Servicing costs by brand?

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!

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 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.