How many manhours of labor should it take to repair various items on
Japanese motorcycles?

I have several people who have asked me to rebuild carbs on their
bikes. I need to have an idea of how long this will take.

I have found an online source for Harleys, I do believe there's one
for the Japanese bikes.

Please help me if you can, thanks in advance.

Biker Dude

On 26 Nov, 07:17, Biker Dude <jacobsenpa...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> How many manhours of labor should it take to repair various items on
> Japanese motorcycles?
>
> I have several people who have asked me to rebuild carbs on their
> bikes. I need to have an idea of how long this will take.
>
> I have found an online source for Harleys, I do believe there's one
> for the Japanese bikes.
>
> Please help me if you can, thanks in advance.
>
I'd be really surprised if anything like that exists. I mean,
manufacturers have their own rates and times, which they allow for
warranty repairs and suchlike, but there are often dodges that
mechanics evolve themselves in order to shorten the time (valve-shim-
under-bucket changes and starter clutch replacement on some models
spring to mind).

As for rebuilding carbs on bikes; what carbs? What bikes? Slide carbs?
CV carbs? Vees, inline fours, or what?

The variables are immense.

In addition, you can be sure it will take longer on older bikes than
it does on newer ones, because fasteners will be corroded and stuck,
or damaged where some donkey has had a go at it first (this holds good
for *all* work), and once you get into the carbs a pound to a penny
you'll find that the bike hasn't been used for a decade and all the
fuel has turned to varnsh, meaning it'll have to be ultrasonically
cleaned as well.

So how long will it take? "As long as it takes".

Way back when I was a Honda parts man, the FRT was on the parts microfiche
pages with the parts. It was what they paid for warranty work, about half
what it actually took. We figured they let a little japanese guy do twenty
practice runs with every power tool he could think of, fed him some uppers,
then timed him.
I used to double it for repair estimates and usually it was pretty close
then.
As for you doing "carb rebuilds" on other people's bikes with the amount of
knowledge/experience evident from your many posts; NOT
recommended...........
AND any FRT assumes a trained tech with proper tools, so , totally
irrelevant.


"Biker Dude" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:0a93c334-4f56-4a9c-adf1-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> How many manhours of labor should it take to repair various items on
> Japanese motorcycles?
>
> I have several people who have asked me to rebuild carbs on their
> bikes. I need to have an idea of how long this will take.
>
> I have found an online source for Harleys, I do believe there's one
> for the Japanese bikes.
>
> Please help me if you can, thanks in advance.
>
> Biker Dude
>

On Nov 26, 7:53*am, "CS" <donts...@sears.com> wrote:
> I've seen them for auto mechanics, and if they exist for bikes, they'll be
> quite hard to find.

That's what I thought.

> If you need a baseline price to work with, simply call the local dealers and
> ask them what they charge, then ask them what the rebuild kit costs by
> itself. *That should give you a good idea of what to charge.

Will do.

May little corner of the world is filled with UJM (Universal Japanese
Motorcycles) with clogged carbs. The sellers of such bikes are asking
$600 - $800 and they mention that "it just needs a carb cleaning".

If it is an inline four then carb kits are about $25 each on fleabay
and the time to remove them from the bike, dissassemble, clean,
reassemble, reinstall, adjust, tune, etc must be about 4 hours or
more.

Shop rates around here are about $75 per hour, times four is $300 plus
$100 for parts so a $400 repair bill sounds about right. I could then
approach the seller of the $600 bike and explain that it needs $400
worth of work and I should be able to do that without offending him.

If there is a stripped or corroded screw and/or there is also a need
for a petcock overhaul then I could calculate repair costs at about
$600. That's a big discount for a $600 bike and I would be confident
in bidding it.

What do you think?

"Ta ta for now" - Tigger - AA Milne

Biker Dude

TOG@Toil wrote:
> On 26 Nov, 07:17, Biker Dude <jacobsenpa...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> How many manhours of labor should it take to repair various items on
>> Japanese motorcycles?


>>
>> I have found an online source for Harleys, I do believe there's one
>> for the Japanese bikes.
>>
>>
> I'd be really surprised if anything like that exists.

Well you should be surprised then. They actually do exist.
Almost all manufacturers in this context use them for their
authorized repair shops. I have seen them for Honda and
Yamaha, however they are all electronic these days.

The flat rate only is a guideline, and typically is longer
than an experienced mechanic will take, BUT he gets paid by
the book, not how long it takes. Again, for authorized
repair centers.

I have know idea how to get a copy.

