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Any recommendations on motorcycle repair shops?

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I have a 1988 Yamaha Radian (YX600) that hasn't been on the road in about six years. I am the original owner and the bike is in great shape. I'd like to get it back on the road, but the carbs will have to be cleaned, etc. I called JDS Cycle in Roselle Park and they said it would cost approximately $1000 to "do it right" (carbs, battery, clean/coat gas tank, tires, etc). I was hoping to spend more like $500.

 

Can anyone recommend a reliable bike shop in North Jersey?

 

Thanks,

 

radian1.jpg

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Cleaning the carbs on the YX is fairly straight forward. They will require a sync when reinstalled. The job should only cost $250-ish. Run as fast as you can from the $1,000 shop.

 

The shop I would recommend is in Washington NJ (Washington Cycle Works), too far to travel. Better yet, buy a vacuum carb sync for $80 or so and do it yourself.

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I have a 1988 Yamaha Radian (YX600) that hasn't been on the road in about six years. I am the original owner and the bike is in great shape. I'd like to get it back on the road, but the carbs will have to be cleaned, etc. I called JDS Cycle in Roselle Park and they said it would cost approximately $1000 to "do it right" (carbs, battery, clean/coat gas tank, tires, etc). I was hoping to spend more like $500.

 

Can anyone recommend a reliable bike shop in North Jersey?

 

Thanks,

 

radian1.jpg

 

Truth- $1000 isn't out of the question.

 

Remove, clean reinstall and balance carbs $300 Battery installed $100 Clean and seal tank $200 Two new tires installed $275 - $875 And these prices are reasonable.

 

BTW that's a clean "Radio" How mant miles?

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My buddy has been in the motorcycle game for 25 years, he manages a motorcycle shop in Rutherford. Also does some work out of his house in Union. If you want more info pm me. :keeporder:

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The only thing you should need them for is to clean and adjust the carbs.

Tires are not an issue if you can balance them, otherwise, buy the tires, mount them and ask them to balance for you. Have them order them for you so you can save the shipping.

 

battery? don't ever incur a labor charge for a battery. Get the gel filled.

 

Cleaning and sealing the tank is also something you can do if so inclined, although there are some chemicals involved.

 

When it comes to that stuff I only want to pay for OEM parts. The rest will be me. Labor charges for motorcycle work is silly for a halfway handy man.

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I have actually cleaned and synced carbs many times and I can tell you that if you can afford it, pay someone else to do it. It's that much of a pain in a**. I have sealed a few tanks and I can tell you that the best product I have ever used Bill Hirsch Tank Sealer. Again...it involves lots of hours if you do it yourself. Took me a long time because I did not want to ruin the paint job on the tank and it came out great.

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Get the shop manual for the bike and do it yourself.

 

Battery, get a new AGM one if they have one for your bike.

 

Tires, may or may not need changing, but I would double check for dry-rot first, and if they are good, tread depth.

 

Carbs, was the bike setup with and fuel stabilizer prior to putting her away. Not familiar with the bike or the carbs, but you may be able to just pull the bowls and jets see what they look like, clean them up and pull jets and clean them and as much as you can to get her running.

 

Might squirt just a little oil on the spark plug holes and rotate the engine a few times before you try and start her for real.

 

Tanks sealed?? do they leak, is there a tank liner in there in the first place. You can always check a few radiator shops and see if they can do this for you.

 

Also run some sea-foam though the bike and change all the other fluids while you are at it.

 

As far as Frank's (Old School) breakdown, he's right, really not that far out of line with what they are doing, especially what shop labor rates are.

 

Also if you don't know when the suspension was last services as well as a full service, seating head bearings, wheel bearing's & end-play etc, this might be the time to do it all.

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Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I don't think I really have time for a project like getting the bike street ready again. I travel every week for work and there are too many other things I'd rather be doing on weekends.

 

I will call some of the shops listed above and get some quotes. I'm of the opinion that the carb job, battery and fluid replacement are the only things I really need. I will probably replace the battery myself before sending it the shop. The tires look fine to me, but I'll have to look at them closer. I don't see any signs of dry rot, but I'd hate to find out the hard way that the rubber is brittle. The guy at JDS said that tanks tend to rust and flake on the inside, which is why he recommended the tank coating. I took a look with a flashlight and it looks like new to me.

