Servicing costs by brand?

Playmobil

The kids are grown up and I'm looking at getting back into biking after 20 years out. Dream bikes would be Ducati Scrambler or Triumph Street Twin (I'm short!) but I know a Japanese bike would be a more sensible option financially.

it's difficult to find info about servicing costs. Is there a big difference between brands/models?

Trigger Happy

Its a bit like cars IMO.
If you go for a simple engine with a non-authorised dealer then your servicing cost can be very reasonable.
If you go for a bigger more complex engine with an authorised dealer then you will pay for that.
And a whole world in between.

Or you could do your own servicing!

boredatwork82

Check out the missenden flyers reviews on YouTube. He actually covers them in a lot of his reviews.

I know it's the UK but you would imagine it would be a good guide for here.

Fabio

I don't think it varies hugely by brand, more by the dealer themselves. BMW are the exception, I've never heard of a BMW dealer being cheap and I've seen a couple of eye-watering bills for servicing from BMW on items which are relatively basic.

However, that said, there are a number of bikes which are more expensive to service than others.

Honda VFR VTEC models are easy to service, except for the valve clearance check, which adds significantly to the final bill as it's a time consuming process - that's if you bother having these done at all, many do not.

I'd imagine Honda DCT transmissions are expensive to repair but whether or not they need regular servicing like gearbox oil change etc, I don't know.

Ducati cam belt changes need to be done on-time, every time, and must be done right. I think there's only one official Ducati dealer in Ireland but a lot of garages can do this and I'd imagine cost will vary a fair bit.

If you want a simple life, pick up something like an old Suzuki Bandit - air cooled so no coolant, easy oil changes as there's no fairing, valve clearances are simple too. Everything is doable at home. However, you sacrifice the control and refinement of modern bikes for that convenience. You've got to choose what is important for you.

Best of luck with it - either way you'll love it.

omerin

Do it yourself, there's nothing to changing oil, filter, pads, adjusting chain ...., that'll cut a lot of the cost when you bring it to a dealer to do the things you can't. A relatively small investment in tools upfront and parts when you need them, and you'll save hundreds during the lifetime of the bike.

Get onto YouTube for how to vids, and you'll see it's not as difficult as you would think

Fabio

omerin wrote: »

Do it yourself, there's nothing to changing oil, filter, pads, adjusting chain ...., that'll cut a lot of the cost when you bring it to a dealer to do the things you can't. A relatively small investment in tools upfront and parts when you need them, and you'll save hundreds during the lifetime of the bike.

Get onto YouTube for how to vids, and you'll see it's not as difficult as you would think

Videos are fine and all but make sure you pick up a Haynes manual or the official workshop manual for the bike. I've seen videos where lads skip things which they really shouldn't have...at least with the manuals they've been checked by people who really know their stuff.

NailerO77

If you could do the oil + filter and air filter yourself you will save yourself a lot of money and maybe give you the confidence to tackle more jobs.

Hi flo filters are reasonably priced, there's a world of oil to choose from, I live by halfords own brand bike oil especially for high mileage engines, 36E for 5 litres so plenty left over for top ups if you need it.

And it's a great feeling knowing you did it yourself. I almost like the maintenance part more than the riding part lol

Playmobil

All useful advice - thanks. Makes me less nervous about taking the plunge.