It was a significant weight Monte, £391, (including 20% VAT) inc three sets of break pads, full oils, fluids, filters, gaskets, plugs and labour, which is expensive but not as bad as I expected.
That works out to be $602.20 USD, but that 20% VAT (Value Added Tax) would set my hair on fire. I squawk at the .0825% we get hit with here in Tejas. The dealer's shop rate for labor likely accounts for most of your final tab.
There is a one-man indie motorcycle repair shop I use for machine work on heads and 2-stroke cylinders. Elmer, a graduate of the Butler & Smith and Ducati service schools, is no spring chicken but has run service dept's for several large dealerships back in his younger days.
We got to chatting about shops that won't work on Airheads. My friend states that there are very few dealership technicians these days competent on our classic BMWs. Charging a customer anywhere from $90+ per hour to track down something like a bad ground on a 1978 R100/7 just isn't fair to the customer nor the dealership technician's time. He referred to the required periodic service schedules on motorcycles as "gravy work" -meaning fast turnarounds and plenty of cash flow.
My friendly BMW/Triumph dealer in Austin, Texas, has put a soft
stop line on Triumphs that are ten years old. If they 'know' the bike and customer, maybe. At fifteen years, the shop will not accept a bike in their service dept. Same holds true for BMWs. Ask about getting your Airhead sorted and they are definitely not interested. They
will sell you a $45.00 Motoraad/Airhead T-shirt... like mine.
I spent a week in Austin in late June. More bikes than I could count from exotics down to scooters. Some checking with my Airhead-riding Soldier son confirmed a large number of successful indie shops in Capitol City; including a shop recently opened by the former
first bench Triumph tech at Lone Star BMW/Triumph.
No rant. Just reality.
