Only shops that will touch a older bike are the independant shops and even then it's tough to find, most won't because parts are so hard to come by and they don't want to tear it apart just to find out it needs something they can't get. Good luck finding a shop.

 

+1.

 

Strange. I've never had that happen before. What's your location?

I was talking to a local owner about his shop while checking out his V-Star. He says he will fix anything except BMWs and Harleys. Guess it's becoming more common.

 

I live in gwinnett county ga. Only guy I know will touch it is over an hour and a 1/2 away, kinda sucks. The Honda/yamaha dealership near my house won't even service the dang thing.

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I live in gwinnett county ga.

Hey Crispy,
I recommend Swan Motorsports in Alpharetta Home Page
They are a small independent shop between exit 11 &12 off of the GA400.
Kevin Swan is honest, cheap and he can do it all. He has great connections for hard to find parts too.
I'm sure that his shop must be less than a 30 min. drive from you, probably closer. He is a 10 min ride from me and I'm in north east Fulton co., in Alpharetta.
Give him a call, he'll be able to help you out.

 

I know the feeling we have a dealership over here in Azusa California and they won't even service my 83 vt 500 shadow due to the lack of parts they say but learning allot from this forum.


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What's your issue Crispy ?

Chris.

 

I have an independent shop here in town that looked at my old Rebel back when I had it, but it's a big bike town. Just keep looking online, and get to know other riders around town. I know one guy here that changes his own tires and does all his own work from the house.

 

It's so weird to me that dealers would make a blanket judgement like this for all bikes. You would think they would put some more thought into it. For instance, most of our Shadows haven't changed that much in the last 10 years or so, relatively speaking. I have a 1997 VT1100C, and I know it changed quite a bit from 1996 to 1997 - but from 1997 up through, what? the mid 2000s? It hardly changed at all mechanically. To me that means parts should be readily available for them. I know when I've looked for various parts they always give the years and models the part is for, and it's always a wide range.

Or am I being too naive?

 

Personally, when statements like that are made I believe it is in part to try and get you to buy something newer. Granted, some parts will be very hard to comeby depending upon age of the bike, but to flat out refuse to work on it is insane in my opinion.

 

Nothing major is wrong with my bike just looking for someone who can rejet carbs so I can straight pipe it. I would try it myself but I'm the kind of person who always has leftover parts and doesn't know where they go lol

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If these shops were smart they would draft up a legal "waiver of liability" or something along those lines that reads something like, "I, ______________, realize that due to the age or rarity of my motor vehicle that *the shop name* may not be able to obtain spare parts, or repair existing ones..."

Just a thought. I'm not lawyer but wouldn't this work? Obviously it would require more work/thought, but just a start.



FreakShow

 

My local Honda dealer would take on pretty much any bike. They might offer a disclaimer on a really old by that they may have trouble getting parts.

 

Nothing is wrong with my bike, just want to rejet the carbs when I straight pipe it

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Just get a manual and do your own work.. It's not difficult. And unless you are the Pres.. campaigning for office, you can find a hour a month to keep your bike running another 30 years.

 

Time is the one thing I have that can't be replaced, and is therefore the most important thing you can invest in. If I could spend $100 to buy an hour of free time, I'd buy several hours every month. (That being said, buying a newer bike sounds right up the alley of the problem at hand.)

 

:shock: Sell it and buy one that is 2005 or newer. You can pick up a good/newer bike for not much money. :-D

And I might add...the money and time you spend on getting parts, tools and doing it yourself may cost way more than a couple of grand for a newer bike.

 

And I might add...the money and time you spend on getting parts, tools and doing it yourself may cost way more than a couple of grand for a newer bike.

That's true... I spent nearly as much on tools and replacement parts for my VT700 as I did buying the bike. Many hours of work.

But now I have a rock solid bike that I can trust, plenty of tools and a few new skills.

Seems like that's just the way it is with these old bikes. You spend a bit of money and fix them up, pay somebody else even more to do it, or you buy a newer motorcycle.

 

I'm having a hard time finding a motorcycle shop within reasonable driving distance of me, every shop so far says they won't touch my bike cause its more than 10 years old, what gives?
Iv even tried posting on Craigslist for a motorcycle mechanic yet still nothing yet.
I guess no one likes my 83 shadow around here

I had the same problem when I had my '83 Shadow. Loved the bike, but it was tough finding a mechanic. Luckily, I only needed one a couple times. I can't help, but I can empathize.

 

find where a local motorcycle club meets, and show up to their eventsim sure you could meet plenty of folks just as capable and supplied as a dealership mechanic. probly cheaper too.

 

The shops that won't touch an old bike have a valid point, most have plenty of work waiting and can afford to turn down the worn out old bikes, and then there's the money..

You pay $300 for a 29 year old bike and you are not going to pay $150 every time it needs something doing, but you pay $5,000 for a bike and $150 for a repair is nothing, but the cost of a repair on a $300 bike is going to cost at least as much as a £5,000 bike and the older bike will need it much more often..

It's much less hassle to just say we don't repair bikes over ten years old than to say it's not worth repairing and have you argue that it has worked well for 29 years..

If you buy a really old bike you should buy a manual and a set of tools and be prepared to roll your sleeves up every few thousand miles..And join a forum like this where you can get free advice..

John.

 

We had a shop in this area (the only bike repair shop left in town) and they told me point blank "We don't make any money on bikes over 10 years old." So, instead of 8 miles I have to go 20 miles to get to the nearest place. The ironic part is the local shop sold vintage bikes, including vintage Hondas.

Oh yeah, I was told that by the sales/operations manager a couple years ago, after they had been in business about 4 years. The last evidence they were open is from February last year, 5 years after they had opened. The shop I ride 20 miles to was opened first and has recently moved to a bigger facility.

 

Try:
J and R Cycle Shop
770-528-0940
1431 Canton Rd, Marietta, GA

They are working on my '83 Shadow right now. Sure he would fix yours too.

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I had a Yamaha 225-DX 3 wheeler that I had to Buy a complete Junk Motor just to get a internal part for the Shifter.125 bucks for a 5 dollar part.

 

Isn't this the risk of buying an older bike?

Someone posted a couple of years ago that they had broken down on the way to Sturgis and the Honda dealer had to order the part which took 3 days to get. Ruined his whole trip.

 

I have worked on cars most of my life. I can't imagine ever telling someone that we wouldn't work on anything because it is too old. I replaced a clutch on a 39 Packard once at work. It took a while to find the clutch, but we got it done.

I have to say that, if you are going to have an older bike, you need to know how to do atleast minor repairs to it.

Aaron

 

I just called about this shop down in Decatur.


MSP Cycle
2500 Lawrenceville Highway
Decatur, GA 30033

(404) 325-4121

MSP Cycle | Motorcycle service, repair, tuning, atlanta, performance, racing.


They will work on about anything except Harley and BMW.