What are you charging for a motorcyle detail?

**BobD** · 01-16-2008, 10:39 AM

What do you charge for something like a sportbike with no chrome and what do you charge for something like a cruiser with a lot of chrome?

**imported_Jakerooni** · 01-16-2008, 10:44 AM

I`ve never varied in my pricing for motorcycles... Of course take my pricing with a grain of salt but I get $100 for any motorcyle regardless of what it is.

**SShine** · 01-16-2008, 10:54 AM

$100 sounds right. maybe $25 more or so for a cruiser.

But, I haven`t done any lol

**BobD** · 01-16-2008, 11:02 AM

Originally Posted by SShine

$100 sounds right. maybe $25 more or so for a cruiser.

But, I haven`t done any lol

I was charging $75 for a standard and about $125 for a chromed out bike. It also depends on if the chrome needs a lot of polishing or just a cleaning.

**imported_Jakerooni** · 01-16-2008, 11:06 AM

I`ve actually only done 2 up here at the shop and both were chromed out. I haven`t done a simple crotch rocket or anything. I guess those would probably be easier to do. But it`s not alot of business to really focus on specific types of bikes and rates per style for me.

**Invigor** · 01-16-2008, 08:14 PM

crotch rockets are all plastic and not pretty... soak it in an APC and powerwash it clean haha

**imported_themightytimmah** · 01-16-2008, 08:23 PM

Motorcycles are a pain, all the nooks and crannies. It depends on how much polishing is necessary, but 150-200 for a bike is not unheard of - it takes me forever to buff one and there`s a high risk of paint burns, due to the nooks and crannies. Pain in the rear to tape off all the leather and plastic too.

If you`ve got a sportbike on your hands, it`s sometimes easier to take a few screws out and take panels off to buff them.

**Invigor** · 01-16-2008, 08:41 PM

2" polishers come in quite handy as well...8" pads don`t fit well to a lot of the contours found on bikes

**DMAD** · 01-27-2008, 05:33 PM

I start at $100 all the way up to $200+ depending on how much chrome it has and what they want done to it plus all of the real tight spaces I have to get to to clean during a motorcycle detail.:cooleek:

**Bbasso** · 01-30-2008, 03:46 PM

I start at $85 and gone up to 165.

All depends on the bike which has to be seen in person.

**imported_rydawg** · 01-30-2008, 11:15 PM

I usually get $200 to 300 plus. Cruisers with chrome I get at least $300. It depends if I have to break it down apart or they will have it all apart and they will put it together.

Paint correction on bikes can be a pain. Find some 2-3 inch pads as you will need them. Also an angle drill converted to a polisher helps in tight areas. Body shop supply stores carry the small pads and backing plates in kits.

VERY time consuming. Bikes are mostly scratched and marred heavily.

Try some Bikebright. It`s a spray cleaner used to wash the whole bike. Spray on and wash with it, then hose off. Megs Safe Degreaser works great too.

**Envious Eric** · 02-02-2008, 05:39 PM

for cleaning a bike, do you just wet everything just like a car exterior? or do you have to be careful of certain areas? I figure you can just wet it all down, but what about the instrument panel with all the switches, and on the grips? I would think its fine to wet just like driving in the rain, but want to make sure>>>

**Black240SX** · 02-02-2008, 11:15 PM

It`s ok to wet those areas, but don`t spray them with any force.

**Custom Bike Mik** · 03-05-2008, 01:05 AM

Originally Posted by SShine

$100 sounds right. maybe $25 more or so for a cruiser.

But, I haven`t done any lol

I charge more for sport bikes. I find cruiser owners tend to clean their bikes more and other than the chrome it is not as much work as trying to get months of grime off a sport bike that has been rode hard and put up wet. Shaft and belt drive cruisers throw less crap around also. It is all a time thing for me.

**Custom Bike Mik** · 03-05-2008, 01:10 AM

Originally Posted by toyotaguy

for cleaning a bike, do you just wet everything just like a car exterior? or do you have to be careful of certain areas? I figure you can just wet it all down, but what about the instrument panel with all the switches, and on the grips? I would think its fine to wet just like driving in the rain, but want to make sure>>>

I keep the bike wet the entire time I am washing and using polishing soap on the chrome. I only let it dry when I am using my blower. I then blow out all the nooks and crannies with high pressure air.

I am pretty familiar with a lot of bikes and the first thing I do is remove seats and fairings and so forth. ALWAYS remove the license plate. There is dirt back there just WAITING to turn to a mud streak as soon as the owner drives off.

Bikes are a different animal than cars. Hard to use power tools on, and you need a lot of weird brushes.

CBM