Not today,but yesterday,I booked my HP2 into BMW for a service and Mot.A little discouraging to see I have only done 65 miles on it in the last six years,not by choice but circumstances. I am now left with the usual choice,to sell or to keep.Having sold three of my favourite bikes in the last eighteen months I do know selling is not the end of the world,but always nice to have something nice to look at.Not everybodys cup of tea I know.Decisions,decisions.My grown up daughter has told me to keep it if it gives me pleasure, so perhaps my mind has been made up for me?
My guess is that a routine service after 65 miles will be at least £750 to the thieving dealership. Why bother? I have 3 £50k cars and once they are out of warranty I service them as and when I think it's necessary, not when the dealer does. For example, my wifes Q3 hybrid required an oil change and was just out of warranty. The stealer wanted £285.00. The filter from Audi was £7 and the oil was £28 and it took me 30 minutes. If I'd had a lift it would have taken ten minutes. I rest my case.
OK, maybe not for this thread and perhaps someone will divert it but I have to say that I have never ever, ever, ever spoken to an ex main dealer employee that hadn't felt physically sick when his customers were presented with their service bills they are simply extortionate but Mr and Mrs Blogs keep paying the price. Even when my wife's car was under warranty, the very first time she used the screen washer it didn't work and they charged us £345.00. When I argued the point they said we had used the "wrong" screen wash. We had never ever touched it but they just had to rip us off somehow. I despise and detest every single main dealer on this planet because the dealer principals are all multi millionaires and they are just thieves.
The only bike things I’ve done today are write things on here and tweak the straps on the trailer to make sure they’re still tight. No, hang on that was yesterday with the straps. Have to do it again later.
Bit like insurance companies, utility companies, and pretty much any other big company you can think of. They all want to steal your money, preferably for doing absolutely nothing. Try and keep calm otherwise it’ll give you a heart attack. I try but don’t achieve it either.
Sam, your are so right and I try daily to hold on to my sanity but it feels these days that everyone is just telling you to accept that this is now the norm and to just live with it. Maybe it's a cross generational thing but I cannot take being ripped off lightly.
I can see where you are coming from Nifty 70.As I am unable to service the bike myself I have to accept the cost of having it serviced for me.If I did decide to sell at least it will be road ready for the new owner.
Please don't get me wrong because I am in the same situation as you. I do not have all of the expertise to service a bike or a car. All I am saying is that a full dealer history will cost you or anyone far more than the loss in value of for not having a main dealer history. Most people, especially enthusiasts will look for the honesty of the vehicle and if that means it has been self serviced with genuine parts then all well and good. It is a fact that as vehicles age the owners will do more work themselves and that is why you find that insurance on older vehicles is so cheap. It's because enthusiasts spend more time, money and effort making sure their bikes and cars are in perfect condition. Just do what is necessary and be completely honest about the bikes condition.
Over the years I’ve bought a few used bikes that had a full main dealer service history. Items damaged and parts incorrectly fitted or clearly never disassembled I have often seen. If people are not able to service the bikes themselves I would strongly recommend a one man independent. Often in dealers, routine services are left to the less experienced staff, whilst technicians used more for the technically demanding work.
Today I mostly degreased and deep cleaned two VERY dirty bikes in order to ready them for sale. They both looked like this, so it took a while. I also went to J&S in St Albans to buy handlebar grips and some more degreaser (Muc Off. Amazing stuff. Smells like bubblegum). The staff there absolutely love Iggy and always make a massive fuss of him by play fighting, hiding from him, giving him lots of treats and generally getting him all revved up and whatnot, which is lovely, but it makes him even more hyper than usual, which is exhausting.
Stripped down the outer gearbox casing on my Triumph T150 to replace the broken kickstarter spring , it was surprisingly clean inside for a 56 year old engine, and i thoroughly enjoy the fact that old brit bikes are very 'hands on' to work with, unlike most modern stuff.
I need to do mine on my old Z400 but I think it might be the ratchet gear and I’ll need to split the cases.
Dropped the Multi off at the Valeter’s. I’m not doing it in this weather, it’s raining. Besides I’m grumpy about my car. The valeter spotted it straight off When I get it back hopefully it'll look close to new and it’ll go into plastic bag with a fan until Easter. Normally I do it myself but not this time. In fact, come to think of it, I think it’s the first time I’ve had a bike valeted.
Got my T150's kickstart assembly back together and up and running again, i mopped some oil up but still cant believe how clean it was inside the casings!
Installed the throttle spacer widget on the Multi.. super easy discovered to install the carbon chain guard it requires the back wheel to be removed.. more than I fancied doing tbh. @Sam1199 are you still modifying standard 1260 Multi seats into comfier versions?
Fitted some Bike It universal hand guards. It was a pig of a job and took absolutely ages because the bolts for the clamps which attach them to the handlebars were too short. It’s as if they were specced for old fashioned round/thin bars rather than modern “fat” bars which have a semi oval cross section. Given that most dirt bikes have been fitted with fatties for years now, that’s absolutely baffling. Anyway, they’re on.
@Sam1199 unfortunately I can't directly PM anyone as I'm relatively new to the forum and don't have the rights yet... would you mind emailing me please.. [email protected] Ta.
