ordered and installed free.

Now I look at things real careful be it bike,car, or home appliance after repair.
Thre are some good people out ther doing repairs and others I would not turn my back on.

 

Some mechs, are better than others, just depends on which mech your bike gets assigned to.

 

I have to vote with the other guys on this one. I do all my work mainly for three reasons:
1 - Saves money
2 - I can (grease in my blood)
3 - I take pride in my work
The third reason is what you find in a good mech. It's getting harder to find in this younger generation. They are more about hte money and not about the bikes and those who ride them. The one thing I can say is look at the mech when you discribe the problem. Watch his/her reaction and see if he asks for any additional info or if he/she just goes on what you've told them. If they tell you of possibilities form other related problems. Think of how you ask a question here and the responses you get. These responses are what you are looking for in a good mech. Happy Hunting!!

 

I have found a great mechanic that realy cares about the quality of his work... that would be me!!!

 

I do all my work as well, have rebulit a few bikes, 82 GPz and my current 84 Gpz. With my new job, my days are close to 14 hours, so I didn't have the time to do it myself, which is why I put it in the shop.

I didn't expect it to cost me $1000, which i had to pay for by selling my drums, which sucked. I wish I had found the time to have done it myself, but man my days are just sooooo filled allready.

 

There is no excuse for poor workmanship. Ever. For a thousand bucks you could have flown me out there and I'd have fixed it.

 

Think it's tough trying to find a good tech to work on your bike? Try finding one to hire!

In more than a dozen years in the industry I can count the number of 'great' techs on one hand and the number of 'good' ones with just a finger or two more.

It's not really a financially rewarding career (in the grand scheme of things)(this applies to the whole industry not just to techs) and benefits are virtually non existent as is job security.

Most of the great and really good techs will use dealerships as a means to further their education with OJT, then either move into a service management role, or try their hand at owning their own business.

There are four 'great' mechanics that I have had the pleasure of working with over the years. One is now the service manager where I work now, one is working as an engine builder for a Team Green backed drag bike team, one is working on bikes and ATV's out of his house and one has opened his own repair only facility at an old gas station.

None of them would ever go back to turning wrenches at a dealership unless their families were hungry.

Bruce

 

There are four 'great' mechanics that I have had the pleasure of working with over the years. One is now the service manager where I work now, one is working as an engine builder for a Team Green backed drag bike team, one is working on bikes and ATV's out of his house and one has opened his own repair only facility at an old gas station.

None of them would ever go back to turning wrenches at a dealership unless their families were hungry.

Bruce

Pretty much answers the question. :wink:

 

As always, Bruce is spot on.


BUT, AMI, MMI, UTI, and Porter and Chester are ALL willing to take your thirty grand to teach you HALF of what I learned from my Dad working on his 58 Cadillac all those years ago. Expensive way to save money on bike parts.

 

:tongue: :tongue: :tongue: :tongue: :tongue:

 

I do my own work. Go on eBay and look for a service manual for your bike and do the work yourself. I took my bike in last year to have new tires put on and I get a call that my bike has a blown valve gasket or something like that and it would cost $2500 to fix! Huh??? I said are you sure you're talking about my bike? He said definitely. I told him just put the tires on and don't touch anything else! BTW, the bike was fine! A guy I know did a compression test and said there was absolutely nothing wrong! Unreal

 

I use to take my bikes to a local shop to have the tires changed/balanced...UNTIL...I had new tires put on...headed home and while riding the bike it felt like a wheel was egg shaped. I took it back to have it checked and the guy who did the work placed the balance weight on the wrong side of the wheel (easily fixed) but it was enough to cause me to buy my own tire changing equipment and do it myself.

All of the maintenance I can do on my bikes and 4-wheeler I do myself. That way I don't worry about it and can take time to really check things over when I'm working on them.

 

Tell me people, is there a decent bike mechanic left out there????

Nope, we all suck!!!

I am extremely useless, and screw up every job to uphold the poor rep of wrenchers everywhere.:biggrin:

 

I've been very lucky with the 900. The shop where I bought it has some great people. The parts man seems to know as much or more than the techs, and the techs I've had are top notch. I hope they NEVER change. Otherwise I'll have to drive all the way to BC and let Saleenguy mess up my bike.

 

Is Connecticut closer?

 

Honestly, there is no mechanic that is going to care about your bike more than you are. I do not trust mechanics for anything, including my car. I have heard too many horror stories. One of the problems is that lately, things are getting harder and harder to work on without special tools and computer equipment, especially cars. Most people cannot afford these things, so they do not get the exposure to the basic mechanical skills that people used to get 30 or more years ago. The shadetree mechanic is quickly becoming a thing of the past (unless you own a bike ), and that is cutting into the pool of people who have good mechanical skills without spending 30 grand on training. I learned almost everything I know about engines, cars and bikes by diving in and working on them. I was tearing cars apart with my dad when I was 5 years old. That's back when you could take a set of wrenches, some simple guages, and a few other basic tools and do almost anything you wanted to your car. Nowadays, you can't even reach half of the bolts on a car with a standard wrench set, and so many of the parts have been replaced with computerized components that are not serviceable anyways.

The good thing about bikes is that most of the machines out there, even today, are still relatively easy to work on. Sure some have computerized systems running the engines, traction control and all that stuff, but for the most part, the basic fundamentals of bike repair have not changed much over the years. The engine basics are still the same. Most bikes still have carburetors, and most of those are relatively simple to work on once you dig into them and become familiar. Newer bikes have FI, but with a little bit of learning, that isn't all too difficult to work on either. And the other good thing is that with the internet, learning how to do certain things on your bike is just a google or youtube search away. And if you do get stumped, there is always this forum!

