600 mile service & beyond: Dealer service or do-it-yourself?

ballisticexchris said:

Not true at all. A good dealer does a lot more than an oil change. I watched him do a lot of my 1st service. It's very detailed and was worth the 220 bucks I paid. It took him all of 3 hours to perform and service everything on the schedule. I was also very impressed that the tech did a little extra by putting a wrench to all the exposed hardware. Also used a really cool spanner tool tighten the steering stem to spec.

Sure I could have done it myself. There is also the chance I might have missed something. Of course you have to do your homework and find the right dealer. I'm new to this model. So having the tech go over the whole bike and giving me some pointers was a no brainer.

As time goes on I'll do a lot of my own service for some things and let the dealer do harder stuff (like valve adjustments, shock/fork valving, bushing changes, etc).

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That's great that you have a dealer and tech that goes to that much detail, but at 90% of other shops all you're going to get is a $220 oil change. That's just the way it is.

OldRider said:

That's great that you have a dealer and tech that goes to that much detail, but at 90% of other shops all you're going to get is a $220 oil change. That's just the way it is.

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90% really? Why so cynical? Where are you getting your information? Dealerships don't stay in business very long by ripping customers off. When I pay for what is written on the ticket I expect it to be done and it is. How do you know that all was done is an oil change? If that was all that they did and you paid for more there would be lawsuits and the dealership put out of business.

OldRider said:

That's great that you have a dealer and tech that goes to that much detail, but at 90% of other shops all you're going to get is a $220 oil change. That's just the way it is.

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This has been my experience also... hence my I turn all my own wrenches.

I'd bet on the 90% only doing the oil change as well. I've been riding 48yrs, so had my share of experience with dealers mechanics. Not many good reports to share over those years. I avoid them as much as possible. I don't care $0.02 about warranty. They can stuff their warranty, as the work will still generally be all completely botched. All work they do, no matter how simple I always recheck, and repair what they mess up, loose bolts, broken plastic tabs, things completely assembled wrong, ect, ect. I'm not talking of one dealer here, not even one brand. I've had BMW, honda, yamaha and kawasaki over the years, and all have had serious dealer problems at some point.

Holy cow! We have a dealer service thread with a couple of guys who don't trust service centers. It's pretty sad actually. I have been riding for a bunch of years myself and have never once experienced poor or incomplete service. Of course I'm also very careful and picky when it comes to letting guys work on my bikes. I'm sure there are a few incompetent dealers out there but not as many as what some of you want to lead us to believe.

It's all about researching from riding buddies, inspecting the shop, talking with the mechanic, and watching them work before you let them wrench on your ride. Remember any good shop also guarantees the work complete to satisfaction.

If anyone is in my area I can point you to at least a half dozen shops that do stellar work on any brand machine you wish.

I only took it in for the 1st 600 service and do it myself now , in saying that the 1st was to go over the complete bike and change the oil . After getting it back on a ride I here a ting noise and find 2 broken rear spokes ,back to the dealer I go and they gave me a complete set of spokes and fixed the 2. Now I ping my spokes now and then to check them but never needed any more. For me it was good that the dealer went over it the 1st time then I found this forum and learned about the s10 and its needs... not a whole the keep it up ,great bike !!!

I plan on buying some special tools and doing a lot of the service myself as well. I found the special spanner tool for headset. The OEM Yamaha throttle body sync tool is very expensive. Over 500 bucks!! I'm thinking of a good old stick style or one of these cheap electronic ones.

Some of my dealer experiences were on the road where you know nothing about what you will receive. I expect zero and usually get. I was down in Florida one trip and got a flat tire, I took the wheel off in a motel 6 parking lot and carried it to a dealer a block away. They don't stock inner tubes. Wow, what an extensive parts inventory. Reinstall and ride flat to another dealer, they have a tube thankfully, install, I ride away and just wonder if the experts know what slack should be in a chain? They didn't. The chain was tightened to full tension like a camchain runs. I pull out my tools and reset that botch. They can't set a chain? Lot of trust to that dealer. That is pretty much par for the course over my 48yrs. I'm going to run to the dealer to change oil? No thanks. Only lesson I got out of that was take everything needed or possibly needed on a trip, as you will be out of luck if you can't do your own repairs for any reason.

Man that's a drag Ron. That's some really bad luck.

I do most of my own work but most of the times that I have had stuff done at a dealer things turned out fine.......but not always.

A lot of the "do it yourselfers" spend a lot of time bashing dealers and mechanics to justify their option to perform their own work. I think it is offensive as hell to those that choose "service" as a career to constantly be grouped as incompetent by DIY'ers. Makes me wonder if it is some kind of defense mechanism to divert the thought of being called "cheap bastards" by others. We all have our preferences of how and why we spend our money. It doesn't have to come at the expense of insulting others, and their careers, to justify it. Same goes for what we ride. I've never been on a forum that has as many bashers of other brands of bikes, or motorcycle testers for that matter, if our beloved Tenere is not what we think it is in the eyes of others.
Rant over.

