86 KX250 Transmission issues cost?

[Clowey323]

What would a transmission issue cost on average to fix?
The one mechanic I took it to wanted a 500$ deposit. Could someone explain?

[MXtras]

Well - not easy to answer based on the info provided. We don't even know what the problem is.

If you went and replaced every single item inside the transmission, parts alone would probably be around $1000 - $1300. If you only need a few bearings, a few gears and maybe a shaft then parts could be around $300 - $500.

Labor is usually around $150 just to open up the cases and take a look. Mechanics have learned that too many times, they will open something up to do an estimate and then when the customer finds out how much it's going to cost to repair, the customer chooses to abandon the bike which leaves the mechanic hanging with an hour or two of labor into something and no income. So they got smart and most experienced mechanics will require a deposit just to cover the time required to evaluate. It's not just popping off a cover - there's a lot involved to open up a motorcycle case and it is a delicate assembly. It's not hard work if you know what to do and what not to do but it does take time, and nobody likes working for free.

I do all my own work so I do not know what the labor rates for this work would total but what you have told us so far doesn't seem unreasonable to me, really.

It's not the mechanics fault if the cost to repair exceeds the value of the bike.

Scott

[bikepilot]

I also do all my own work and would also require a deposit for a bike of that age. Imho, if you don't do your own work, it would probably be cheaper for you to part out that bike and buy something newer. If you think you might like doing your own work, you've got an inexpensive bike to experiment on there.

As said above, the particular fault with the transmission matters a lot. Bikes aren't like cars where replacement of an entire transmission is standard. A transmission problem could be anything from weak clutch springs ($8 and 3 minutes to replace) to a damaged shift drum and gears (probably more $$ than the bike's worth just in parts).

good luck