cecome Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 OK here goes, took the bike into a local small shop said it would be 275 to adjust the valves and synched the carbs. I have had the bike a few years the engine sounded like it was ready with near 17k on it not sure if it was ever done. Left the bike last Friday to be ready Monday afternoon. Called he said it was not ready but would be on Tuesday by 10:00 Call him mid day says the bike will be ready before he closes @ 4:00. Go to get the bike near closing. Start the bike and it sounds much better. Get on it to ride home wont rev over 5k dies before I'm out of the lot. He does a quick check to make sure the gas for the tank is turned on runs the battery to start it for a minute or two with no luck. Then says he will need to keep it till today. This afternoon he calls and says it is ready. I go to pick it up and the heat insulation is sticking out of the fairing, I say fix it so he does then he check the other side and it is obviously installed incorrectly. Fixes that as well. Ride the bike home with a short spin on the way and it sounds much better. Go for a quick start and battery is dead. So I'll be going to batteriesPlus tonight to replace it. Need to know Does the insulation go foam facing out or in when fairings are installed. I know this is stupid but he has it foam in and I don't think that is correct and I'm too pissed to see straight right now. Somebody please help me. BTW 6 of the 8 intake valves needed to be shimmed according to this guy. Maybe it was near time for a new battery anyway but this guy will NEVER touch my bike again!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB4XX Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cecome Posted December 24, 2009 Author Share Posted December 24, 2009 thanks very much..I really appreciate the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zero Knievel Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 Good luck finding a new guy. A trustworthy mechanic is worth his weight in gold, and finding one is the hardest challenge. So many out there either don't know what they are doing or don't care, and if they bugger things up, try and prove it's their fault. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
79cbxmike Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 Why would the insulation be disturbed for a valve clearance check? Working on the Bird requires the skill and attention to detail of a fine watchmaker. I had some "qualified" help checking the valves and ended up with an oil leak and the pair hose over instead of under the frame crosspiece (he put the ram air duct in with a crowbar). Worse thing was, next day I attended the Experienced Motorcycle course and a couple HD riders noticed the leak --- bad bad day. So now I do all that stuff myself following the Honda show manual to the letter and taking lots of pics. I don't even trust the local Honda dealer to give my baby the best care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrated Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 I would really be concerned with this guy abilities.......or better said, his lack of abilities, especially with him saying that 6 out of the 8 intake valves needed to be shimmed. This is pretty rare that valves need to be shimmed until you get in the 50K to 60K range, and then most of the time it might be one or two valves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cecome Posted December 24, 2009 Author Share Posted December 24, 2009 Good luck finding a new guy. A trustworthy mechanic is worth his weight in gold, and finding one is the hardest challenge. So many out there either don't know what they are doing or don't care, and if they bugger things up, try and prove it's their fault. I agree, anyone with a recommendation for Ventura County CA please send it my way. It just makes me sick to spend the money and not trust the work that was done. Why would the insulation be disturbed for a valve clearance check? Working on the Bird requires the skill and attention to detail of a fine watchmaker. I had some "qualified" help checking the valves and ended up with an oil leak and the pair hose over instead of under the frame crosspiece (he put the ram air duct in with a crowbar). Worse thing was, next day I attended the Experienced Motorcycle course and a couple HD riders noticed the leak --- bad bad day. So now I do all that stuff myself following the Honda show manual to the letter and taking lots of pics. I don't even trust the local Honda dealer to give my baby the best care. I agree this marvel of engineering should be treated as a fine time piece. When the fairings were removed the insulation was also removed. That had to be a tough day with the HD boys. I just don't have the tools, space or confidence to wrench on the bird myself. Situations like these make me wonder if I could not do just as good a job with some training. I would really be concerned with this guy abilities.......or better said, his lack of abilities, especially with him saying that 6 out of the 8 intake valves needed to be shimmed. This is pretty rare that valves need to be shimmed until you get in the 50K to 60K range, and then most of the time it might be one or two valves. I think this guy has no idea what he is doing. From what I have followed on the board it scares me to think that 6 of 8 were in need of adjustment with so few miles on the bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon haney Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 Only a person who gives a shit about doing a good job should be working on your bike. That person is usually you. If you just don't think you can handle it, get some help. You should be able to find at least one riding friend/aquaintence that will be willing to help you. Find out what their favorite beer is and have some on hand. If they don't drink, buy them a good lunch. It's way cheaper than labor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cecome Posted December 24, 2009 Author Share Posted December 24, 2009 Only a person who gives a shit about doing a good job should be working on your bike. That person is usually you. If you just don't think you can handle it, get some help. You should be able to find at least one riding friend/aquaintence that will be willing to help you. Find out what their favorite beer is and have some on hand. If they don't drink, buy them a good lunch. It's way cheaper than labor. You are so right. Gonna take your advice and will let you know what happens. Thanks for the feedback!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beestoys Posted December 25, 2009 Share Posted December 25, 2009 Well if you don't mind a day trip i am about 400 miles west of you in AZ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cecome Posted December 27, 2009 Author Share Posted December 27, 2009 Well if you don't mind a day trip i am about 400 miles west of you in AZ. I really appreciate the offer, not sure if I'll make it that far but who knows. Thanks for the support!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
