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Post-warranty servicing

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How should I service my bike now it's out of warranty?
Let the main dealer service it. Explain the expense to the wife at a later date
7%
 7%  [ 2 ]
Get an independent bike shop to service it. Slightly cheaper but worth it?
7%
 7%  [ 2 ]
Service it myself in the main, but anything impossible take to the bike shop
85%
 85%  [ 23 ]
Total Votes : 27

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kgm
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PostPosted: 23:54 - 19 Nov 2021    Post subject: Reply with quote

My crossrunner is a MK1. It's frustrating as hell to work on.. everything has been made so awkward. Not difficult, just bloody awkwad. That's why I'm selling it after 4 years, I simply can't be arsed anymore.
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mentalboy
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PostPosted: 02:31 - 20 Nov 2021    Post subject: Reply with quote

Robby wrote:
I get my new bike serviced by the main dealer, even though it's now out of warranty. The only work it needs doing is one service, once a year, for about £250. That is cheap, compared to the amount of work most of my bikes have needed over the years. My standard approach is to buy a bike for about a grand and then spend another grand on it, then sell.

My old bike I do everything myself, but that's after doing a restoration myself so I know every quirk of it and don't want someone else touching it.

I suspect, although can't prove, that the saving of servicing my new bike myself will not outweigh the decrease in value if I don't have a stamped up service book. There is also the (remote) possibility of getting some kind of goodwill discount if something major fails while the bike is still quite new.

I also think my GAP insurance requires it to be serviced by some kind of business, and the GAP will pay out 2 grand more than I paid for the bike.

All that said, I also agree with Stinkwheel to a point. With dealer servicing I'm not paying for stellar work, I'm paying to maintain the value of an asset. My old bike is the one I really care about, which is why no-one else takes a spanner near it.


Have you ever tried to claim on GAP insurance? Laughing Laughing Laughing
The only good thing I found about it was that the refund for cashing in a nearly new policy was almost as big as the premium. Which suggests that the insurance part is miniscule compared to the part for the salescon's commission, not worth the paper it's written on.

As for the OP. do what you're happy with - technically that should be governed by your own experience level but more often than not self-servicing tends to be governed by time and budget constraints and only you can know what yours are.
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RhynoCZ
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PostPosted: 11:32 - 20 Nov 2021    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, OP, get yourself the service manual to your motorcycle and have a read through it. It will tell you how to do stuff. If you are more of a visual type, then youtube is your friend.

The basic maintenence is very simple on pretty much any motorcycle/car. It's all about regular oil+filter changes. It's about checking the braking system (pads+rotors+change the fluid everynow and then, not necessarily too frequently), check wether you're loosing oil/coolant. While you check the oil level, the colour and smell of the oil also tells you about the condition of your engine/oil. And once in who knows how many miles, you should replace the spark plugs, which is an easy job.

It's only when you hear unusuall noises and experience unusuall behavior, you have to ask the question of who's gonna fix it.

Using a service manual, and taking a lot of pictures while I take stuff apart (also asking people on the BCF), I could do various jobs, that I would have never even think of, when I started riding motorcyles. I rebuilt front/rear suspension, I replaced the wheel bearings, the stator (twice on a Honda Thinking), fluid/filter changes are easy enough, changing all sorts of gaskets and seals... even replaced the engine head of a Opel/Vauxhall Vectra (twice, with my mate, just reading what the service manual said). I'm still yet to learn how to heli-coil, how to weld etc., but you don't need that on regular basis to keep your motorcycle/car happy.

The tools? I use basic tools, that everyone should have at home nowadays, incl. a multimeter to check electrical stuff. The rest of the tools, such as coil spring compressors, brake caliper piston rewind tool (imporant for cars with parking brake inside the rear calipers (VW, PSA...)), chain breaking tool, feeler gauge, etc., I've got from China OR I ask my mate wheter he can lend me his tools.

EDIT: Really, take pictures, make notes if necessary, when you take stuff apart! Thumbs Up
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to v or not to v
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PostPosted: 22:24 - 02 Dec 2021    Post subject: Reply with quote

stinkwheel wrote:
The only way to be sure everything has actually been done is to do it yourself. The other options are hit or miss.


most definitely this. i got fed up with car mechanics, both dealers and recommended by mates, charging me for things they hadnt done.

diy is the only way you can be sure.
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Zen Dog
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PostPosted: 01:31 - 03 Dec 2021    Post subject: Reply with quote

stinkwheel wrote:
The only way to be sure everything has actually been done is to do it yourself. The other options are hit or miss.


I suppose the counter argument to that, is that the results of me doing it myself have also been hit and miss... I've learned some skills from doing work on the bike myself, which definitely has it's own merit, and I've learned more about the bike from it too, which is also a good thing. But in terms of whether me working on the bike has had a positive effect on the actual bike itself, compared to a professional doing it, I'm not so sure... There are definitely some scratches, badly drilled and rethreaded holes, and slightly bent things that weren't there before I got started.

Also, while pretty much anyone can do a basic (oil and filter) service at the roadside, not everyone has the facilities to do much more than that even if they want to. Not having an indoor space to work on your bikes is a massive hassle in a whole load of different ways, and not everyone has access to one.
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ThunderGuts
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PostPosted: 08:39 - 03 Dec 2021    Post subject: Reply with quote

Next spanner in the works is the service manual is £110. Shocked Only available as "main dealer parts". I have searched extensively, including talking to those on the Crossrunner forum, but the service manual is not freely in the public domain anywhere sadly.
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to v or not to v
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PostPosted: 13:48 - 03 Dec 2021    Post subject: Reply with quote

ThunderGuts wrote:
Next spanner in the works is the service manual is £110. Shocked Only available as "main dealer parts". I have searched extensively, including talking to those on the Crossrunner forum, but the service manual is not freely in the public domain anywhere sadly.


you can usually find what youre looking for on youtube Thumbs Up
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kawakid
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PostPosted: 09:46 - 04 Dec 2021    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would go down the independent route tbh.

I used to do a lot of work on my bikes and cars come to think of it.

But I struggle so much with time now, I just don't have any free time, even late in to the evenings, I have things on.

Thus more often I am paying for someone to do something I could do myself.
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