How to Calculate Motorcycle Workshop Labor Costs

Have you ever wondered about what factors contribute to the overall cost of having your motorcycle repaired? As someone who recently bought a fixer-upper, I’ve been calling just about every Las Vegas motorcycle servicing shop in town, trying to find the best rates around. I’ve found a few common factors that will affect the price of your motorcycle’s labor costs. So how exactly do you calculate motorcycle workshop labor costs? Well, it’s not so simple, but here are the main factors.

Expected Annual Maintenance Costs

First and foremost, any motorcycle owner can expect to pay a certain amount of maintenance costs each year to keep their motorcycle in good condition. Typically, this can range anywhere from $700 to $1500, depending on the kind of motorcycle. A premium motorcycle brand such as Ducati will obviously cost you more upkeep than a Honda or Yamaha.

The Factors That Determine Cost

So getting into it, here are the main factors that can help you calculate motorcycle workshop labor costs.

Time

Time. This is, without a doubt, the most important thing to factor in. If you have a job that takes a mechanic 1 hour to complete, it is obviously going to cost you less than if you came in with a whole top-end rebuild that will take much longer. As a motorcycle owner, you have very litter input into how long a mechanic will take to repair your motorcycle. You can definitely ask for an estimated time upfront.

Difficulty or Necessary Expertise

Are you having the oil changed on your bike? Or are you having the electrical rewired? These are two different skill sets and two different difficulty levels. While any mechanic will change the fluids on your motorcycle, only a specialized mechanic really knows how to work on the electrics of a motorcycle. Let’s say that both jobs take the same amount of time… you will pay more for the specialized task.

Common Makes and Models vs. Premium Bikes

As we touched on earlier when talking about Ducati’s, working on a motorcycle seen as a premium make will require more specialized knowledge. A great example of this would be that you have two motorcycles that need the same job done. One is a Honda CB, and the other is a BMW K100. The cost of doing work on the Honda will be significantly less expensive than the BMW simply because BMW has a minimal selection of available parts compared to Honda. The knowledge required to work on a euro is much more specialized. It’s true for cars, and it’s true for bikes.