It's great to get a mechanic to help. | GTAMotorcycle.com

It's great to get a mechanic to help.

M

Merkid

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Back in the day most bike shop owners and mechanics would help with over-the-counter advice on a bike problem.

Over the years with the small shops closing and Power Centres popping up, the mechanics were kept in the back with no chance of having any discussion with customers. The front counter folks would not help except to ask you to drop off the bike with them.

Well after stopping in a few dealer stores with no luck in asking about a TPS issue with my Suzuki, I ventured over to Active Motors, a small garage within a Mississauga residential neighbourhood to speak to the owner Robert. I retained him for a few jobs back when he owned Pannon Sports in Streetsville and knew i can trust him.

Robert was overwhelmed with customer bikes in all sorts of dismantled states but he took the time to walk me thru the process of diagnosing my Suzuki. Well his advice was right on and I was able get the bike to accelerate with no erratic symptoms.....(y)
 
Good to know there's still good mechanics out there to help us all!
 
Advice is great, but yes, as Roadghost mentions, ultimately he took time out of his day for $0 profit in order to help you out. If *everyone* did that shops would have to employ a full time mechanic to just sit at a desk and dole out free advice to people who are then going to go home and do the work themselves.

I've found that forums specific to your make/model of motorcycle are amongst the most amazing resources when it comes to these sorts of things, however - members will go out of their way and spend endless hours helping others with the most obscure things.

Plenty of forums for every single other topic out there as well. I upgraded the salt water system on our pool this summer and was having a bear of a time getting the controller module to talk to the chlorine generator. I got onto a pool forum I frequent, posted my issue, and 2 fellows jumped right in and started working with me. Turned out I had bought a slightly incompatible combination (controller wasn't designed for the specific model salt cell I'd bought) but they were super knowledgable and suggested some workarounds. Posts back and forth over the period of 4-5 days as I tweaked and adjusted things, and problem was solved.
 
Dealt with him recently. Called him Staurday evening asking about a rear tire change for the z1000. Sunday morning he swapped it over with balancing and new valve stem for $70. Very fair considering the short notice and weekend call.


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I definitely did not fully appreciate back in the day that when Ted Rose faced me as a stupid kid bringing him a complete POS of a bike, and that he would have seen hundreds of others like me, the fact that he extended to me any help, advice & magnanimity was a miracle.

Of course the magnanimity was salted a bit
 
TwistedKestrel said:
I definitely did not fully appreciate back in the day that when Ted Rose faced me as a stupid kid bringing him a complete POS of a bike, and that he would have seen hundreds of others like me, the fact that he extended to me any help, advice & magnanimity was a miracle.

Of course the magnanimity was salted a bit
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Back in the day he had set up shop here in the west end. He was a great asset and his demeanor was quite unique.
 
boyoboy said:
I think in a strong way merkid is remembering that right here - with a good review of active motors and the owner robert. hopefully there will be payback for robert, with some increased business from the folks who read this thread.
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It's amazing how little things like this go a long way.
I for sure will keep this in mind next time I'm in need of a mechanic
 
oioioi said:
It's amazing how little things like this go a long way.
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It's true. Although being in the sales/service industry I can appreciate why the other shops didn't help with free advice, after all they charge for that why would they give it away? But sometimes a small gesture like that will generate so much more business than the "free" work you just gave away.
 
oioioi said:
It's amazing how little things like this go a long way.
I for sure will keep this in mind next time I'm in need of a mechanic
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It is the little things and it goes both way. I ordered a tire for my bike and needed it for an upcoming trip. When I got to the shop they had a tire one size smaller. It WOULD work but it WASN"T right. I mentioned this and they said "no problem we'll order another" My response was I need the tire now can I get a break on the price since you messed up?. When they said we only make $6 on that tire I said "I'll take it". But the woman who owns the shop said no. So now I always call them for a price just to make sure the shop I actually buy from (never them) is a good deal.
 
I agree to a degree why free help is getting harder to find - this is a 'diagnosis' in any shop that's chargable and they're losing money.

Similarly how people go into bike shops and try on x amount of gear and ask sales staff for assistance etc, only to go buy it online for a few bucks less, wondering why stores charge so much more.
 
timtune said:
... When they said we only make $6 on that tire ...
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Then they are not buying them as an authorized reseller, they are buying retail and marking them up.
Tire retail markup is closer to 35% if you have a tire dealership.
 
JFD said:
I agree to a degree why free help is getting harder to find - this is a 'diagnosis' in any shop that's chargable and they're losing money.

Similarly how people go into bike shops and try on x amount of gear and ask sales staff for assistance etc, only to go buy it online for a few bucks less, wondering why stores charge so much more.
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I am not a mechanic. I am in a field that sells expertise and time. Normally, I give people a free phone call to talk through their issue prior to being retained. Very often, the advice they receive in the phone call is something they can try to avoid spending money on us. I feel bad for people that do not know how to move forward with their issue and/or don't have the money to deal with it using professional help. Does this cost me some time and therefore money? Sure. But I just write it off as the cost of being a decent human being. If they want any official correspondence or I need to leave the office, they have to pay.
 
It sucks having to write up a bill for something that took less time to fix then it takes to write up the bill and collect your money.
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