Just curious, because I have yet to pay a dealer to make any repairs on a bike, but what is a reasonable shop rate (labor) at a Vic dealer?

I called the closest dealer to me to inquire about some work and was quoted $95.00 per hour as a shop rate.  I thought that was high.  I was expecting $75.00.

I know that I will need some service from the dealer at some time in the not-too-distant future, and will end up paying their rate.  But, I still think $95/hr is kinda high.

Anyone able to straighten me out on this???

I think my dealer is $95.00 also.  I guess it depends on the cost of living in your area and the dealers overhead.  I would be happy to get half that, my billing rate is $35.00 for an electrician... 

The "former" Victory Dealer was charging a shop rate of $80 per hour...but that's moot as they are no longer a Victory Dealer. 

All depends on where you are at. North Fl will run you a minimum of $100 an hour, but I have heard of stores in the mid west at $65

Andy wrote: The "former" Victory Dealer was charging a shop rate of $80 per hour...but that's moot as they are no longer a Victory Dealer.  I'm paying $100 per hour for Spyder service. But to be fair, there's a lot more plastic to remove to make even the most basic of repairs.

 

What does the amount of plastic have to do with anything?  If your paying by the hour, isnt an hour an hour no matter what you are working on?  I asked the same question from the Chevy dealer when I got my Corvette serviced...

I believe my 2 local dealers are approx $100/hr

personally i think that is a little high when you consider most automotive dealer are in the same range and they do have alot more overhead when you consider size and equipment costs,

As for Andy's spider the appropriate time is alotted for each proceedure(if book time is 1 hr to replace a battery ie that includes removing neccesary plastics ) so that battery would cost $100 labour plus battery

thats my 2 cents,hope to get some change lol

 

 

the dealership i bought from is $84/hr, and i figure the mechanic sees maybe half of that, the shop keeps the rest.

jaskc78 wrote: the dealership i bought from is $84/hr, and i figure the mechanic sees maybe half of that, the shop keeps the rest.

 

I seriously doubt a mechanic sees $42 and hour.  Maybe $40 with burden that he never sees in his pay but I still think that would be very high.  Not saying they dont deserve it but dont think (except for a select few) they get that.  In a perfect world I need to make a minimum of 3x a service techs salary to see a profit.

dirtbag_700 wrote: I believe my 2 local dealers are approx $100/hr personally i think that is a little high when you consider most automotive dealer are in the same range and they do have alot more overhead when you consider size and equipment costs, As for Andy's spider the appropriate time is alotted for each proceedure(if book time is 1 hr to replace a battery ie that includes removing neccesary plastics ) so that battery would cost $100 labour plus battery thats my 2 cents,hope to get some change lol

 

Yeah, that is what I dont understand...  The trade service guide (or whatever they call it) should already compensate for the difficulty between models...

dsjr70 wrote: Andy wrote: The "former" Victory Dealer was charging a shop rate of $80 per hour...but that's moot as they are no longer a Victory Dealer.  I'm paying $100 per hour for Spyder service. But to be fair, there's a lot more plastic to remove to make even the most basic of repairs.    What does the amount of plastic have to do with anything?  If your paying by the hour, isnt an hour an hour no matter what you are working on?  I asked the same question from the Chevy dealer when I got my Corvette serviced...

Gotcha, I thought you were saying they charge different rates between a Spyder and a Suzuki (just throwing that brand out there).  I know Ride Now in Longwood charged a different rate for Triumph and never got a straight answer why.

Every body that complains about the cost of labor should be in budiness for themselves once then you would see how much it cost to run a business. Your employees have to be paid a good wage or they will go some place to work. Ther is rent, all kind of insurances, employers part of payroll taxes, workmans comp., intrest on and payments for equipment,up keep on building and such and it goes on and on and on. I have never compalined about a bil for a dealer as long as they can show me where my money went.

I remember being at Rice Victory dealership in Rapid City last year during Sturgis. We were waiting in line and most of the guys were discussing how cheap the lobar per hour was. I looked at the sign and said, "Did you read the sign?" They said, "Yes." I again asked, "Did you read the sign?" Finally one guy sas "Crap it's $35 per 1/2 hour." I said, "That's what I meant. " In one way it's deceiving because all the other shops I have been to post by the hour. On the other hand I guess you could have a minimum 1/2 charge instead of a 1 hour min charge. Just goes to show that 7 or 8 people can read what they want instead of what's there. Most shops I have visited charge around 65 to 85 an hour near me.
Do all states require posted labor rates? Is that a fed requirement now? If not make sure to get an written estimate when at a dealer you have never been at.
To me the most important thing is getting the job done correctly the first time. If the $100/hour place does it right the first time and the $65/hour takes 3 trips back I did not save anything.
Like Andy explained, plastic will increase your bill because it's takes longer to get to the problem. Remember this if you have a bunch of accessories the mech needs to remove to do his/her job. You could save money/time by removing accessories before you take the bike to the shop.

dsjr70 wrote: dirtbag_700 wrote: I believe my 2 local dealers are approx $100/hr personally i think that is a little high when you consider most automotive dealer are in the same range and they do have alot more overhead when you consider size and equipment costs, As for Andy's spider the appropriate time is alotted for each proceedure(if book time is 1 hr to replace a battery ie that includes removing neccesary plastics ) so that battery would cost $100 labour plus battery thats my 2 cents,hope to get some change lol       Yeah, that is what I dont understand...  The trade service guide (or whatever they call it) should already compensate for the difficulty between models...

it does in the automovtive side,but it does not account for accesories

My dealer charges 55/hour but that is in West Virginia.  I think that is way reasonable.

Looks like my dealer's rate at 95/hr is not too high.
Then I inquired about the cost of parts that I was interested in,
and decided those prices were almost double what I can get the same
parts for online.

Looks like I will be purchasing the parts (intake and exhaust) online and
doing most of the install myself, then bring to
the dealer for the recalibration, when I get to that point.
Not that I'm a mechanic, but I have always considered
tinkering with my bike part of the motorcycle experience.

dsjr70 wrote: jaskc78 wrote: the dealership i bought from is $84/hr, and i figure the mechanic sees maybe half of that, the shop keeps the rest.   I seriously doubt a mechanic sees $42 and hour.  Maybe $40 with burden that he never sees in his pay but I still think that would be very high.  Not saying they dont deserve it but dont think (except for a select few) they get that.  In a perfect world I need to make a minimum of 3x a service techs salary to see a profit.

 

I'll bet the mechanic sees closer to $20/hr. I would say the industry average is closer to 25%

 

I saw labor guides mentioned, and yes they do differentiate between models[kinda] Polaris is big on their song, and dance about how the perform each operation with hand tools 3 times, and then list the best time. Unfortunately that is a blatant lie. The book is so full of discrepancies; that I think they just sit around smoking weed, drinking booze, and calling times off the top of their heads

$85-95 is pretty much the norm around here.