Detailing a motorcycle how much to charge?

[slickooz]

As I was walking around handing out biz cards. Someone asked me how much to detail his motorcycle.

Its not the same bike, I couldn't find it. But its about the same size.
I think its a cruiser...
2010 Triumph Thunderbird SE- front angle - 2048x1536 Wallpaper - Motorcycle Models, News, Pictures, Price and Specification on Ralepi.Com (http://www.ralepi.com/2010-triumph-thunderbird-se/2010-triumph-thunderbird-se-front-angle)

What do you charge for something like this?

and what steps would you do?

[Fly bye]

What do you charge for something like this?

and what steps would you do?





How dirty is it?

[slickooz]

I don't think its really dirty. What should the starting price be at?

[RTexasF]

For what it's worth (back when I detailed on a daily basis) I started at $250 for a bike.......it is VERY labor intensive. Not to mention if you screw up and tump it over.....well, let's hope you are insured. After doing a few I declined future bike work, it wasn't worth it to me.

[Fly bye]

I don't think its really dirty. What should the starting price be at?





That is a loaded question. I couldn't tell you how much to charge without looking at the motorcycle. I don't even know what year and model it is. If it looks like the bike in the link you provided, then there will be very little paint polishing, if any. If there is any paint polishing, it will be the tank. The tank is really the only paintwork on my bike that I polish. For some reason, the side cowls never get swirled, so they get waxed once in a while. This is also true with the bottom cowl/fairing, it just doesn't get scratched. I have polished the side and bottom fairings a few times, but they normally don't get scratched to warrant having to polish them.

How dirty a bike gets, could be dictated upon how often it is ridden, (is it a daily rider, or a weekend cruiser?) and the condition of the roads near where the bike is kept. I live in an old neighborhood, so the streets that lead out to the highway are dirty. If my bike picks up even a little bit of water, the wheels and bottom fairing get very dirty. My bike is chain driven, and the chain gets oiled every 500 miles or so, so that's another form of contamination that gets on the rear swingarm, rear wheel, under the rear tail section ect.

Just like a car, motorcycles pick up foreign debris such as bugs, road tar, dirt, and debris kicked up by automobiles ect. As far as polishing the front and rear fenders, I don't really. Micro-marring is caused by improper washing techniques that I do not do. There may possibly be a stray scratch here or there, but not really visable. Like the side cowls/fairings, the fenders are in great shape, so they get waxed once in a while.

The main thing I do when cleaning/detailing an R1 sport bike, is to clean off the dirt and grease. When it comes to cleanup of heavy dirt/grease, I prefer to use water and degreaser. I have talked to some guys that do not use water, and thats great, but that would depend on how much dirt and grease buildup there is. For example, if there is a lot of grease/dirt buildup on the rear swingarm, I prefer to use a degreaser, followed by a stream of water. If you were to just wipe it off with a towel, and WD40, there is a chance of scratching the machined aluminum. I like to spray off as much debris as possible before touching a surface with a towel.

I know guys that just wipe their bikes down with WD40 and a rag. That's cool, if it works for them, then great. (Their bikes are probably not that dirty to begin with) When I do a thorough cleansing on my bike, it involves removing all the bodywork. If the frame, rear swing arm motor, forks, wheels ect. are really dirty/greasy, they need to be degreased and sprayed down. I suppose you could spray 1/2 a can of WD40 on the bike to clean it, but then you'll have oil everywhere. I think it boils down to how dirty it is.

If there are bugs in the radiator, it needs to be sprayed with water. The front forks have shapes/angles, small voids, brake calipers, brake disks, turn signals, headlights, front fairing, and parts that require attention to fine detail.

Like I say, it's not so much paint polishing, but cleansing of dirt, grease and debris, sometimes in areas that are not easy to work.

Do you have a bike lift? A bike like the one in the link should have a center stand, which will allow you to more easily clean the rear wheel. If you don't have a way of raising the front wheel, it will be more difficult to clean the front wheel. Do you know how heavy a bike like this is? My R1 is about 425-430 lbs. That thing has to be at least 500 lbs. Do you have insurance? Don't drop it.

You're going to have to come up with a plan of attack, and tell us how much you're going to charge. There are a lot of variables. Are you licensed and insured? Are you well estabilished? How much money do you want to make? If you're asking for advice on how much to charge, I would assume that you are just starting out.

