When to have bike serviced?

[WATCHOUT!]

Please help a mechanical novice. My hornet is 1,500 miles away from the dreaded 8k service. In the winter I'll only be riding it for commuting in London, about 5-10 miles a day on average. It had an oil and filter change in March, and nothing except regular chain lubing since then. Do you suggest I have it serviced now? I can find no problems with the ride quality except the notoriously clunky hornet gearbox getting a little clunkier, but that may be attributable to the colder weather (it does seem to get better as the bike warms up).

If you think a service is in order, what shall I go for? Oil, fluids top up, short back and sides???

Cheers all!

[iCraig]

Err, go off what the owners manual says.

[the grim reaper]

If it's 1500 off a service then wait 1500 miles and then service it. I wouldn't worry about the clunky gearbox, the cold will make the oil thicker which can make a difference, also check your chain is adjusted properly, that is the No1 cause of gearbox issues.

My opinion is just ride it, at your current mileage, you have 15 weeks before it will need a service, if it was me (I do my own servicing) I'd get the stuff in and wait for a nice sunny day. If you pay for your servicing, book it in on a convenient day for you and get it done then, the mileage won't really matter.

Cheers

Grim
____________________
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[WATCHOUT!]

thanks guys -- the manual says nothing about it but since it was going to be a good few months before servicing I wanted to make sure nothing would go wrong. the chain adjustment tip is a good one, I only wish I had a bloody centrestand...