I swear this forum and you guys cost me so much money haha.

So after reading a multitude of posts about apes, I think I am going to get some for a more comfortable ride. I called the dealer and asked them how much to do the install if I bring the bars in (12.5 wild 1's). One dealer told me $1000 and the other dealer told me $350 if they didn't have to change cables and near $1k if they did. Wow! Is this a fair price? I know there is a lot of work when extending the cables, which is why my non mechanic self is not going there.. (I changed out my stock radio but thats about as far as I'm pushing my abilities haha)

 

That price is typical for a dealer if they are changing the cables. I do it for half that but you aren't very close...

 

sounds about right. I think 8 hours labor is the standard. So times that by the hourly rate and add parts and you are in the 1k or more range

 

Damn you haha, quit teasing me. Might have to bite the bullet, good thing I'm getting a tax return. But from what I have read it should be well worth it.

 

That's one thing that drives me nuts about dealers, 8 hours??? One would think how often they do this, they are quite proficient at it bc it only takes me 4-6 and I have only done 8 or so sets. Damn stealerships.

 

Installing bars is not that hard of a job , it's surely not worth a 1000 bux Set aside a day and do it yourself save that money for future mods. There a a lot of info and videos out there to help. You can do it

 

Me and my wife put a.set of ergo back bars on my 12 SG. She cut the harness and did all of the soldering for me. I didn't like the feel so the next day we took it all back apart. She cut the harness again and took out all of the extensions and soldered it all back together. I think I'll try some 10 inch monkey bars next. We've got 4 bikes and she says she's tired of musical bars so I only get 1 more chance. Get a manual and Google you'll do fine.

 

Dealers (cars or bikes) work the same. They have a "book" that outlines how many hours each job takes. That's what they charge. A good mechanic can do jobs faster than book time, but the charge by the book. Say he does a tire replacement in 30 minutes, but book time is 1.2 hours. The dealer (and many shops, by the way) charge you the full 1.2 hour rate. He gets paid for 1.2 hours, too. If he can do 2 of these jobs, he (and the dealer) make 2x book. So no, it won't take a dealer 8 hours to do a handlebar job. But they do get to charge you that. And again, it's not just the dealers. All but the smallest shops will do the same, but the indies' hourly rate will be less.

 

The book says it takes 8 hours, that's what they charge. A good mechanic can probably do it in 4-5 hours. That is how the dealers make money.

 

yup....my bars are supposed to be here Tuesday or Wednesday...I'm trying to install myself....hope I don't mess anything up...I don't won't to be without a bike for Daytona