MotorcycleHound.com : Service : Labor
Labor Rates
Labor rates will differ from dealership to dealership depending on what kind of motorcycles the dealership carries and where they are located. Most dealerships labor rates will be between $65 and $110 per hour. This is the dollar amount that they charge for their shop to work on your motorcycle. The most important number for you, and the number that the dealership goes by when charging you, is the flat rate. Flat rate is a term referring to the standard fee charged by a technician for a particular repair or diagnostic service versus the actual labor time. The Flat rate is usually determined by the national average of time it took for technicians to perform the same service or repair. Example: The Flat Rate for a particular service is 2 hours. Most places will charge you 2 hours for the service. If a technician is particularly skilled, he or she may be able to perform the service in an hour and a half. The technician comes out ahead in that situation. However, it could take the technician up to two and a half hours, in which case the technician comes out behind. So, if you get charged 2 hours for a service and you have only been at the dealership for an hour and a half, don’t be alarmed or offended, you were charged the flat rate. This is not just the case for motorcycle dealerships, any service oriented business will have flat rate that they work off of. Now for custom work and diagnostic work, most likely they will charge you on an hourly basis. Ask your Service Writer which way the work you are having done is charged.