Motorcycle Repair: Major clutch problems: 2006 Honda Shadow Spirit, honda shadow spirit, honda sabre

Question
I am NOT a bike rider (as you can tell from my questions)!  My son recently bought a used 2006 Honda Shadow Spirit 1100.  The previous owner did regular maintenance on the bike.  The bike now has 3400 miles on it and it died this week.  He had it towed to a dealer who says the clutch is shot and they are looking at $550 to fix it.  What typically causes this?  Is this a common/known problem with this bike?  The dealer says the clutch typically needs replacing every 3,000 miles ... can that be right?  Does $200 + for parts plus $300 for labor seem roughly right?  We're in Atlanta, GA.  Thanks!!

Answer
Paul, normally I steer clear of questions on later model Hondas because my experience is with pre-82 Hondas and I don't want to give recommendations on bike I don't know too much about.  In your case I'll make a slight exception.  First the clutch will last the life of the bike if properly maintained and not abused.  I have a 85 Honda Sabre with 48,000 miles with the original clutch.  I don't baby the bike and the previous owner tore second gear out of the transmission with his abuse so clutches can take considerable abuse.  The abuse that tears up clutches is burn outs, excessive clutch slipping, inexperienced riders using the clutch in ways it wasn't intended like helping to hold the bike on a hill.  

I'm sure there are aftermarket clutch packs that are available for that model at a lot lower price than $200. I just found the EBC fiber plates for $77 bucks.  You typically don't have to replace the metal plates unless they are warpped or badly burned.  If they aren't warpped you can glass bead them and they will work better than new.

The labor rate varies all over the place.  Most shops have a labor rate of $60-100 an hour now days.  That repair would take me about 2 hours to complete so $300 would be on the high side but still reasonable. If you invest in a manual and some tools, it would cost you a lot less than $300...at least that's how I got started.

Regards
Rich
Rich