79cbxmike Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 Good luck finding a new guy. A trustworthy mechanic is worth his weight in gold, and finding one is the hardest challenge. So many out there either don't know what they are doing or don't care, and if they bugger things up, try and prove it's their fault. I agree, anyone with a recommendation for Ventura County CA please send it my way. It just makes me sick to spend the money and not trust the work that was done. Why would the insulation be disturbed for a valve clearance check? Working on the Bird requires the skill and attention to detail of a fine watchmaker. I had some "qualified" help checking the valves and ended up with an oil leak and the pair hose over instead of under the frame crosspiece (he put the ram air duct in with a crowbar). Worse thing was, next day I attended the Experienced Motorcycle course and a couple HD riders noticed the leak --- bad bad day. So now I do all that stuff myself following the Honda show manual to the letter and taking lots of pics. I don't even trust the local Honda dealer to give my baby the best care. I agree this marvel of engineering should be treated as a fine time piece. When the fairings were removed the insulation was also removed. That had to be a tough day with the HD boys. I just don't have the tools, space or confidence to wrench on the bird myself. Situations like these make me wonder if I could not do just as good a job with some training. I would really be concerned with this guy abilities.......or better said, his lack of abilities, especially with him saying that 6 out of the 8 intake valves needed to be shimmed. This is pretty rare that valves need to be shimmed until you get in the 50K to 60K range, and then most of the time it might be one or two valves. I think this guy has no idea what he is doing. From what I have followed on the board it scares me to think that 6 of 8 were in need of adjustment with so few miles on the bike. Look: about $150 bucks will buy all the tools you need to do all the basic tasks on the Bird; another $40 will get you a genuine Honda shop manual which has superb (if tedious) how-to directions. Using manual directions, changing spark plugs takes a full day, checking the valves may take another half day (more if you need to re-shim some) but it will be right. I’ve tried some of the shortcut procedures and none are complete, lots of stuff that might seem obvious to an experienced Bird mechanic are left out. In the end you will save time, money and frustration all of which can be applied to some other situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BackStreet Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 The reason I bought a Honda is they have the best dealership in the area. I went and talked to the service manager. He showed me the service area. The mechanics are all certified and nice guys. I'm sure they can fix any problem. When my 600RR was stolen, they vouched for me that the bike was in prime condition and properly serviced right at the dealership. I got my check as soon as the 30 day waiting period was up. They got me a full refund on the extended warranty too. I used the money to buy a slightly used VFR which I was not happy with. 6 months later they gave me all I paid for the bike for a trade in on a new Blackbird (which saves $450 in sales tax if I sold it myself). I'm sorry most of you seem to have missed out on the whole bike shop experience. That used to be where we went to talk bikes prior to forums. You might even get a doughnut and a cup of coffee - free. A few guys might meet up and go for a ride. Stop in if you are in the area. Burger's Motorcycles http://www.burgersmotorcycles.com/ 749 U.S. 202 Flemington, NJ 08822 (908) 782-2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zero Knievel Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 I'm sorry most of you seem to have missed out on the whole bike shop experience. I think that's exactly the problem...the bike shop experience most of us have gotten. I got my first recent motorcycle when I was in Wyoming. Dealt with the Kawasaki shop in Cheyenne (50 miles away) for some work because they told me how much my repair bill would likely be. They knew how much time it SHOULD take to do the job, the labor rate and the parts needed. Because I took the plastics off before trucking the bike over, they spent less time on the bike and only charged for what time they actually put in rather than charge me what they quoted. Compare that to my local Kawasaki shop that said, "$60 an hour...however long it takes." Later, I took the bike to a local Yamaha shop to have the carbs tuned. I just did a Stage III kit myself and I had the bike painted, so I knew the tank and carbs were empty and clean. They claimed to find over 8 ounces of water in my gas and almost 2 ounces of it was silt that "came out of the carbs." Took the bike from them to the local Kawasaki shop, and they let it sit for a week or so before giving me some EPA bullshit that they weren't allowed to tune the carbs (wow, could have given me that line when I brought the bike in to be worked on). I also got my petcock back from them, but now it a hole deliberately burned through the filter element. In the end I hauled the bike down to Fort Collins, CO to where I originally bought it to have the carbs rebuilt and cleaned, the thank cleaned, and a new petcock ordered. After that, I won't let hardly anyone touch any of my bikes without extensive references. :icon_snooty: Repair work is expensive. Undoing the damage of a dishonest or incompetent mechanic/shop is even more expensive. P.S. Guess which shop is the only shop I refer people to in the SE Wyoming region? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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