On 26 Nov, 14:32, frijoli <c...@dud.gov> wrote:
> TOG@Toil wrote:
> > On 26 Nov, 07:17, Biker Dude <jacobsenpa...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >> How many manhours of labor should it take to repair various items on
> >> Japanese motorcycles?
>
> >> I have found an online source for Harleys, I do believe there's one
> >> for the Japanese bikes.
>
> > I'd be really surprised if anything like that exists.
>
> Well you should be surprised then. They actually do exist.

Yes, I know that. I said that. What I meant was I really doubt an
online version, covering all Japanese bikes, exists.


> Almost all manufacturers in this context use them for their
> authorized repair shops.

Yes, again, that's what I said.

I have seen them for Honda and
> Yamaha, however they are all electronic these days.

Didn't know that, mind.
>
> The flat rate only is a guideline, and typically is longer
> than an experienced mechanic will take, BUT he gets paid by
> the book, not how long it takes. Again, for authorized
> repair centers.

Yes, I know. And in some cases, mechanics develop shortcuts.
>
> I have no idea how to get a copy.

Nor I :-(

On 26 Nov, 14:23, Biker Dude <jacobsenpa...@hotmail.com> wrote:

<snip>
>
> What do you think?
>
I think you're living in a dream world. Here's why:

Like I thought, you're talking about old Jap bikes. I spend half my
life messing around with these things, in what I laughingly call
"work".

A pound to a penny that these bikes will, like I said up there
somewhere, have their own fair share of stripped and corroded
fasteners. Have you ever tried getting a carb bank off an old 1970s/
80s Jap four? Worse still, ever tried putting the carb bank back on?
With old hardened carb stubs, inlet rubbers to the airbox which are
perished and suddenly split, etc etc? And you think you can get a set
of carbs off, completely stripped, cleaned properly, and replaced in
just four hours? If you're very, very lucky, maybe. I'd double that
time. If the carbs are really gunged up and need ultrasonic cleaning,
you'll need to factor that in as well.

You're talking about maybe having to spend half an hour with degreaser
and a jetwash before you can even see the fasteners you want to undo,
sometimes, and then when you have exposed them, they'll all have
damaged heads.

And as CS wisely says, the people you're working for will be back.
Because even if you do manage to restore their carbs to pristine
health, their old clunkers still won't work (air filter, plugs,
battery, whatever) and it'll all be your fault because "it was all OK
before".

Here's an example of a $600 bike that needs about $600 worth of carb
work:

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hn...481114207.html

I think I could offer to fix it for $600. That would certainly
discourage him.

What do you think?

Biker Dude

Mark Olson wrote:

> Biker Dude wrote:
>
>> May little corner of the world is filled with UJM (Universal Japanese
>> Motorcycles) with clogged carbs. The sellers of such bikes are asking
>> $600 - $800 and they mention that "it just needs a carb cleaning".

Is that all it needs? is the question of the innocents....

<big snip>


>
> FWIW I have cleaned, adjusted and synchronized carbs on a good number
> of multi-cylinder bikes and in most cases no parts need to be replaced.
> The exceptions have been when prior "mechanics" have used sealer on
> O-ring gaskets, ruining them. Never use any sort of goop to seal up
> carbs- it's not needed and it's not helpful. If you have leaks, replace
> the offending rubber part.


FWIW I have cleaned, adjusted, synchronised and fettled carbs on many bikes.
Bikes that have been regularly used are no real problem. The problem comes
when they have been stood and the fuel has turned to varnish.

Still not so bad providing they haven't been fixed. Thats fixed as in
neutering a cat.

First, the rubbers to the head and airbox -will- be a total ****. Second, on
a real SOB some ****-knuckle will have had a go and as Mark put, will have
bodged, blodged and bludgeoned them.

So now, with skinned knuckles and at least one damaged airbox or head rubber
to contend with, you have the carbs on the bench.

You remove the carb tops and....Oh *******s. One of the diaphragms splits
where a previous monkey glued it in place.

Next, you invert the carbs to get at the float bowl screws. At least one per
carb will have mated intimately with the carb body, and the aforementioned
pumpernaught will have destroyed the head on one other per carb.

Finally, you get inside it. What faces you now is verdigris, blocked jets
and gloop.

You get the buggers clean. You replace any and all worn parts. You replace
the rubbers and diaphragm at greater expense than you bargained for. Get it
all bolted back on and discover the other reasons the bike was stood long
enough for the carbs to varnish in the first place.

If you are doing for yourself, because that particular model holds
affectionate memories, then go for it. Otherwise, +1 for TOG, CS and Mark.

On 26 Nov, 15:40, "M.Badger" <bo...@invalid.org> wrote:

>
> Get it
> all bolted back on and discover the other reasons the bike was stood long
> enough for the carbs to varnish in the first place.

Christ, that made me laugh. :-))