If you're just polishing chrome, that may take 2-4 hours, but it's hard to say without seeing it in person. If you do use water, you'll want to make sure to dry it thoroughly with high speed air, such as a leaf blower. Thoroughly drying a motorcycle takes at least 15 - 20 minutes of non stop blowing. There may be parts that could rust, or oxidize, so you need to make sure it is completely dry, and I mean every part on the bike completely dry. Thoroughly drying the motorcycle will also prevent water spots. If you do degrease a motorcycle involving water, be a nice guy and oil the chain for your customer.

Again, how much one should charge for a job could be dictated on whether or not one is licensed and insured, and well established. A 2-3 hour detail on a motorcycle by a well established business should run somewhere in the neighborhood of $150.

How much is the person willing to pay? What is the market value? How good are you? Licensed, insured, established? How dirty is it? How much work/time is involved? There's just too many variables to give you a solid figure.


:buffing:


Cheers

Tony

[Fly bye]

Sorry for writing a book.

[cnfowler]

Excellent post, Tony. Pretty much sums it up.

Bikes are very labor intensive. There are a lot of nooks and cranies. If you miss a spot, it'll stand out like a sore thumb. I've spent 4 hours washing a Harley Street Glide before. There are a lot of areas that a toothbrush will barely fit in, so having the right tools for the job are important. After washing you're going to need a compressor or leaf blower to blow out all the water from the crevises. You'll also want to know how easy the paint is to polish. For example, Harleys have notoriously soft paint making them a pain to polish to perfection. I have no idea about Triumphs, but this will have to be considered during pricing.

All in all, you have a lot to figure out before you give the owner a price. You need to see the bike and put hands on it before doing so. Good luck.


Colin

[Flash Gordon]

I can detail a suburban quicker then a chromed out harley if that gives you any indication. I cannot explain why this is, it just is. Charge by the hour ;)

[slickooz]

That is a loaded question. I couldn't tell you how much to charge without looking at the motorcycle. I don't even know what year and model it is. If it looks like the bike in the link you provided, then there will be very little paint polishing, if any. If there is any paint polishing, it will be the tank. The tank is really the only paintwork on my bike that I polish. For some reason, the side cowls never get swirled, so they get waxed once in a while. This is also true with the bottom cowl/fairing, it just doesn't get scratched. I have polished the side and bottom fairings a few times, but they normally don't get scratched to warrant having to polish them.

How dirty a bike gets, could be dictated upon how often it is ridden, (is it a daily rider, or a weekend cruiser?) and the condition of the roads near where the bike is kept. I live in an old neighborhood, so the streets that lead out to the highway are dirty. If my bike picks up even a little bit of water, the wheels and bottom fairing get very dirty. My bike is chain driven, and the chain gets oiled every 500 miles or so, so that's another form of contamination that gets on the rear swingarm, rear wheel, under the rear tail section ect.

Just like a car, motorcycles pick up foreign debris such as bugs, road tar, dirt, and debris kicked up by automobiles ect. As far as polishing the front and rear fenders, I don't really. Micro-marring is caused by improper washing techniques that I do not do. There may possibly be a stray scratch here or there, but not really visable. Like the side cowls/fairings, the fenders are in great shape, so they get waxed once in a while.

The main thing I do when cleaning/detailing an R1 sport bike, is to clean off the dirt and grease. When it comes to cleanup of heavy dirt/grease, I prefer to use water and degreaser. I have talked to some guys that do not use water, and thats great, but that would depend on how much dirt and grease buildup there is. For example, if there is a lot of grease/dirt buildup on the rear swingarm, I prefer to use a degreaser, followed by a stream of water. If you were to just wipe it off with a towel, and WD40, there is a chance of scratching the machined aluminum. I like to spray off as much debris as possible before touching a surface with a towel.

I know guys that just wipe their bikes down with WD40 and a rag. That's cool, if it works for them, then great. (Their bikes are probably not that dirty to begin with) When I do a thorough cleansing on my bike, it involves removing all the bodywork. If the frame, rear swing arm motor, forks, wheels ect. are really dirty/greasy, they need to be degreased and sprayed down. I suppose you could spray 1/2 a can of WD40 on the bike to clean it, but then you'll have oil everywhere. I think it boils down to how dirty it is.

If there are bugs in the radiator, it needs to be sprayed with water. The front forks have shapes/angles, small voids, brake calipers, brake disks, turn signals, headlights, front fairing, and parts that require attention to fine detail.

Like I say, it's not so much paint polishing, but cleansing of dirt, grease and debris, sometimes in areas that are not easy to work.

Do you have a bike lift? A bike like the one in the link should have a center stand, which will allow you to more easily clean the rear wheel. If you don't have a way of raising the front wheel, it will be more difficult to clean the front wheel. Do you know how heavy a bike like this is? My R1 is about 425-430 lbs. That thing has to be at least 500 lbs. Do you have insurance? Don't drop it.

