Maintenence

[Camper]

I just brought my bike in to get front and rear brakes done.  well they called back and said I needed 4 seals 2 bearings and front and rear shoes.  They told me the total for the parts were 319.00 (CAN) and 252.00 (CAN) for labour.  Am I getting ripped off???

Camper

[markc]

I feel that most labor costs from motorcycle mechanics to auto mechanics are a rip off to some degree.  They generally charge according to what some book says the job should take as far as time goes.  If the book says the job will take 3 hours then even if they finish in 2 hours, they charge for 3 hours.  I recently had a front tire installed on my motorcycle and the dealerships service dept had a sign saying that labor cost $50.00 per hour and there was a one hour minimum.  

I don't know how long it takes an ATV mechanic to change out those seals and bearings, but I wonder why it needs all of that?  Were you experiencing problems with the quad?  Since you were just looking for a brake job, do you believe the bearings and seals are shot?   Do you ride in alot of water and or mud?  How old is your ATV?    Those things do wear out, but if bearings are shot then it seems to me that you would have experienced something (sound, or something) to indicate that there was a problem.

[Camper]

Well I do ride in the mud and water alot so I can see if the seals were gone, then the bearings may have been exposed to the water.  I never experienced any sounds when riding ?
I will get it fixed this once then I will know how everything is supposed to feel and sound.  after that I will do most of the work myself.  I bought the bike used it was in mint condition from an older fella who just let it sit in the garage.  I imagine if any damage was done that it was because of me.  Oh well I bought it to go through trails and water and mud !!!!!!!  I guess you have to expect to do repairs on it!

Camper

[Billybob]

If you ride in alot of mud & water you will find the brakes will need replaced fairly often. It's really an easy job for a do it yourselfer if you have any mechanical experience at all. Do yourself a favor and buy a good manual for the atv and do the work yourself whenever possible.

Seals and bearings are one of the easiest things to replace on an atv. You'll find atv parts can be expensive at the dealer. I took my wheel bearings up to the local auto parts place and they cross matched the numbers on the bearings and I got them at about half the price of what the atv dealer wanted.

Atv starters for instance can run several hundred dollars if replaced by the dealer. If you pull your own starter though and replace the brushes you can do it yourself for $25.

It's nice though to have someone else do the work though if you can afford it. Good luck with it however you handle it.