rb26deet32 Posted May 7, 2012 Report Share Posted May 7, 2012 I've never owned or worked on a motorcycle. I've owned plenty of cars and have done a lot of work on them. My question is would it be hard to work on a motor cycle having no experience at all? Asking because I might be getting a bike that has some tranny problems. The engine and trans both have to come out. If this was a car I'd just yank the engine and trans out in an afternoon and replace whatever needed to be replaced. But having not ever worked on a bike I'm a little hesitant. I look up online to see what it costs to do what needs done and it's $1,000-1,500. But you can also look up the labor costs of pulling an engine and that is in the 3-4k range. I just don't want to get into to find out it's something I can't do and have to resort to taking it to a shop some where. My guess from looking at the bike is it'd be very easy to do. But who knows... Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dover Posted May 7, 2012 Report Share Posted May 7, 2012 What bike is it? I pulled the motor out of my bike in 45 minutes having never done it before. Granted a good friend of mine owns and operates his own shop, and he made sure I didn't mess stuff up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FourString Posted May 7, 2012 Report Share Posted May 7, 2012 It depends on the bike. A newer Goldwing? It fucking sucks to work on. A newer crotch rocket? Easy. Old bikes? Also easy. From my experience, working on bikes is easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyM3rC Posted May 7, 2012 Report Share Posted May 7, 2012 How in the world could it possibly cost $3k-$4k to pull a bike engine? Most bikes are very easy to work on. Nothing is too heavy to shift around comfortably, things are usually less corroded, and as long as some idiot hasn't boogered all the screws work goes pretty quickly. If you can do it on a car it will be a welcome piece of cake on a bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky31186 Posted May 7, 2012 Report Share Posted May 7, 2012 Just like cars, it all depends on what bike it is.. A honda civic compared to a Audi... A Honda shadow 750 Compared to a Goldwing GL1100 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rb26deet32 Posted May 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2012 How in the world could it possibly cost $3k-$4k to pull a bike engine? Most bikes are very easy to work on. Nothing is too heavy to shift around comfortably, things are usually less corroded, and as long as some idiot hasn't boogered all the screws work goes pretty quickly. If you can do it on a car it will be a welcome piece of cake on a bike. I was comparing the price for the bike to a car. The bike is a cbr900. The shift forks are fucked probably because of driving it like a dbag. To pull the engine and trans and replace forks it's in the $1,000-1,500 range. On a car, if you were to go to a shop/dealership to pull a engine and replace something will usually be in the $3-4k range. I was simply saying that I can do the $4,000 job in an afternoon, so I'm thinking that doing it on the cbr would be easy. I just looked into some manuals and the only issue I can see is working on the engine/trans with it still in the bike. Once it's removed (seems like an easy job) it's very easy and similar to a car to work on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rb26deet32 Posted May 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2012 What bike is it? I pulled the motor out of my bike in 45 minutes having never done it before. Granted a good friend of mine owns and operates his own shop, and he made sure I didn't mess stuff up. '99 cbr900 fireblade. No idea if it's a good bike or not but hey, I can get rid of one of my beaters for it and maybe get some money to go with the deal. Only thing I know about them is they are light which I guess is a good thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyM3rC Posted May 7, 2012 Report Share Posted May 7, 2012 The 900rr didn't make all that great power for what it was, but was a decent bike from what I recall. Be warned if the dude thrashed it badly enough to break the trans, who knows what else might be neglected/damaged. At least parts are cheap. If it was me I'd just look for a good engine/trans and swap the whole shebang. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dover Posted May 7, 2012 Report Share Posted May 7, 2012 I'm not a honda expert so I have no idea what swaps in there. I know the older 900rr's were peoples main primary stunt bikes cause of the torque they made. I wouldn't be to scared if you dont have anything in it. Bikes are cheap to build and what not. Call Smocks Performance Center down in New Lexington. He'll cut you a good price and get damn near any part known to man. Plus he has a bike dyno and can get you all tuned and ready to fly. (740)343-4150 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rb26deet32 Posted May 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2012 The 900rr didn't make all that great power for what it was, but was a decent bike from what I recall. Be warned if the dude thrashed it badly enough to break the trans, who knows what else might be neglected/damaged. At least parts are cheap. If it was me I'd just look for a good engine/trans and swap the whole shebang. Yea, that's what most people have been doing from what I can tell. If I could find one for stupid cheap I might. But what I'm doing is basically trading one of my beaters for the bike. Not to ride the shit out of it. Hell I probably will never fix the shift fork problem. It's to ride it to work and back in something that's not a boring ass econo box with no ac. The guy commutes with it as is 60 miles round trip right now and has been for two years. So as long as it's not falling apart when I ride it I'll probably do it. Baby it and save some money on gas. But who knows, if I have some spare cash I may take Dover's advice and call smocks and see where that leads me. As of right now I'm trying to spend little to nothing. I'm not even going to have to pay for tags, plates and all that since he's covering it. So basically I'll get rid of one of my boring beaters for a bike. So hopefully the bike checks out and I can start having at least a little fun riding to work and around town. That's as long as the thing doesn't blow up 5 minutes after I get it :no: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8supra Posted May 8, 2012 Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 Bikes seem to be fairly easy, I have worked on a few(back in high school a buddy & I pulled a Honda Gold Wing GL 1100 out of the woods and chopped/cut and customized it all rebuilt the motor made it like a Fat Boy for a 4 h project lol won first place Also done some minor work on a few sport bikes and a couple other cruisers they are pretty easy to do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPL_Josh Posted May 8, 2012 Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 Just saw a swap the other day using a 900rr frame, 1000rr motor/trans, and vfr swingarm. Bike looked great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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