garage costs

this site still rocks!!!!!!!!!!! and the money that iv,e saved is brill thanks to all my fellow xjers keep up the great work guys.now hears a question here in uk i let the bike shop bleed the breaks just to get her through the mot charged me £50 plus £10 vat [tax] so £60 an hour,am in the wrong job came home changed lines to s/s braided ones rebled took me just under 1hr saved my self a fortune with you guys help.WHAT KINDA RATE would bike garage charge near where you live,>>

 

Around here you would first have to find one willing to do the work on these bikes. I checked with several when I first got my bike and was struggling with the carbs a bit. They all said no, we don't work on stuff that old. I ended up getting it figured out on my own with the help of this site.

 

My local shop charges $60 per hour. So, not sure how long a job like that would take. Maybe 1.5 to 2 hrs. But no tax on labor in Fl. So we save the 20% (Yikes!) VAT that y'all have to pay.

 

Sadly £50p/h has become the norm these days, if you can't do your own repairs/tuning BEND OVER, they're goin' in!!!

 

Here in NJ the local dealership's labor rates vary season to season. Their normal 'summer' rates are $99/hr, while they offer winter rates of $49/hr. I think this is great news for anyone who wants to ride all summer and get the work done on their bikes when they can't use them as easily.

 

In my area the going shop labour rate is $70-$80 / hr -- I long ago realized that my finances could not support using the shop for much, and learned to wrench for myself. Much more satisfying anyway.
Greg

 

yep thanks guys and a big plus very theraputic knowing you just took your time and can stand back and say well jobs done to great standard and the satisfaction to say"well i do all my own servicing" thanks to this great site.

 

I own my own shop and i charge $40 hour plus parts. If you are a good customer, ill drop the price a bit. I dont have a tax number yet or anything like that so its just cash, have been doing to since the end of 2011. Hoping to get tax stuff this year and a loan to rent out a building, and so i can deduct all these expenses i can easly spend more on tools than i make in a year lol! but other shops start at $60 hour around here and go up to $110 hour.

 

No way 1.5 to 2 hrs. to bleed brakes. I'll do front and rear and a hydraulic clutch in a half hour. Remember, the shop has some tools that you might not.

I do something similar although it's tied to winter storage. 50% off labor up to 1/2 the storage bill. If someone is doing a lot of work I'll shortchange the billed hours too.

I think you'll find that if you go legit, pay for space, insurance, taxes, license fees and utilities that the $40 probably won't cut it. Last year rent chewed up 25% of my gross, landlords expect to be paid even in the winter. If you accept credit cards the card companies will take the first 3%.

I opened 5 years ago at $50, which I knew was low but I needed to build clientele. Last year I was at $70 and lost business because I couldn't fit them in the door. If that starts happening again this summer I'll raise the rate again.

Those of you that think $70/hour is a lot need to realize that that is only for hours turning wrenches. Time spent on the telephone, researching and ordering parts, going for parts and supplies and paying bills generate $0 in income. Also, last year I wrote checks worth about $50,000 to my landlord and other suppliers that are essential to the business.

This year I hired a woman to handle the telephone, most of the office work and some gofer stuff. That'll be a new batch of checks to write. Hopefully she'll free me up to spend more time for turning wrenches so I can pay her and still have a bit left over.

 

Yea i actually used to be $35 an hour when i first started lol!!! But i most defiantly dont do it for the money, i love motorcycles. working on them, riding them, and even staring at them i know i will have to AT LEAST go up to $55 hour, but as you know there are hundreds of factors to consider. But i think going "legit" will help out alot, i can even deduct gas for when i go get tools i hear!!! (yay cause i get 9mpg in my truck)

I just got card made this year also, so we shall see what happens, right now in my garage i can work on 3-4 bikes (depending on size) comfortably thats only when i cant push the other outside cause the snow or rain though but there is over 8 shops here in this small town lol not counting me of course