Thanks again guys for all the tips.
KYLE: I should have asked you for a quote on the stator ... I ended up ordering one from a place in denver I think ... it was a little more. I paid $130 + $10 in shipping. I ordered it from
http://www.pythonmotorsports.com. I don't know what the output is on it ... but at least I can get up and running.
So get this. The shop quoted me $470.00 for the stator and $230.00 for the reg/rectifier unit. Then they wanted $250.00 for the labor. Plus $100.00 for the diagnosis.
I thought the $100 that I paid for diagnostics was fair, but then when they told me it would be a grand for labor and parts I about flipped my top.
I went and picked up the bike, paid what I owed, drove it home, and posted here. With input from y'all, I realized that I was being taken for a ride. Kyle and Sean tell me that I can get a reg/rectifier for around $70 when I was just quoted $230 ... I couldn't believe it.
Then I found that stator online last night from python for $130 vs the $470 that I was quoted ... and so then I was totally pissed. Also, I've had the stator out of my bike before (when I powdercoated the engine parts) and I knew it didn't take 2.5 hours of labor.
Anyway, with encouragement from the forum and the shock of thinking I'd have to spend $1000 to get my bike running starting to wear off, I go out in the garage and pull out a box of parts that the old owner gave me.
As if the heavens opened upon me, there is bloody aftermarket regulator/rectifier sitting in the box! I remembered the owner saying something about trouble shooting a problem, thinking it was the reg/rec, but then finding something else and so not replacing it. It looked brand new, but the terminals had been plugged in before, so that was consistent with what he said. I didn't even think about it before. It's been almost two years since I bought the bike.
I swapped it out, and found that an old nasty thin OEM unit was on the bike. The new one is probably twice as thick with cooling fins on it. So I plugged it in, but buttoned the bike back up. Probably took just 20 minutes. The longest was trying to figure out where the thing was ... luckily I have a repair book and it shows the location there under the LH panel and mounted to the little rear peg brace adjacent to the drive shaft (in case anyone else goes looking).
I couldn't take the bike for a ride because it was midnight and I was leaving town the next morning (I'm on the freeway now ... passenger seat; not driving), but I started it up and the bike is definitely acting better. Before, the blinkers were acting all funky when it was running ... now they act normal. I'll have to test it out when I get back, but the new unit seems to have improved my situation just with that quick observation.
Once the stator arrives, I'll throw that in, and I should be up and running.
So in the end, I'm gonna be into it just $100 for the diagnosis, $140 for the aftermarket stator, and a little time. $250.00 total. Would have been just a tad over $300 if I had to get the regulator/rectifier but I lucked out already having the unit.
Anyway, that is still way better than having to spend $100 for the diagnosis and $1000 for parts/labor. I'm still ticked at the shop. I use them for tons of stuff on my bikes and I cannot believe what they've done. I don't know if their source really quoted them that high of prices and they really didn't know about the aftermarket parts (I didn't know about them) or if they were taking me for a ride.
Anyway, thanks so much to everyone for the help. I was in a total bloody panic when I posted, and now I'm thinking if I can get the bike fixed for $250 total, then that's not a bad deal.
Sorry about the super long post.