I'm in the "do everything I can myself" camp. The only warranty issues I've had are when the dealer breaks something that was fine before performing some warranty or recall service. I am even more inclined to do the difficult or tedious jobs myself because in my experience, that's where the dealer techs most often cut corners. (If it's difficult for me, it's probably difficult for them, too. But I think I care more about the end result.)

So far in my over 50 years on this planet....I've been the only one to touch my bikes. I've had the tire changed and that's with me bringing the rim to the bike shop. Only thing needs to be done at the 600 mile service: Change oil and rear end fluid. Can't hurt to look at and measure the fluid coming out and note anything about it. Of course, this should be done with any fluid change. Unless the bike is not running smooth, Can't see a reason for a throttle bottle sync so soon. Almost breaking something that is not broken. Always good to double check some nuts and bolts and spokes. Luckily, my dealership (Lone Star Yamaha formerly known as Stadium Yamaha) did a perfect job of prepping my bike when I bought it.

I don't normally do business with them, ballisticexchris. Hence the reason that I do the majority of my own maintenance, so I don't have to. And in almost 40 years of riding, I've never been in a service center that gave a customer the opportunity to watch their bike being worked on. Nobody here is denying your good experiences with a dealer; in fact, if you went on any motorcycle forum and told them this, I bet a lot of the guys on it would be envious, because they'd tell you that wasn't their experience at all. But you're going to great lengths to deny the personal experiences of guys who've had poor service, especially with your statements like "that's not true at all". You have a bias because you got good treatment; lots of us have a bias because we got poor treatment. The difference is, no one is saying you aren't being truthful, and saying things like "that's not true at all" when you describe your experiences. We believe you; do us the same courtesy when we say we've had bad experiences. The OP in this thread was new at this, and wanted some guidance. Well, you've supplied some from the perspective of someone who's had exemplary service. That's good thing. He also got guidance from people who, through their personal experiences, gave him the downside to service centers. That's also a good thing. Being informed of things like the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act can be very beneficial to a consumer, when he's being told by a service center that he will violate his warranty if he services his bike himself. And that most assuredly does happen. Being told to arm himself with knowledge before he goes to a service center, so he knows exactly what a service center should be doing on a service as opposed to what they say they do, is important. Especially when a service center is telling him things like "oh, you have to replace your plugs at the first service". There are plenty of these accounts from riders on motorcycle forums; their experiences are no less valid than yours.

As far as researching service centers for their reputation, of course I did that, because it's common sense. The nearest dealer to me was about an hour away. He got ok reviews. My experience with them was the opposite of OK, to the point that I complained to Yamaha USA. So my next choice to get the work done was to go to a dealer that was two hours away. Lots of people don't have a plethora of choices when it comes to a service center. Your dictum of "it's the customer's fault" doesn't hold any water for a lot of guys out there who ride. Not everyone has a half dozen service centers to choose from; there is not a single Japanese motorcycle service center in the county I live in. In situations like that, even a half-assed shop can easily stay in business when they're the only game in town.

Scott, I guess the irony is lost on you that right after you leap to the defense of service centers as being unfairly categorized, you turn around and slur a different group, the DIY guys, and decide that our reactions to receiving poor service is simply a defense mechanism over the fear of being called cheap bastards. You just slurred a whole group of riders who have decided for a variety of reasons to do their own work on their bikes. Nobody here cares how you spend your money; if you've had good service experiences, then that's good for you. Nobody here is even denying that you've had good experiences, yet you deny the crappy experiences many have had at service centers as simply a reaction to being called cheap. There's plenty of evidence on the side of guys who've had bad service experiences; auto service centers are Number 10 on the Better Business Bureau's list of businesses that receive the most complaints. You have no evidence to back up your "cheap bastards" theory, which is pretty much the definition of a slur.

Ballisticexchris, if you're looking for a synchronizing tool that's cheaper than Yamaha's, look at a Morgan Carbtune. They're a company in the UK, and when I bought mine from them it was around $125.00 with shipping, if I recall correctly. The pound is low against the dollar right now, so it's a good time to buy. It's simple to use, works on bikes up to four intakes, and has no messy liquids like mercury or other fluids to contend with. I've had mine for a few years, and it works well for synching the throttle bodies on the S10.
https://www.carbtune.com/

Fair deal RCnNC. I think something to point out is the reason guys have such bad experiences. It's because they don't research, question or chat with the person wrenching on their bike before getting the work done. I see time and time again where guys just unload the bike at the dealer and drive off. A lot of the blame is to the uneducated customer. How many of you tell the guy working on your bike to make sure he does a complete job because you are checking his work afterwords? I bet not many. I let the service techs know right out the gate to do it right the first time. When the work is done correctly then the technician gets a nice cash tip and I request his service in the future. I'm a very picky bastard. I communicate clearly with every service center that they are not dealing with a dumb customer and my expectations before letting them have the bike. Just dumping the bike off and expecting good service is not how it works. I know it should be but it's not.

