Wow, have I been living under a rock? Cost of servicing...

[Glade]

My mate had a 3-year service inc. all fluids (oil, brakes, coolant), valve clearances, air filter done on a KTM 1290 Super adventure last week and it cost £1231.

My GSX-S1000GX is going for its first service next week so will see. I didn't ask the price and they didn't mention it, so I better practice my poker face for when I get bent over.

[H40405J]

Glade said:

My mate had a 3-year service inc. all fluids (oil, brakes, coolant), valve clearances, air filter done on a KTM 1290 Super adventure last week and it cost £1231.

My GSX-S1000GX is going for its first service next week so will see. I didn't ask the price and they didn't mention it, so I better practice my poker face for when I get bent over.

I can believe that. Premier Bikes quoted me £500 just to change the coolant on my 1290 back in April. Unsurprisingly, I didn’t go with it.

[richhead]

Fork oil change seems unnecessary unless its been leaking, its oil in a sealed space, no contaminants added unlike engine oil.

[Flavio Mosley]

Harris_I said:

Just asked BMW to quote my 18,000 mile service on an S1000XR. Over a grand!! Granted, I live in the southeast where dealer rates are high, and this is the big one which includes valve clearance check, fork oil change and plugs, but still...

I then tried a local indy... over £1500!!

Honestly, I must have gone to sleep for 20 years. Just can't get my head around the cost of servicing (and I wouldn't dare attempt valve clearance or fork oil on my own).

Sounds about right. We’re a main dealer and we’re about £850 and quote approx £150-£250 for any shims that need replacing as the cam carrier has to be removed.

[vindaloo79]

Glade said:

My mate had a 3-year service inc. all fluids (oil, brakes, coolant), valve clearances, air filter done on a KTM 1290 Super adventure last week and it cost £1231.

My GSX-S1000GX is going for its first service next week so will see. I didn't ask the price and they didn't mention it, so I better practice my poker face for when I get bent over.

Appleyards keighly mentioned about £240 for first service. I had negotiated it included with the GX. I’m having to wait six weeks from booking

[Ghs]

Last 3 likes ( Kawasaki ) have all been £99 for 600 mile running in service , then just had one done( zx4rr ) for 1 yr service & that was £150 , thought very reasonable .

[2ndclasscitizen]

It'll be the valve clearances making up the bulk of the costs. I imagine there's a lot of time in just getting at the valve cover on an S1000XR before they even start working through checks. They've probably also costed in having to adjust at least some of them, rather than pricing a check then charging more if any need adjusting.

[_Rodders_]

Seems like a design fail to even need them checking and adjusting in 2026. The last car I had to dothat on would be over 40 years old now.

Edited by _Rodders_ on Monday 31st August 16:58

[Turn7]

_Rodders_ said:

Seems like a design fail to seven need them checking and adjusting in 2026. The last car I had to that on would be over 40 years old now.

Design failure or income generator ?

[Jap90s]

Harris_I said:

riding around on something that out accelerates a Lambo

Exactly

Get a price for servicing a Lamborghini and suddenly it's cheap

[Jap90s]

_Rodders_ said:

Seems like a design fail to seven need them checking and adjusting in 2026. The last car I had to that on would be over 40 years old now.

What was the size of the engine and what is the power of your car and how does that compare to a S1000XR

High performance motorcycles are essentially race engines - if you want a motorcycle that's cheap to maintain, they're available but they're also relatively low powered for their engine size

BTW I'm not agreeing with the price mentioned by the OP I'd never consider having any work done by a main dealer you're paying for the secretary the fancy showroom and the work is probably being done by the YTS kid

I generally do my own maintenance, anything I don't want to do I'd go to a recommended independent specialist - you can't beat a middle aged guy in a backstreet garage

Edited by Jap90s on Monday 31st August 07:42

[Griffith4ever]

Jap90s said:

_Rodders_ said:

Seems like a design fail to seven need them checking and adjusting in 2026. The last car I had to that on would be over 40 years old now.

What was the size of the engine and what is the power of your car and how does that compare to a S1000XR

High performance motorcycles are essentially race engines - if you want a motorcycle that's cheap to maintain, they're available but they're also relatively low powered for their engine size

BTW I'm not agreeing with the price mentioned by the OP I'd never consider having any work done by a main dealer you're paying for the secretary the fancy showroom and the work is probably being done by the YTS kid

I generally do my own maintenance, anything I don't want to do I'd go to a recommended independent specialist - you can't beat a middle aged guy in a backstreet garage

Edited by Jap90s on Monday 31st August 07:42

My R6 had 2 services during my ownership from new ( I was younger and didn't care). Certanly never needed the valves adjusted, and it was, for the time, mental powerful (I know things have moved on). I tracked it a few times so it was used to bouncing off the limiter.

The fact the S1000XR needs valve clearance checks so soon indicates a design flaw IMHO. This is really something I'd expect to happen on an actual race bike TBH.

Comparing the service cost to Lambos (not you) is amusing, but, daft, of course. One is a supercar priced accordingly, and "meant" to drain your pockets, one is a much simpler and lighter machine. The fact the lighter machine can out accellerate one is neither here nor there.

I do al lot of my own spannering, and all of it on my bikes (new piston and rings etc), but I didn't when I was younger. Only thing i never skimped on was tyres on my bikes.

