Dealer or do-it-yourself?

Do you take your bike to a dealer for service, or an independant shop? A friend? Or do you do it yourself?

This is my 7th bike since I started riding in 1969. Not one of them has ever seen the inside of a shop since I bought them. I've done every bit of work myself including tires, though I only did one engine overhaul in all that time.

I bought my Nomad new in 2003, and that was the last time it saw the dealer's floor. Needless to say, I did not buy the extended warranty, and even did repairs that should have been under the original warranty myself. (Well, maybe. Will the dealer fix leaky coolant hoses and water pump gaskets under warranty? That's about the only stuff that went wrong in the first 2 years.)

I'm strictly a hobbiest myself. I did work a bit in some professional auto shops back when I was going to school and I worked for a couple years as a Teamster, operating and maintaining construction equipment. I re-built a few engines, did some brake jobs, mounted some tires, lube jobs and such, but no long-time pro experience.

OTOH, I've been a hobbiest since Dad took me out in the garage at the age of 6. I do not trust other people to work on my bike, and I'm anal about it too. I'd have to be desperate, out on the road somewhere, to even let someone else change a tire on my bike.

Soooo...

Is anyone else here afflicted with this disease? ???

[ringadingh]

Im much the same as you when it comes to working on my bike, I do it all myself. I used to take the wheel in to get the tire changed, but I bought a Harbour Freight tire machine and will be doing my own tires from now on. I have always bought a shop manual for my bikes and find that it pays for itself very quickly. Since I have had my Nomad, there isn't to much that you can't find out about these bikes between this sight, Gadgets,VROC and Delphi. We are pretty fortunate that there is such a wealth of knowledge available to us at hand. I did have the extended warranty, and it was never used at all.

[ponch]

I normally do everything myself. The exception is warranty repairs. My bike had an antifreeze odor and I took it back last summer and they replaced an O-Ring on one of the coolant pipes in the rear head. Thing is, I smelled antifreeze again when I took my bike out this week. To say the least I am disheartened. I'd pull the tank and have a look see myself, except that the bike is less than a year old and is still under warranty. So do I take it back to the same dealer again? The other pain is the dealer is 25 miles away. I could cut that in half by going to another dealer, but they are thieves. All I know is a new bike shouldn't leak, seep, or weep anything. If I wanted that I would have bought a vintage Triumph.

Do you take your bike to a dealer for service, or an independant shop? A friend? Or do you do it yourself?

This is my 7th bike since I started riding in 1969. Not one of them has ever seen the inside of a shop since I bought them. I've done every bit of work myself including tires, though I only did one engine overhaul in all that time.

I bought my Nomad new in 2003, and that was the last time it saw the dealer's floor. Needless to say, I did not buy the extended warranty, and even did repairs that should have been under the original warranty myself. (Well, maybe. Will the dealer fix leaky coolant hoses and water pump gaskets under warranty? That's about the only stuff that went wrong in the first 2 years.)

I'm strictly a hobbiest myself. I did work a bit in some professional auto shops back when I was going to school and I worked for a couple years as a Teamster, operating and maintaining construction equipment. I re-built a few engines, did some brake jobs, mounted some tires, lube jobs and such, but no long-time pro experience.

OTOH, I've been a hobbiest since Dad took me out in the garage at the age of 6. I do not trust other people to work on my bike, and I'm anal about it too. I'd have to be desperate, out on the road somewhere, to even let someone else change a tire on my bike.

Soooo...

Is anyone else here afflicted with this disease? ???

[Top Cat]

I change the oil and filter. Install my accesories. (tach, top rails, lightbar etc.)
Other than that it goes to the dealer. I don't even remove the wheel from the bike to have the dealer change it. I take the bike to the dealer and say go for it.

[beezer]

I try to do my own work

[dantama]

I would be afflicted with the disease if I was born a little more mechanically inclined.

I do oil changes myself, and buy the 4 year extended warranty and take it to the dealer for everything but the oil changes.

