Like you, I do all of my own work and only rely on a mechanic for the valve adjustments. My mechanic is incredibly thorough as he provides me the measured clearances for all 20 valves, whether he replaced the shim or not! In order to just check the valves, it shouldn't take more than 2 hrs. for someone who knows what he's doing because they don't have to remove the cams! Besides, $75/hr shop time is ridiculous!! Even with some shims replaced, my mechanic has never charged me over $275 for the job!!
Kevin Hawkins // Greensboro, NC [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kevinhawk.com Y2K Kawasaki ZRX1100 //'93 Yamaha GTS1000 //'85 FZ750 Joe laments.............. Took the GTS in to the local Boulder Yamaha dealer to get the valve clearances done. My only experience with them has been having the ABS replaced (at Yamaha's cost) and mounting some tires. No complaints so far. They quote me 4 hours ...$300 plus parts...sounds reasonable, if not low. Come back to pick it up...bill is $300, no parts...hmm...that's interesting I think. Ask to see the mechanic, he tells me the clearances were all still within spec...no adjustment necessary...hmm...not unheard of, I guess...It must take at least twice as long to actually pull the cams out and fiddle with all those shims as it would just to just take the cover off and check the clearances so why the same amount of labor?...oh well...still sounds reasonable. Later the next day I start to think I would have actually been happier to hear them tell me at least a couple of valves needed adjusting...maybe they didn't even check them at all...maybe they checked them and they were only a little bit out of spec and 4 hours was much too short to complete the job...I'm rather skeptical when it comes to Dealers you see...I generally do everything myself, but valve clearances on an OHC 4 sound like too much time and effort...I've had some bad experiences, including many years ago a BMW Dealer who charged me full price for a first 1000 km service (valve clearances) and when I told him I didn't believe the valve cover had been removed he tried to tell me for that service they did a compression test and unless there was a problem they didn't do anything with the valves! Anyway I start to look around...valve cover is still rather dirty...I would have cleaned it if I had had it off...would he?...maybe not...can't really tell if the covers been off or not. Then I notice a piece of rubber that's not been put back right...aha...they at least had the plastic covers off...then I start getting a little pissed off...turns out those rubber pieces (on both sides) that direct the airflow coming off the radiator to the side vents in the fairing are upside down and ahead of the vent...basically just shoved in there any old how and the cover slapped back on...those rubber pieces are a fairly complicated shape and take a little figuring out to get them on right but they are well marked...left, right, in, out, frame, fuel line, etc...now I get really pissed when you pay someone good money so you don't have to deal with a job only to find you have waste your time and get your hands dirty just to fix their screwup and sloppy workmanship... I ride back to the dealer with the covers off one side of the bike to show them their sh*tty work...profuse apologies...they offer to correct it immediately and I decline their offer and go home with the piece of mind in knowing that I will know that it was done right. Naturally I'm left wondering about those valve clearances even more...might just have to check them myself I guess... I'd be interested to hear how many hour labor others have been charged for valve clearances. Cheers Joe.
