Pure Madness

[Whiplash]

It is getting way out of hand.
Where did the "Affordability of Motorcycling" go?
I'm not talking about the "Bikes" themselves. I'm talking about parts.
Paying a good price for a good motorcycle is fine and dandy.
This last Summer, actually the last day of Summer, I had a run in with a nice six point Whitetail, which took out my radiator and dented my fueltank.
Luckly I was able to keep the bike upright to prevent any other damages.
Anyhow,.. pricing a new tank, which is just for cosmetics, and the radiator to be able to get back onto the road, cost as much as a used bike.
To be exact, $ 480.00 USD for the radiator and $ 670.00 USD for the tank.
I remember times where you didn't have to rob a bank to be able to ride.
What is wrong with this picture?
:bikes

[BobMielke]

I can sympathize with your statement. I'm physically unable to do my own maintenance so it cost me $7200 for routine maintenance on my K1200LT in 4 years. I could almost buy a Connie for that. I recently bought an old car with 100,000 plus miles on it for $500. It cost me $39.00 for a control knob & $56 for a spare ignition key. I'm out of work right now so everything's expensive. Try $250 a month for medications. Live on!

[James.A]

If you could locate a neglected, non-running K model of similar vintage, you would posses a horde of spare parts for the price of a body panel and a radiator. I have been practicing this method for years and have nearly 2 bikes worth of parts inventoried in my garage and garden shed.

[BubbaZanetti]

yeah, i'd say look for a K of similar vintage, maybe even one that's been hit in the back, it'll be pretty cheap and you'll have a bunch of useful stuff, there may also be sources for used parts, when i had to replace my starter last year, i was quoted 340 bucks for a new one from the dealer, paul glaves pointed me towards a place in texas selling new ones for 180 and reconditioned ones for just over 100 bucks, bought a reconditioned one and haven't looked back.........

[riderR1150GSAdv]

Try http://www.beemerboneyard.com/ and see if you can find parts there.
I hope it helps! :thumb

[Belquar]

I laid down my CLC beginning of summer last year. The shop replaced the tank. 1000 and a liner 600. Thank god for insurance. When I was picking up the bike a guy beside me overheard as I commented on the invoice and said the tank was only 100 bucks and the Roundel was 900.

Yowza.

[GeneT]

It is not just motorcycle parts, all parts prices are high. Picture a complete gasket set for a four cylinder diesel engine costing 400 bucks, and this does not include the front & rear crankshaft seals.

:banghead

[lawman]

In my experience, the only thing worse than buying new parts for a bike is buying them for an airplane. To make it worse, many of these parts, if approved could be bought reasonably at any hardware...

[Motorman]

Lawman you are quite correct. There is one aspect you may not know about.

If you are the OWNER of the aircraft, you have the final say as to whether a part is actually airworthy, up to a point. Example. wheelbearings. Timken provides nearly all of them for the light aircraft industry including parts. The ones "approved" by the FAA are not any different and in fact come off of the regular production run. They just QC a sample of a run and if it meets "specs" slap a PMA sticker on the regular box for that production lot.

Second example, I was talking to an FAA examiner about the gear transmission on my old Comanche being rather expensive. He let me know that a 67 Chrysler Imperial with the 4 way electric seat uses an identical transmission in the seat. I never did check it further as I sold the plane and didn't need to replace the landing gear transmission.

[lawman]

You are right, Motorman; in addition, throughout the county, there is a great variation in accepted procedures; I have had common hardware rejected in some cases and in another area, after the first inspection on an aircraft a friend and I were building, the inspector told us the work was on such high quality that he signed off the entire "book" so that we would not have to be "bothered " in the future! I teach a graduate course in aircraft maintenance management and it is sometimes difficult to explain to the students know the great varation between the spirit and the actual application of the law.

[GeneT]

Y'all want a price shock, price the BMW ABS computer with the power brake pump.

:dance

[JCBR1150R]

I think the "do it yourself" crowd pays for a big chunk of the mark-up they would be hit with if they took the thing in to have the mechanic fix it.

I bought two rear drums for a chevy one time through a secret hook-up at a parts supplier and saved close to $150 on the pair. Do you honestly think that these shops pay the price listed on the invoice? Pu-leeze.

