How much maintenance do you do yourself?

[aminalmutha]

It is this assumption that I would challenge. Nobody cares more about my bike than I do. That means that I give a crap if things are done correctly. There are a lot of very good mechanics out there, but there are also a lot of folks who will charge you $100 and do a half-assed job at best.

Not to mention, the guy changing your oil may very well have been just promoted from Resident Broom Pusher to Resident Hand-Me-That-Wrench Bitch.

 

[mrzuzzo]

It is this assumption that I would challenge. Nobody cares more about my bike than I do. That means that I give a crap if things are done correctly. There are a lot of very good mechanics out there, but there are also a lot of folks who will charge you $100 and do a half-assed job at best.

Funny, it takes me less time to do maintenance myself than take it to someone. Oil change? Sheeit, I've had bikes where it took all of 10 minutes to change the oil. Takes longer to drain than anything else.

Shop? Make an appointment, take it down there, inevitably get held up for some BS, wait around. Hell, sometimes they'll even hold it over night.

Not that I've ever had anyone but myself change any of my vehicles' oil, but I've taken vehicles in for warranty repair or to get tires swapped and I have almost always gotten the run around.

Had a recall on a bike once. It was a bolt on the battery box... some were slightly too long and could rub the battery. $.50 part, a few minutes labor. Took it to three different places and all of 'em said it'd take a week. Fuck that. I'll do it myself.

Recently I've been going to a shop called RMC moto in Sunnyvale. There is only one mechanic, Rick, and he is the owner of the shop. It was 10 minutes to change the oil, and I packed in a quick ride with my wife to and from the shop on Skyline Blvd. Before that I went for a tire change and that took only 20 minutes.

That said, I am going to replace the ignition switch in my bike this weekend. I know it'll only take me 30min and it's an easy clean job I can do in the morning before I go on my ride.

 

[stangmx13]

It is this assumption that I would challenge. Nobody cares more about my bike than I do. That means that I give a crap if things are done correctly. There are a lot of very good mechanics out there, but there are also a lot of folks who will charge you $100 and do a half-assed job at best.

+1

and beware if u find yourself paying someone $20/hr to work on any vehicle u own. mounting auto tires is about the limit of where i stop trusting such cheap labor.

i find that most moto maintenance is a combination of following instructions and having the right tools. situations where u dont follow them and dont have the tools is where shit goes bad.

 

[mean dad]

If there was a DIY shop where I could bring the bike in and do stuff to it with someone with permanent grease in the cuticles of their callused hands handy to point things to me when things go awry (and they always go awry with me), I'd do it. But, I don't have that, and I'm simply not confident enough to even go there on my own.

boom

They're even a BARF sponsor.

 

[Kornholio]

boom

They're even a BARF sponsor.

He lives in Orange County, Kev.

 

[redtail]

Now I buy a new bike like every 5 years

Cool, what bike do you get in 2010 and what are you going to buy this year?

 

[berth]

Shop? Make an appointment, take it down there, inevitably get held up for some BS, wait around. Hell, sometimes they'll even hold it over night.

Vance & Hines used to have a chain of generic performance shops. There were at least 3 down here in So Cal. They had a "pit stop" kind of quick oil change thing. Ride in, get it done, get out.

I was never happy with any of the Honda dealers nearby, so I always went to them. Was generally pleased with the results over all. Helped fix an exhaust leak on my VFR, repaired some crash damage when I was rear ended on my Hawk. Always seemed knowledgable and friendly to me. Prices were fair.

For some reason, I went to a Honda dealer to get my chain replaced on my Hawk. Bike came back a mess.

If I had to leave the bike at all (which was rare), I would drive my truck down to the shop with my bicycle and chain it to the fence. Then I'd drive home, ride back on my motorcycle, and ride the bike home. Swap it out when the bike was done.

 

[solarae]

Depends on which bike. I do valve adjusts on the vintage Hondas and the little dual sports but not the SV.

 

[HappyHighwayman]

Are MotoGP riders working on their bikes?

 

[redtail]

Are MotoGP riders working on their bikes?

I don't think the factory would want these kids dickin' with their million dollar race bikes. Unless you're talking their own personal bikes?

 

[aminalmutha]

Are MotoGP riders working on their bikes?

Do you have a team of mechanics in your garage?

I personally don't care nor am I going to say your suck or whatever for not working on your bike. Makes no difference to me.