I'm a very good Carpenter, I used to live in my lifelong network of friends and I'd help with kitchen remodels etc. in exchange for car repairs with mechanic friends.

Don't have such a network here. Want to move to Denver?

[jmorrow]

I do all the small stuff like: oil change, change tires,
disassemble swing arm and grease, disassemble
and grease steering bearings, change lube in
differential, change plugs, but anything that will
require motor removal or break down (heaven forbid)
it will have to go to a shop.

[MarkG]

I let the dealer do it all. With no garage, the heat down here becomes unbearable. I read the manuals (something most people don't do) and I listen very closely to the rest of you that do your own work. The dealer mechanics assume I know a lot more than I really do. I go out of my way to treat them decently and so far they have returned the kindness and made sure everything works perfectly.

[cactusjack]

I would usually do the work myself. Before I enlisted in the service, I worked as a small engine mechanic at a large equipment rental store. While in the Marines, I worked on fighter planes and after I was discharged I worked as an automotive technician for a few years. Spent several more years as a field service engineer repairing office equipment. A lot of mechanical and electro-mechanical work. Then I went to college, got my degree and have worked in IT ever since.

I would normally do all my own work. I don't necessarily have to, but it's something I enjoy doing. I work on the family fleet and keep it running. When I bought the Nomad, I purchased a 3-year, 36k mile prepaid service plan, which also gave me an extra year on the factory warranty. So at least for the first 3 years, I don't have to do much on the bike, other than add bling and bells and whistles.

I have a decent set of tools and my oldest son is a mechanic for a local Caterpillar dealer, and he has an impressive set of tools. I have access to just about anything I need. One of the first things I bought was the factory service manual for my bike. I have one for all my vehicles, I like to know as much about them as possible.

Yes, it sucks in the summer, as MarkG said. It hits 140 degrees in my west-facing garage in the afternoons. I get most of my work done early in the morning.

Want to move to Denver?

As a kid I shoveled snow in Minnesota, Washington, Ohio, New York, and Utah. Now I live in California.

Guess why? ???

No frikkin' snow buddy!

[ells]

I do accessories and some tinkering. Take it to an indy every 3-4 K mi and have him go through it for all routine maintenance. He's never tried to put anything over on me, nor have I ever had any repairs, on either bike, and buy all my tires through him. I enjoy doing the work, just want a pro to look closely at everything once in a while, and have limited time that I'd rather spend riding.

[jrd]

With all of my bikes I have tried to do all the work that I can do myself.

John

[kawgirl]

I do as much of the small stuff as I can. Oil changes and such. Accessories. Engine work goes to the dealer or one of the fellas in SCRC helps me out with stuff. Bafflectomy was a fun one to do and the sound is wooooonnnnderful!

[ringadingh]

[quote:wor0jjx1]Want to move to Denver?

As a kid I shoveled snow in Minnesota, Washington, Ohio, New York, and Utah. Now I live in California.

Guess why? ???

No frikkin' snow buddy! [/quote:wor0jjx1]
If you ever miss shoveling snow, I still have a foot of it here I'll let you shovel. Hell; if your a good sport about it, I'll let you use my snowblower!

[cactusjack]

[quote:mdcfebs2]

As a kid I shoveled snow in Minnesota, Washington, Ohio, New York, and Utah. Now I live in California.

Guess why? ???

No frikkin' snow buddy!

If you ever miss shoveling snow, I still have a foot of it here I'll let you shovel. Hell; if your a good sport about it, I'll let you use my snowblower! [/quote:mdcfebs2]

Lived in Utah for 39 years. I've shoveled my share of snow. About as close as I get to it now is looking at it on top of Mount Lemmon, outside Tucson from about 15 miles away. December before last I lived in Mesa and it snowed about 4 miles from my house. Not much and it didn't last long. My son rode his bike to see it and brought me back a snowball as proof.