Is RoseyToes the only decent mechanic?

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I have to admit I find some of the commentary here not very useful: Of course you should learn to do a good amount of your own maintenance, but that's not really what the OP asked about. Sometimes ****'s just plain broken and needs professional attention...
 
bombshelter13 said:
I have to admit I find some of the commentary here not very useful: Of course you should learn to do a good amount of your own maintenance, but that's not really what the OP asked about. Sometimes ****'s just plain broken and needs professional attention...
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See...I figured that if he was actually desperate for specific help, he would've mentioned his exact problem and also given us information on what type of bike he's riding by now. The responses you get are usually only as good as the questions you ask.

This seems more like a general question...for future FYI purposes. The responses seem about right for that.
 
TorontoBoy said:
There is also 109 Cycle at Danforth/Warden. They are a small shop, like Ted Rose. I've not used them, but heard good feedback.
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I used 109 Cycle when I lived in TO. Top notch service and very reasonable prices... someone quoted $90/hr - not sure but I do they were considerably less than a dealership.

As for Rosey Toes, I would give up riding before I ever take a bike into him. He may be small and he may be cheap but he fraudulently certified a bike I bought, no way in hell I would take anything to his shop.
 
Z1 is expensive, but it is a nicer/cleaner shop.

I had them clean and sync my carbs, and replace 1 jet.
They also replaced my rear pads because I mentioned it was making a strange noise - they diagnosed it as a glazed rotor and said the new pads will fix the problem (my rear pads were 10,000km old..which is not much since I hardly every use the rear).

Anyway. $450+ later carbs are good, but rear brake still squeals. Verbal quote was $300...not sure how it got to $450, but whatever. At the time I was just glad to have my bike back after over a week.

After that experience (which wasn't really bad or anything), I decided to either a) do it myself or b) take it to ted if I don't have the tools.
 
revrandy said:
As for Rosey Toes, I would give up riding before I ever take a bike into him. He may be small and he may be cheap but he fraudulently certified a bike I bought, no way in hell I would take anything to his shop.
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Fraudulently? He certified a bike with a dim license plate light? Or slightly worn in brake pads? Gimme a break he was probably doing you a favor, now you come on and bash him

I wont take my bike anywhere else. I love this shop. Unlike other places where you can't see what's going on with your bike, at Rosey Toes I'm involved in the whole process. Meanwhile learning alot of stuff myself. To me that's truly priceless.

Most stuff on a bike is very simple and Ted has been doing it for years. It's broken. He fixes it. You ride. Simple

Obviously for more track oriented and high performance tuning issues I would go elsewhere.

PS one time I blew a main fuse and fried the battery and Ted walked me through the whole process over the phone. So I wouldn't have to bring the bike to him. !!
 
Never been to Rosey Toes my self but I like his style.

Bryan Cranston at Ultimate Cycle in Hamilton taught me an incredible amount about motorcycles. His rates are rediculously good. Never once told me to leave something with him. Always kept me right there while he was fixing the part and explaining to me what was wrong and showing me how to fix it myself in the future. When I wanted a part off an engine he just pointed to the engine underneath some shelf and pointed to where he kept his sockets/wrenchs and told me to just go at it until I got what I wanted. The real kicker is that he only wanted about 1/3 of the price for the part as I got quoted by other wreckers.

Dude gave me a real lesson in humanity along with the motorcycle stuff he showed me too.
 
Lynart said:
Well, here's a more specific question now:

What air filter does a 2006 GS500F use lol
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I dont want to sound rude, but it uses an air filter for a 2006 GS500. Its pretty straight forward. You can call a dealer and just tell them your year and model of bike and they can look up the part number and order it over the phone if you pay by credit card. I know that Snow City does this.

Here's the parts fiche for your bike

http://www.snowcity.com/fiche_select2.asp?category=Motorcycles&make=Suzuki&year=2006&fveh=7247

You can look up all the parts you need and get the part numbers.
 
