Home servicing

[PhillVR6]

Now in another follow up to my servicing and brake line threads. Given the difficulties I've had getting dealers and mechanics to service my bike to Kawasakis requirements I've not got a massive amount of confidence.

Given that general service items are largely simple tasks involving swapping parts (I'm not talking checking valve clearances here)and given that I've got a bit of common sense, a socket set, a couple of screwdrivers some allen keys and an abba stand. Is it worth me servicing the bike myself and keeping the reciepts in a file to prove the work has been done?

I'm just thinking, I could save myself a few quid and have some piece of mind at the same time. Is this a realistic idea? I've already got a service manual on CD rom.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks,

Phill

[Steve_T]

Yep, I do all mine and it has saved me many £s. It's fine if you're going to keep your bike, probably bad for resale if you change your bike frequently. For the jobs that take a bit longer to do (over a couple of evenings or whatever), a second bike is an easy solution

Steve.

[dern]

I service my own blade and have done since the warranty ran out about 4 years ago (owned 6 years from new). The bike's now done about 30k and looks like shite because it's my main commuter bike so isn't worth that much now anyway.

Whether or not it's worth it depends on what you mean.

From a time perspective it's worth it to me as I have to ride the bike 5 miles to the dealer and then sit on my arse and wait for it to be done and then ride it back. I may as well do it myself especially given that I like dicking about with bikes and cars.

From a financial perspective it depends on how long you're going to keep it. I've had my bike 6 years and have no intention of selling it because it's a brilliant bike. The upside to this is that I can service it myself and not worry how this will affect its value because by the time I do get around to selling it (if I ever do) the difference in selling price between one with a fsh and one without will be almost insignificant and easily outweighed by the savings I've made.

If you don't do the valve clearance checking yourself you'll have receipts to show it's been done but you won't save yourself anywhere near as much as that seems to be by far the most expensive service. The first time I did it though it took me absolutely bloody ages because everything is an utter bastard to get to. It isn't difficult though and you just have to follow the manual and not lose anything.

Last summer I had to take the head off and get one of the spark plug thread stripped while riding along (as far as I'm aware I never cross-threaded the plugs and it appears to be a fairly common thing on this model). The amount of disassembly is monumental but again it isn't at all difficult and you just have to follow instructions and buy tools when you need them.

Regards,

Mark

Edited by dern on Wednesday 9th May 16:56

[r1_jon]

If it is out of warranty then yes I would service yourself. I always have, in fact thinking back, of all the 8 bikes I've had not one has ever been to a shop.

It doesn't put me off buying a bike as long as there is some evidence the work has actually been carried out.

[Mad Dave]

Do it yourself - its easy, its fun and saves you a bundle

[Andy Oh]

Now that my 05 R1 is out of warranty I'll be doing all my own servicing and save myself many £'s. I only had the 12,000 and 24,000 mile service done by the dealer but having paid £300 & £510 respectively for those two services the bike will not see the dealer again.

My R1 is two years old and has covered 29,500 miles, I'm keeping it for a good few years yet, and it does everything I want it to do with ease. Fantastic bike