Servicing Question

[AchtungPanzer]

Just a quick servicing related question, I hope somebody on here will be able to assist me with this little enquiry of mine.

I am looking at getting a R1200GS early next year {not sure which year as of yet} but I am interested in hearing other people’s views on this, is it just me or does it seem a bit of a money throwing exercise getting the bike serviced at the dealerships {I have got nothing against any dealership whatsoever} I just think I could save the extra cash and do the servicing myself {using bmw parts of course}, after all I’ve got everything I need sitting in my garage.

I’ll get to the point​

How does this affect the warranty and will this put people of buying your bike of you {bearing in mind that I am actually quite anal about keeping records, so I will of course be keeping an in depth record of any work done on the bike}

Personally I can’t see the second one mattering that much, but you never know.... hence why I have asked this question in the first place

 

[CuzGS]

someone more knowlegable will fill you in but

http://www.motorcycleinfo.co.uk/index.cfm?fa=contentGeneric.dnvjxqtaqfhxwmvv&pageId=250477#service

may be worth reading, its all to do with euro stuff, example from indi car site for servicing below.......

But new European legislation has changed all that. Thanks to the “Block Exemption Regulation” 14002002 (BER) introduced in October 2003, you can now have your car serviced independently, away from a main dealer, without invalidating the manufacturer’s warranty Mercury Car Centre lets you take full advantage of this freedom. We service your car according to the manufacturer’s service schedule, using parts compliant to their guidelines, and with all the work done by qualified and fully trained technicians

.......as far as i know if its iaw schedule and using correct parts youre laughing

 

[littleredrooster]

First off, I disagree that they're expensive to service per se. Over 3 years / 30,000 miles a GS is cheaper to service than a VFR at the dealer. All things are relative!

The options to save money are either to find a good indy to do it and stamp the book, or DIY. They are extremely simple to service yourself if you have a modicum of knowledge, and provided you keep receipts for parts etc., should not have an excessively negative effect on the resale value of the bike.

 

[rick]

If you have a manufacturer warranty on the bike then you will have to get it serviced, either independently or at a BMW dealer to maintain the warranty. If you do get it serviced independently then I can see calims being looked at less sympathetically.

I have read somewhere that the situation regarding the extended warranty is different as this is an insurance based warranty, not a manufacturer one. I believe BMW therefore try to insist that servicing is done by their dealers.

As regards value/cost of servicing. I think that any loss of value is more than offset by the actual cost of servicing, particularly as the bike ages. Obviously if you keep good records this will help.

 

[AchtungPanzer]

First off, I disagree that they're expensive to service per se. Over 3 years / 30,000 miles a GS is cheaper to service than a VFR at the dealer. All things are relative!

The options to save money are either to find a good indy to do it and stamp the book, or DIY. They are extremely simple to service yourself if you have a modicum of knowledge, and provided you keep receipts for parts etc., should not have an excessively negative effect on the resale value of the bike.

I fully agree with you littleredrooster, it’s not the expense {which to be fair to bmw isn’t exactly extortionate} that sways me in the do it yourself direction. It’s more along the lines of if I can do the job myself {following bmw guidelines and servicing principles "thanks to their worshop manual" and save a little bit of money at the same time why shouldn’t I {plus I’m of a inquisitive nature, I kind of like the feeling of satisfaction I get from doing my own work}

If that makes sense, I should have explained it a bit better {my fault}
​

 

[AchtungPanzer]

I would also like to add, I am more than happy to take the bike into my local bmw dealership for servicing {balderston’s in this case, good bunch of lads in there so I’ve been informed}. I just thought it would be very handy to learn the in and outs of this bike as much as possible {i don’t have nor want a car so this is my only way of moving my corpse from point a to point b}

 

[fizzer]

mate,if its under warrantee,bite the bullet and get them to service it,just in case anything packs up and you need them to sort it,some stuff expensive and you dont want to give the dealer a reason to wriggle out of a claim.
if its got no warrante do the job your self ,keep all recipts and records and stick in your bikes folder.
i work in the car parts trade and have looked and all the filters and plugs and lubricants are available from car parts places ,its all plain sailing servicing them ,just the tecky stuff can be a bit daunting ,eg electrical.
what i have picked up on here is that although some thrive taking the piss ,but most are very knowlage folk and anything that crops up help will be only a few hours away.

 

[AchtungPanzer]

mate,if its under warrantee,bite the bullet and get them to service it,just in case anything packs up and you need them to sort it,some stuff expensive and you dont want to give the dealer a reason to wriggle out of a claim.
if its got no warrante do the job your self ,keep all recipts and records and stick in your bikes folder.
i work in the car parts trade and have looked and all the filters and plugs and lubricants are available from car parts places ,its all plain sailing servicing them ,just the tecky stuff can be a bit daunting ,eg electrical.
what i have picked up on here is that although some thrive taking the piss ,but most are very knowlage folk and anything that crops up help will be only a few hours away.

That’s the plan fizzer; I was just pretty much just enquiring about the pros and cons of doing the servicing myself. If the bike I get has any remaining warranty left {it will be placed in the capable hands of the dealership until the time the warranty expires}, I’ve seen the s**t triumph put my mate through because he changed his own oil on his 6000K service.

I do still intend on learning as much as possible about this bike, couldn’t hurt really. At least then you can keep on top of things before they happen instead of finding out when everything’s went pear shaped.

Also, I really do appreciate the advice; cheers for being patient with me.
​

 

[ducatiparts.110mb]

I’ve seen the s**t triumph put my mate through because he changed his own oil on his 6000K service.

