Pay the next service & brake bill of £800-ish or change the bike ?

[ChrisDolphin]

Just had the 42k service on my Dec '06 1200 GSA. £166.09 which I was more than happy with.

However - thinking about the 48k service in 6k miles time........its not going to be cheap.

Next service is likely to need the following:

£350 48k Service;
£120 rear brake disc;
£50 rear brake pads;
£240 front disc’s
£80 front pad’s
------------------------------
£840 Total !!!

Since Jan'08 I've been doing 123mile commute daily, 4 days a week. Its likely I'll be doing that for another year at least. So the next service is around 50 commuting days away.

Whats the consensus on keeping a higher mileage bike over trading in and buying a, say, ex-demo?

Benefits:
Fresh new warranty.....that includes everything rather than this rubbish extended one I'm paying for now at £30/mnth;

No new rear brake discs for a while (the newer GSA's dont go through rear discs every 12k like mine does I'm told);

No new front brake discs for a while (this bike will have lasted 48k);

Less potential for 'major' bits to break that arent covered on current warranty;

Costs:
er.......the cost - presumably mine is worth squat-diddly now, and I see the new ones are around £12k new.......presumably there are deals to be had but I'm assuming that I'll need a few thousand to change....

So......do I battle on with my current trusty steed..........or stick some money on BMW finance and have a shiny new one >50working days time - ahead of the next service ?

Naturally......if my wife is reading this, its entirely theoretical as there's no money for bikes.......ahem.

Thoughts welcome.

Chris.

 

[Lord Snooty]

DIY

Do the fluid and filter changes yourself.

Change the discs and pads yourself and source the consumables from Steptoe or Motoworks/Motobins.

That's a shedload of money saved already then just take the bike to the stealer to do anything you're not confident of doing yourself such as valve clearances.

Or, take it to Steptoe to do the lot rather than pay BMW rates

 

[Tim Cullis]

£120 rear brake disc;
£50 rear brake pads;
£240 front discs
£80 front pads
Total £490

brakes4u.co.uk
Rear disc £64.12
Rear pads £18.45
Front discs £180.30
Front pads £49.18
Total £312.05

The other thing you need to be aware of is that dealers assume the bike won't be looked at between services, so take the view, "will this component last another 6000 miles?" So the question to ask when they say your pads or your discs need replacement is "when?" The answer could be right now, or it could be in 5000 miles time, in which case doing it right now is a real waste of money.

Oh, and your bike is probably high 5s to the dealer, so you're looking at £6-7k to change.

Tim

 

[EasySushi]

Do all the maint yourself, buy the tools and parts. Works out cheaper, its not difficult to service just follow the maint schedule which you can get hold of on the REpRom from ebay.


Ty

 

[BBB61]

Have you thought about using an independent such as Steptoe or Steve Grover (Motoscot)? Both are very experienced and could do the service and other work for a lot less than a main dealer. And you are not too far away from either of them (Steptoe in Kingston, Steve in Luton). I believe that both of them have loan bikes.

 

[RickG]

Everything the others say plus I'm surprised your front disks are worn below the limit, You sure or did the dealers say so? Not surprised if rear shot. Bike should be good for at least twice the milage you've already done, so get your money's worth out of it

 

[blackbird]

WHY ? WHY ? TAKE A 42,000 mile bike to a BMW main dealer & get ripped off as with that kind of mileage the bike is worth near nothing in value. As the other guys said, do the service yourself & ride the bike into the groud

 

[ChrisDolphin]

I know that doing the maintenance yourself is the right thing to do etc etc........but I'm just never going to do that I'm afraid. I've got a couple of mates that do all their own but I'm just not interested or capable.

The chap I use for tyres is great........so I can see him fitting the discs and pads I buy elsewhere in future to be honest.....

I'm just wondering what kind of finance it would be over 2yrs.......if I'm paying £33/month for warranty at the moment.......adding just the (potential) £800 next bill over 24months is another £33.........

God....I'm now in the "darling wife - look at the sums - it would be negligent of me NOT to change the bike now....." mode.

I guess I could go to the place in Luton (I'm near Thame in Oxon) but the nice people at BMW North Oxford pick my bike up in a van and drop it back.......

Hmm - guess the clincher will be how much mine is worth and how much for an ex-demo - and the difference over 24months on finance......

 

[ChrisDolphin]

Everything the others say plus I'm surprised your front disks are worn below the limit, You sure or did the dealers say so? Not surprised if rear shot. Bike should be good for at least twice the milage you've already done, so get your money's worth out of it

You're right - just checked the receipt and it says front discs 'may' be required next service.

 

[Big Lee]

You will pay through the nose for your disinterest Chris.
Put a bit of effort in to find out how to do things and your bills will plummet as well as using a trusted independant to do things you just can`t yourself.
For the £7k it`ll cost you to change another bike or car could be sitting in your garage but hey it`s your money

 

[Dave Ford]

If you're happy with the bike, and don't have the urge to get a newer one, then I think you'd have to be insane to sell it on the basis of concerns regarding the cost of the next main dealer service. Your warranty's already expired, so you have no concerns on that front. I can understand that you're either uncomfortable with the prospect of diy, or you can think of better ways to spend your time (golf does NOT count), in which case get one of the independents (as opposed to one of the "independants"!) to do it.