[SweetT]

Well, its like a guy who runs a parts warehouse for old british bikes told me when I asked why parts were so expensive for motorcycles.
He said, "Well, nobody NEEDS a motorcycle!"
Although I sure feel like I need my motorcycle, I bet there are only a handful of people on this forum that rely on their motorcyle as their sole form of transportation.
The way the manufacturers see it, if you've got a non-necessary form of transportation, then you must have some disposable income too.

[TheSlashFiveTourer]

It is getting way out of hand.
Where did the "Affordability of Motorcycling" go?
I'm not talking about the "Bikes" themselves. I'm talking about parts. . .
I remember times where you didn't have to rob a bank to be able to ride.
What is wrong with this picture?

Think our BMW parts are expensive, do 'ya?
How about this from The Burlington (VT.) Free Press (2005-10-30):

The April 20 landing accident of a Vermont Air National Guard F-16 fighter jet damaged the aircraft and landing lights and other components along an airport runway. This, according to the government, is how much each part cost to buy new or otherwise replace, and the cost of labor to make the repairs.

PARTS

Right stabilizer (controls pitch): $16,150

Donut panel (engine component): $4,348

Left ventral (stabilizes aircraft): $11,536

Right ventral (stabilizes aircraft): $9,465

Bath tub (panel under aircraft): $14,843

Nose gear door: $4,470

Hardware: $1,050

Main tire (2): $450 each

Nose tire: $260

Augmentor nozzle support (component of afterburner): $7,017.76

Engine fan module: $25,000

370 gallon external tank: $26,770

370 gallon external tank pylon: $6,478.95

AMA AUR (simulated missile): $5,500

Aircraft landing light: $538.73

Aircraft taxiing light: $972

Storage battery: $2,535.61

Nose landing gear set exchange: $45,587.16

Right main landing gear set exchange: $45,587.16

Left main landing gear set exchange: $66,128.35

AIM-9 guidance control (missile guidance system): $26,000


Total cost of parts: $321,137.72

LABOR

257 hours of labor at $34 per hour: $8,738

44 hours of labor at $109 per hour: $4,796

Total cost of labor: $13,534

TOTAL COST OF ACCIDENT: $334,671.72

[soffiler]

Well, its like a guy who runs a parts warehouse for old british bikes told me when I asked why parts were so expensive for motorcycles.
He said, "Well, nobody NEEDS a motorcycle!"
Although I sure feel like I need my motorcycle, I bet there are only a handful of people on this forum that rely on their motorcyle as their sole form of transportation.
The way the manufacturers see it, if you've got a non-necessary form of transportation, then you must have some disposable income too.

While you may have a point there, let's not forget a basic economic fact: replacement parts that may be sold in quantities of hundreds are going to be substantially more expensive than parts that may be sold in hundreds of thousands. It's called "economy of scale".

[cjack]

While you may have a point there, let's not forget a basic economic fact: replacement parts that may be sold in quantities of hundreds are going to be substantially more expensive than parts that may be sold in hundreds of thousands. It's called "economy of scale".

BMW parts are no different in my experience than parts for any vehicle except that you can get them. I am constantly amazed at how many parts the warehouses here and in Germany have for the BMW bikes made all the way back in the '60s and earlier. The cost of stocking those parts and re-manufacturing them must be, in our thinking as consumers, astronomical.

I remember the cover on the /5 four speed transmission was around let's say $35 in /5 years. Then in the late '70s it went up to something like $135. I realized that probably it costs more when you order 100 of something re-popped than when you order 10, 000.

Another example is I just ordered springs for a /2 shock (...1960 or so) and the backorder (coming from Germany) said "outside supplier". I suppose I could have found or had them made myself, but how many companies do that?
As a closing thought, I don't think motorcycles, and BMW ones in particular, are supposed to be some way to be conservative or save money or do something on the cheap. I think some thinking fellows and gals with little resources because they are still in college, etc. have always figured out how to make the system work for them and you have read the reports of them getting parts from used bike hulks, etc. That's been the way of it as long as I can remember. I have known many kids who lusted after the classic automobiles and bikes like the 2002 and the /2 and now the /5 and have figured out how to enjoy them without entering the showroom. I never heard them whine about how much the parts were...just amazed at how much they saved and proud of themselves for finding parts that they needed and bought with lunch money.