Paying for 3000 mile check up

[jnortonsr]

Not wanting to screw anything up, I paid the dealer for the 3000 mile service "Major Service" because of the valve adjustment. I must say the results are great. The only real problem they found was too much oil in the engine. This suprised me because I had filled it to OME specs. Will use the custom stands when I fill it the next time.

[Badbob]

I have never taken mine back to the dealer. I got sticker shock when they told me how much the first check up was going to be and never went back.

[jnortonsr]

I know what you mean, I just didn't want to take a chance with the head

[BadMojo]

Hey Badbob, did you do it yourself??

[Badbob]

Originally Posted by BadMojo

Hey Badbob, did you do it yourself??

I do all my maintenance myself. Here are some of my reasons.

I'm cheap. $75+ for an oil change is way to much money and they don't want to put the oil in the bike I want to use. I have three motorcycles here, two GZ250s and a Yamaha XS11.

I bought my GZ250 to learn on this includes maintenance and repairs. One day (or night) I might need to fix something on the side of the road. Parked in the grass on the side of the road in the dark is not the place to learn that when you take that little widget off parts fall out or that your tool kit doesn't really have what you need to make the repairs.

I don't have a dealer I trust to work on my bike. There may be some here but the few I have had dealings with have rubbed me the wrong way or just flat out tried to cheat me. I'd love to have one I trust but I currently don't have one. My daughter has one she likes and I've heard good things about them form other sources so if I feel the need I give them a try.

If I let a dealer do the work I have to take the bike to them. This means possibly two people taking time off from work twice and doing without the bike until the dealer gets around to it. This is a major drawback for me and increase my costs.

Most of the things you do on a GZ250 are not difficult if you have the right tools. Make sure you have the correct tools before you start and a service manual. It helps if you have some mechanical ability and experience. Keep in mind that some things you do to a motorcycle cn be life threatening so its very important to do it right. This is another reason why you should trust the dealer that works on your bike.

The hardest thing I ever did was a tire change.

[BadMojo]

Nice!! I did my first repair/maintenance job myself. I replaced the front break pads from OEM to Ceramic, big difference. Next I'll do the oil change. Then I'll try a tune-up.

[Edy]

I'd have to say that the dealer that I delt with weren't the greatest either. I found out that they were over tighting my valves when I had it in for the check ups. As a result of the added pressure the rocker for the exaust was worn well below the specs. And the dealer was trying to get me for about $300 just for the "exploritory work" which I couldn't afford at the time. as luck woulf have it, I was able to spot the problem right away. The dealer never would confess that it was their shotty workmenship that caused it. But the good news from all of this, once I had the bike reassembled, it ran like a charm, and gave me the confidence to do all the work required on the bike now.