Why are they so expensive?

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chrisgu15

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I really just want to know why getting your bike serviced at a yamaha dealer is so expensive? What do they do that is so friggin expensive. Would be possible for anyone to do?
 
It depends on the shop. If the technicians are certified on the bikes through schooling, they are obviously worth a lot more. Realistically, if you cannot do the work yourself, wouldn't you rather pay a trained tech extra money than an untrained tech less money and potentially have the job botched? ;)

The best thing you can do is learn the bike and get a service manual to assist. Do as much of the work as you can yourself. Personally, I'm not a trusting soul when it comes to putting a wrench to my bike unless I am right there with the person. I'd rather do it all myself not juts because of the cost, but for the peace of mind knowing the job was done and is correct.

However, it is understandable that some riders don't have the mechanical skills, do not have the proper tools and/or do not have a place to work on the bike. These people are forced to pay the shop to do the work. When you weigh the costs of paying a shop to do the labor vs. the cost of a place and tool assortment, it can often be close to the same payout.

Hope that helps provide some insight to the question. :D Ride safe!!!
 
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What sort of prices have you been quoted?

I got my FZ1-N ABS serviced towards end of last year, this was the first service, after the 600 mile service.

I had 1900 miles on the clock, all the service called for was an oil change really, I was getting quoted £200.

I managed to find a Yamaha dealer 45 miles away from me who did the service for £101.

At the end of the summer/early autumn I will be needing the second service doing, the dealer I used last time wants £200. At the moment I have 2300 miles on the clock, and the bike is better than showroom clean. Do they really need to take the brakes apart on this service with so few miles showing?

Welcome to rip off Britain.
 
My first 1000km (600miles) maintenance with my Yamaha dealer (certified Yamaha maintenance) costed my 200€, which in the scheme of the overal costs on the bike, I was happy to pay as my first maintenance to have it properly done. 50% of the cost was labourcost, but I've learned a lot as I was able to stay in the workshop and look at what my dealer-mechanic was doing (including the trick to switch HP settings). Next maintenance I'll be doing myself, but several aspects I rather trust the dealer than myself (eg replacing chainset)
 
Major service only

I am fortunate with my dealer, (Walt Healy Motorsports). I have been dealing with them for about 12 years now and they are really reasonable when it comes to service. Other than the first service I do all the work myself. Anything major will be done by them. They have not yet let me down.
 
thanks for all the help. and well I live near el paso, tx and all the yamaha dealer around here have quoted me 300 for the first service. I basically just want to know what they do so that maybe I could learn to do them myself.
 
chrisgu15 said:
thanks for all the help. and well I live near el paso, tx and all the yamaha dealer around here have quoted me 300 for the first service. I basically just want to know what they do so that maybe I could learn to do them myself.
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Ouch. You first service should just be an oil change. They will claim to go over the whole bike and check everything, but all they are going to do is change the oil. Save yourself a bundle and do it yourself.
 
Stealerships are good and bad. I worked in the Auto biz for 25yr. But it'sd the same. They are a bissness and are in it to make money(some More then others).
Some of the money goes for the red tape (OSA, Hazmat..ect..).
Some is the money that they have to pay to have the dealership.
They also lose money on warrenty(well mostly the tech loses the money, but...).

Dealers like to add on things that would be nice to have, but are not really needed. Up's and extras they call it. Liek oil additive, fuel additives and so on.

The good thing about it is that a trained eye will or should be looking over the bike while they work on is. It's good to ask to meet the guys that are working on your bike, get to know them. So that way they are serviceing you as a customer, not just the bike.

One thing you can do is, look in the owners manuel and see what Yamaha sez you need. Then ask for just that for your service.

Now the trend is to get someone just out of hig school to do the easy services and leve the hard work to the guys that have been around. That way they are just paying 10$ an hr instead of 20+. That's why it's good to know who is doing the work.