Bikes are pretty basic, what work do you want done that you dont trust your buddy car mechanic too do?

just curious as myself and many other on this forum have done pretty much everything on bikes and we are not bike or car mechanics at all.

And please dont tell me you dont trust a car mechanic to replace an air filter on a bike.
 
unL33T said:
House does it on himself. Although he kinda failed.
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lol I watch house...

Well, I have an idea on how to do an oil change, tighten/loosen the chain, clean the chain, and do air filter cleaning/changing now but what about:

#1. Changing brake pads
#2. Cleaning/draining carbs

I know people clean/drain their own carbs and change the brake pads themselves, but how difficult is it? Are youtube videos for a generic bike gonna suffice?
 
Brake pads are way easy. At least on the fronts for my bike.

Loosen and remove caliper bolts; pull the calipers (with pads attached) out of the way of the rotors and wheel while taking care not to stress the lines; pry the two pads apart/compress the caliper (last time I had to remove the brakes I just wedged a thin 1/4" x 1" x 12" piece of wood [wood won't cut into the pads] between the pads and twisted); pull the old pads off; push the new pads on; reassemble in reverse taking care to follow torque and use of thread lock as specified by the manufacturer; squeeze the lever a few times to compress the pads against the rotors; test brakes carefully; once confident they work, go for a ride. You may need to bleed the brakes although probably not. Avoid squeezing the brake while the caliper is no longer on the rotors.
 
unL33T said:
Brake pads are way easy. At least on the fronts for my bike.

Loosen and remove caliper bolts; pull the calipers (with pads attached) out of the way of the rotors and wheel while taking care not to stress the lines; pry the two pads apart/compress the caliper (last time I had to remove the brakes I just wedged a thin 1/4" x 1" x 12" piece of wood [wood won't cut into the pads] between the pads and twisted); pull the old pads off; push the new pads on; reassemble in reverse taking care to follow torque and use of thread lock as specified by the manufacturer; squeeze the lever a few times to compress the pads against the rotors; test brakes carefully; once confident they work, go for a ride. You may need to bleed the brakes although probably not. Avoid squeezing the brake while the caliper is no longer on the rotors.
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Tyvm, might just go buy a brake bleeding kit too. I asked some dude at Honda Outdoor Power in Markham for some brake fluid and he made it sound like I'd kill myself trying to change the pads or fluid; even my gf said the guy seemed like a ******. Checked youtube after and read your stuff...it really doesn't seem that bad. I need to stop asking that store for advice, they seem to be trying to hardsell me everything.
 
torontoZX6R said:
Fraudulently? He certified a bike with a dim license plate light? Or slightly worn in brake pads? Gimme a break he was probably doing you a favor, now you come on and bash him
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When you need a no questions asked cert for a bike that is missing parts Rosey Toes is great for that no doubt, I brought just a wheel once and he certified the whole bike...LOL

Now if you a buyer that just bought a bike that you thought was safe for the road because Rosey certified it "no questions asked" a few weeks earlier...Only to find out its not actually safe (bald tires, no mirrors, no signals, etc etc) Then they are not so great now are they.....

Totally different depending on which end your looking from....As a buyer that needs a cert for a bike missing a ton of pieces, they have always been handy...However I can see a buyer of a bike being upset with the BS certs
 
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Shout outs to the Stunters Inc in Mississauga. Ceaser and Johnny do top notch work.
 
JohnnyP636 said:
Now if you a buyer that just bought a bike that you thought was safe for the road because Rosey certified it "no questions asked" a few weeks earlier...Only to find out its not actually safe (bald tires, no mirrors, no signals, etc etc) Then they are not so great now are they.....
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I bought a bike that was certified by Ted and it was fine. One of the forks was leaking and that was fixed. I didn't have any problems with the bike.

Sometimes it depends on which mechanic in the shop you get.
 
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