Mag rebuild cost?

[Padsta33]

Had my mag bench tested at a local bike shop, was only apparently showing a weak  spark.  It has now been sent off for rebuild.
At the cost of nearly £300!!!
Is this right? I know it's a specialist job, but seems awful expensive.
Anyone else had their mag rebuilt?

[Greybeard]

I can't remember exactly what I paid to have my mag overhauled, (my mind has blanked it) but it seemed hidiously expensive. However, every time the bike starts first kick I think it was flipping good value for money.
If I can find the receipt for the work I'll update this post.

A bit later: £480!!!! 

The armature was rewound, by the chaps wife apparently. I imagine her watching her favourite soap, but instead of sewing she's winding threads of copper wire onto armatures.

[muskrat]

Yep, mine cost $300AU in 1983.
Cheers

[morris]

I had mine redone about a year ago by Brightspark.
New slipring, easycap condenser, pickups, oilseal and insulator washer.
£161.20 p&p included.
Guess it would be more though if the bearings must be changed and/or the coil needs to be rewound.

[terryg]

The price does depend on exactly what work is required. I've had two refurbished at approx. costs of £250 (over 8 years ago) and £150 (2 years ago).
If I need another refurb, unlikely, I'll talk to Priory Magnetos (beezermac of this forum).
I agree that a trustworthy magneto can save a huge amount of wasted time.

[polly]

I can second the need to talk to Priory Magnetos....Andrew is the man .   

[Triton Thrasher]

I'd recommend Tony Cooper of Halesowen.

[Padsta33]

So it's looking like the cost is correct.
To be precise it's  £270 + postage.
I just hope it is a full overhaul that I'm paying for .
I guess it's a dying trade and without competition.
I'm in the wrong job......😣

[Triton Thrasher]

So it's looking like the cost is correct.
To be precise it's  £270 + postage.
I just hope it is a full overhaul that I'm paying for .
I guess it's a dying trade and without competition.
I'm in the wrong job......😣

Did you get quotes from Priory and From Cooper and any others?  If not, I don't have much sympathy for your moaning about lack of competition.

How much would you charge?

[beezermacc]

My website gives a breakdown of prices. www.priorymagnetos.co.uk  Starting price is £35 for strip, inspect and report. If customers wish to proceed it is inevitable that the armature will need a rewind and new capacitor for £95. It is usually the case with K2F's that the oil seal needs replacing and a few other bits and pieces. Typically a K2F will cost about £200. I'm not touting for work as I'm on 'summer hours' at the moment and trying to keep work down to a minimum. If anybody thinks the cost of magneto repairs is expensive please compare the cost with other trades where there is some degree of skill involved e.g. plumber, electrician. A bloke came recently to fix our washing machine and charged £50 just for getting out of bed! I've just had my very ordinary car serviced which included a set of front brake pads, an oil change, and little else for £275 and they had the car for three hours. If you include the time it takes to rewind and rebuild the armature a K2F rebuild takes me about 8 hours. Having seen how a decent magneto transforms the pleasure of riding a classic bike I would say it's money well spent.

[ellis]

Couldn't have put it any better Andrew. Defiantly money well spent and very cost effective .


 ELLIS

[Butch (cb)]

Thought mine was sub £200 maybe around 10 years ago. That was with what I thought was a reputable company (can't remember now). I'd just figured - get it done right and get it done once. One less thing to worry might strand you at the side of the road.

If it helps I can advise that I've just paid not far short of £500 to get the dynamo on my Sunbeam S7D fully sorted by Stewarts. Ouch.

[TT John]

I had a K2F reconditioned by Tony Cooper Hayles Owen, recently, Ace chap and very reasonable £187, did a great job.

TTJohn

[mugwump]

Just had my K2F completely re-built, stripped  re-wound coil new bearings and condensor etc £180.00. Its the 5th one done by same bloke  T.Salmon Burnham on Crouch ( actually his son has taken over ) broken cam housing replaced with good s/h one. Looks like new too. Never had any problems from any of them. Its the first job I automatically have done to a newly acquired machine, with unknown provenance I don't wait for it to start playing up. As has already been said, a failed Mag isn't a road-side repair.

[Padsta33]

So it's looking like the cost is correct.
To be precise it's  £270 + postage.
I just hope it is a full overhaul that I'm paying for .
I guess it's a dying trade and without competition.
I'm in the wrong job......😣

Did you get quotes from Priory and From Cooper and any others?  If not, I don't have much sympathy for your moaning about lack of competition.

How much would you charge?

I didnt mean to come across as moaning.
Just curious to find out if my ball park cost is the going rate or not.
I didn't have a choice as to who would do the work,  as the shop posted it. It fairly local to me, so I guess it's good to keep local economy good and folk in business.