"Keeping my mind on a better life, when happiness is only a heartbeat away. Paradise, can it be all I heard it was, I close my eyes and maybe I'm already there."
Joined: Mar 2012 Gender: Male Posts: 64 Location: Richmond, VA
Re: Cost of Scooter Repairs « Reply #3 on Apr 2, 2012, 10:44am »
I'm leary of going to the shop near me as they would rather sell you a new bike than service an old one. If I do it myself, at least I know I got what I paid for and the job is done. IMO, I get the feeling when it comes to most shops, not all, but most, we can educate ourselves and do the job as well as the shop can do it. I also learned the mark-up by a shop on parts is absolutely ridiculous.
Joined: Oct 2010 Gender: Male Posts: 1,196 Location: Pensacola Florida & Italy
Re: Cost of Scooter Repairs « Reply #5 on Apr 2, 2012, 2:14pm »
I will try to give you the facts of life. In the US, If I pay someone who works for me - say $20 an hour it really costs me about $25 an hour and he will get about $16 take home pay. But to pay him $20 an hour I have to charge more like $45 an hour of every hour he works on your scoot. If it takes him 3 hours hours to do the job, and I only charge you 2 hours labor I need to charge you most of $65 an hour. ( that is far more common than most people think) (I have to have at least one support hour for every 6 to 8 billable hours (clean up, chase parts, supplies, inventory, repairs, furnish shop tools and pay building and building operating costs. My experience is a decent mechanic is at least 4 times as fast as the best ammeter and makes far fewer errors.
I know that sounds awful to you. I understand.. I would guess that you may think you can do it as well and as fast as a decent mechanic but I have fixed enough stuff behind amateur's to know that is not true. I read a lot of the questions and replies here and frankly, there are only a handful of people here I would consider hiring. And most of those do not do a lot of replies.
The thing is good mechanics tends to be working not BSing.
Joined: Mar 2012 Gender: Male Posts: 64 Location: Richmond, VA
Re: Cost of Scooter Repairs « Reply #6 on Apr 2, 2012, 2:44pm »
Terillee, I agree with you about Greg and he gives alot of good advice. I am referring to the local places I have seen around Richmond, which are few and far between.
Joined: Mar 2012 Gender: Male Posts: 64 Location: Richmond, VA
Re: Cost of Scooter Repairs « Reply #7 on Apr 2, 2012, 2:58pm »
imnts, I never said or even thought I can work on a bike at same level as a professional mechanic and certainly, there are 2 places around that I would feel OK about taking my scooter to. I just think these scoots are simple enough that most common problems should be able to be fixed by the average lay-person and sometimes with trial and error. While there are a few good places to go (Patriot motorsports and John's small engine repair), I think a few places sell these scooters as a second thought or offshoot of a car dealer or tire store and after the 30-day warranty is run out, they MAY reluctantly fix something, but not do very good on it. It certainly is not like owning a Honda or Vespa and going to someone who specializes in it.
Re: Cost of Scooter Repairs « Reply #8 on Apr 2, 2012, 3:25pm »
Whew! Those are some low rates cited so far! I'm seeing $65 to $95 per hour 'round here, depending...there's a lot to be said for buying tools, manuals, bandaids, and jumpin' right in yourself!
Joined: Aug 2010 Gender: Male Posts: 571 Location: Calais,Vermont
Re: Cost of Scooter Repairs « Reply #9 on Apr 2, 2012, 4:54pm »
A motorcycle or scooter is an expensive hobby if you need to hire someone for the routine tasks. On the other hand, there is a lot to learn. And mistakes can be lethal. I am lucky, I have made some and am still here. For a mc or sc to be an economical vehicle, I have found I must do everything except the machinist's work.
Joined: Mar 2012 Gender: Male Posts: 58 Location: SE Wisconsin
Re: Cost of Scooter Repairs « Reply #10 on Apr 3, 2012, 8:16am »
Wow, I seemed to have opened an ugly can of worms here. I knew when I purchased my scoot, it would require me to break out the tools and spend some weekends "tinkering" again. PM's, Upgrades, Mod's and the occational adjustment or tweek are all part of ownership, that's a fact. I was just curious as to, if I wasn't able to do something on my own, or didn't have the time for it, what it would take from my pocket. I have a pretty good idea now. Thanks for everyone's input.
"Keeping my mind on a better life, when happiness is only a heartbeat away. Paradise, can it be all I heard it was, I close my eyes and maybe I'm already there."
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