[Kurgan]

Was on the phone with one dealer checking to see if my 06 had any outstanding recalls or TSB's that needed to be performed and they came up with nothing. Good.

While I had them on the phone, I inquired about the approximate cost for valve check/adjustment. They tell me that "by the book", Suzuki calls for 9 hours of labor to check valves on the 1000 as it's far more complex than the 650 for some reason, more to take apart to get to the heads or something to that effect. Says his guys can probably do it in 6-7 so that's still $490 and not counting any actual adjustments to be made if something is out of spec. They tell me it's like a Ducati, heavy costs for valve inspections, etc.

Call the next closest dealer and they just did that work for a customers Vstrom 1000. Checked valves, swapped shims on 2 of them, new spark plugs and coolant......all for $260.00

Call my hometown dealer back up north and talk to the Service Manager who I've known......$265.00 for valve check.

What the heck was that first dealer smoking?!?

 

[greywolf]

Valve clearance checks on both bikes are about the same. Valve clearance adjustments are significantly easier on the 1000 than the 650.

 

[happypuppy]

GreyWolf is right, the checks are the same adjusting it on a Vee is much easier.
The time allowed seems high , I think to check it took around 4 hours and I am not that fast. I had a quote of around 250.

 

[SquidWilly]

Just had all 8 shims replaced for $156.40

I did deliver the bike stripped with the radiator drained and off the bike though

Since I had originally planned to tackle this myself, and this was a smaller independent shop, I supplied a shim kit that I purchased off the internet, new irridium plugs, and a 50/50 pre-mixed coolant and left them the manual to use, hardly any stroms around here.

They have to take out the plugs and add coolant anyway, so it wasn't extra labor for that. I had also replaced the air filter before dropping it off

Rode the bike home w/o the tupper-ware, completed assembly in my garage...

The downside.. 3 of the 5 wiring terminals left hanging, not secured to the radiator shroud, (I had removed the shroud) gas breather hose not attached and the coolant overflow left empty. I did get the old plugs and shims back along with the spec sheet they filled out. The bike runs great.

Dealerships have huge overhead which is reflected in the service costs, so if you can, try an independent shop and if you are willing share some of the work(-$) it was a good learning experience for me, although try for one that is locally recommended

I have the 30 count shim kit, if anyone needs to swap or needs some shims let me know

 

[Hans471]

Thanks for posting this. It is a fine example of why people should shop around and not take the first estimate they get. I tell people to get at least THREE estimates and to ask questions.

I use to have a BMW...use to....the dealer service prices were so out of hand I decided to dump the bike. $500 to bleed the brakes...come on!

 

[superslomo]

I got quoted 2:30 on shop time locally. Just wanted to find out for the future. That would come to about $210-$220 if it doesn't take any changes... any valve clearance adjustments would cost extra.

 

[mike884]

I believe my local shop wanted $275 for the check and if they needed to swap anything, about another $125 or so on top, depending on amount. I bought a shop manual and did the check myself for $50.