Ok, so dealers quoted me £360 to do my 36k service. A lot of beer tokens to me. I fancy a holiday so I thought I'll do most of it myself. So I rang around before doing my servicing, just to get quotes as Park Lane will match any written quote. All in the light of me keeping my stamps. I mailed a few independents for quotes. A was for £260, the other, B ( a mobile and closer than A ) quoted £320. In his mail he still stated "do not confuse quality with price...." mmh, not much cheaper than BMW or A. I rang Vines back, and asked if I did some of the work, would they please oblige and still stamp my book. They were kind enough to let me do all fluids, then they'll do the balancing, service reset, valve check and the rest of the "check fluid level, disc thickness, side stand play etc". AND stamp my book for the 36k service. Cheeky, I know, but I kept thinking I would need a fdsh to sell it (bike has been advertised recently). Fine I thought and they quoted me £150 incl a loan bike for this but only had space 12 June for this work!
Okay, so I did the engine oil, gearbox, final drive, rear brake pads, checked fluids, changed all 4 plugs, side stand play, centre stand free movement etc as per the service schedule this weekend. All ticked. So I thought I'll check if B would do the rest from me (my usual independent was still checking dates and since my travel date is approaching, I wanted to get this sorted). Independent B replied he could do it for £260! I mailed back saying that since his initial quote was for £360, by powers of written deduction, he would in future only be charging me £100 for all fluids, work, plugs and filters....His reply was less than charming! So, thinking I might be misgiven in understanding the remaining work I mailed another shop (all bikes in Croydon as recommended this weekend by a bod when I was searching for the right plugs - search sparkplugs for gs 1200). They mailed back with a quote for £65. So I wasn't too far off. Indy's are about half of what dealers charge , and mobile mechanic B is a chancer!! How much does "london local independent" petrol cost. So where does mobile mechanic get his figure of £260?
End game - local indy who was not asked to quote initially, as I was thinking of going to BM and keeping my stamps, (I didn't want to burden the guy with my moves), "steptoe" got back to me and has space for me before my trip to SE France/Germany and will do work for less thanall others quoted. So moral of the story is this..
1) I am not concerned about the DSH anymore (bike has 36 k on it, and had it from new so can vouch for all work)
2) ring around for quotes
3)Steptoe is a true gent and the best value for money among mechanics. Even if he is slack to reply to mail at times. A call is answered faster.
4) bike will now always go to Steptoe, unless I want to do my own bit of spanner turning first, as I enjoy learning and getting to know my bike
5) fck selling my GS, I have too much time/relationship invested in it!
6)Metz and surrounding area (including the B500 here we come)
Thanks all. Just thought you should know that prices differ manically
Okay, so I did the engine oil, gearbox, final drive, rear brake pads, checked fluids, changed all 4 plugs, side stand play, centre stand free movement etc as per the service schedule this weekend. All ticked. So I thought I'll check if B would do the rest from me (my usual independent was still checking dates and since my travel date is approaching, I wanted to get this sorted). Independent B replied he could do it for £260! I mailed back saying that since his initial quote was for £360, by powers of written deduction, he would in future only be charging me £100 for all fluids, work, plugs and filters....His reply was less than charming! So, thinking I might be misgiven in understanding the remaining work I mailed another shop (all bikes in Croydon as recommended this weekend by a bod when I was searching for the right plugs - search sparkplugs for gs 1200). They mailed back with a quote for £65. So I wasn't too far off. Indy's are about half of what dealers charge , and mobile mechanic B is a chancer!! How much does "london local independent" petrol cost. So where does mobile mechanic get his figure of £260?
End game - local indy who was not asked to quote initially, as I was thinking of going to BM and keeping my stamps, (I didn't want to burden the guy with my moves), "steptoe" got back to me and has space for me before my trip to SE France/Germany and will do work for less thanall others quoted. So moral of the story is this..
1) I am not concerned about the DSH anymore (bike has 36 k on it, and had it from new so can vouch for all work)
2) ring around for quotes
3)Steptoe is a true gent and the best value for money among mechanics. Even if he is slack to reply to mail at times. A call is answered faster.
4) bike will now always go to Steptoe, unless I want to do my own bit of spanner turning first, as I enjoy learning and getting to know my bike
5) fck selling my GS, I have too much time/relationship invested in it!
6)Metz and surrounding area (including the B500 here we come)
Thanks all. Just thought you should know that prices differ manically