An Oil change service is normaly not making any money for the dealer. Most do it for cost. It's what they can up sell that makes them money.

So there you go. A Dealers out look on making money in a Nut Shell. That is most dealers. They all very.

As for your dealer. Ask what they do. They will tell you, and most will have a print out of very thing that they cover.
 
Well, I can see that not many people on this forum have actually ever owned a business so I'll try to clue you in. First, the dealer has to pay his employees, then he has to cover their worker's comp. insurance, his portion of their payroll taxes, his own corporate taxes and insurance to keep the roof over his head and liability insurance, then he has to pay for his rent or cost of owning a building. Then he has his phone, light and heating bills like everyone else. Finally he has to finance his product. If he's lucky and good at what he does, he just might pull a profit. And some people have the audacity to call them stealers. Finally they have to have the restraint to deal with people who bitch about everything. I suggest that anyone who "thinks" they can do it better give it a try. My bet is they'll never get off the ground.
 
Lonerider59 said:
Well, I can see that not many people on this forum have actually ever owned a business so I'll try to clue you in. First, the dealer has to pay his employees, then he has to cover their worker's comp. insurance, his portion of their payroll taxes, his own corporate taxes and insurance to keep the roof over his head and liability insurance, then he has to pay for his rent or cost of owning a building. Then he has his phone, light and heating bills like everyone else. Finally he has to finance his product. If he's lucky and good at what he does, he just might pull a profit. And some people have the audacity to call them stealers. Finally they have to have the restraint to deal with people who bitch about everything. I suggest that anyone who "thinks" they can do it better give it a try. My bet is they'll never get off the ground.
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Been there done that. It's true. For the most part, they are not crooks. But I do know of some Dealers charging 10 to 20% over MF sugusted retail, and are on whats called "the grid system" shop labor price. That's where they have posted the labor rate. Say at 80.00 hr. But that's not what they charge you.
By Law (here in cali) they can charge what ever they want per job. As long as they don't call it hours. Like if say you where to get a head gaskit replaced, and the labor book sez 4hr. It's 100 hr for labor (rounding numbers). It should be 400. But instead of telling you it's going to be 4hrslabor, they tell you it's 500. As long as they come under the 500 estament. it's legal.

$300.00 is a big price for service. There has got to be more to it then just an oil change. Thats why you need to ask what your getting.

"Adjustments" are one of the biggest thing I heard people bitch about paying for. As I would tell people. Yes I just turned my screewdriver to fix it. But your paying for me knowing just how much to turn it, and what screew to turn.

Funny thing is. I've been on both sides of the fence.:rant:
 
I've seen both sides of this from a customer perspetive. The local Honda place is the complete opposite from our local yamaha place.

I bought my first bike from the Honda place, a used 03 Shadow, and from day 1 it was a nightmare. I took the bike it for an electric issue and some other bits and pieces. They said I needed a new sprocket plus a load of other stuff. I'd had the bike 3 weeks and they wanted to charge me $1200 in "fixes" right away. It completely blew my mind. I had a fit with them, and it pretty much ruined my bike buying experience and my opinion of those guys. After owning the bike for a year or so I was ready for an upgrade, so I was going to trade it in on a new 1300 custom, it was awesome, custom wheels, chrome parts etc etc. The same sales guy that sold me the Shadow came over and we hammered out a price. We went away and did the figures and decided yes. When we came back to do the deal, they suddenly found another $2000 added to the price. Of course that was it for me for the dealership. They won't get any other business from me ever again. (I ended up buying a yamaha warrior instead, so I was saved from a huge underpowered honda mistake)

Well, just recently my wife bought a lowering spring for her fz6 and we needed a shock compressor to get it switched. Guess what, the only dealership that had one in town was Honda and they wanted... $80 to do it! Screw those guys! I was mad at myself for even calling. The local yamaha guys did it for FREE!! (without a compressor(I didn't ask how)) We didnt even buy the spring from them.

