The Yamaha Dealer's repair shop in SLC.

[morticiaann]

My bike stalled on the way to school so I called roadside and they towed it to the dealer. Plaza Cycle in SLC told me they can't repair an xs11 because of it's age. In case anyone wants to know, Plaza Cycle sent me to:

Wanted Dead or Alive, 4711 South 300 West, SLC, UT

They had it done in 2 or 3 days. Labor is $60 an hour.

[mrutah12]

bike shop in slc

they stopped working on anything that is more than 20 years old no parts for them so they say WRONG!!!!! there where about a handful of people that can work on them. next time you need some work done on your bike call dr at checkered flag racing hes got about 35 years experiance on the older bikes and he's cheaper than $60.00 an hour i will pm his number to you if you want it dont know if we can post business numbers on here or not dont want to get into any trouble

[mro]

bike stalled on the way

While there be a slew of things that can go wrong when riding that can "kill" the motor...seems like the two most common have been pick-up coil wires or plugged gas cap vent. Either can be fixed in less than an hour.

When $h!t happens on the road...
First does it crank? If so has power.
Second check spark
Third check fuel
Just basic checks will normally point you in the right direction to get back on the road.


mro

[Geezer]

Not far behind those 2 is the bad kill switch...

Geezer

[webbcraft2150]

Re: The Yamaha Dealer's repair shop in SLC.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by morticiaann
[B] Plaza Cycle in SLC told me they can't repair an xs11 because of it's age.


************************************************** *
Most guys at bike shops now days are not near as old as our bikes. Alot of the techs have little or no experience working on them. Throw in a row of carbs and no "diagnostic" port to plug into and they are truly lost. I am fortunate here in Austin to have a shop that lives and breathes old Jap bikes. The first time I took my rig to him for a inspection he asked if I still had 2nd gear.
When I was wrenching on boats, there was a 10 year old age limit on engines, 'specially outboards.

[prometheus578]

"A view from the other side of the Service Counter."

It's not the bikes, it's the owners.
With the exception of HD(who won't even change tires on a ten year old bike), none of the local shops here turn down machines.
Though they do have problems with older bike's older owners.
"I just brought it in for a tune up, and now you tell me it has cracked coil wires, needs new spark plug caps, vacuum lines and new fuel lines, fuel filters, cracked pick-up coil wires, stretched timing chain, broken carb float posts, snapped exhaust studs, master cylinder needs to be rebuilt....! What kind o' scam are you runnin', here?"
Newer bikes come apart easily. If it took me two hours just to get the cylinders to break their bond so I could lift them offa the case, you better believe the customer was charged for my time.
Any common complaint that we've had with our older bikes seems like the end of the world to owners that can't do their own work.
We've all bought non-running bikes before. How many hours did we have to spend to get it working again?
The key is in informing the customer ahead of time of the potential problems, and costs, that could occur.
Some owners understand this, others don't... they are the ones that dealerships really would rather not deal with.
"Old bike" owners often tend to be stingy in what they'd pay for. Too many times I've had to write on a Work Order: "Mechanic refuses to test ride bike due to the poor condition of the tires, chain and sprockets, steering bearings, etc"
Owners of older bikes always have an option... Pay the mechanic $600 to get his old bike running, or pay the sales guy $6,000 for a new bike that runs.

[ccogswel]

The local dealer here has a ten year limit as well. They won't even take a trade in on a bike that is over ten years old. They don't even carry any parts for bikes that are over ten years either. They'll order the parts in, then charge a fortune.

[Dennyz]

IMHO - if you are going to own and ride a bike this old, you should know how to fix it. It is not the dealers problem. They are in business to to make money selling bikes. The XS may be a cheap thrill (in general), but it does have a sometime hidden cost of labor.

[Dragon Tamer]

I have to concur with Dennyz on that for sure, fix it yourself. These are NOT terribly complicated machines, just confusing to the novice.
I have had one or two dealers meet me at the door to tell me that if I am bringing the bike here for service I am out of luck. I also have been informed that they are not interested in trading either. Like the look on their faces when I tell them, 1-I am not interested in trade, I won't part with her for anything, 2-I do ALL of my own work because I don't trust anyone else to work on her!
I also have to plead guilty to what Prom says. I am an old crabby older bike owner! However (at least when it comes to the Dragon) I am not cheap, what she needs, she gets!
There has been however one dealership that was the exception. I just stopped in to get some oil and almost had to beat the mechanics away from the bike with a stick, they had never seen anything like it and wanted to take it apart to see what made it tick!! Then the owner told me that HE will work on them, only because he still owns one himself, they also stock quite a few parts for them. A dealer like that is a precious find!!!

[jetmechmarty]

My local dealer suggested I show up on one of my old Yamahas for some photos. No...they haven't offered to work on them.

[prometheus578]

"Well, thinking more on the subject..."

Another issue is the specifications for the bike.
What dealership has all the manuals?
The Yamaha dealership here in Olympia has only been here for a few years. I know that when they got the franchise, the manuals shipped from Yamaha to them didn't go back that far.
Sure, on models with a long production history, they have older manuals with updates and such, but our bikes only had a limited run. I think the oldest Kawasaki manual that was shipped to my old shop was for a bike from 1987.
Even those aftermarket manuals that shops have, detailling for all makes and models the specs needed for repairs don't go back that far.
I've often told the owners of older machines that I could only work on them if they provided the manual. (unless it was printed under the seat, or inside a side cover, how the hell was I supposed to know what the valve clearance was supposed to be?)
This is a more valid reason for shops to not work on older bikes. It's not that they don't want to... they just can't.
(How many shops do you think actually have the little gauge for measuring the lube for the middle and final drives?)

The Service Manager at Suzuki only knows me from my constant interupting phone calls...
"What's the valve clearance for this... how much fork oil for that...?"

[wa407mpp]

We run into the same problems with old locks, this area is full of old Victorian mansions that everyone wants to restore and they drag in their old locks to be restored, so we explain to them if we do it during shop hours it will be $90.00 an hour, if we do it in between jobs during slack time we will charge less. That's the problem with old bikes it takes longer to fix them then people want to pay, but we can't expect them to be fixed for free.

[Paintman]

My dealer here is great i am always building something that is 20 plus yrs old.and as said before alot of the young mechanics dont know what a carb is or let alone how to sync them. they have been spoiled by fuel injection . i can usauly scorunge up anyparts needed for my projects just need a good sence of Humor and spare time to tinker.Now on my 06 CBR1000RR LOL i need my lap top to trouble shoot it. have fun keep wrenching. and keep loctite around
John