This is going to be long and I don't expect alot of replys but I've got to get it off of my mind. Let me start by giving you all a bit of where I'm comming from. I am 25, average monthly income $3700, bills include1 car, 1 truck, house (buying, not renting) utilities, 2 cellphones, insurance,groceries ect. (beer and dipcombined is 320 a month)Bikes I have: 2 929's an 03 gix 6, and sold my 03 F4i yesterday. I am active duty military, and part time motorcycle mechanic.
I just don't understand some people. Today at closing time a guy pulls uptowing a 1990ninja and said he just bought it, tried to get it running and couldn't get it. He has no history on the bike so I suggested that he go with a full service and a carb dip for starters. $300 including fluids and plugs and he flipped out. This happens about twice a week and it's getting old. This morning I had a guy come in with a nail in his tire, usually I do not patch/plug tires but it was small and directly in the center, so I told him I would do it for him. The plugs I use are a patch plug/combo and requiredismounting the tire, putting the plug in it, remounting and balanceing the tire, and then putting it back on the bike. Total cost 1/2 hour labor at $55 an hour is $27.50. I didn't even charge him shop supplies and he was having a cow like I was breaking his arm. Where does it say in the owners guide of your motorcycle that having a bike is not expensive and automatically turns you into a cheap ***? You have got to pay to play people get over it. I recently started slicing the takeoff tires on the sidewall because so many people wanted to buy used tires for street riding, WTF? (don't get mad stunters I've got a rack for you guys $10 a piece with 50% or better tread.) those tires are put on bikes that live in parking lots not highways. I guess my point is that if you need a gauge cluster for a 05 gix 750, dont bring me a cluster from a 96 SRAD and aske me ifI can make them work because you don't have the money for the right one. You've got one of two choices, either fork up the money to get it done right or do it yourself, but if you mess it up doing it yourself it's going to cost you extra for me to fix it.For those of you that abuse your bikes durring the day and pamper them at night I've got nothing but love for you. But foryou guys and gals that want to ride a bike and not spend money on maintaining it, I'm going after yourcheckbook for being a dummy.

 

like i always said, you get what you pay for...if you want the job done right, you gotta fork over the green...

 

A lot of people are retarded, plain and simple.

It gets to me quite a bit when people (even some on this forum), complain about amount of maintenence and parts that are required for these bikes. I have to bite my lip to keep from saying.....I mean "typing" mean or extremely blunt "duh!" relplys.

I always tell people......."If you can't afford the maintenence, you can't afford the bike, PERIOD." - So true that is.

But yeah, I hear what you are saying. I have similar experiences at my work (though, I sell Home Theater equipment). But people can be just as retarded.

 

i feel your pain. i used to do reapairs and sales for sears. so all year long im dealing with peoples tv's, lawnmowers, dishwashers, dryers etc.. and when i tell people the prices it will cost to fix, replace etc.. they flip out. i love it when people say, " i can get it cheaper *blah blah blah* " i always politely suggest to them why they should just get the part from me , if they still want to bitch i hand them their stuff and say well you can go there.. have a nice day.... NEXT !

 

I'm definetly a firm believer in "you get what you pay for". If I want something done right I'm going to fork over the dough. I bought my bike from ebay for 2500 and have paid over 1200 getting it looking and running like it is supposed to. A motorcycle is a moneypit plain and simple.

MDFF

 

Yourpromblem is your too nice.They charge $92.00/hour by me. Cheap is a disease and when people get Fundsalow it can make people do/act stupid.

 

A friend of mine is a computer geek, has a degree with computers & and in the past has earned more money sitting on his **** than anybody I know. Hiswife and mine both work in the health field, and we often got invited to the usual their friends from work parties. Every time when he arrived, anyone with a computer problem would jump on him for help, OK at 1st he was good natured about it, and helped a lot of people out, even going to places of people he hardly new sometimes, spending hours on the thing for nothing, fixing up the usual crap that most of us do to them. When he would have rather beendrinking beer & watching TV & like I said he got paid heaps for doing the same crap at work.
Then things started to happen, like getting phone calls in the middle of the night from some desperate, accusing him of screwing up their computer (even though he may have worked on it 6 months before) or others freaking out when he told them that their system was a piece of crap for the work they where trying to use it for, and that it would need a possible upgrade. He said that just about every problem that he looked was caused by the person using the computer, either by way of ignorance, laziness or extreme tightarse-nisitus.
Anyway he had a Tee shirt made up that he used to wear to these parties, maybe you should get one.It read "Go Tell Someone who give a F***!

 

Exactly! I wish I could find a shop around here that would do work for that price. I do most of my own, but when I need it, I'm gonna have to pay through the nose.

 

I will admit to trying to be a cheap *** on my bike sometimes, but thats because I have/had to at certain points... When I moved out here to Idaho I didnt have a job for a month or so, while I still paid bills/moving costs at the same time... but I wasnt about to let little things keep me from riding... Riding is what I DO... I dont feel right if the weather is good and I havnt been riding in the last week or so... Now that I have a good job again I can start working on my bike like I used to... but remember, not everyone has as much money now as they did when they got the bike... certain things happen in life, and a bike (for me at least) is a reeeeaaaallly hard thing to get rid of. If I had a kid I might sell him/her first... [:-]

I, on the other hand, do not show up at a shop and piddle on them because they give me a charge... Why else do you go to shops other than to pay money to get things fixed? If I were in person number 1's scenario (plugged tire) I would have to bite the bullet and let it sit till i got a new tire... thats something you dont play around with :S

 

I feel your pain. Being military sucks, money wise that is, if you are under the ranlk of SSgt. Hell I am married, 2 cell phones, truck payment, insurance (truck and bike), groceries, etc. She works and I have a second job. It has been real nice all week but my RR is out and I do not get paid until friday from my second job. New RR $100 and new battery $65. I will be doing the work myself but I still have to shell out $165. It comes with the territory so I can bitch about a damn thing. I feel much better now (deep sigh of relief).