 

I get to work on stuff owners worked on first with boring regularity. Many's the day us mechanics gather around someone's bike and marvel at the destruction. Now, it's true that nobody cares about your bike more than you, BUT I'll take my cynical detachment, seen everything forty years of experience over some newbie's youthful exuberance any day. And, I'd plant my fat arse on any of my bikes and point it across the US, or top it out without a second thought. I trust my stuff at top speed.

I am the third generation of Master Mechanic in my family. My father, grandfather, uncle, and cousin built hydroplane boats and could do ANYTHING to a car. I mastered in aircraft (in the USAF), cars (Mitsubishi, Subaru and ASE) and motorcycles (Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Harley-Davidson) My nephew however does HVAC. I recommended it.

 

I get to work on stuff owners worked on first with boring regularity. Many's the day us mechanics gather around someone's bike and marvel at the destruction. Now, it's true that nobody cares about your bike more than you, BUT I'll take my cynical detachment, seen everything forty years of experience over some newbie's youthful exuberance any day. And, I'd plant my fat arse on any of my bikes and point it across the US, or top it out without a second thought. I trust my stuff at top speed.

I am the third generation of Master Mechanic in my family. My father, grandfather, uncle, and cousin built hydroplane boats and could do ANYTHING to a car. I mastered in aircraft (in the USAF), cars (Mitsubishi, Subaru and ASE) and motorcycles (Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Harley-Davidson) My nephew however does HVAC. I recommended it.

How long will it take us to clone you 300 times?
That won't be enough, but we would have a good start!
Yep, there are some quick and skillful "techs" in the dealerships, but it takes skill to identify them.
The receipts I've seen don't reflect even the legal basics,
Complete date, Full owner's info., Detailed service description, date+time+detail+$amount+phonecontact+name for updates to the initial estimate.
There are likely some good dealers out there and some good "techs".
There are some good independent shops, the big challenge for them is to be current on training, factory bulletins and tools, run the shop, do the work and the paperwork. I've been on both sides of the dealer/independent fence in automotive and there are good guys and bad guys on both sides!
Look for cleanliness, politeness, professionalism, get to meet the "tech" that will work on your machine. Get a firm initial estimate. Don't be bullied into additional services or diagnostics outside of your initial reason for going to the shop. INSPECT THE WORK BEFORE YOU PAY.
We all know, (Once the wheels turn, it is after all, MY a$$ that's on the line!)
Trust is good, but inspect the work.
I spent 3 years building my GT40, now am enjoying the honeymoon with the
"Cowasaki" - (don't beat me up for that one, I really like this machine!)

 

I get to work on stuff owners worked on first with boring regularity. Many's the day us mechanics gather around someone's bike and marvel at the destruction. Now, it's true that nobody cares about your bike more than you, BUT I'll take my cynical detachment, seen everything forty years of experience over some newbie's youthful exuberance any day. And, I'd plant my fat arse on any of my bikes and point it across the US, or top it out without a second thought. I trust my stuff at top speed.

I am the third generation of Master Mechanic in my family. My father, grandfather, uncle, and cousin built hydroplane boats and could do ANYTHING to a car. I mastered in aircraft (in the USAF), cars (Mitsubishi, Subaru and ASE) and motorcycles (Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Harley-Davidson) My nephew however does HVAC. I recommended it.

But you are one of a very few..............there are always good mechanics, the hard part is finding one.

Mark

 

My nephew however does HVAC. I recommended it.

...there are always good mechanics, the hard part is finding one.

This pretty much sums it up...

BTW, I found the part about fixing the owners repairs hilarious! I too have seen things that would make most riders cringe. On that same note, I've seen things turned out by dealerships that I've worked at that were embarrassing and shameful.

IMHO, this all comes back to what amounts to a double edged sword. The average consumer today wants top quality goods and services at bottom dollar pricing. Thing is, it seldom works out like that.

You can't make chicken salad out of chicken $h!t...

Bruce

 

Looks like I'm taking the bike back to the shop on Tuesday. I've tightened the bolts down to where I feel comfortable, and oil is still leaking out. On the left side of the cover you can see excess gasket sticking out, on the right side looks like theres nothing in between, just metal on metal.

Man, I really didn't want to bring it back, but its been just a month, not even 600 miles of driving. And after the $$$ I spent, its there problem not mine.

 

Take it back and give them a chance to make it right. Did you call the Service Manager when you first discovered the problem? Letting them know of the problem and having a chance to make it right often pays off more in the long run, as opposed to stewing about it and breaking bad on them.

As was pointed out, good mechanics/technicians are getting harder to find. Once you find one, stick with him/her and give them your business. I do a lot of my own work, but have a local Yamaha shop that will do good work on my Vulcan. The nearest Kaw dealer is about 45 miles away and does good work and stocks all the parts needed, but the distance is a factor in whether to do my own work, or take the bike in.

Doing your own work is great if you have the time and the ability. Unfortunately, there are too many riders out there that get in over their heads when trying to do their own work. Even with a manual, they try to take shortcuts that end in disaster. The comments are right on about how hard it is to correct some ham handed mistakes. Especially when the rider doesn't bother to tell the Service writer what things they have done to the bike so far.

 

I've been very lucky with the 900. The shop where I bought it has some great people. The parts man seems to know as much or more than the techs, and the techs I've had are top notch. I hope they NEVER change. Otherwise I'll have to drive all the way to BC and let Saleenguy mess up my bike.

I'm here for ya if you need me.