[RizzoTheRat]

Presumably newer bikes with active suspension and complex electronics are a lot harder to work on. I can do the valve clearance on my old TDM myself in half a day, on a more modern bike it would probably take me that long to reach the valve cover.

richhead said:

Fork oil change seems unnecessary unless its been leaking, its oil in a sealed space, no contaminants added unlike engine oil.

Supposedly the shearing force on the oil breaks down the longer molecules. Old fork oil is noticeably runnier than new.

[slime bomb]

All this makes me think the quote from BMW to replace my gearbox seal and a new clutch plate on my 1200 gs adv which involves splitting the bike seems quite cheap at £1300!

[PorkInsider]

iansp said:

PorkInsider said:

My 2025 Ducati Streetfighter V2S is due its second service in a few weeks. I'm fully expecting it to work out to at least £1 per mile ridden.

First service was an oil change at 580 miles and I'm pretty sure it was ~£400.

Next one will be at least the same I guess(?) and I've done 400 miles since the previous one.

You may be pleasantly surprised as I have a 2025 Ducati Multistrada V2S, so same engine, and the second service from my local Ducati Dealer cost £57.50.

Edited by iansp on Sunday 30th August 19:13

That's very good to hear. I'm booking it in soon so I'll reply again when I find out.

[T6 vanman]

PorkInsider said:

My 2025 Ducati Streetfighter V2S is due its second service in a few weeks. I'm fully expecting it to work out to at least £1 per mile ridden.

First service was an oil change at 580 miles and I'm pretty sure it was ~£400.

Next one will be at least the same I guess(?) and I've done 400 miles since the previous one.

mine was just under £300 .. very happy to give a big shout out to OYB

[Tonberry]

Griffith4ever said:

Jap90s said:

_Rodders_ said:

Seems like a design fail to seven need them checking and adjusting in 2026. The last car I had to that on would be over 40 years old now.

What was the size of the engine and what is the power of your car and how does that compare to a S1000XR

High performance motorcycles are essentially race engines - if you want a motorcycle that's cheap to maintain, they're available but they're also relatively low powered for their engine size

BTW I'm not agreeing with the price mentioned by the OP I'd never consider having any work done by a main dealer you're paying for the secretary the fancy showroom and the work is probably being done by the YTS kid

I generally do my own maintenance, anything I don't want to do I'd go to a recommended independent specialist - you can't beat a middle aged guy in a backstreet garage

Edited by Jap90s on Monday 31st August 07:42

My R6 had 2 services during my ownership from new ( I was younger and didn't care). Certanly never needed the valves adjusted, and it was, for the time, mental powerful (I know things have moved on). I tracked it a few times so it was used to bouncing off the limiter.

The fact the S1000XR needs valve clearance checks so soon indicates a design flaw IMHO. This is really something I'd expect to happen on an actual race bike TBH.

Comparing the service cost to Lambos (not you) is amusing, but, daft, of course. One is a supercar priced accordingly, and "meant" to drain your pockets, one is a much simpler and lighter machine. The fact the lighter machine can out accellerate one is neither here nor there.

I do al lot of my own spannering, and all of it on my bikes (new piston and rings etc), but I didn't when I was younger. Only thing i never skimped on was tyres on my bikes.

No, a valve check at 18,000 miles on a high performance inline four is perfectly reasonable. The valves on the K47 engine rarely need adjusting until 30,000 + miles but a check doesn't hurt.

The same goes for Japanese I4 bikes with similar valve check intervals, they rarely need adjusting.

Contrast that with the Aprilia V4 engine that has 12k valve checks (6k if remapped) and will frequently drop valves and go boom even if serviced.

[bogie]

Tonberry said:

No, a valve check at 18,000 miles on a high performance inline four is perfectly reasonable. The valves on the K47 engine rarely need adjusting until 30,000 + miles but a check doesn't hurt.

The same goes for Japanese I4 bikes with similar valve check intervals, they rarely need adjusting.

Contrast that with the Aprilia V4 engine that has 12k valve checks (6k if remapped) and will frequently drop valves and go boom even if serviced.

Nothing unusual about a valve clearance check at 18k miles

In a lower revving engine they use hydraulic tappets that auto adjust, but for high revving engines they need manual adjustment.

Most Harley-Davidson engines have had hydraulic tappets since the 1950s but your GSXR1000 service manual might say check valves every 15k miles.

[PorkInsider]

T6 vanman said:

PorkInsider said:

My 2025 Ducati Streetfighter V2S is due its second service in a few weeks. I'm fully expecting it to work out to at least £1 per mile ridden.

First service was an oil change at 580 miles and I'm pretty sure it was ~£400.

Next one will be at least the same I guess(?) and I've done 400 miles since the previous one.

mine was just under £300 .. very happy to give a big shout out to OYB

I could be wrong! I'm off to look for the receipt. Hold on...

[Nothingtoseehere]

PorkInsider said:

T6 vanman said:

PorkInsider said:

My 2025 Ducati Streetfighter V2S is due its second service in a few weeks. I'm fully expecting it to work out to at least £1 per mile ridden.

First service was an oil change at 580 miles and I'm pretty sure it was ~£400.

Next one will be at least the same I guess(?) and I've done 400 miles since the previous one.

mine was just under £300 .. very happy to give a big shout out to OYB

I could be wrong! I'm off to look for the receipt. Hold on...

First service on my 2025 Panigale V2S was £232. Edit: year one service, not running service.