 

[Rushy]

Try a bit of DIY

I promise you I am mechanically incompetent and lazy but in around 1 to 1.5 hrs I can change the engine oil, gearbox oil and final drive oil myself which I do every 3,000 miles because oil is cheap. I change the oil filter every 6,000miles at service time. I then drop the bike in to a very good independent (someone like RGM) who gives the bike a good going over and does the valves,throttle bodies etc and I usually take a set of spark plugs so new ones are fitted .

If you are capable of a simple task like fitting a 3 pin plug to a mains lead AND can read (a Haynes manual) and look at pictures then I swear to god you will easily be able to change a set of brake pads and replace a rear disc your self. Honest. If in doubt ask a mate to come over and give you a supervisory hand the first time.

A good comprehensive socket with torx and allen bits set and a £40 torque wrench and you will have everything you need. Hell I even changed the front & rear shocks on my own last year and thats saying something. Truth is it was a piece of piss following the instructions in the Haynes.

 

[Deleted Member I]

What's the trade in value of your bike? Or the cost to change?

 

[ChrisDolphin]

I promise you I am mechanically incompetent and lazy but in around 1 to 1.5 hrs I can change the engine oil, gearbox oil and final drive oil myself which I do every 3,000 miles because oil is cheap. I change the oil filter every 6,000miles at service time. I then drop the bike in to a very good independent (someone like RGM) who gives the bike a good going over and does the valves,throttle bodies etc and I usually take a set of spark plugs so new ones are fitted ..

I might give it a go then. A pal of mine who bought an ex-North sea trawler as a 'project' is very handy with his bikes. I think I'll buy the bits for brakes next time and get tyre-man to do it..........then after that.......

Not sure of cost to change - waiting on trade price but think I'm going to be very disappointed with that !

 

[g.s.john]

I might give it a go then. A pal of mine who bought an ex-North sea trawler as a 'project' is very handy with his bikes. I think I'll buy the bits for brakes next time and get tyre-man to do it..........then after that.......

Not sure of cost to change - waiting on trade price but think I'm going to be very disappointed with that !

i would trust the 'tyre man' to change tyres and NOTHING else if your mate with the trawler is o.k. watch what he does and learn,might i suggest that you drop little lord fauntleroy attitude and take some interest in the bikes workings your life depends on it try a bike maintainance course you could be suprised how easy it is.
p.s wtf is he going to do with this trawler????

 

[Bryn]

Just bought a late 2004 1200... only 9k on the clock. Its still covered under BMW extended warranty until July, and has full dealer history.

Had this not been the case and my opportunity to extend the Warranty for another 12 months I wouldn't even consider going to a main dealer for its next service...

Pads, oil, filter and discs are SO easy to do... roll your sleeves up and enjoy learning

 

[ChrisDolphin]

i would trust the 'tyre man' to change tyres and NOTHING else

My tyre man has been riding for many, many years and has a number of bikes he looks after himself - very competant and did the rear pads just before Xmas. He's not a 'Kwik-Fit' bloke - independant business etc. Trust him completely.

might i suggest that you drop little lord fauntleroy attitude and take some interest in the bikes workings your life depends on it

Yep - you can suggest it, but I'm more inclined to tell you to shove it up your ar*e if I'm being honest

p.s wtf is he going to do with this trawler????

He's living on it. It was converted in the 80's to take crew out to oil rigs and the 'seating area' (ex-chilled fish hold) was converted to living quarters.

 

[g.s.john]

My tyre man has been riding for many, many years and has a number of bikes he looks after himself - very competant and did the rear pads just before Xmas. He's not a 'Kwik-Fit' bloke - independant business etc. Trust him completely.



Yep - you can suggest it, but I'm more inclined to tell you to shove it up your ar*e if I'm being honest



He's living on it. It was converted in the 80's to take crew out to oil rigs and the 'seating area' (ex-chilled fish hold) was converted to living quarters.

good luck to your mate with his trawler as for the rest its going to fit better in your @rse if you dont wish to invite opinions then dont post on here

 

[Sgt Bilco]

Chris has the warranty so has to have the bike serviced at a main dealer which I think is reasonable.

However, I would only let them do the bare minimum and do the brake pads/discs etc yourself and save a few quid

Keep the bike as it`s just run in and treat `er indoors to a nice holiday with the money saved. Mine went through 40k the other night and I`m certainley not going to change it for a long time. I`m hoping to see the big 100k on the beast

 

[ChrisDolphin]

Mine went through 40k the other night and I`m certainley not going to change it for a long time. I`m hoping to see the big 100k on the beast

We're talking about the GS now - yes ?

I think that's exactly what i'm intending to do to be honest.
Chris.