Thirty dollar turpitude. 5/5/2008
How would you price a skill? How much of a value would you place for the services of the person who unclogs your drain, or cuts your hair, or rewires a short circuit? How much would you pay the man who fixes your bike?
I’ve not kept up with mechanic’s rates in various countries, but I know my various overseas readers will enlighten me soon enough. Over here, mechanics are cheap, comparatively. Labour rates tend to be calculated as a percentage of the parts cost, as opposed to an hour rate, which is the norm in other countries where I’ve ridden. Some mechanics are really expensive, even locally, but they justify their cost based on their shop set-up, diagnostic and engineering skills, and so on. Others, especially those who work for the official dealer or distributor, have their rates dictated by the bean counters in HQ.
So, I ask the question again, what would you pay?
I am asking this because of something that cropped up over the weekend, and made some waves in a local bike forum I occassionally drop in on. A young rider, who joined the forum some time last year, and proceeded to annoy everyone by asking questions like “Am I too short to get my knee down?”, “How do I use my tyres to the limit?” and “How do I leave black lines when I’m cornering?”, posted a comment about a bike shop where many, many canyon strafers send their bikes for repairs and service.
He brought a bike in, an FZR1000, complaining of a noise coming from the dash which, in his words, sounded like “crickets flirting”. This needed the upper fairing taken off, and clocks disassembled. And this evening I confirmed with the mechanic that he had to do this twice, after checking the first time, and finding the sound wasn’t entirely gone, to his satisfaction. The fix? A shot of spray grease into the innards of the speedometer, to stop the gears from chattering, and a little tightening of the retainer bushings on the various shafts.
The price for this work? RM30, which is about US$10.
And this kid had the temerity to say that this was expensive, and asked for a discount. To add insult to injury, after the discount was given, he then had the cheek to say that he didn’t have any money on him, and could he come back later? The shop owner almost blew a gasket at this, and said he could feel free to call someone to bring him the money.
- Posted in : General
- Author : thesnark
Comments»
WTF? the guy owns an FZR1000 but didn’t have 30 bucks on him?
$10? I would count myself fortunate to leave the beemer dealer having only spent such a paltry amount.
dude should get spanked real hard.
btw sent in the black sprinter yet mate?
parityob : I am given to understand the bike wasn’t his. He was just bringing into the shop. He rides a scooter, and has ambitions of owning a superbike. He’s been hanging out in the local canyon strafers forum, making a nuisance of himself by asking some rather silly questions.
dom : Same here. But that very same shop wouldn’t even dream of handing me a $10 bill. I’d laugh in their face, considering how much I spend there. I think the unwritten understanding is that anything below US$50 is a freebie for me.
KY : Sorry, not yet. Been busy. One of the bikes having open heart surgery. Something to do with hunting down phone using Mercedes drivers on the highway once too often.
sorry to detour, but still girl friday?
Is the Girl Friday that important?
Make it fast ler..
:)
Hesitate to even try to draw comparisons with UK labour charges at bike shops - I think I am suffering from selective amnesia - but if I rode away from an annual service of my BMW, at an independent BMW dealer, my wallet was usually 200GBP + lighter ;0
Oil, oil filter and air filter and a pleasant few hours adjusting the carbs and oiling the cables. 
Call it a nice round RM1200, with labour being the most expensive factor. New tyres? Don’t even ask!
Oh, for the happy days of CB400s et al, and a decent spanner set and DIY in the front garden.
I hope I didn’t ask silly questions. Hehehe…
Snark Really great to see you writeing again.I would imagine with the motorcycle labor rates here in the USA averageing from 75-85 hr,that kid would not have stood a chance to get a stingy word in hedge wise,except wheres the exit! I happen to have a mint set of FZR 1000 guages,with 2000 mniles ,would hate to tell him what Id want for them .Some guys just do not get it Snark ,they really do niot want to spend the dollars when things go south,their cheap & thats just the attitude that gets them farther away from a real passion.they want everything for nothing ,& fixed twice,at no cost.I can go on and on,these Ducati guys with the low entry level stuff & well used artillery ,not only do they not have a clue,they should not consider any 2 wheeler at all….btw how do I leave no oil skids on the rear tire .later..Dom