You're going to have to come up with a plan of attack, and tell us how much you're going to charge. There are a lot of variables. Are you licensed and insured? Are you well estabilished? How much money do you want to make? If you're asking for advice on how much to charge, I would assume that you are just starting out.

If you're just polishing chrome, that may take 2-4 hours, but it's hard to say without seeing it in person. If you do use water, you'll want to make sure to dry it thoroughly with high speed air, such as a leaf blower. Thoroughly drying a motorcycle takes at least 15 - 20 minutes of non stop blowing. There may be parts that could rust, or oxidize, so you need to make sure it is completely dry, and I mean every part on the bike completely dry. Thoroughly drying the motorcycle will also prevent water spots. If you do degrease a motorcycle involving water, be a nice guy and oil the chain for your customer.

Again, how much one should charge for a job could be dictated on whether or not one is licensed and insured, and well established. A 2-3 hour detail on a motorcycle by a well established business should run somewhere in the neighborhood of $150.

How much is the person willing to pay? What is the market value? How good are you? Licensed, insured, established? How dirty is it? How much work/time is involved? There's just too many variables to give you a solid figure.


:buffing:


Cheers

Tony





Thanks for the info! How do I become a licensed detailer? I have been reading a lot the past month but I didn't run into a lot of thread about becoming licensed detailer.

And I don't have insurance, but I'm planning on getting one after I have at least 15 clients.

And I'm new just started, how much would you charge an hour that is fair? I read detailers get anywhere from 40-80 an hour.

For now I'm going be extra careful about everything and take before pics and after pics so I can use them to record just incase.

[slickooz]

Excellent post, Tony. Pretty much sums it up.

Bikes are very labor intensive. There are a lot of nooks and cranies. If you miss a spot, it'll stand out like a sore thumb. I've spent 4 hours washing a Harley Street Glide before. There are a lot of areas that a toothbrush will barely fit in, so having the right tools for the job are important. After washing you're going to need a compressor or leaf blower to blow out all the water from the crevises. You'll also want to know how easy the paint is to polish. For example, Harleys have notoriously soft paint making them a pain to polish to perfection. I have no idea about Triumphs, but this will have to be considered during pricing.

All in all, you have a lot to figure out before you give the owner a price. You need to see the bike and put hands on it before doing so. Good luck.


Colin

Yeah I was planning on spending about 4-5 hours on the bike. I never thought about detailing bikes when I started. Don't know what special tools I need for bikes. I have pretty much all the tools I need for detailing a car.


I can detail a suburban quicker then a chromed out harley if that gives you any indication. I cannot explain why this is, it just is. Charge by the hour ;)

Yeah If the guy calls me I'm prob just going tell him I'm going charge by the hour. Only problem is that I'm new and want to charge a fair price.

[jwellsii]

For a start on brushes for bikes google pimp stixxx. As said above, I WOULD NOT TOUCH A BIKE WITHOUT INSURANCE!!!!!!! As far as that goes you should have insurance before working on anything. People are so sue happy these days. Just my .02. :buffing: And please don't make a rookie mistake and put dressing on the tires:bolt: or anything slick on the seat.

[slickooz]

For a start on brushes for bikes google pimp stixxx. As said above, I WOULD NOT TOUCH A BIKE WITHOUT INSURANCE!!!!!!! As far as that goes you should have insurance before working on anything. People are so sue happy these days. Just my .02. :buffing: And please don't make a rookie mistake and put dressing on the tires:bolt: or anything slick on the seat.


Thanks for the advise. I will def get insurance once I get couple customers.

[Fly bye]

Only problem is that I'm new and want to charge a fair price.





$25 per hour. At 4-5 hours, that would yield you $100-$125

Be real careful when moving the bike. If your foot slips, or you trip, you could drop it. If the weight of the bike goes a little bit too far away from you, it'll go over.

[Crazy Amos]

Call your states Department of Econoic Development Department and they can guide you and let you know what you need to do. In Kentucky there a 8 basic steps to gaining an LLC. Hopefully the person you talk to will be as helpful as the person I dealt with. Call around for insurance-the less credible experience you have the more you will most likely pay. Have you worked in any detail shops in the past? How can you legally prove your experience to them? Need to be ready for these kinds of questions. Getting an LLC is the easy part, the insurance is a pain. I an going through it right now, I have the prior credible experience but they want ALL of my insurance business.....but there auto insurance is higher than what i have now. They won't just give me general liability insurance alone, they want it ALL! It's a pain but I can see their point. Anyway hope this helps.