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shops!!!!estimated cost to tear down a 72 flh

6K views 43 replies 34 participants last post by  atomrotten 
#1 · (Edited)
brought my bike to a friends indy shop to be taken down motor rebuilt trans rebuilt front end rebuilt as he wasnt doing so well in the finance dept....what would you guys charge to take the bike apart and motor down ? i dont know as i normally would do this myself....... just curious about what you guys would charge a customer......im saying just the tear down.....he said 3000.00 just for tear down alone.......in my book thats retarded i gave him another 1400 for pistons cam and lifters and he called and said another 3500.00 needed and thats not including going thru transmission.....when we discussed me helping him out with working on this bike he said 3500.00 to rebuild tranny and motor which thats cool i figured thats average ...i gave him a 6000.00 cap on project ........ to go threw front end replace with a used swingarm and get a used better shape rear wheel and brake..450.00 which was ok kinda cheap even.... and now its going into 8000 without a tranny...the only thing he has done at all is barrels have been cleaned up and painted and a valve job done......

thanks for any help i wanna hear it from some of you guys who run a shop or have a shop the numbers seem way off too me.....if so im going tomorrow and picking up my shit and the 1400 for parts i gave him and calling it a life lesson friends help friends who can help themselves.........
 
#2 ·
Dont sound like much of a friend.

When I do work for folks, I charge $50 an hour. With old bikes spend some time going over things and talking with them about some of the stuff you run into when wrenching on old stuff. Broken bolts, stripped bolts, basically all the stuff you have to redo cause some stuff has been done over the years by different people.
 
#4 ·
well ive worked at his shop to help him in the past and i have teared same bike apart completly in 6 hours so i assume 400 an hour including high heat spray paint and the valve job???????????
 
#9 ·
To tear the bike down to it's basic components here we figure a full day at $80/hr. As for the rebuilds it's relative to what it needs or what you want but I would think about $4000 for the motor. Again it'll depend on what the trans needs but just a go through it shouldn't be an arm and a leg. Throw some Andrews gears in the mix and it'll jump up fast. All jobs are different but it sounds kinda high so far it it isn't on it's way back together and a lot of work already done.
 
#10 ·
nothing done but valve job and barrels painted.... im gonna pick it up and do it myself im already out a bunch of dough on the tear down......
 
#11 ·
so my math shows minus valve job 500.00 leaving 2500.00 divided by 80 it shows it took 32 hours to take bike apart......sorry guys im just tripping out on this.....
 
#15 ·
I am not sticking up for anyone here, but let me just say a couple things in regards to a shop and a customer.

Most of the time a customer is bringing a bike in because he does not know how to fix it. It does not matter if the bike cost $7000 or $70, labor cost money and new parts cost money. It does not matter what you can go find another one for on Craigslist. You are talking about working on the one you own. If you went and bought that one on craigslist for the estimated repair costs you might just be in the shop with your "new" bike the very next week asking to have the same stuff done because it was worn out on that one too. You are always taking you chances when you buy a used bike. Ever heard the saying "the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know"?

A spoken estimate on the phone should tell you a ballpark figure on repairs and guide you right away. "How much for a motor rebuild if I bring yiou the motor?" How much for a motor rebuild if I drop off the bike?" I tell people the basic labor cost, then I say, plus parts and head, boring, and crank grind if necessary, plus a few hours to get it out of the frame and a bunch of hours to put it back and dial it in.

A written estimate before you leave the shop or at least a good list of what you want done with a promise of an itemized list in a day or two is paramount.

In my experience, customers think "he only replaced my swingarm!" How could it be that much?" But the customer does not realize that all the ten tons of junk (seat, trunk, saddle bags, rear wheel, etc) had to be taken off the bike AND PUT BACK ON, so the swingarm could get done.

"I want a transmission rebuild on my 77 Troublehead." Are you gonna hand the transmission to the tech all greasy and disconnected from the bike, or are you gonna ride in in 2nd gear and drop off the whole bike? Just to get the trans out of the bike, it is gonna be some time, especially if a shop inspects each component of the primary to make sure it does not need replacing. See what I mean?

