16,000 mile service.

[edeas62]

Hey gang. First and foremost,Thanks for all the invaluable advice and how too's that alot of you have posted. I have a 2006 RSV 1300 that I bought used at North County Yamaha around 6 months ago. She had 32,000 on her and I now have 42,000 on it now. I needed a rear tire so I bought front and rear Avon Cobra's to replace the Bridgestones. Anyway, I decided to get the full 16,000 because the past service record was fairly vague. Im quoted 1,200.00 for the service with the tire install. Just curious if this sounds about right. I also asked to have the vavles checked and adjusted as well. So the quote includes that as well. Thank you in advance

Edited August 28, 2016 by edeas62

[Guest Jamsie]

V7Goose did a great quide on vavle clearance, Freebird , did a guide on removing the carbs to get at the valve covers

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?38545-Valve-Adjustment

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?7830-Removing-the-Carbs-from-the-RSV

if you are happy with a spanner in your hand , you could save yourself a fortune . it takes about 3 hours to check the valve clearances , this is where most of the cost is .

but oil , filter , regrease rear drive . final drive iol ,renew coolant , etc can all be done with minimal tools and are not difficult to do

have a look in the 2nd gen read only section , plenty of guides and there are also manuals to download

[bongobobny]

Well, there IS a fair amount of labor involved in getting the rear tire off the bike to put the new tire on so count on around 200 or so just to change the tires themselves. Now, the valve adjustment is a big labor eater in time and parts as they will, or they SHOULD replace both the valve cover gaskets and the rubber thingies on the valve cover screws so they don't leak oil! Those parts alone are expensive so it usually runs around $800 parts and labor for that. Not sure what else is called for with the 16K service but I'm thinking an oil change is part of it so that too will bring the bill up. So, yes, probably that is about a normal cost for a dealer to do the work. Does this price ALSO include the cost of the tires?? If so then you are probably getting a decent price.

 

The $1200 price is why many of us would rather do the work ourselves, sorry, but motorcycle mechanics aren't gods with super skills above and beyond what any of us with mechanical skills are capable of doing, they just have more practice doing it. As far as the practical specific knowledge of the Yamaha 1300 engine, we have that information here on the site! The shop mechanics have to work on a whole lot of different engines, so they generally have to refer to the shop manuals themselves just like we do...

 

Also, there are good dealers, not so good dealers, and downright dishonest dealers out there!! Hope yours is one of the GOOD ones out there, they are sometimes far and few between!

[edeas62]

Hey gang. First and foremost,Thanks for all the invaluable advice and how too's that alot of you have posted. I have a 2006 RSV 1300 that I bought used at North County Yamaha around 6 months ago. She had 32,000 on her and I now have 42,000 on it now. I needed a rear tire so I bought front and rear Avon Cobra's to replace the Bridgestones. Anyway, I decided to get the full 16,000 because the past service record was fairly vague. Im quoted 1,200.00 for the service with the tire install. Just curious if this sounds about right. I also asked to have the vavles checked and adjusted as well. So the quote includes that as well. Thank you in advance

 

Well, there IS a fair amount of labor involved in getting the rear tire off the bike to put the new tire on so count on around 200 or so just to change the tires themselves. Now, the valve adjustment is a big labor eater in time and parts as they will, or they SHOULD replace both the valve cover gaskets and the rubber thingies on the valve cover screws so they don't leak oil! Those parts alone are expensive so it usually runs around $800 parts and labor for that. Not sure what else is called for with the 16K service but I'm thinking an oil change is part of it so that too will bring the bill up. So, yes, probably that is about a normal cost for a dealer to do the work. Does this price ALSO include the cost of the tires?? If so then you are probably getting a decent price.

 

The $1200 price is why many of us would rather do the work ourselves, sorry, but motorcycle mechanics aren't gods with super skills above and beyond what any of us with mechanical skills are capable of doing, they just have more practice doing it. As far as the practical specific knowledge of the Yamaha 1300 engine, we have that information here on the site! The shop mechanics have to work on a whole lot of different engines, so they generally have to refer to the shop manuals themselves just like we do...

 

Also, there are good dealers, not so good dealers, and downright dishonest dealers out there!! Hope yours is one of the GOOD ones out there, they are sometimes far and few between!

 

Thank you for your fast replys. I agree about doing the work myself for a few good reasons. First, to learn my bike secondly, saves money. I have done my own brakes, took the fairing apart to repair the radio connections. All due to you guys posting the how too's. However, working two jobs right now, my time is limited. Im thinking this will give me a good starting place on the bike. Knowing these things are done gives me peace of mind at 80+ miles an hour on the HOV every morning. The tires I bought at bike bendit for 230.00 for both. I uped the rear load limit to 80 from the 77s that were on it. Mostly because I have a trailer for the bike. Once again, I am so grateful to all you guys and gals for sharing you invaluable wealth of knowledge so freely.

