Companies charging WAAAAAAAY too much for chassis and components!

[maverick]

Why do companies this that 3-4 hours worht of work and maybe 200 dollars worth of material should cost $2500? i dont get it. The answer to this seems to be sandrail builders....i sent my 250r frame to a guy who builds sandrails(hehe i got a 400 to ride while wating for it) and he will have it dont for under $500+shipping. sure it wont say lonestar, but it will be built how i want it, not just by the specs of the old frame

swing arms- roll design wants damn near $100 for their swing arm which can be done for 1/4 of that. Companies are getting filthy rich off of us who want good parts.

Anyhoo back to the question why do you think Major ATV fabricators charge so much? should they? are you really getting an equal value of quality vs price?

[phatswinn]

it take a few days or like a week for atv fabricators to make a frame, they make them to there own induvisual specs and they are better than stock, stronger than stock and lighter than stock, they also make it watever color you want,

[maverick]

Yea my new frame is being made out of chromoly with some places remevoved to save a lil weight for flattrack.

[YLW400]

Why can they automate the process? I am SURE it can be done...Any engineers on here?? I am going to school to be one...but...

[maverick]

besides it really shouldnt take that long to make a frame.

ylw why dont you make a dummy frame for your ride? good practice!

[holeshot19]

well look at it this way if you can charge what ever you want and people pay.why cut your prices. i can complain all i want but what good does it do. i was going to build a new roll but i talked to a friend santo derisi gncc #11 who rides a lobo said they gone up again.but they are not going to but frames on a assy line. its like west coast choppers of any after market company they would rether sell a arms and compnets.

[YLW400]

You come up with an assembly line....charge say 900.00 a frame, pump out 200 a day........make a killin!! robotical welding......I could be a millionaire

[maverick]

the way i see it...hand weld with a tig welder, charge $700 for a frame that took you around 3 hours to make. with material costing you about $200 you just made a $500 profit

[Pappy]

you are forgetting the cost of doing business...employees...insurance...equipment...and i dont think they would sell 200 frames a day for very long. aftermarket frames are needed but at a slower rate than a arms , swing arms etc.

[maverick]

Yep, i did forget the added cost of what you mentioned, but still, the cost is outrageous!

Lonestar needs good insurance, their factory is in the ghetto full of crackheads and drivebys..i was scared goin down there!

[Pappy]

im not flamin ya here....but i would rather hit an 80 foot double on a frame thats been tested and proven. i have no doubt someone can fabricate a frame, and yes i think some of the prices are high...but i will be payin a company with a history of quality and a well known reputation for my frame. think a frame is expensive....think about todays cars and trucks!!

[trx400ex]

arens uses a robotic welder that costs 80,000 , he wont say how long it takes to make a frame now though

[kc 300EX]

Everything for a quad is EXPENSIVE, Car tires are less than some quad tires, a gas shock for a truck is 35 dollars a set of cheapo works shocks for a quad is over 300 dollars, Some prices are high because its a high performance part and thats how much it costs, but then again some parts are expensive because they can be

[Rastus]

I totally agree with what you guys are saying. These guys are charging outrageous prices for stuff that wouldnt really cost 1/4 to make.Go to napa, or any auto parts store. Ask them for a spark plug for your wheeler.Its probably not gonna cost a whole lot.
If you go to one of these shops now days, they charge high prices.
One shop tried to charge me 3 bucks for one plug.what a rip,when i can get the same plug at an a napa store for 1/4 the price.

a set of shocks should not cost 800 bucks, and getting quads fixed is silly prices too.

[Lil90man!!]

hey just to let u guys know our local honda dealer DOUBLES the price of every factory item they get its such a rip! a factory oil filter 6.50 one that looks exactly the same in the same box that says emgo or whateva on it 325. everything is like that wonder if a 6000 400ex is really bought for 3000?? makes you wonder, but yea if peeps pay it why not keep it that high n make alot more money?

[Teufel]

I agree the aftermarget parts are expensive. I have had both Lonestar and Laeger. Before spending all those bucks I looked them all, Lsr , Laeger, Roll,.. They all havedifferent advantages and disadvantages. As far as the expense they have alot of R&D, and manufacturing costs to recover. These guys started out with humble beginnings and are relatively small volume, which increases the cost of manufacturing up.

Also the three that I mentioned " do not use automated processes to weld these frames. They are metaciously welded by hand with a tig welder in a single fixture. Thisdrastically improves the quality of the joint. The stock frame is welded by an automated mig welder. Just take alook at the visual difference between the two. I am still amazed at how crappy the welds on my my stock 400 are.

Do these guys make a good profit ??? Yes,,, If you knew how much money your local dealer makes off of every dollar that you spend with him you 'd really be upset.

Oh and Yes I am a Manufacturing Engineer, as for joe smoe and his home made frame, I respect his enthusiam but I wouldn't race his frame.

[worm]

yea at my dealer ( they have 4 sponsoed moto/supercross rider) we used to get 50% off then the owner found out and we only get 20 now... but still the guys that work there will give us a lower price and then the 20 .... that just shows how much mark up these *******s put on parts. but i really dont know why we are discussing this because still every penny i get im buying parts no matter the mark up

[Teufel]

Good point worm!

[Ex'r Marlin]

Don't forget their advertising and sponsorships!!!

Like Teufel stated... These companies do a lot of R&D, and to support them going to a lot of the races and housing the equipment and personnel sounds pretty costly!!

Holeshot19 commented on West Coast Choppers..... Wow, what a success story there! I don't know if you know what I am talking about, but the cost of doing a special application, with high quality expectations is not cheap!

BTW, as for Roll Design and Laeger, and others, I hope they keep supporting our fellow racers with sponsorships. Hopefully this sport can get as big as Nascar!:rolleyes:

[RED121572]

As a rule of thumb, retailers jack the price of an item up a minumim of 40% from what they bought it for. Doesnt sound fair, but thats the way it works.

But Im also gonna join in on this debate. Ive been saying this for years also...its outragous how much ATV parts go for.

Take my example. I own a 99 Ram Cummings. A new motor for my truck is $5200. Now, a new motor for my 400EX (correct me if Im wrong here), Honda wants very close to $4000.

For only $1200 more, I could slap in a Intercooled, 24 valve, 360 cubic inch, turbo charged, 6.6 Litre straight six cummins diesel powerplant in my 400EX!! LOL

My opinion, if the prices of parts would drop, there would be so much more participation in ATV racing. Who in there right mind is gonna sink 10-15 grand in there EX by themselves and go race it.........who can afford to do it??? Jeremiah Jones is a great racer, but do you think he would be where he is today without corporate help? I really think there are alot of great riders out there that just dont have the resources (money) to get to where they should be.

:mad: :mad:

[maverick]

Go to www.servicehonda.com
click on motors [i think]
prices for new 250r motors and 400ex motors

[Rastus]

Yeah man, West coast choppers is pretty kick-arse!!!
Id like to get one of their bikes, but it costs a 40 K just for the basic stuff, with no special stuff.. I still cant beileve it, they make pretty much EVERY part on the bike,even the motor is made out of big blocks of aluminum, and machined down.


Any of you guys realated to jesse james? I am related pretty close, maybe i could get a free one :):cool: :macho ( none of this my aunt's son's brother's granma's 8th cousin)

[racerx573]

I saw a special on the learning channel bout Jesse James and his motorcycle place. It was kick ***!! I hope to do that with quads one day!!

[Rastus]

That would rule! Having pretty much one of a kind wheeler. Think about the compression you could put on those solid aluminum heads. Man, that would be cool. Alot of work though.