In all, we've bought 3 bikes now from the Yamaha dealer. Warrior, FZ6 and FZ1, and if possible, they'll get my business in the future. We buy as many accessories and clothing etc from them also.
 
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Lonerider59 said:
Well, I can see that not many people on this forum have actually ever owned a business so I'll try to clue you in. First, the dealer has to pay his employees, then he has to cover their worker's comp. insurance, his portion of their payroll taxes, his own corporate taxes and insurance to keep the roof over his head and liability insurance, then he has to pay for his rent or cost of owning a building. Then he has his phone, light and heating bills like everyone else. Finally he has to finance his product. If he's lucky and good at what he does, he just might pull a profit. And some people have the audacity to call them stealers. Finally they have to have the restraint to deal with people who bitch about everything. I suggest that anyone who "thinks" they can do it better give it a try. My bet is they'll never get off the ground.
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I have started and owned my business for 24 years with employees. I know what it costs and I know how to treat people right so they come back.
I do want the good M/C dealers to stay in business so I do buy from them when need be.
BUT the FZ1 ain't no Harley - $300 for a first service is a rip off-period. Not a good way to treat someone who bought a bike from you.
One more reason why I do what I can and pay a trusted dealer to do what I can't.
 
Lonerider59 said:
Well, I can see that not many people on this forum have actually ever owned a business so I'll try to clue you in. First, the dealer has to pay his employees, then he has to cover their worker's comp. insurance, his portion of their payroll taxes, his own corporate taxes and insurance to keep the roof over his head and liability insurance, then he has to pay for his rent or cost of owning a building. Then he has his phone, light and heating bills like everyone else. Finally he has to finance his product. If he's lucky and good at what he does, he just might pull a profit. And some people have the audacity to call them stealers. Finally they have to have the restraint to deal with people who bitch about everything. I suggest that anyone who "thinks" they can do it better give it a try. My bet is they'll never get off the ground.
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Geez! Glad I didn't knock them! :fencers: ;)

That is why I stated that, because they are trained techs, they are worth more thus more reliable than a back-woods mechanic who does it cheaper but likely doesn't do it right.

I still say that if you have the mechanical aptitude, a location to do the work and the proper tools at hand, it's more satisfying to do your own work.

Most dealers don't have a huge margin on the bikes they sell. They hope to develop a relationship with the rider and give them service that causes repeat visits because, yes, that is where their largest profit margin is. Bikes and parts support less than half of the business. Billable hours for high quality trained techs support the rest.
 
I've never considered the dealers as stealers, although unscrupulous at times. You're right, there is a lot of overhead and I have had and do have my own business and understand costs associated with it. I have called the local shops and ask shop rates. This sets the bar IMO, at least to me. I know the two shops I deal with the most and they both have certified techs, so their prices don't scare me, it's how they estimate the jobs that is funny at times.

When i was getting my parts, slip on, air filter, pre-cut flies, gut cat and was thinking of a pcIII, I called both shops and asked how much to install/do the work.

Shop A - $78/hr, told me for the slip on and pcIII they charge a base 4hrs and that doesn't include a dyno run, just install and set a map. The rest added in would be a total of $400 for the entire job. :rant:

Shop B - $90/hr, for all of it, shouldn't take more than 2 hrs, but they'd cap it at 2 1/2 hours "just in case".

I ended up doing all myself as I had the time and tools, but it's good to price out from different shops. BTW, these shops are only 35 miles apart.

The shop I bought my bike from I didn't even bother as they have a 2-3 week turn around, you'll never meet or talk to the techs and they use a lot of untrained techs for the minor stuff. That I don't like.
 
Here in the UK the first ( 600 ) mile service is labour free from any Yamaha Franchise dealer, just parts - oil/filter - to pay for, maybe £35 total.

Yamaha dealers labour charges vary, we charge £55 per hour, which is probably below average.

Our local BMW Bike Dealers charge £105 per hour :wtf:
 
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