I broke the forward bolt for the oil cover on my 2009 TE 250 and was entirely unsuccessful at removing it. Scared about getting into "advanced teritory" I went to the dealer for assistance. The mechanic had to remove the right side engine cover and he was able to easily drill out the bolt without modifications. I saw the bike all apart and no gears or clutch assembly needed to be messed with. The dealer charged me 3.7 hrs of labor, over $300 for the work. The total bill was $360 plus change and I had signed an estimate for this ahead of time as the service writer noted "we won't know what we'll find--it's like a swiss watch in there." Because the side cover was simply removed, the oil drained and replaced, I don't know if I was ripped off or not. Anyone know how many labor hrs are allowed for a shop to remove and reinstall the right hand engine cover?
Most garages here charge around £50.00 ph. So if you work out the time taken and removing (helicoiling?) or re-threading the hole. Cleaning out all the junk, putting it back together and I should hope some warranty on the work, I don't think you're a million miles off the mark. And if you can't do it yourself what are you going to do? How did the bolt break by the way? were you undoing it or over-tightened it?
The bolt was over tightened but too far in for me to drill out. Per the shop, the drill out was simple, 15 min and required no rethreading. All the labor was for splitting the case, which seemed simple enough--but 3.7 hrs of labor?!!!
Yeh I know, ouch re the ££'s but you've got it done. I guess you could have politely argued the bill at the time but prob a bit late now, esp if you agreed to approx' cost. I would have thought a couple of hours max but I guess the positive is next time if you need to change the oil filter or check the clutch, you know how it's done and it'll cost you nothing! Any more problems, I'd post them up on here. There's a ton of knowledgeable guys here that would be happy to help
taking the side covers off is simple. I've done it at least half a dozen times trying to chase down an oil leak that was there from the factory. It's all gone now though! For as easy as it is, $360 seems like a lot of coin. You have to replace the gasket every time, though, and those things aren't cheap. 3.7 hours of labor is pretty crazy. I can drain my oil and have that cover off in about 15 minutes.
No easy way of putting it. You got robbed. Another case of being taken advantage of by people that probably wonder why their business is slow. You need to find someone that works on bikes at home [plenty around] & also search in this forum. Plenty of people to help. one more thing, use a torque wrench.
