6,000 miles checkup - go to a dealer or do it myself?

[cfsmith]

Guys and gals,

I need some help on this one. Time has come to get a 6k mile checkup. Now, I figure I've got two choices - either take it to the dealership, spend about $120 and have 'em do god only knows what... or I could give it a try.

Now I'm not a mechanic, but have a couple of uncles that are very mechanically inclined (one's chief mechanic on some oil rig, another's just a DIY on small engines). They've offered to help me... but I'm not sure what's required on the checkup (i.e. I'm unsure exactly what the tech manual is asking to do). In particular I'm worried about the tightening of the frame and how complicated that may be.

So my question to all you DIYers... have you ever done something like this before? Is it difficult? Should I just bite the bullet and turn the bike in to the dealer mechanics? I really don't know.

-c

[5th_bike]

Frame tightening is not hard, you just need a torque wrench and a metric wrench set. There is a nice table in the manual with all required torques. I did it last weekend, a few things I couldn't check so I just checked for tightness. And in my book the spokes are good as long as they have a clear 'plunk' to them when you hit them with something.

Oiling the cables is a little tricky, not the oiling itself, but to get to the cables. You will have to unscrew something at the handle end of each cable. For the clutch cable it's handy to undo it from the handle, then you can just drip the oil into the cable. After that, setting the correct play in the cables is easy enough too.

Oil change, piece of cake. Cleaning & oiling the chain - haven't you done it already ?

One thing I haven't done yet is adjusting the valves, you need a special tool. But for just checking them you don't need that tool.

Just print the maintenance section from the manual, it's handy to check off things as you go.

[GZ250]

Mainly two important things needed. OIL and FILTER change and VALVE ADJUSTMENT. If you are new to bikes the dealerships try to make it a big point but infact they will only do these two things. tightening of nuts and bolts you can do yourself.

If you have some help you can do oil change easily, read about oil changes here and which oil to use if you want to try out synthetic. Valve adjustment is good for the running and mileage. It cannot be done if you do not have the proper tools and know how. Have the dealership do the valve adjustment and it should not take more than an hour (labor cost) maximum 1.5hrs. They just adjust the valves - no parts needed.

[adrianinflorida]

One thing I haven't done yet is adjusting the valves, you need a special tool. But for just checking them you don't need that tool.

I forgot to post this, I did the "Home Made 'Special Tool' " for the valve adjustment. The wrench I got was from Autozone, iirc, it's a long brake bleeding wrench with 8mm & 10mm ends like this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/-Brake-B ... dZViewItem (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/-Brake-Bleeder-Wrench-8mm-10mm-Metric_W0QQitemZ150331712493QQcmdZViewItem)

Then for the 'Special Tool', I somehow, had a screw with the square head (Number 2 Robertson, i believe) laying around the toolbox, I screwed it into a 1" long, 3/4" diameter wood dowel (With a bit of wood glue on the threads to help hold it tight when turning the valve tappet adjusters). I'll take some pics later, but these worked perfect. Or you could just get the special tool from Suzuki, it's only $8, iirc.

[Water Warrior 2]

Neat, a penny tech special tool. Don't tell Suzuki cause they might patent the idea.

[adrianinflorida]

Neat, a penny tech special tool. Don't tell Suzuki cause they might patent the idea.
Actually, I think I read the idea from one of you guys here, at least the part about a #2 Robertson Screw working on the tappet adjuster, and I just ran with it. I honestly couldn't believe I had one sitting in the 'Junk Jar' in the garage.

[alantf]

O.K............ YET ANOTHER ONE from a "foreigner"

What's a robertson screw?

(and don't say "his wife") :whistle:

[Water Warrior 2]

A Robertson screw is actually a Canadian invention way back when. The screw head has a square hole in it instead of a sunken X as in the Philips. A very effective way to turn a screw and no/rare slippage.

[adrianinflorida]

O.K............ YET ANOTHER ONE from a "foreigner"

What's a robertson screw?

(and don't say "his wife") :whistle:It's the female version of the valve lash adjuster. Easiest explanation.

[alantf]

The screw head has a square hole in it instead of a sunken X as in the Philips.

What do you use to turn the screw? Do you have special robertson screwdrivers in different sizes, like you do with phillips & pozidrive? I've never even heard of robertson screws before.

[Water Warrior 2]

Yes, 3 sizes in my tool box. "Google" Robertson screws or Robertson screw drivers and you will probably get a pic of the design. I wish the bikes had Robertson heads instead of Philips. The main reason is that the Philips on a Japanese bike is actually of Metric dimensions so the normal SAE Philips tend to slip. I have found though, an impact driver has very good Philips tips that do not slip. Works well but is very heavy for a screw driver.

[alantf]

the normal SAE Philips tend to slip.

Could they possibly be pozidrive, not phillips? Do you have those in Canada? If you don't have pozidrive screwdrivers, you might try grinding the tip off an old phillips screwdriver, to see if that works better. Pozidrive is a slightly different angle to phillips, & has the end missing.

[Water Warrior 2]

Oh yah, we have far too many Phillips in Canada. The Pozidriv(just Googled it)is slightly familiar but probably just because of seeing the screw heads on items made elsewhere. Not really used here to the best of my knowledge. The reason I say too many Phillips in Canada is due to the fact that many world wide products come here and the manufacturers use a variety of cheap Phillips head screw and bolts that are not all the same angles and dimensions. Gets real frustrating and expensive when you keep chewing the corners off a Phillips tip.