 

Old School: thanks. The bike has just under 13,000 miles and has been under a blanket for six years. She cleaned up pretty easily when I took her out.

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I will call some of the shops listed above and get some quotes. I'm of the opinion that the carb job, battery and fluid replacement are the only things I really need. I will probably replace the battery myself before sending it the shop. The tires look fine to me, but I'll have to look at them closer. I don't see any signs of dry rot, but I'd hate to find out the hard way that the rubber is brittle. The guy at JDS said that tanks tend to rust and flake on the inside, which is why he recommended the tank coating. I took a look with a flashlight and it looks like new to me.

 

You should also check the fuel lines for dry rot and any other rubber hose. They will probably do that while cleaning the tank, but I would be prepared for that to be done too, just in case.

 

My 1996 Yamaha's had a fuel line that split in two places when in pinched it.

 

Tires that old will look fine until pumped up and put under load. check them often once you get it riding. They can go south pretty quick sometimes.

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Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I don't think I really have time for a project like getting the bike street ready again. I travel every week for work and there are too many other things I'd rather be doing on weekends.

 

I will call some of the shops listed above and get some quotes. I'm of the opinion that the carb job, battery and fluid replacement are the only things I really need. I will probably replace the battery myself before sending it the shop. The tires look fine to me, but I'll have to look at them closer. I don't see any signs of dry rot, but I'd hate to find out the hard way that the rubber is brittle. The guy at JDS said that tanks tend to rust and flake on the inside, which is why he recommended the tank coating. I took a look with a flashlight and it looks like new to me.

 

Old School: thanks. The bike has just under 13,000 miles and has been under a blanket for six years. She cleaned up pretty easily when I took her out.

 

If you are going to change the battery yourself anyway, might as well do that now, you also said the tank looks good. I'd just do the battery change, squirt a little bit of oil in the spark plug holes and rotate the engine with the plugs out just to get a little lube on the rings and see if the bike will start and run, and if it does, how it runs and go from there.

 

I will say, putting a fuel stabilizer in the gas and running the bike before you put it away for a winter or longer period of time is always a good idea, and if you did, you just may be in luck, if not, you may need a little work, but 6 years on a bike with low mileage like yours shouldn't be a big deal.

 

By the way, where in Union are you??

 

As others said, hoses are a good thing to check and replace and real easy to do. As far as the tires, yes always be sure about them. If anything on a bike, Brakes and Tires should never be overlooked or corners cut, everything else won't get you into trouble, they will.. ;_

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I haven't had these guy do work for me, only bought stuff, but everyone that I know that has gone there liked it

 

http://www.washingtoncycleworks.com/

 

Maybe an hour drive from Union County, depending...?

+infinity for WCW...if I couldn't do something myself, WCW is the only shop I'll let touch my bike. They have all the knowledge and are HONEST. They've been friends of mine 10+ years...owner is a huuuuge gun advocate, in fact hes the one who got me into guns in the first place.

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I wanted some custom work done for my bike and JDS was the closest to me. I went to them a few times and the quotes were crazy. It always made me wonder how they came up with the quote. I wanted to swap out the rear shock and I even provided them instructions on what needed to be done. They gave me their riduculous quote and told me that I would have to wait 2 months as they were so backed up. I did it myself and saved all that cash for other upgrades.

 

I then reached out to them a year later to press out a stem from a triple and swap it out with another one, they estimated it would take up to 2 days to "do it right" at their hourly rate. I forget what that rate was but it was WAY too expensive. I shipped it out to a guy who specializes in working on my bike in Arizona to do the work. It was cheaper to pay for shipping back and forth and get the work done by this shop vs whatever JDS was going to charge me. On top of that, I got it back faster than JDS would have given it to me. I'm not sure how busy those guys are but at those prices and timelines, they will never get my business.

 

Honestly, it is probably cheaper to go back to the dealer to get the work done than to go to them.

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