newbie, looking for mechanic in Toronto area

[queenslegs]

Hello all, I'm new to the site, just bought my first SX650, so will probably be asking a lot of, shall we say, "newbie" questions. The bike is a 79 special, the po said is was running albeit not well in the fall but now won't start. I'm wondering if anyone here knows of a good shop for our bikes here in the GTA? Thanks in advance!

 

[fredintoon]

Hello all, I'm new to the site, just bought my first SX650, so will probably be asking a lot of, shall we say, "newbie" questions. The bike is a 79 special, the po said is was running albeit not well in the fall but now won't start. I'm wondering if anyone here knows of a good shop for our bikes here in the GTA? Thanks in advance!

Hi queenslegs and welcome,
nice looking bike. If the dreaded PO didn't saw off the mounting bolts you can buy used footpegs, ditch the forward controls and revert to a sensible riding position.
Unless you are an eccentric millionaire you can't afford to pay for bike work as T.O. shop rates are well over $100/hour.
Betcha they'd bill you at least 4 hours just to clean the carbs and check the ignition.
And that's if you can find a mechanic who is competent to work on a 35 year old motorcycle.

 

[queenslegs]

wow, thanks, guess I'll just slit my wrists now!

 

[CDNTX650]

Or you need to do what everyone does. Learn to work on them. Thats why people ride new bikes. Efi, and warranty and less headache.. you are willing to read and get your hands dirty, might be able to get it going.

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[retiredgentleman]

With old bikes like the XS650, you don't pay a shop to work on them. That would cost a small fortune.

All the information and specs you will ever need are posted somewhere on this site. You will have to spend time searching/reading and learning how these bike work. These are simple bikes so nothing is very technical.

If you aren't up to the task, then you would be better off to buy a bike that is less than 10 years old.

 

[lakeview]

Welcome to the site, I saw that bike on Kijiji and thought it would go really quick and it did.
If you look on Kijiji there is a father son team that advertise themselves as old bike mechanics, not sure if their regular ads means they are so efficient they have to advertise to stay busy or .........
The regular contributors on this site know what they are talking about. Get a manual and start reading.

 

[queenslegs]

Thanks guys, good advice and appreciated! I've often wondered about a shared shop resource but that's another story...