How long should a top end rebuild take at a shop?

Detale

Detale

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Now I don't want to start a bitching thread here but Im losing confidence in the shop doing my work. Im working long hours so I didn't have the time to do the work myself. I'm having them rebuild my top end (cam chain, guides, seals and such)and while I Was at it I figured have them install Hugh's PMA and hydro clutch. I stopped by the other day and they seemed a little confused about the PMA. They said that hughs directions weren't that helpful but I've read them on more than one occasion and they seem pretty straight forward to me. Now I'm a mere tinkerer but can follow directions well. I've torn down my rebel motor with no hang ups so I'd say a have an "Internet mechanic" ability level or a very basic understanding of things on 2 wheels.

It's been six weeks now and they're still not done, I've been told "next week" for a few weeks. I guess I'm asking what you guys think? I'm trying to be patient but it just seems like it shouldn't take this long. Am I being a dick? How long should this take?
 
Been in the same boat as you for a month now. Waiting on a local "Harley" shop to blast my ports. While they were in there they decided to regrind my valves and now need to re lap the seals....well this cylinder head has been according to them "Minutes" away from being done but only the bossman can do it....they have been saying this for 3 weeks now. I stopped in the other day to remind them and sure enough they had forgotten about it and say they'll have it done before the 4th of July....we'll see what happens.
 
well im having a very well known shop, here in town bead blast, do a top end / light restoration on an xs 650 motor of mine. final bill $1490 dollars. seems higher than giraffe pussy to me!
 
Detale it sounds like it will get nothing but worse.
If a shop moves work around you, even if it is 15 min jobs, the trend will continue till your bike is in the corner and completely forgotten.
I'm like that around the house. Start something, run into a hiccup, do something else while I think about it. I tend to think about it less and less till it becomes something I ignore.
 
They called me today and said it's done. Looks like I've jumped the gun a day early. Go figure. Honestly i just think that they don't do many old bikes let alone any XS's. They're not that common here at all at least from what I've seen. I think they were learning as they went. Hopefully it works out when I pick it up later. I'll keep you posted.
 
I have found that if you want it done quick and done the way you want, do it yourself.

I have had many shops do things for me and I was disappointed every time. Not only does it take forever, but half the time it's wrong.

The only problem I have with doing it myself is that:
A) I hate working on junk and just want to ride.
B) I don't know what I'm doing so I fumble through and spend too much.

But even with that said I still manage to get things done faster than a shop with about the same quality.

What really irks me is that they have every tool and every machine to do the job. I only have basic hand tools and a 110 welder. I don't even have a drillpress that works. I cut all my steel with a sawsall or a hand grinder. Oh, the things I would build if I had a lathe or a mill.

Sorry for the rant.
 
From start to finsih it shouldn't take more than a couple hours of work. The only hang up is if they had to send parts to a machine shop for machining (like if the head was warped). Even then they shouldn't have your engine for much more than a week tops in my opinion.
 
I can dig the hrs of work ya're puttin' in--
If I take a head apart it takes me a few hours or so & maybe a little longer, depending, because I still don't have my own valve spring compressor & have ta rent one. Although, once its tore down I can put it together again in a few hrs. Now, with that said, the local shop that does any machining for me usually needs 5-7 days (not completely sure why except they have other jobs goin' on too). To do all of those upgrades ya described I'd figure, myself (?), I could do it in a few hours, given that I have all of the parts in front of me.

To me, even if they had ta order up all the parts--more than 3-3 1/2 weeks is too long.
Into the 4th week I'd be ragin'!
 
Phail said:
I have found that if you want it done quick and done the way you want, do it yourself.

I have had many shops do things for me and I was disappointed every time. Not only does it take forever, but half the time it's wrong.

The only problem I have with doing it myself is that:
A) I hate working on junk and just want to ride.
B) I don't know what I'm doing so I fumble through and spend too much.

But even with that said I still manage to get things done faster than a shop with about the same quality.

What really irks me is that they have every tool and every machine to do the job. I only have basic hand tools and a 110 welder. I don't even have a drillpress that works. I cut all my steel with a sawsall or a hand grinder. Oh, the things I would build if I had a lathe or a mill.

Sorry for the rant.
Click to expand...