There are all kinds of ways to keep the dealers honest. I use Cross Check on stuff before dropping off to a unknown dealer to make sure they put wrenches to it. It's not a perfect solution but it lets them know I'm checking their work. When I had the valves adjusted on my Ninja 650R, I got the sheet with handwritten notes on clearances, shim sizes, and what shims were replaced.

And yes I too double check the work. So far the only gripe I had was with a dealer for not safety wiring my handgrips. I just assumed that's what every shop did on race prepping a bike. I was told it was not part of the PDI. My reply was I bought the bike because it was "ready to race" (my KTM 300). Safety wire on grips is race prep 101.

Warranty work is where it gets a bit more complicated. If I'm pressed for time I just get the part and install it myself. Most dealers have no problem giving you the part to install yourself. Of course there are exceptions such as safety related parts or recalls. Otherwise I drop it off and tell them to take their time. An example was my Honda XR650R. Clutch Bushing went bad in the dunes and I still rode it destroying more parts that were not under warranty. Took it to the dealer and he managed to get some parts and labor for free. They did all the work but bike was down for over a week.

Beta was a different story. It came with a poorly designed Auto Decompression Release (mounted on the cam). I had some hard start issues when rock crawling and the bike was hot. I got a big ground wire and went from starter to battery for temporary fix. When my dealer had time I took it to his shop and actually helped him replace to the upgraded decompression device under warranty and did a valve adjustment at the same time. Helping with the labor was a win win for both of us. I did the remove/replace and learned how to replace a decompression device. That thing was way above my pay grade. Very tricky and easy to screw up even with the service manual.

BTW, I was looking at that Morgan Carbtune. I have it on my Amazon wish list. I figure to do the sync when I change the plugs. Thank you for the link!! I think that's the one I want to get. Old school with no liquid and a nice protective case.

Like any motor vehicle service department, they're in it to make money...lots of it. The big dollars aren't made in the showroom, but back in the maintenance/shop area. One has to be living on Mars not to have seen an infinite number of investigative news programs documenting unnecessary work, along with shoddy workmanship in all disciplines of motor vehicles. I've been taken over the hill with poor customer service to the point of Yamaha having to get involved. There's one dealer near me I wouldn't even stop to take a piss in their restroom; that's how much I abhor the place. The best dealership I've ever found is Port Yamaha in Port Washington, Wi. 5.5 hours away from me. Made road trips many times to both purchase and service my machines. A good dealer is worth it's weight in gold. But they're few and far between.

I am new in this forum as I just paid for the new 2018 ST Raid Edition to be shipped in few weeks. I've been a Yamaha FJR guy for 9 years and the main resoan for going for ST is that I have such a good experience with Yamaha dealers. My local one is just 20 minutes ride fom my home and they do a very professional job. They allow me to be next to my bike during the maintenance if I want to, and I have done that the first times I was there, but as I got a complete confidence in their performance, I have only dropped the bike there afterwards. Every now and then I have checked if there is a fresh grease at the linkages and so on, and it has always been ok. They even do more than asked. Once, when I went to picked up the bike, they said that the throttle spring should be changed as it is not rewinding as fast as needed. They had spent quite some time fiddling with the throttle grip, opened it all up, cleaned, but no improvement. Well, of course not, because I had rewound the spring at throttle body by one rev to ease the throttle tension on my right hand. They did not charge me for the extra work. In fact, they have even done some smaller fixes for me free of charge.
Another very positive experience with Yamaha dealer was in Odense, Denmark, where I was at the mc trip and got the waterpump heavily leaking. Despite they guys had a job backlog for 2 weeks to come and a big Yamaha test drive day coming to be prepared for, they took me in, opened it all up, established the culprint, ordered the spare parts to be shipped by next morning and fixed it, while I could be there and see what and how they did. The shop was the cleanest one I have ever seen (see below) and the mechanic had such professional moves that despite pretty expensive bill I enjoyed and appreciated it all very, very much.

No matter what you are paying for, Denmark is expensive compared to many many other countryes

Nikolajsen said:

No matter what you are paying for, Denmark is expensive compared to many many other countryes

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So true........ even for me, where nothing is inexpensive or free.

Nikolajsen said:

No matter what you are paying for, Denmark is expensive compared to many many other countryes

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Damn right, it is. But at least those Yamaha guys earned their price, they did an excellent job! That is to say that so far I have not had to be disappointed with the Yammy dealers in Europe, at least not in regards to quality and experience.