Ngoodman75 Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 Getting ready to upgrade the front springs and replace the rear shock on my 04 non ABS. Dealership is telling me 7 hours labor. 4 in front and 3 for the rear. Does this sound reasonable to everyone? I know it would take me 8 weeks and I would never get it to work if I tried it myself! Just wondering. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beck Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 Getting ready to upgrade the front springs and replace the rear shock on my 04 non ABS. Dealership is telling me 7 hours labor. 4 in front and 3 for the rear. Does this sound reasonable to everyone? I know it would take me 8 weeks and I would never get it to work if I tried it myself! Just wondering. Thanks. Sounds like they just gave you a full day's block of labor to put it in. Seven hours sounds a little too much, even for an amature mechanic like me, and I suspect a lot of others in this forum, specially if the front end work only involves changing out the springs and not include a full service fluid, seals and bushing change. Shop around and see if other dealers can do it for less. Beck 95 VFR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AB-Oz Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 Yeah, thats way too much for the front, I'd say 2 hours tops for changing the fluid and springs. The rear sounds about right though, if the exhaust headers have to come off to fit it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer radar Posted April 26, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted April 26, 2007 Well I installed a 929 shock in about 4 hours, but keep in mind that it was the first time that I pulled my bike apart and didn't have clue what I was doing, just followed Veefer's how-to, so yeah I think your being quoted a little to much, you should seriously consider doing it yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Motor_Ref Posted April 26, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted April 26, 2007 Well I installed a 929 shock in about 4 hours, but keep in mind that it was the first time that I pulled my bike apart and didn't have clue what I was doing, just followed Veefer's how-to, so yeah I think your being quoted a little to much, you should seriously consider doing it yourself. I sure wouldn't take the forks apart just to change the springs and oil. Once you are in there, do it all. I can't speak for the shock. I have changed a few and IIRC it didn't take three hours. Nothing beats working on your own bike. If you are not an accomplished wrench, buy some beer and invite a few members over to supervise/help. That sure beats letting someone you don't know tear into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ngoodman75 Posted April 26, 2007 Author Share Posted April 26, 2007 Thanks for the feedback guys. I was thinking that number was a bit steep. I think I will continue to shop around. I would love to do the work myself but unfortunately I don't have any garage space to do it. I live in an apt in a pretty urban area and the bike is covered in a parking garage. Don't think building management would take too kindly to me ripping the VFR apart down there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer jeremy556 Posted April 26, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted April 26, 2007 If they are just changing the springs in the front, that only takes about 5 minutes. Just remove the fork caps and pull the spring and spacers out and replace. If changing oil as well, I think 2 hours tops. The shock is a bit more of a pain to remove, but it shouldn't take a dealer service department more than 2 hours to remove/replace and change spring. Call around to some other shops, and try non-dealers. The work you are having done is not rocket science and doesn't require any Honda specific parts/tools/knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted April 26, 2007 Member Contributer Share Posted April 26, 2007 Let me look at it from another angle: You are spending some $700 on the hardware ($600 rear shock, $100 front spring) your dealership is local, you trust they will do a good job labor rate is what? $50 an hour? So who cares if it can be done faster, saving $50 bucks? I was in your position during the winter, dealer quoting around 7 hours work (at Eur 60 or $78 an hour). Not owning a garage either, but could use my brother's and had some days off to take. So I took it upon me to he the stuff myself, as motor_ref puts it: "Nothing beats working on your own bike." With the shop manual by my side, I'd say I spend 7 hours doing real work including removing bodywork tank etc. and then another hour making sure I did everything right... go to your local shop, tell them to do the work on the premise that if they get the job done quicker, they charge you real time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ngoodman75 Posted April 27, 2007 Author Share Posted April 27, 2007 Thanks alot guys for the input. I am going to call around this weekend and get some other quotes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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