What my bike worth

[Colour79]

I have a 88 max, with a full hindle exhaust,stage 7 needles, v-boost. It has about 47000 miles on the engine, and the trans. has no issues. I was riding the bike and it got stuck in a gear, so i took it apart and found that the shift segment was bent and preventing it to shift properly. So i took it to a local machanic and paid him to install the 93+ segment

 

[Colour79]

While he installed the newer segment he noticed that one of the dowls droped in the oil pan. Now to get to the oil pan they have to take off the exhaust, and they quoted me 6 hours of labor JUST TO TAKE OFF, at 60 dollar and hour. So my first question does that sound right, because its going to take another 6hour to put back on (12 hours total,really?) Then some more labor just to find the dowl.
The vmax is a great bike, but i dont know if i want to invest that type of money in this bike. I was planning on selling it next year and buy a more well rounded bike. So with that said I was thinking about 1500 dollars as is. If someone was a weekend mechanic and fish that dowl out they would have a running v-max. So is that a realistic price for a max in that condition? And are these local mechanics really justified with the 12 minimum just to take off and put back on the exhaust? Please feel free to ask anything about the bike, Ill be out for a couple of days due to work, but will answer anything when i get back. Thanks

 

[rusty]

they quoted me 6 hours of labor JUST TO TAKE OFF[/QUOTE]It never took me that long to take off my pipes.:surprise:

 

[Rand-5107]

So the mechanic dropped one of the pins and it ended up in the pan? Sounds like he should remove it. Maybe a big magnet could drag it to the drain hole.

 

[KJShover]

You can save yourself some cash, by doing it yourself.

+1 if it takes 6 hours to pull the exhaust, The mechanic needs to rethink his profession. Perhaps comedian.

After the pipes are off, you can pull the pan and have a look-see yourself. And while your down there have a look at your O-ring as long as your pan is off.

 

[one2dmax]

Usually the pin can be fished out with a long magnet. The drain plug has a magnet on most years too so drain the oil if it doesn't come out from up top. If you don't find it and don't feel confident to do the work yourself just leave the pin in there. Would not be the first time it was left in and not had problems.

 

[KJShover]

Usually the pin can be fished out with a long magnet. The drain plug has a magnet on most years too so drain the oil if it doesn't come out from up top. If you don't find it and don't feel confident to do the work yourself just leave the pin in there. Would not be the first time it was left in and not had problems.

+1

In my old Venture I lost 4th anth 5th due to the shift segment. I'll be damned if I know where the pin went. I sold the bike in '01 and its still running around up here with no issues.

I talked with the guy who bought it last month outside of a quikie mart. Told him I still have a coupld of keys for it, then we talked about the bike itself. He's still in love with it.

 

[gamorg02]

i'd think about running the bike, getting the oil all hot, then put it on the center stand, rocking it back and forth, draining th eoil, with a magenet to try to get it out.

otherwise, dropping the pipes (esp aftermarket) and then the pan would probably save yourself $1000 - $1500 off the price you are thinking of selling it for.

 

[SpecOps13]

My thoughts would be try to get it out as others have mentioned. If that doesn't work,,, Piss on it. Leave it there...
Business must be really slow or your Mechanic is Mentally and Physically Handicapped.. 12 hours...:rofl_200:

 

[Colour79]

Thanks for the feedback, I'm going to pick up the bike friday. They fixed the shift segment (sad to admit $450 labor only,crazy). When I took the clutch basket off originally i took a extented magnet and fished around in the oil pan hoping to get a bite but no luck. The mechanic stressed that if i start the engine the dowl could lock up the engine, and that got my paranoid (would the dowl be to heavy to be suck up by the oil pump or trans?). Im going to try to drain the oil and pray it magically comes out. If that doesnt work, then I'll take that oil and put it back in the engine and drain it again, maybe it will flush the dowl out. Its a nice bike and i might have jumped the gun wanting to sell it, but hearing its going to take 12 hours for the exhaust it freaked me out.

 

[GREEN light BLITZ]

12 hours might be reasonable for him to weld you up a whole new exhaust but this guy is a friggin joke... Trust me I've nearly sold my Max a dozen times and you will never have the same satisfaction as when you pull up to a bike night and you're the only Maxxer. Be patient with her.

But at THAT price...lemme know if she overwhelms you again! lmao

 

[SpecOps13]

Everything will work out fine, you've got input from the leading authority about the pin in the pan issue.. Sean Morley wouldn't steer you wrong...

 

[355cid]

My missing pin was all the way in the back of the oil pump pick-up screen and probably would have stayed there forever without hurting anything. I just didn't feel comfortable with a peice of metal unaccounted for in my motor so I pulled it apart and located and retreived it. It wasn't that bad of a job and I discovered and fixed the errant o-ring problem at the same time.

 

[srk468]

I've never had my pan off but I can have my Kerker off in about 10-15 min and after that it seems pretty gravy. I'm with everyone here, fix it yourself or find another mechanic cause he's screwing you... If you do decide to part with it at the before mentioned price I'll buy it right now!

 

[Fire-medic]

Follow the forum recommendations & save $$. It's not like it's a piece of styrofoam, floating around on top of the oil, if you drop the pan you may find it, so what do you have to lose? Also as was suggested, check your o-ring for the oil pump, I think there's a sticky on fixing that to ensure your oil supply is maintained to the motor.

Just read-up on everything you need to do on here & have at it. Post if you run into problems. Help will arrive in responses.

 

[SpecOps13]

The bold print is what I found in my research for a compatibility list. The non bold info came from Sean Morley. BTW, this compatibility list is stickied in the same forum area as you put this thread in:

E. Dreaded O-Ring fix by factory, in 1999, I now believe to be true.. 2003 was the year that I'd found listed previously but I now have some new evidence that supports 1999 as the year the factory upgraded the Supply Pipe / O-Ring fix. - I have seen o-rings dislodged on virtually all year O-Rings (including a 2006 we worked on). The best preventative is to properly warm up the engine prior to running it hard. A HD oiling system or good sturdy o-ring should be considered.

 

[gamorg02]

i also have 23 viton orings for free as well folks!

 

[SpecOps13]

You are a great asset to all of us here Garrett... Thank You for being, You...

 

[gamorg02]

You are a great asset to all of us here Garrett... Thank You for being, You...

haha thanks bro.. i should also note i won't give all 23 away to one person haha, contrary to how my post may sound.

 

[SpecOps13]

I still have 1 or 2 Kawi O-Rings somewhere, so I'm good in that respect...