Top End Rebuild On A Vintage Kawa - Pricing Question.

[vintagevantage]

1978 Kawasaki KZ650 B2.

I bought a spare head and had it rebuilt, that is, the top end. Viton seals were but in, it was machined, valves done, everything ready for it to be put on the bike.

The bike has a top end on it already with leaky valve seals and broken fins. I want that head taken off and the new rebuilt head swapped in with the old head, shims and cams.

I live in New Jersey and a local vintage bike mechanic quoted me a price of $1,900 to swap the new head, cams and gasket kit in, and put piston rings on it, which I have supplied.

Is this a fair price.

 

[Streetfighterkz]

…a local vintage bike mechanic quoted me a price of $1,900 to swap the new head, cams and gasket kit in, and put piston rings on it, which I have supplied.

Is this a fair price.

Absolutely NOT! Think of it this way; at a service rate of $100/hr (just a guess), there’s no way it will take 19 hours! I’d charge 5-6 hours for the top end work. If you are reusing the existing cams, then all the shims will all need checked and adjusted which adds some time.

Later, Doug

 

[vintagevantage]

Absolutely NOT! Think of it this way; at a service rate of $100/hr (just a guess), there’s no way it will take 19 hours! I’d charge 5-6 hours for the top end work. If you are reusing the existing cams, then all the shims will all need checked and adjusted which adds some time.

Later, Doug

And the piston rings being changed? yeah I thought that price was ridiculous. And how much time to adjust shims?

 

[doc_rot]

Eh, depends on what they actually quoted. For just top end assembly that is high, but its possible they may be factoring in some tuning and contingency costs in there and there may be a warranty on labor included as well. often old bikes have other underlying issues, this is why most shops wont work on vintage bikes because its often a can of worms and the owners of vintage UJM tend to be, uhh... "budget conscious" cough, cough, cheap asses, cough.... I would ask for an itemized list of what is included in that price. They may be going deep and removing the pistons to properly clean the ring grooves, perhaps measuring the piston to cylinder bore clearance, measuring piston pin run-out, they maybe sending the cylinder out to be professionally honed. These are things a shop would be wise to do to cover their ass from someone bringing the bike back for warranty work 6 months later. All that measuring and setup takes time. Without an itemized list its impossible to know.

Although It very well could be a "get out of my face" price as well. Bringing a rebuilt head from a third party is a red flag to a shop because they cannot guarantee the work as they did not do it themselves, and they may not be able to vouch for the shop that did. but if the bike doesn't run well its their problem when you bring it back. Also, it is common that customers who buy parts separately for shops to install are not the kind of customers they want to engage with so that may be a factor here as well.

If you are in the "budget conscious" crowd you can easily rebuild it yourself. its really not too difficult with a manual.

 

[vintagevantage]

Eh, depends on what they actually quoted. For just top end assembly that is high, but its possible they may be factoring in some tuning and contingency costs in there and there may be a warranty on labor included as well. often old bikes have other underlying issues, this is why most shops wont work on vintage bikes because its often a can of worms and the owners of vintage UJM tend to be, uhh... "budget conscious" cough, cough, cheap asses, cough.... I would ask for an itemized list of what is included in that price. They may be going deep and removing the pistons to properly clean the ring grooves, perhaps measuring the piston to cylinder bore clearance, measuring piston pin run-out, they maybe sending the cylinder out to be professionally honed. These are things a shop would be wise to do to cover their ass from someone bringing the bike back for warranty work 6 months later. All that measuring and setup takes time. Without an itemized list its impossible to know.

Although It very well could be a "get out of my face" price as well. Bringing a rebuilt head from a third party is a red flag to a shop because they cannot guarantee the work as they did not do it themselves, and they may not be able to vouch for the shop that did. but if the bike doesn't run well its their problem when you bring it back. Also, it is common that customers who buy parts separately for shops to install are not the kind of customers they want to engage with so that may be a factor here as well.

If you are in the "budget conscious" crowd you can easily rebuild it yourself. its really not too difficult with a manual.

I bit the bullet and gave him the money. His work is impeccable, just costs me a lot... Im not poor an can afford it, but I hate to be taken advantage of. Thanks so much for responding.

 

[doc_rot]

I get it. No one likes to be taken advantage of even if they are rich as hell. I'm in the "budget conscious" crowd myself even though I am certainly not poor these days. I got into vintage UJM bikes originally because it was all I could afford when I was a teenager. its hard to shake that mentality many years later.

Post some pics when you are back on the road. I love the whole KZ line.