A little bit of DIY servicing, lovely.

[ExpatinIstanbul]

Let's say, for argument's sake, that a mate of mine has an '05 12GS on 18,732 miles, and that its last service was 6,257 miles ago. Now, this mate of mine is a bit short of the folding stuff, but is thinking his bike might need a bit of a tickle to keep things pumping and turning smoothly, as he's left it outside over the winter, so is thinking of getting his spanners out to round off a few bolt heads and renew the skin on his knuckles. His bike was serviced properly at the correct previous intervals, whatever they might have been.

What if anything, out of the service malarkey, can be done at home, by a numpty? Or, will he have to take the bike to someone who knows one end of a left handed hammer from another?

I'm minded to tell him not to worry, it's a BMW boxer engine...change the oil and filter, check the pads, peer at the brake/clutch fluid levels and if not low leave alone, but it's not my bike, it's his, so i thought I'd ask you lot, on his behalf. Him. Not me.

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

All the bits you mentioned plus air filter clean/change and whilst not essential I'd be bunging in new final drive oil (very easy to do).

I think I'd also want to check valve clearances at that many miles since the last service, is your 'mate' up for doing that; it's actually very straightforward Oh, and injector ballance wouldn't go amiss either, especially if you're doing valve clearances

Andres

Edit: and gearbox oil

 

[Demongroover]

Depends on how much of a numpty your... er... friend is.
And you facilities.

I personally do pretty much everything on my GS.

I'm no super-spanner and all service tasks are do-able with a little research on the RepRom v5 manual, the advice from the guys on this site, Jim Von Badens website, and a little common sense.

Give it a go... I mean, advise your friend to have a go, ahem.

 

[Popell]

Let's say, for argument's sake, that a mate of mine has an '05 12GS on 18,732 miles, and that its last service was 6,257 miles ago. Now, this mate of mine is a bit short of the folding stuff, but is thinking his bike might need a bit of a tickle to keep things pumping and turning smoothly, as he's left it outside over the winter, so is thinking of getting his spanners out to round off a few bolt heads and renew the skin on his knuckles. His bike was serviced properly at the correct previous intervals, whatever they might have been.



What if anything, out of the service malarkey, can be done at home, by a numpty? Or, will he have to take the bike to someone who knows one end of a left handed hammer from another?

I'm minded to tell him not to worry, it's a BMW boxer engine...change the oil and filter, check the pads, peer at the brake/clutch fluid levels and if not low leave alone, but it's not my bike, it's his, so i thought I'd ask you lot, on his behalf. Him. Not me.

I have same bike as 'your mate', recently done the rocker end float, set valve clearances, balanced the throttle bodies, going to do gearbox and fd oils. No point just looking at the brake fluids as it prob has the servo brakes, tasting mere eye candy won't help - need to get dirty with that one - something I'm working up to

 

[ExpatinIstanbul]

I've a feeling my mate will think I haven't explained the word "numpty" very well, but I'll direct him toward some resources that will give him an idea of what he might be able to do, those listed by Demongroover look good. He has the relevent Haynes manual, but has yet to get past looking at the cover. I'll ask him to update me with what he's mucked up, so we can all have a good laugh at him!

Now, dictionary.....rocker end float, injector ballance, beer can holder.....

 

[Steptoe]

One instance - You can't recalibrate the idle motors with spanners.

A service is more than an oil and filter change. But it's better than nothing.