[edeas62]

I probably should have given a complete list of whats included in the QUOTE of 1,200.00 for the 16,000. Here it is: oil filter and yamaha 10/40. Brake fluid changed in front and rear w/ fluid Dot 4. Air cleaner element. Spark plugs. 4 carb. Adjustment/ sync. Valve adjustment w/ head cover gaskets. Both tires mounted and balanced. I provided tires. Stearing stem and swingarm cleaned and repacked/ torqued. Final gear oil changed. Coolant/ antifreeze changed out. I got the mileage wrong on my original post. I bought it with 37,000 on it and its now at 41,000. I ride it daily and on the weekends. Love that thing

Edited August 28, 2016 by edeas62

[bongobobny]

Then that is a pretty good price! Due to ecological factors (and age) I had my cooling system flushed this spring by our local trusted dealer and that was around $125 or so...

[edeas62]

I probably should have given a complete list of whats included in the QUOTE of 1,200.00 for the 16,000. Here it is: oil filter and yamaha 10/40. Brake fluid changed in front and rear w/ fluid Dot 4. Air cleaner element. Spark plugs. 4 carb. Adjustment/ sync. Valve adjustment w/ head cover gaskets. Both tires mounted and balanced. I provided tires. Stearing stem and swingarm cleaned and repacked/ torqued. Final gear oil changed. Coolant/ antifreeze changed outto and0m

Edited August 28, 2016 by edeas62

[vzuden]

As bongo said you were at pretty good price but now that you added cleaning and repacking the steering head and swing arm bearings it sounds like a really great price.

[Rick Haywood]

I probably should have given a complete list of whats included in the QUOTE of 1,200.00 for the 16,000. Here it is: oil filter and yamaha 10/40. Brake fluid changed in front and rear w/ fluid Dot 4. Air cleaner element. Spark plugs. 4 carb. Adjustment/ sync. Valve adjustment w/ head cover gaskets. Both tires mounted and balanced. I provided tires. Stearing stem and swingarm cleaned and repacked/ torqued. Final gear oil changed. Coolant/ antifreeze changed out. I got the mileage wrong on my original post. I bought it with 37,000 on it and its now at 41,000. I ride it daily and on the weekends. Love that thing

 

I'd change the tires, do the oil change and plugs myself and ride the heck out of it. And there are plenty of members who will sync the carbs for you

[Lug Nut]

That is actually a very good price for all the work you involved and quoted. However I have minimal experience with motorcycle mechanics other than knowing that they're not that great! LOL. I have one Yamaha technician in my area that is wonderful and fair. I do pretty much everything myself on 3 yamahas I've owned it for the past year. I do it not to save money but because I know that I will do it right and that the mechanics at a bike shop may not work on my specific model very often. I feel that Harley mechanics are actually quite good because I have a lot of practice working on bikes. Not kidding just stating the fact that HD require a lot more maintenance than yamaha's do. I would be very very skeptical but they did every single thing listed on that repair order for that price however. Think how easy it would be for them to say yes we did all of that. You would not know, because you're not going to tear it apart and double check. You're going to write it for another Twenty Thousand Miles and everything will be just fine. Realistically if you didn't touch anything on that bike in the next twenty thousand miles other than tired it would probably be just fine. At least in terms of your writing experience.

[edeas62]

You are 100% right. I wouldent know and I definately would rather do the work myself. Not having had a bike since my 20s( im 54 now) my knowledge is coming from this page, which by the way has been extremely appreiciated. However, I ride the bike to and from work( both jobs) and on the weekends ( Sundays) so my time now is limited and Im thinking I want a good starting place to at least feel comfortable knowing the bike is "safe". I was getting a little more "wiggle" out of her on the highway than I thought a bike that heavy should have so new tires and having the steering repacked and torqued I believe , from what Ive read here, would be a good thing. The other stuff comes with the swing arm and steering adjustments. Im definately not planning on becoming a regular customer there for sure. . Having the wife aboard , of coarse, plays a big part in my decision to have the work done by someone who knows better than I at this. I will keep learnning and doing as much as I can myself though. To me, thats the best part of the whole adventure. Thank you all for your replys

[edeas62]

You are 100% right. I wouldent know and I definately would rather do the work myself. Not having had a bike since my 20s( im 54 now) my knowledge is coming from this page, which by the way has been extremely appreiciated. However, I ride the bike to and from work( both jobs) and on the weekends ( Sundays) so my time now is limited and Im thinking I want a good starting place to at least feel comfortable knowing the bike is "safe". I was getting a little more "wiggle" out of her on the highway than I thought a bike that heavy should have so new tires and having the steering repacked and torqued I believe , from what Ive read here, would be a good thing. The other stuff comes with the swing arm and steering adjustments. Im definately not planning on becoming a regular customer there for sure.[ATTACH=CONFIG]107155[/ATTACH] . Having the wife aboard , of coarse, plays a big part in my decision to have the work done by someone who knows better than I at this. I will keep learnning and doing as much as I can myself though. To me, thats the best part of the whole adventure. Thank you all for your replys

[Lug Nut]

Instead of a dealership try to find an experienced Yamahabtech tgat doesnthe worknhimelf/for himself. I got lucky and found one that works from his home-shop and has 25 years at a dealership and does the work himself. Charges $40 / hr which is VERY reasonable for his specific knowledge base. I have done everything myself except carb jetting (had the tech do that). It's awfully nice knowing that I can drop off a bike to him and HE is doing the work and is accountable and I don't have to talk to a service manager about their dumas $15/hr wrench who hasn't worked on a Yamaha before and why I am being charged $100/hr for piss poor work, loose bolts, and scratches.