But me, personally, I will not let anyone touch my bikes unless its for warranty work, and even that's iffy. I had a master cylinder cover replaced under warranty and my bike came back with brake fluid everywhere. Mechanic didn't give one fuck. Just an example.

 

[HappyHighwayman]

I do have a team of mechanics, and while not in my garage, they're called BMW, and they're much better at it than I am

I've had extremely consistent and high quality work done by BMW SF. They fixed my bike after some dude slammed into it while it was parked next to a car when he slipped on the J line, fixed one potentiometer under warranty, and has done 90% of my farkling.

If they "mess up", I certainly don't have the skill to notice unless the bikes fails badly.

I'm taking it in for my 5th 6000 mile service. (30,000 mile tuneup.). I'll get it back better than I dropped it off.

 

[Nemo Brinker]

Well, one of the things that working in a couple of shops (Werkstatt and SFMoto) taught me also is that a good set of mechanics are skilled and diligent and worth paying. The guys and gals I worked with were honest and good at what they did, and yes there were occasional mistakes, but they owned up to 'em. In the end, though, of course nobody cares as much about the bike as the owner does, and they are in a hurry. A good mechanic is gold, though.

Heck, at Werkstatt we worked on HappyHighwayman's bike and he seemed pretty satisfied with it.

I still greatly enjoy the personal satisfaction that comes from upgrading, maintaining and fixing my own bikes, but a person can have a great time on their motorcycle and not so much as touch a drop of oil.

Of course, I do teach motorcycle oil change classes for those who want to learn...that is always pretty rad.

 

[HappyHighwayman]

Well, one of the things that working in a couple of shops (Werkstatt and SFMoto) taught me also is that a good set of mechanics are skilled and diligent and worth paying. The guys and gals I worked with were honest and good at what they did, and yes there were occasional mistakes, but they owned up to 'em. In the end, though, of course nobody cares as much about the bike as the owner does, and they are in a hurry. A good mechanic is gold, though.

Heck, at Werkstatt we worked on HappyHighwayman's bike and he seemed pretty satisfied with it.

I still greatly enjoy the personal satisfaction that comes from upgrading, maintaining and fixing my own bikes, but a person can have a great time on their motorcycle and not so much as touch a drop of oil.

Of course, I do teach motorcycle oil change classes for those who want to learn...that is always pretty rad.

The only reason I stopped going to you is because I had an in-warranty BMW. I've had consistently excellent service from Werkstatt and still recommend it to people.

 

[Abyss]

7 respondents are Ducati owners, wanna guess which ones they are?

 

[aminalmutha]

I do have a team of mechanics, and while not in my garage, they're called BMW, and they're much better at it than I am

I've had extremely consistent and high quality work done by BMW SF. They fixed my bike after some dude slammed into it while it was parked next to a car when he slipped on the J line, fixed one potentiometer under warranty, and has done 90% of my farkling.

If they "mess up", I certainly don't have the skill to notice unless the bikes fails badly.

I'm taking it in for my 5th 6000 mile service. (30,000 mile tuneup.). I'll get it back better than I dropped it off.

Is your bike a prototype capable of 250mph if given enough room?

There are good mechanics out there, just they are out numbered 100:1 by mediocre to bad, it seems.

I've never received a vehicle back from a shop that was 100% fixed. I've always had to tweak it at least a little to make it exactly right.

 

[Lunch Box]

7 respondents are Ducati owners, wanna guess which ones they are?

I'm a Duc owner and I wrench on my own. I see your point, though. If a person can afford a Duc (new one, at least) he/she can afford to pay a shop to maintain it. Same with BMW. Nothing wrong with that, but it just isn't the way I choose to approach things. Wrenching or not wrenching isn't what defines a rider.

 

[louemc]

Cool, what bike do you get in 2010 and what are you going to buy this year?

Actually, at this time, I'm so awe'd by my 05 ZX10 (in it's modified to my use, state)...I'm not thinking of a next bike...

But can't rule out electric, either.

I run my home on Solar Power, and could charge an electric bike with a range of the trip to town and back...And have near free fuel.

So hard to say.

I am anti new now that computer managed controls have arrived in force...

I don't need them, don't want them, and the extra possible screwed up complications of things that can malfunction,
after the years pass by.

 

[Rob]

 

[Yakoo752]

I'll do some, but not all of it. Of the big stuff, valves I'll do, suspension I won't.

this