Is it me or do the dealers rape you on the prices of accessories? I recently found a good deal on an 08 CBR1000rr leftover and decided to have the dealer install some common aftermarket accessories. One was a fender eliminator a basic fender eliminator kit with plate bracket, flush mount bulbs, and a light for plate. This is no Hotbodies or anything.. the dealer wanted $459 for part and install!! I said that seems a bit much so the kind soul that he was..lol.. knocked it down to $399.. Big deal. The same fender eliminator kit I saw online new is $130 and probably $90 to install at a local bike shop. I want powdercoat rims a different color - at the dealer $679 parts and labor on the outside thats like a $300-$400 job. I asked about the Honda rear seat cowl for the CBR1000RR - $245 part and labor they're actually charging me to install a seat cowl and I made a bike purchase. This part on the outside exact replica of Honda is $105 and Honda charges $169.95 but like I said he added on labor to get the price mentioned. Jardine RT-5 slip on aluminum $670 with labor. I can get the pipe for $480 I dunno what labor is to install. Last but not least Honda RR frame sliders $200 parts and labor. I figure I'm paying over $1000 more for all this stuff if I go through the dealer. Seems excessive to me, I heard of making a profit but this is crazy. Its like they're doubling the retail price of everthing. The only benefit is when I pick up the bike from the dealer it will be exactly the way I want it from day one as opposed to picking it up stock and taking elsewhere to install parts that I purchase. What do you guys think about this? Do these prices I mentioned seem like what most dealers would charge? Thanks for any comments...

 

You ought to just install that stuff on yourself & cut out the middle man. Sell the leftovers on eBay, and get back a little cash.

 

I think it's a hang over from the days when the local bike shop was the only place you could get your bike bits. These days they still try & pull the same sort of guff.
Take basic stuff like chain lube & oil, I can get the exact same stuff at an Auto parts shop & half the price. Incognito is right, buy the stuff & install it yourself, not are you only getting it cheaper, but you get more satisfaction with DIY & you know that its been done right.

 

dealer wanted $250 to look at my carbs. No estimate on fixing whatever he found to be causing my problem. No top end estimate either.

I paid $500 for the bike. I wasn't about to pay half the purchase price just to find out what was wrong. Wrenching it myself has found too many things (jets wrong, pilot screw settings wrong, clogged jets, clogged fuel filter). When he got done, safe bet he'd have come back saying it'd be better to put a down payment on a new bike and get low monthly payments

 

They charge because people pay it. Haggle the prices. Tell them and bring evidence of lower price. If they don't match, do it your self. If you aren't capable of doing it yourself then understand that the avg. shop rate is $60 per hour. Independant shops are usUly cheaper on the labor.

My honda shop has retail prices, but the parts manager knows that I don't pay retail. When I come to the counter he immediately gets on the computer cuase he knows to make a sale with me he is going to have to come down.

I don't make any excuses , I'm about saving money. So if they can't give to me at a decent price, ebay it is.

 

I work at a dealer and I can tell you that all parts regardless of whether they're Honda direct or not will have a set retail price
The labor prices are also set at $60/hr by Honda
how many hours they charge per job is not fixed though, that's up to either the shop to set a flat rate for certain jobs or the mechanic to say "it'll take me this long..."

and as for estimating carbs and other jobs, very few dealers or otherwise will tell you a set price to fix anything like that
you never know what kind of parts you might have to put into a bike before you actually see it

 

Thanks for your input, now let me run this by you. I live in the tri-state area (northeast) and I asked the salesman I've been dealing with at the Honda dealer how much their labor rate was. He told me $98/hr.. Does that sound excessive?

 

This is why you should start doing your own work - I'd work for $10 an hour on my own bike... think of it as getting paid $100 an hour. You can buy a lot of nice tools in only a few hours

For the same reason I just purchased a tire changer. If you ride a lot, or like to tinker - doing your own work is the only way to go. Plus as you start doing you own work you'll realize how easy it is.

You've got a great resource in this forum, buy the Claymore/Haynes manual and watch ebay for the service manual. Go slow and it'll be easy as pie. The parts fiche are great for reminders on how things go back together, and the torque specs are all listed in the manuals.

 

I used to buy a lot of stuff from my local dealer. They were friendly and even gave me discounts. Then their service department started going down hill. Bolts left loose, claiming parts didn't fit... etc. I started doing my own work - as I had to check on their work anyhow.

I went to buy leathers - $800 for the cheapest I could find locally. Online? $300 for a better suit - or - <$800 for a fully custom built race suit from a place like Spartan Leathers.

I can buy tires, oil, and parts anywhere. I can do any of the service that the trained monkeys could do in the shop. I used to support local shops - but they've been f**king good folks for so long. I know they need to make a buck - but what they're doing is gouging the folks who either can't do their own work or don't know better.

Same in the car bus. but at least you have more options.

 

So based on what you've and the Honda mechanic said (someone with experience working on my type of bike), the $250 estimate just to diagnose my bike was approximately 4 hrs worth of labor? Assuming they reached the same conclusions I have on parts (new fuel filter, fuel pump, new jets) add another about another $250 - $275 in parts and probably another 1-2 hrs in labor (balancing & tuning the carbs). So sum total $600-$700

That's a bit excessive imo for my bike. Dunno about someone else's. If I were a performance junkie, I can see paying for a dyno tuning. And I have no problem paying value for parts. But dealing with the carbs are pretty straightforward. Nothing I've done required any special tools to diagnose or repair.

Personally I think the squids have inflated the labor prices. With fewer independent shops in our area and fewer people willing to wrench their own kit, the dealers have enjoyed being able to charge what they want.