Well put. I guess I'm just learning that myself. This is my 3rd mechanic and I have a pit in my stomach about when I pick her up later that something will be wrong. I decided to let them do it because I thought it would save time, but I KNOW I could have gotten this done in 6 weeks. Shit, with the help of this forum I could prob rebuild the whole motor in 6 weeks even with my limited time.

Thanks for the input guys. Well see what happens but I think next time I'll just get my own hands dirty no matter how long it takes. Damn you Hugh! For not living closer!!!!!

Btw when they had a problem with Hugh's PMA I wrote him to ask for a phone number so they could call him. He promptly responded with a number and even tried to call me (number was wrong in my email) what a nice thing to do. Thanks man.
 
Not specifically the cam guide but the top end replacement was 8.5 hrs. That was fine IMO but they charged 5 hrs for charging system replacement. That's installing Hugh's PMA which I can't see with all the correct shop tools and a lift(what I wouldn't give to have somewhere to put a lift) should take more than 2 hours. Granted Ive never done it before but it doesn't look that time consuming. It does ride and sound great I'll give them that and that hydrolic clutch Hugh puts out is just about the best upgrade on a bike I have to date! Still I'm not impressed enough to go back unless it's a dire emergency and something I absolutely cannot do myself.
 
I was a service manager at a marina. It seemed most every boat owner waited until summer to have any work done on their engines. So what we had was a winter of slow work until warm weather and then some guys wanted the equivalent of their engine rebuilt. Since we had hundreds of boats to get done, the easier, faster jobs were pushed to the forefront to get customers on the water. The heavier mechanical jobs should have been contracted in the winter when we had the time. They got done, just not as fast as the owners wanted. I suppose the powersports business is similar.

Tom
 
That makes a lot of sense man. I get that it's a busy time and would have understood if they would have told me that in the beginning. They few times I stopped by though they didn't seem to be swamped with work but I could be wrong about that. Like I said though if they would have told me 6 weeks i would have understood instead of repeatedly saying next week, next week.
 
You don't need a lift, but you can build a table and ramp if you think you want one. I prefer the roller stool and working on the floor. Used to have the big $$ lifts and never cranked them up.

Don't be afraid to tackle this stuff yourself. You can do it. :)

John
 
Especially when trying a new shop, if you continue to use shops, get a written estimate of man-hours and down time, and hold them to it. I work in a service oriented industry, and I do not commit to out-dates or prices I cannot meet. I would rather have a customer walk away mad because I could not meet his schedule or price than have one walk away mad because I took the job and did not meet his expectations. If you fall into an alligator pit with something, and it affects schedule or pricing, you call the customer immediately, and you don't candy coat it. If he's got more crap broke than you anticipated, or if you find a land mine in the project, that's not your fault. You are doing your job as a pro wrench. If you break something or you are in over your head, you owe it to that customer to tell them that as well, but what you do not do is ignore your customer, and ignoring thier project is the same damn thing!
 
Thanks again guys. I'm a union carpenter by trade so I know I could build a table, and even a rolling stool would be nice, but I live in Brooklyn my and do all of my work in my little gate in front of my house. I lack a garage or any real space to work and I need to finish before the sun goes down or I'm looking for screws in the dark. On a few occasions I'v brought the motor into the basement and threw my cover over the bike so I don't get a ticket. Lately it been about my lack of time and figured they could do it faster than I could. I was tired of working on bikes and I just want to ride already Yesterday was the first decent ride I had all season and I was only out for about an hour. I need to rack up some miles this year before I tear her open again. Thanks for the kids words

Here's a few pics of the space I have to work. I usually sit on the bench and have at it.
 

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OK so now I think I'm burning oil. On my way to work at 2:00PM today I noticed some black smoke coming from my left side exhaust a fair amount, but I was on my way to work so there was little I could do, then I'm getting out of work at 11:00PM and I notice the smoke getting worse. It's too late now to pull the plug and see what it looks like but what else could be causing this now?
 
Son of a bitch! So I pulled the plug and surely it's oil filled in there. Before I even took it out I could see oil escaping at the bottom of the plug. Also I noticed oil coming from under where the cam chain adjuster is. I had no time to pop that off and check. Just to be clear, with a top end rebuild this shouldn't be happening right? I'm gonna call these guys tomorrow and bitch them out. All I know is they better stand behind their work or I'm gonna lose it!

Any advice here would be great guys.
 

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