Bodywork Repair?

[Nate R]

I'm thinking of starting to publicly do bodywork repair soon.

$25/hr + materials sound reasonable?


Dave Rosno crashed pretty good at the last Blackhawk. His tail was too damaged to be worth repairing, but his lower, although a good sized piece broke completely off, and the rest of the lower cracked in about 4 places, and broke 2 mounting tabs will take me about 2-3 hours to repair, and less than $10 worth of materials.

So, if I was charging Dave, it'd be about $60-$110 (Didn't keep good track of time)

PJ on this board was grinding through his bellypan on both sides. It will take about 1.5 hrs of work and $15 worth of materials to put 4-6 layers of carbon kevlar in the problem areas.

It seems like I could do it as a side thing and have the prices be reasonable, but still have it be worth my time.

Any thoughts, suggestions?

[digitalRoost]

sounds reasonable to me. With racing costing so much, most racers would prefer to repair before replacing. Just make sure you do good work because word of mouth is best marketing.

where are you located?

oh yeah, one catch. You can never charge more than it would cost to replace that piece. For example, how much would it have cost to replace that lower all together?

[Nate R]

Yep. Cost of replacement is of course a key point.

Dave's lower would've been $222 shipped for a replacement, and then still need new paint. As is, he may be able to use it without new paint.

This is where Sharkskinz and other high quality brands pay off. I've seen the difference in crash durability between Sharkskinz, Cheetah, Rennsport, and a couple other brands real close up recently. (I've seen all those brands through MULTIPLE crashes)

So far, Sharkskinz seems to sustain the least damage, and thus lower repair costs. It really pays to get better quality bodywork if you can afford it.

[ScubaSteve]

 Thats around what i charge nate. Good luck i havent had much lately cause seems everyone down here hasnt been crashing or just not crashing bad emough to get stuff fixed!! By the way i sold your SV a few months back and bought her a 600

[davegsxrold929r]

definatly a good idea., but people will haev shipping both ways also to pay for., unless they are at the same tracks as you..  still a good idea...

[ecumike]

Nate, it's a good idea, but definitely don't quit your day job :)

It's pretty easy to repair bodywork though, and as said above, people will take shipping into a factor of if it's worth it.  I think you could do it though as a side thing, like "hey I can repair bodywork if you don't wanna do it yourself".

[spyderchick]

Good luck with that Nate. Just don't price yourself too low, because later, overhead will be involved. Call me on Monday if I don't see you at the track and I'll have some tips from Roger for you on that whole subject.

PS, got a price on that space yet?

[speedster_1]

cheaper than what I paid a fiberglass (boat guy) repair person!

[PJ]

Just want to say that I picked up my fiberglass belly pan along with a carbon fiber part that Nate fixed up for me and I am very impressed with his workmanship, service, turn around time, and most importantly, value.

Thanks Nate!

[Steviebee]

there is no such thing as beyond repair !!!

[Super Dave]

there is no such thing as beyond repair !!!

LOL, give me a shot at crashing the bike.... :o

[Jeff]

LOL, give me a shot at crashing the bike.... :o

I was thinking the same thing... LOL...  (no, not give ME, but give SUPER DAVE a chance  8)  ;D )