The high price of parts!

[Jeff Sexton]

Okay, I'm tight with a buck - or cheap, depending on your point of view. I'll bet there's others out there like me who cringe whenever they have to go to the shop for parts. Sound familiar?

I just replaced the bearings in my chain rollers on a 2004 Husky CR125. When I went to the shop, the parts manager told me those little bearings were about $8 each. I about choked on the sucker I was eating! He said I could replace the entire roller with bearings for $15. That still sounded a little steep. So I called the local bearing supply shop. He quoted me about the same price for good Japanese bearings or he could get Chinese bearings for about $3 each, but he didn't have any in stock. Then he told me the bearing I needed was almost universally used in skateboards. I went to Dick's Sporting Goods and bought a package of 8 for $12.99. Can you believe this?

I recently went through the same scenario with steering stem bearings for the same bike. The oem bearings from Husky were just way too much, so the dealer told me if I wanted to be a guinea pig they just got some Moose sets in that were slightly different than oem. I bought those for about $40 less for the set and they worked fine. Then I crosss referenced the Moose part number to a set from Rocky Mountain (part #221-02-6 for all 125-625 KTMs 84-05) made by All Balls for KTM bikes at a price of $25.99. I'm still looking for my receipt for the Moose bearings, but it seems they were about $15 higher.

You really have to dig for this kind of information, but there's a lot of stuff out there from mail order for KTMs that will cross over to the Husky machines. Fork seals for a 95-96 KTM 300 EXC/MXC will fit the 04 CR125 Husky so will brake pads (front and rear) from a 04-05 KTM 125-525. I'm going to try the Tusk brand from Rocky Mountain in sintered metal for $14.99 each. That's about half the price I've been paying at the shop.

If anybody else out there knows where something crosses to these machines, put it out there for the rest of us. Nothing against dealers, but the cost of racing and riding is getting outa hand and I need to save a buck whenever I can.

 

[john hubbard]

Jeff,

I'm not hurting for money, but man I hear ya -- you've got to pay play...I just finished recently getting an old 85 Husky WR 400 on the road and I'll tell if you if wasn't for people parting out old huskies on you know what "Bay." I'd be hosed...Nonetheless I still had to purchase some new parts from Husky suppliers, and man I would just shake my head when they gave me price, but hey what are you going to do...My Maico restoration was even worse...again, what can you do? As far as my KTM's are concerned, if Tusk makes it, then I'm buying...Some KTM items I know I can't skimp on, but for everything else, it's Tusk and I until the end. Believe it or not, I've got my eye (the good one that is) on another Husky... :coocoo:

John

 

[TrailFan]

a little late on the reply but

Hey there, I think Rocky mountain has some of the best deals im new at riding but i just found an fmf fatty gold brand new in their scratch and dent section for my y89 rm250 the scratches were VERY MINOR you can hardly see them and they are on the bottom of the pipe any way best part total price with shipping was $56.

It dont get much better than that. lol :cool:

 

[ZeCatfish]

I ride and race an ATK 260LQ parts are the same way. But Heres the list I've compiled so far for parts for it. The rotax engine is as bulletproof as anything ever made.

Wiseco Piston Kit # 701M06800 : 3 ounces lighter than stock: faster rev.
Wiseco Wrist Pin Bearing # B1003A
Wiseco Top End Gasket Set # W5566
Boysen Reed # 670
Moto Tassinari V-Force 3 # V306A-M :I use the V-Force 2
Paoli Blue Steel 46mm : Same as 2000 Honda XR650R Flanders Part number 401-90155
Fork Seal Size: 46x58x10.5/11mm
Rear Brake Rotor Shark fin: Deval for 99 KTM: Needs minor filing along top to clear swingarm.
Rear sprockets same as RM 250
Chain Guide shell: The stock is flimsy caused me to not finish race: Carbon Fiber Shell YZ250
Paoli Fork bushings, Get Bushing kit for CR500 or XR650R

but it all boils down to if your going to play you have to pay.

 

[Cr 1_2_5]

no doubt everyone... I hear ya it can be a very expensive sport but i still strongly believe in the sayin " you get what you pay for" im not saying cheaper parts are bad cause i'd be lying if i said i haven't used them. In fact i use them alot but i think sometimes if you spend the little extra money on the parts it might save some money and aggervation down the road. Thats how I try to make it easier as i hand the parts guy 200 bucks in cash. sometimes it makes it seem like not so much.

 

[Oldman125]

Yup. Gone are the days when a bike cost $1000 and my yearly income was $28,000 a year.

Anybody seen the price of gas lately?

 

[robwbright]

Yup. Gone are the days when a bike cost $1000 . . .

How long ago was that? :nener:

I guess I did get a brand new 1986 CR80 on Christmas 1985 for $995.

 

[chevy383cid]

Yea, yesterday I was at the ktm dealer and my daughter was looking at a 06 50 mini that cost 3299.00 :yikes: , I told her not to hold her breath!!

 

[arjay]

Honda CR125 piston kit goes into a Husky 125 (2001 I think) along with throttle cable, reed assembly and gaskets

Thanks for the info on the brake pads and bearings.

 

[levert]

I rarely use the dealer for bearings.If you can read the number its easy to get a suitable and far cheaper bearings and most important most bearing houses will have them in stock.

That being said I try to support the local dealers with required OEM parts and don't haggle them on price.If your dealer is good don't beat him up on the price of parts,this is how he stays in business.If over a year you've paid $50 more for oil and such its worth it to me to have good advice on my machine from the dealer.

Overall it seems all brands are about equal on prices when you go across the board.The only thing that drives me crazy is how KTM in Canada can charge $130 for a set of rings when I can buy a wiseco piston and rings for $160???Theres always going to be the occasionally price out of whack.

Last year when I couldn't get brake pads for the KTM I went to BMW and the F650 uses the same pads and horrors, BMW was cheaper, go figure! :coocoo: