South West Bikers | Motorcycle Forum

I do mine.

My advice is always try to use the right tools.

But the best bit of advice I got from college was if you're getting stressed go and have a coffee. It really works because you come back to the job refreshed. It will probably take you less time in the long run and may prevent a hammer shaped dent apearing in your tank. Read the releavant part of the manual whislt drinking your beverage if required.

layne wrote:Nop, don’t know one end of a spanner from the other.

As the week-ends results prove

my advice is use the biggest hammer available

Yep - as much as I can anyway. Love working away on my bike, the sense of achievement when you finish a job is like nothing else, i've also had a helping hand from Billinomates and Dynamight which was very much appreciated.
I'll have a go at most things whether mechanical or electrical, as i'm fascinated by the inside workings of a bikes - also like to give the lads a run for their money too!

Jaye wrote:Yep - as much as I can anyway. Love working away on my bike, the sense of achievement when you finish a job is like nothing else, i've also had a helping hand from Billinom8s and Dynamight which was very much appreciated.
I'll have a go at most things whether mechanical or electrical, as i'm fascinated by the inside workings of bikes - also like to give the lads a run for their money too!

Sorry, just realised my typo - apologies, it's late!

Do as much as I can, usually with help from my dad as well.

Although my valves clearances and carbs need balancing soon, so will be making a trip sometime soon.

It interesting to see that the majority of bikers work on thier own bike then, if you asked this on a car forum im sure youd get a very different answer!

any engine work or servicing goes straight to the dealer....only because these days my bikes tend to be new so its either free warranty work or a mileage service where you need a dealer stamp to keep the warranty valid.

you'd have to be a fool to not get engine work and servicing on a brand new bike done by the dealer.

things like replacing brakes stripping the bike between road and track trim putting on after market pipes fitting Pc3's etc I do myself

Back when I had older bikes and also on my MX bikes I would do almost everything myself. (excluding specialist stuff like shock and fork servicing)

jason wrote:any engine work or servicing goes straight to the dealer....only because these days my bikes tend to be new so its either free warranty work or a mileage service where you need a dealer stamp to keep the warranty valid.

you'd have to be a fool to not get engine work and servicing on a brand new bike done by the dealer.

things like replacing brakes stripping the bike between road and track trim putting on after market pipes fitting Pc3's etc I do myself

Back when I had older bikes and also on my MX bikes I would do almost everything myself. (excluding specialist stuff like shock and fork servicing)

If you can prove competence in engineering you are allowed to do serviceing on new bikes yourself and retain warranty, I always have other than the first free service.

Mike Rowley wrote:If you can prove competence in engineering you are allowed to do serviceing on new bikes yourself and retain warranty, I always have other than the first free service.

ever tried to get major engine warranty work done of the back of it though? how the hell do you get the book stamped for your services - thats what suzuki have always asked for the two times I have had warrenty work done. Im not sure I would want to risk that. Also it devalues your bike. No FSH on a bike less than 2 years old is a real minus if you try to sell it or PX it

I would rather be in a position where there was no uncertainty - I killed the bottom end on a 6 month old K1 gsxr 750 once through oil starvation, thank goodness suzuki honoured the warranty or the repair bill would have been horrendous (the whole bottom end including the crank). No way would I want to risk a bill into the thousands against a couple tiny £120 odd dealer servicing bills.

Never had a problem Jason. I fill the book in myself and sign it with professional qual letters, that has always been accepted in terms of both warranty and FSH. I bought a new Honda at the end of Aug. 2007 and had one warranty claim for a small crack in the fairing. It was sorted with no argument. I had checked if it was ok to do my own serviceing before hand.

It is not the cash I'm bothered about it is being sure the job has actually been done and done properly. I took a VFR into a well known large dealers for the valve clearances to be checked some years ago. I marked the cam cover bolts and when it came back they had not been moved!

Mike Rowley wrote: It is not the cash I'm bothered about it is being sure the job has actually been done and done properly. I took a VFR into a well known large dealers for the valve clearances to be checked some years ago. I marked the cam cover bolts and when it came back they had not been moved!

scarely enough I dont doubt that at all ( which is one of the reasons I dont get my bikes serviced at the official suzuki dealer at the bottom of my road and instead take it 50 odd miles to a dealer (who isnt official suzuki) that I trust for my service and stamp.

Luckily I'm in a position where I can afford to pay someone else to get there hands dirty for servicing.

However, I am in the process of building a bike, so its swings and roundabouts.

I do all of my own servicing and maintenance (with a little bit of help from my dad at times though).

I usually change the oil once a month, because Honda recommend that you change it every 2000 miles!

I haven't had to do anything major yet, i think the biggest job was changing the clutch plates on my Aprilia 50. Bought the bike into the kitchen to do that one!

I do all my own service and tuning/development work and loads of other peoples, but then again it's what I do, and I'm happier now I'm doing this again rather than teaching it to uninterested little scrotes I've only ever taken a bike in to have something done once, when I didn't have the time to fit a new motor into it myself, but that was over 20 years ago now. For those who want to do more on their bikes but lack the experience or confidence, get yourself onto an evening course and learn about it.