I think it depends on the dealer. I serviced my 18 month old RT myself last time, and took it round to Dick Lovett Motorrad a couple weeks ago when the rear wheel bearings developed a bit of play. They couldn't have been more helpful. They checked the age, mileage and service history and never even suggested that the warranty was void by me servicing it last time. 10/10 to them.

I'm sure not all dealers are the same. You have to weigh up the potential cost that you stand to gain / lose, and consider the age the bike will be when you sell it to see whether a service history would affect the sale.

Personally I'd never even consider whether a bike has been dealer serviced when deciding whether to buy it, I'd be more bothered if the previous owner was a bit of a dick - if so then I'd walk away regardless of who serviced it.

 

[Beemerman59]

I had mine done at the dealers whilst in warranty and then switched to DIY servicing. Its very straightforward to do and well in side the capability levels if you are used to working on your own bikes. I did invest in one or two things I didn't already have such as torx tools, plug cap/plug puller etc and also got a GS911 which while not essential is certainly helpful. All in all I spent about £300 on tools (most of which was the GS911 which will have a resale value at some point) which is well under the cost of the 3 services I would have had by now. Plus I enjoy doing it and I know it's been done to my standards.

I also think that once the bike gets to 3 or 4 years old, any loss of value not having a dealer stamp is diminished and I'm planning on keeping the bike for quite a while yet. I would actually prefer to buy a 4 or 5 year old bike off someone who has cared for and taken the time to service their own bike (and have all the records, receipt etc) than one which has dealer stamps.

 

[BBB61]

If you buy a used BMW with the approved used warranty then you will have to get it serviced by a BMW dealer. As it is effectively an insurance policy they can insert such a condition.

 

[casperfelix]

I had mine done at the dealers whilst in warranty and then switched to DIY servicing. Its very straightforward to do and well in side the capability levels if you are used to working on your own bikes. I did invest in one or two things I didn't already have such as torx tools, plug cap/plug puller etc and also got a GS911 which while not essential is certainly helpful. All in all I spent about £300 on tools (most of which was the GS911 which will have a resale value at some point) which is well under the cost of the 3 services I would have had by now. Plus I enjoy doing it and I know it's been done to my standards.

I also think that once the bike gets to 3 or 4 years old, any loss of value not having a dealer stamp is diminished and I'm planning on keeping the bike for quite a while yet. I would actually prefer to buy a 4 or 5 year old bike off someone who has cared for and taken the time to service their own bike (and have all the records, receipt etc) than one which has dealer stamps.

Very sensible advice.

 

[Rasher]

I also think that once the bike gets to 3 or 4 years old, any loss of value not having a dealer stamp is diminished...... I would actually prefer to buy a 4 or 5 year old bike off someone who has cared for and taken the time to service their own bike (and have all the records, receipt etc) than one which has dealer stamps.

I agree, but would still expect to get the home serviced bike a shade cheaper. However as a seller of a home serviced bike (I have sold a few) it does reduce the "punter pool", but as the bike gets older fewer people are expecting / insisting on a dealer serviced bike.

IMO for the first two years of manufacturers warranty just bite the bullet, block exemption is all well and good, but the claim experience is likely to be better if the dealer you are trying to claim at has had some of your wonga.

The extended warranties do indeed require main dealer servicing, the savings of indies are quite substantial, for the "average" (6k / one service per year) your gonna drop from about £350 per year to about £200 so a £150 saving, if you also then save £300 by not keeping up warranty your gonna save about £450 (put it towards your inevitable FD failure)

Home servcing certainly looks like a winner as I am guessing service parts will average about £75 per year - compared to £350 for BMW servicing and £300 for warranty your own efforts will net you over £550 - far more than you are likely to spend on repairs or lose in extra depreciation.

 

[gipsymagpie]

your gonna save about £450 (put it towards your inevitable FD failure)

Assuming of course the inevitable failure occurs after you have saved up.

Just my 2p's worth, I have added up the sums and I have come out in the quids up from keeping the extended warranty ticking over on my '04. I have had the FD, rear sub frame, right cylinder, alarm and some other stuff all done under warranty. And importantly, the bike has always been off the road for the minimum time because the parts are generally sorted quickly and there is someone who's knows what they doing fiddling with the right tools. I would love to be near an independant mechanic to try the alternative but it is not to be.

And of course it's nice to try a different demonstrator each time I take it in...did not get on with the R1200R one bit last week at NOG.

 

[rce]

Just a quick servicing related question, I hope somebody on here will be able to assist me with this little enquiry of mine.

I am looking at getting a R1200GS early next year {not sure which year as of yet} but I am interested in hearing other people’s views on this, is it just me or does it seem a bit of a money throwing exercise getting the bike serviced at the dealerships {I have got nothing against any dealership whatsoever} I just think I could save the extra cash and do the servicing myself {using bmw parts of course}, after all I’ve got everything I need sitting in my garage.

I’ll get to the point​

How does this affect the warranty and will this put people of buying your bike of you {bearing in mind that I am actually quite anal about keeping records, so I will of course be keeping an in depth record of any work done on the bike}

Personally I can’t see the second one mattering that much, but you never know.... hence why I have asked this question in the first place

Best advice turn that frigging font off...

 

[Ted]

Agree with all the above about dealer service during warranty. Also there are "in service" mods that occure when the bike goes into a dealer for service that you quite often dont get from an indipendant, engine programing mods, wires/pipe rerouts and replacements of brackets etc. Also out of warranty repairs often refered to as a Goodwill claim are usualy looked at favorably if you have shown "goodwill" by having the dealer service your bike.
Once the bike gets to 4/5 years though I tend to do the work myself then just get the tricky bits done like throttle balance by a good indipendant.