Dealer Servicing - doing it wrong?

[Boxerboy55]

As far as I'm being told, it doesn't need serviced 6k miles on from your last actual mileage, but at exactly 6/12/18 miles which seems mad!

I think you may be getting the idea that our bikes may need looking at every Year or every 6000 miles; Whichever Comes First. Keeps them running sweetly and lets us sleep at night.

As Maintenance is my day job, I reckon Condition Based Maintenance is the smartest way, but as few of us can or can be bothered to analyse the condition of our fluids, filters, etc, we just chuck fresh oil and filters at it every year (or 6000 miles). Seems to keep the bike happy. And certainly keeps the dealers happy

w.r.t. more serious stuff like brake fluid; if your brakes keep working as powerfully as they have ever been, why worry? If you worry, head on down to your dealer where he will happily swap out your working brake fluid for a litre of brand new brake fluid. Then you can sleep easy.

Do you ever change tyres, brake pads or light bulbs on a time or mileage basis?

 

[AberdeenAngus]

I don't believe it's 6000miles AND yearly.
If it says so in the book, it's a typo.
If the dealer says it's true, he's wrong.

Just like Boxerboy55, I do this crap for a living and have done for nearly 30 years.
In my time i've written maintenance procedures for every kind of kit imaginable including Gas Turbines (Jet Engines) for Rolls Royce.

6000 AND Yearly doesn't make any sense.
6000 OR Yearly makes perfect sense....so that's what it is.



....still wouldn't change my brake fluid yearly, whatever it says, unless you park the bike up in a turkish bath every night.....and remove the brake fluid reservoir cap.

That is all.

 

[Myke Rocks]

At Last!

I don't believe it's 6000miles AND yearly.
If it says so in the book, it's a typo.
If the dealer says it's true, he's wrong.

Just like Boxerboy55, I do this crap for a living and have done for nearly 30 years.
In my time i've written maintenance procedures for every kind of kit imaginable including Gas Turbines (Jet Engines) for Rolls Royce.

6000 AND Yearly doesn't make any sense.
6000 OR Yearly makes perfect sense....so that's what it is.



....still wouldn't change my brake fluid yearly, whatever it says, unless you park the bike up in a turkish bath every night.....and remove the brake fluid reservoir cap.

That is all.

Well Put Sir!
The person I bought my bike of provided me with the full service history, showing bike serviced at 6000 miles, and serviced again around 2 months/1000 miles later.
I presume he had too much money, & the dealer had big windows!
Myke

 

[littleredrooster]

Look at the top quote it's not 6K OR one year as common sense would dictate.. It's 6K AND one year as BMW dictate. So if you get your annual done in April with 4.5K on the odo and the bike turns 6K in May then you have to go again asap. They will also change oil (and the other stuff) again because if they don't the bike may have to do another 7.5K on the same oil before the 12K service.

No they won't. Been there, done that. Annual is mainly about brake fluid change and safety checks. Oil/Filters/clearances are treated separately, but still with the 6000 mile interval.

 

[Pukmeister]

Servicing my bike myself for the past 3 years and she gets better treatment in my hands than experienced previously at a dealers (no names, no pack drill).

My bike has ServoABS, hence I will be changing my brake fluid every two years to remove moisture and more importantly, any wear particles which could otherwise cause failure of the servo unit. It only takes an hour. As a Marine Engineer I know a thing or two about hydraulic systems and fluid power.

Tappets take 5 minutes to check and never seem to wear due to using a quality fully synth 10W50. Throttle balancing, fault code reading with GS911 etc dont take long either. I reckon I can do a full service on my GS for around £60.

Its nice to save money, know the job is done to your satisfaction and not be tied to someone elses agenda.

 

[teamwimp]

how many times are we going to get this type of post - the service is 6k OR annual and yes there are some things you should keep an eye on if you have low mileage. Personally I'd be pretty disgusted with myself if my dealer was the one to notice that my pads were about to fall out.


Now to servicing costs - hourly rate is very high but service costs not too bad (in comparison to other motorcycles) my ZX9R was much more expensive as was my ZZR - however all of my Guzzi's could be serviced with a pair of pliers and a fag packet


Many comments made about servicing it yourself - fair and not too bad to do but would invalidate any warranty that is in place

 

[Number 6]

Many comments made about servicing it yourself - fair and not too bad to do but would invalidate any warranty that is in place

Oh no it wouldn't. As long as you service it as per the schedule in the handbook, use genuine service parts, lubricants that are the correct specification and you do the job competently, any warranty is still valid.

 

[scotia_steve]

I don't believe it's 6000miles AND yearly.
If it says so in the book, it's a typo.
If the dealer says it's true, he's wrong.

6000 AND Yearly doesn't make any sense.
6000 OR Yearly makes perfect sense....so that's what it is.

I agree with you about what makes sense but.... according to BMW and the dealer you have to do an annual service and if you do 6000 miles since your last service, a second service for that too. If you want to stick to their service schedule.

It's not a typo unfortunately as I checked with the dealer now and with BMW. That's where the confusion lies as many people get the two services done together once a year.

There was however in my service book. I'm due an annual and 12k service in late July at the same time as I'll make sure the bike has done 12k by then.

 

[RickG]

On to others: The reason brake fluid manufacturers recommend changing brake fluid is because of moisture absorbsion. This significantly lowers the boiling point of the fluid, and in extreme cases, will result in no brakes.
Yes, I have experienced it many times in rally cars.
However, motorcycles have diaphragms in the reservoir covers, so the fluid never comes in contact with air, and so cannot absorb moisture.
Hence, my recicence in changing brake fluid on a motorcycle.
Myke

As has been mentioned, I reckon the best reason to change it on a GS is if you have a bike with servo brakes. After a year or two, obviously depending on use, the fluid does pick up guff from the braking system components which if nothing else must be better out of the system than remaining in it, especially as it's not that difficult to do.

Yearly changes do seem too frequent unless clocking up v. high milages

 

[Steptoe]

The main problem with not bleeding the brakes or clutches for long periods of time is that the nipples are seized when you do have to bleed them or do any other work required.

Which can cause you more cost, time and grief than bleeding the things in the first place.

It's called preventive maintenance.

 

[Boxerboy55]

It's called Preventive Maintenance.

And some well judged PM is what will hopefully give you safe + reliable operation in the long term.

The big trick is selecting the PM criteria to do your checks:

Condition
Time
Miles

A combination of all 3 gets you there

 

[Paul Wakefield]

As long as you service it as per the schedule in the handbook, use genuine service parts, lubricants that are the correct specification and you do the job competently, any warranty is still valid.

True for a manufacturer's original warranty. Not necessarily true for an extended warrnaty where it is an insured product and can dictate the terms (such as BMs/Warranty Direct) .

 

[deaninkl]

Here in Malaysia, BMW charge about 200 quid for a service of my 1200, more than they chage for my car...so I decided I'd do the bike myself....the other day I went to an non bmw dealer to get some oil, they said they'ed put it in for free, so i said can i have gearbaox and rear drive oil as well, they said, yes, but for the rear drive we have to cahrge as the echanic has to do it....how much i ask? RM 25, or 5 quid..... so all oils, done for 45 quid plus 5 quid service fee....guess I wont be doing much of my own servicing afterall. Down side is the a GS now cost 23k pounds out here....