While some of you may be genuinely surprised to learn this, others already know after having been turned down by numerous other shops before finding ours. Most shops will not work on bikes older than 10 years old.
Yep, you’ve read that right. You call up a motorcycle shop, explain the list of services you want done, and as they’re adding you to the schedule they ask for your motorcycle’s year/make/model. When you state that it is older than a 2008, you’re met with a curt, “we don’t work on bikes older than 10 years old”. It can feel like a slap in the face: somehow, your motorcycle is unworthy of being repaired at their facility.
Many of you immediately respond with a pleading, “but my bike is in immaculate condition!”, and for some that is true. For others, we’ve found that one’s definition of “immaculate condition” can be very subjective.
While most of you readily understand why many shops can’t/won’t work on say, 1950’s models, we often hear expressed frustration when other shops had turned down working on your 2004. This is especially true if you were only wanting an oil change, tire change, or a similarly basic service.
So why won’t other shops work on bikes made before 2008? The reasons are numerous, as we’ll outline our take on the subject below:
1. Rusty Parts / Dry-Rotten Rubber / Brittle Plastic
While performing a seemingly simple task like an oil change on an older bike, things can and have gone wrong. Rusty bolts are more likely to unexpectedly break off or seize, which can take a great deal more time to repair than the original job to be performed. Dry-rotten rubber on carbs, fuel lines, oil lines, and o-rings can account for unanticipated parts needed and additional time to replace them. Old, brittle plastic can snap without warning, such as when removing side panels. All of these situations can cause the shop to go over their original estimate, or they have to “eat” the parts/labor required to repair the unforeseen problem.
2. Unfamiliar with working on carbuereted bikes.
Some people get real huffy when we explain this one, and we’re not sure why. We’re not suggesting that they couldn’t learn how- we’re just saying that they presently do not know how. Their lack of knowledge combined with all of the other reasons on our list often does not provide them with enough incentive to learn the skill. In fact, some (unnamed) large shops in the greater Columbus area have often called on us for advice about carburetors, while other times they just directly refuse the business and send it to us instead.
3. Sourcing parts can be difficult and time consuming.
By law, manufacturers are only required to produce replacement parts for a particular model for a limited number of years. So while many parts for bikes older than 10 years old are still readily available, that isn’t the case for all models. Models that were limited production, for example, are usually more commonly prone to parts scarcity. This requires us to source aftermarket, new old stock, or even used parts- which can sometimes take a great deal of time, most of which is not billed to the customer. Instead, this time is often absorbed as an unprofitable labor expense by the shop.
4. The imminent point of break down.
Older bikes have a much higher probability of something unrelated to our work going wrong either while in our care or shortly after you pick up your motorcycle from our facility. If we had a dollar for every call that went like something like, “ever since you put that rear tire on there’s been a knocking sound in my engine”, we’d be wealthier for it. Obviously we go nowhere near the engine to put a tire on, but people will try to pin us for it instead of accepting they have an old machine and that all machines, with time, eventually need repairs. The tire scenario above is easy to disconnect the two, but unfortunately it isn’t always so clear. We get customers who not only don’t understand their bikes age, but also how it operates and functions. This can open up a shop to potential lawsuit claims that could have been avoided had they turned down the job to begin with.
5. Once they set the rule, it is applied across the board.
Yes, you may have a motorcycle that is older than 10 years old that does not fit any of the above criteria. If a shop agrees to work on your bike, but denies another motorcycle (even rightfully so if the condition of it is poor), they open themselves up to lawsuits. Money-hungry consumers will play different sue-happy cards to exclaim prejudice rather than admit the reality that their bike is a lump-o-junk. To avoid this, shops will across the board deny all bikes older than 10 years old so that it is a set rule rather than a case-by-case judgement call that can put them in hot water.
Final Thoughts
If you read between the lines here, the overarching theme of why most shops won’t work on older bikes boils down to two factors: money and liability. Simply put, in many ways it’s not nearly as profitable to work on older bikes. Additionally, it opens a shop up to a lot of liability with potential lawsuits in today’s sue-happy world. It’s no secret that we would be much more financially comfortable if we only worked on the newer bikes. The newer bikes, with their basic maintenance services that almost always go as anticipated, are a large part of what keeps us in business. Contrary to other shops, however, money isn’t our biggest motivating factor, and resurrecting as well as preserving motorcycles of all ages and sizes is the passion side of our business- which can’t hold a candle to the profits.
