Servicing?

[Harri]

Hi all, I'm still bike hunting so I have a question about servicing.

I used to do my own general servicing on my Honda twins. We're talking 1980's here! What is the situation these days? I have been specifically looking at twin engines as I'm guessing they will be easier/cheaper to maintain. 2 carbs to service as opposed to 4 e.t.c. And cheaper to put right should anything go wrong.

Are any of you guys servicing your own bikes or is the service book/stamp important?

cheers.

[fq-craigus]

Never had a service book stamped, I begrudge paying an apprentice to do something I can do.

Oil filters pads ect most people should be able to do it's just carb balancing that is a grey area but if you know that too I say do it.

Good luck with your bike hunt, you know what bike your after

[megawatt]

Easy peasy two cylinders or four.

[Harri]

Thanks, sounds like most things are do-able. 'carb balancing' is something I keep seeing. I'm guessing there are some modern bikes though that are best left to mechanics who have all the equipment. I reckon I could do most things on a twin. Had a CB550 that tested my servicing abilities.

Bikes? so far I've been chasing Suzuki sv650 early model, suzuki bandit, kawasaki er. Most things in the 400-600cc group, but only around £900 to spend. I've said in other threads the biggest stumbling block is most bikes are so far away. Travelling hundreds of miles to see a bike I might not even and up buying could be a costly exercise!

Barcud

[eastanglianbiker]

stu on here has got a really nice sv650 for sale might be worth having a chat to him

[Stu]

stu on here has got a really nice sv650 for sale might be worth having a chat to him

 

Thanks Steve

He would need to up that £900 budget though

[Harri]

Hi, yes I watch the wanted/for sale bikes. If one of you would like to come around and ask my wife if I can buy that bike I'll eat my shorts if she says yes!!!

Barcud

[Who else but Quagmire]

Are any of you guys servicing your own bikes or is the service book/stamp important?

 

Service book stamps are only important to the person who buys the bike after you - or if it's a warranty requirement. There's nothing to stop you doing your own service and writing the date etc in the service book and signing it yourself. It may affect resale value depending on the age of the bike, but generally you can tell by looking if a bike has been cared for or not.

Just don't scrimp on it and think "oh I'll do those plugs next time" as some jobs may bite you in the arse (speaking from experience here, on one of my old cars).

If you're handy with a spanner, go for it.

[wr6133]

DIY servicing is easy and cheap. I wouldn't rule out IL4 bikes just because of 2 extra plugs and carbs. I managed to do oil, oil filter, air filter, plugs, brake bleed, coolant top up and quick carb clean on my IL4 today in about 2 1/2 hours and most of that was removing and later putting back on the fairings.

My bike is 23 years old so service stamps mean nothing

[Harri]

Thanks a lot guys, lots of useful info.

Barcud

[Rik398]

Yeah I would recommend doing servicing yourself. Many reasons for this,

1) You know for sure what has been done, and what problems may crop up next time you do a service. You know the conidition of your bike much better, and you know nothing has been fudged

2) You actually learn something new each time (to begin with at least)

3) Many times, it is cheaper than a garage even when you buy the tools, and once you have a collection of tools built up, then you are laughing

4) Most the regular stuff is a really, really easy. Depending on the bike, a non major service will often just consist of oil change, check the plugs and air filter. Could cost you as little as 30 quid

You start of small and build confidence. Once you have changed the brake pads a few times, it wont be too long before stripping and rebuilding a caliper seems easy.

With you tube and a Haynes manual, the regular service things on the bike (oil change and filters and stuff) is easily doable.

I can't tell you exactly how much money I have saved, but it is most definitely hundreds rather than tens. And on top of that, I don't have to risk leaving it with a garage and it being stuck there for days on end while they 'get round to it'

I ALWAYS use the garage for tyre changes though. Most likely not worth doing yourself and got to keep them in business some how. I also try and buy parts from a garage if I can, a lot of the time they are not that expensive.

[Pete]

I've always done my own servicing up until the bike I currently own.

First bike I owned I just couldn't afford to pay someone else to do it! I was religious in the upkeep of it though, and to be honest just got myself a Haynes manual, got stuck in and learnt as I went (another reason for doing it myself, I wanted to get good at basic mechanics!).

Second bike was a similar one to my first one, so I was familiar with it and just got on with it.

My current bike, which I've had for less than a month cost more than twice what I paid for the last one, has a full BMW service history and is a different type of engine. At the moment it's fully up to date (and at the moment I don't want to be the first person to miss a service stamp in the otherwise perfect book!) and doesn't need another service for 8,000 miles. I'll probably have someone else do the servicing on it, but won't be going direct to BMW. It's in at the moment for some work that's more involved than I can manage in my own garage. The guy that's doing it is excellent and I'm glad I found him (thanks to Shorty on this forum for the recommendation).

These days I just don't have the time. I work from home but long hours, and if I've not got a job on I'm looking for the next job! Weekend is time for me and the missus. So for me I'll just get someone else to do it who I trust for a reasonable fee, because I just use my time for other things.

[Harri]

Hi all, just wanted to raise this again with a related question.

I'm confident basic servicing is okay but how many of you guys have adjusted valves in modern shimmed engines. I was raised on screw type tappets and these shimmed valves look quite complicated? I'm considering a CB500 at the moment that could do with a service, though I'm not sure I'd be up to valve adjustments.

cheers

[Stu]

piece of piss!

most are cam removal and depending on the bike you may need to line the cams up a certain way and also count links on the timing chain when re installing

some chain driven to a point then gear driven which is a lot easier

first thing you need to do is read the manual when undergoing the job

[Tango]

But you only need to pull the cams out if the gaps need adjusting.....

[Harri]

'piece of piss'. That's something I could do more with, confidence

Yes Tango, you are correct there. I don't even know they would need doing yet !