A customer told me the other day when I wired his bike "Man, there is only about 10 hours left in this bike." And I said to him 10 hours in your garage with a few beers is funtime for you, but for me it is $700. That really brought home to him what it is all about when you take it to a shop and not fiddle with it yourself.
 
#16 ·
wes i understand all that you say ......but hes a friend in a bad spot and knew what i had tops 6000.00 and it was to help his shop....im more then capable to do this myself and understand costs.....but the point i am making here is 3000 to tear a bike down is beyond anything it should be.....i was prepared to pay him with out a bro hookup as i was doing this to help him the bike was sitting around my shop.....he told me 6000 to go thru whole bike would be what i was looking at now it changed to 9000 plus....but thanks for your input for others to see
 
#37 ·
I paid about $2,200 to have my panhead rebuilt back in the early 90's.
I dropped it off in a milk crate it wasn't in the bike. The guy was one of the best machinists in Portland and he did a ton of work to the engine.

Clearly, you think this money is excessive? If the guy is your "friend", then loan him some money. If you are doing "business" with your "friend" then pay him his rate or take the bike somewhere else. I have found that mixing business and friendhsips is a bad thing. You already feel like you got burned and I'm sure he feels like you tried to take advantage of him to get a cheaper shop rate. How is that good for your friendship or his business? Personally if my "friends" are willing to ask me to take a cut in pay, I have to wonder about them. Maybe the guy is struggling because he is a crap business man. If that's the case, why subsidize him?
 
#20 ·
well i didnt say his name or shop as its my buisness ....and i wouldnt and was not talking shit i am just curious what others think about the tear down costs before i have a sitdown with him to break down what he is actually chargeing me for.....as i stated a few times i am thinking the 3000.00 for teardown costs seem high i just wanted to back up the feeling that the numbers are way high is all......i normally do my own work on my own bikes and dont work on others bikes for money...so i was fishing to see if 3000 was justified or does it seem high like i think....and it seems that it seems high to a few of yall....so thanks for the input all........
 
#29 ·
well i didnt say his name or shop as its my buisness ....and i wouldnt and was not talking shit i am just curious what others think about the tear down costs before i have a sitdown with him to break down what he is actually chargeing me for.....as i stated a few times i am thinking the 3000.00 for teardown costs seem high i just wanted to back up the feeling that the numbers are way high is all......i normally do my own work on my own bikes and dont work on others bikes for money...so i was fishing to see if 3000 was justified or does it seem high like i think....and it seems that it seems high to a few of yall....so thanks for the input all........
Hay Brooklynzoo
I only met you two times and I would not charge you more then $8500
for the hole job $2500 for me and the other $6000. to RustBike to do all the work
 
#21 ·
for that price, you could have bought a mill, lathe, and the parts for the cycle to rebuild the entire thing. boring harley cylinders on a lathe is totally possible. if you know how to set up a mill you can do the valves. the lathe can also be used to true (assemble) crankshafts.

S&S website 93" hot set up $2,500
http://www.sscycle.com/product/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=20277

brand new transmission from debrix. around $1,000

for #3,500 you can basically have a brand new motor which is hotrodded to hell.
and a transmission to take the extra hp.

you tell me then if $6,000 seems worth it.

these are 2 possible ways to better spend the money. one way would allow you to explore the world of machining, rebuilding a harley motor isnt hard, it just takes some experience with machine tools.

the other way would give you one hopped up shovel from a well respected company.
 
#27 ·
I just did a teardown/buildup for a buddy - all apart and back together was a shade under 30 hours. So - the labor bill would be $2250 - no parts - at $75/hr.

Not sayin' he's high or low. I'm not a professional; did this literally on the street in front of my house with a folding table for a bench and one of those cheap-ass Northern Tool bike lifts.
 
#28 ·
I do shovel motors for a thousand labor, plus parts and machine shop cost. I wish I could charge 3000 for a teardown, i would do nothing but tear down all week, and get rich. Most shops try to keep the price down, to keep customers coming back, but, some shops try to make as much on you as possible, in one trip. Me, I prefer to do it myself, for the satisfaction of doing it right the first time.
 
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