[m2avg]

One thing that is as unique as the Royal Enfield is its mechanics (the garage wala)!! All we bulleteers have different experiences with our mechanics as we can see from various threads and posts. I have gone through many posts where I could find information regarding people's experiences about their mechanics, their expertise, specialities, etc.

However I could not find any information regarding the money charged by mechanics for their labour. The charges, I believe, depend on each mechanics "expertise"; proven or not. With the attachment we buleteers have with our Royal Enfields (and its mechanics), it generally is not advisable to challenge (or nag about) their labour charges. Yes, that way we ARE Royal, but at the same time we shouldn't let ourselves be overcharged by mechanics who try to take advantage of our love for our Bullets.

So I though it would be really helpful if we could share information on how much we pay as labour charges for various kinds of maintenance/repairs jobs that we get done towards day-to-day running. Of course there would be some differences in charges for each mechanic, expertise-wise and city-wise. But at least we all will get an idea how much others are paying.

To start with, I own a RE 1979 model. I have been using this bike since 1996. Then I moved out of Pune in 2005 for job purpose. That is when I stopped using my bullet. I came back to Pune in 2008. Till this time my Dad's friend was using the bullet for some time. For the past 8 months or so my bullet was unused. Around 3 weeks back I decided to start using it again. My previous mechanic (pre 2005) had shut shop, so I found this new one close to my house. He is a good mechanic, just that he is not very proactive in finding and fixing the problems.

Anyway, coming to the labour charges... as you can see there is almost a 6 years gap between how much I used to pay to my previous mechanic and how much I pay to the new one. And I do not plan to get the rates confirmed with other nearby mechanics as I am actually happy with the work this one does. But remember, he is not proactive, I have to tell him every small issue, and unless that small issue doesn't grow into a big one, he doesn't understand what is wrong. This is what I saw in just 3 weeks (and 3 trips to his garage)!!

Following are the LABOUR charges I have paid to him:

Location - Pune

Servicing charges (without washing) - 300/-

Gear box + Centre Pin labour charges - 400/-
There was severe oil leak from the base of the kick. He had to open the whole assembly to install/fix the "bush" (that's how he has written in the bill - "bush maarne", I don't know the English word/spelling for it)
Centre Pin also same job - "bush maarne".
By the way these labour charges are for opening and re-fitting the gear box and centre pin. Actual "bush maarne" are charged seperate (250/- for gear box and 180/- for centre pin, parts included)

Fork labour charges - 400/-
Front fork was too hard and my right arm would start aching after a few kms of riding. Here again "Arm Bush" charged seperate (130/- including parts)

Clutch Labour charges - 200/-
Cleaned up everything with kerosene and changed the clutch plates (parts excluded)

So hoping to get inputs from you all...

Happy thumping...