Why do you work on your bike by yourself ?

[DeepBlueRider]

Hey Carlos - or the moderators, we skeptics need another option on the poll for those with trust issues. :Flash:

Yup. If someone can add new option to the poll, please add "Trust issues " :thumbup:

 

[DeepBlueRider]

I just don't trust the previous owner.

1. oil change
2. air filter change
3. complete brake job
4. spark plugs check up
5. coolant flush

I'm doing the same. Everything , every-f****ng-thing. I've learned that lesson somehow hard way. One month after getting a bike, my wife completed MSF and we've got bike for from used bike dealer (not exactly dealership - more like boutique with used bikes).

They claimed they did all the service. Initially everything seemed ok, but after another month or so (as ours experience level up) I started questioning braking force and hanging throttle issues.

While braking issues were easy fix - flush black goo out of system, hanging throttle was long one. It took me almost a year to get to the bottom of it. Someone who was working on bike assembled choke lever wrong way and it was never fully closing choke bypass Easy to say now, but it was misassembled perfectly. You wound't tell if anything is wrong Those two things were wakeup call for me.

Now when I'm getting new bike every possible replaceable part goes.

EDIT: Oh, BTW: I've found also lo-jack draining batter after 18 months of having a bike

 

[Crashz28]

Well money and I like to tinker are the main reasons I work on my own bikes!

I started learning about motors and rebuilding them at 9 I am 28 now I will never stop learning!

I like TownsendFJR1300 believe in finding the root cuase of the issue as its the way I was tuaght!

I do not see problems I find solutions!

Money wise well I could never afford to pay a shop to repair something only a few times have I ever sent anything to a shop and I had bad experiences everytime!

I pride myself in knowing how to fabricate, weld, wrench, woodwork, plumbing, electrical, and some a/c repair.

When I did the first ever R6 motor swap I tried to just keep an open mind and keep finding solutions its hard sometimes esp when breaking ground and doing something no one else has done! I just had to think back to what my Stepdad tuaght me and go back to basics if you will! If you just see problems then you will likely never find the solution lol.

I always have some projects going on in my garage whether its making a bat on the lathe or trying to build the starship Enterprise I am always tinkering with something its the way I was raised and fits my introverted personality!:rockon:

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

A previous post above brought up something bad I experianced with buying a new bike... Back in 2005, I ordered and bought a KLR 250 at a shop about 2 hours away.

With that in mind, I used to own a 1989 KLR 250 which I knew deeply (every 32,000 miles, the left main, crank bearing would fail. It did it again at 64,000 miles, sold it at 73,000 miles). Anyway, we took the trailer up to pick it up. As I turned the key on, NO HEADLIGHT (and yes it should come on unlike the FZ). WTF?? Roll it back to the shop, problem guys, no headlight...

The two assembling "Mechanics" look at each other, "did you fill the battery, No, I thought you did!". So one of them pull the side cover, drop it on its side scratching it and fill the battery (of course now it isn't charged FULLY with a trickle charger as ANY NEW BATTERY SHOULD BE)..

Now I have a headlight and head back to the salesman.

Bitched about the situation and they can NOW, send me a new, unscratched side cover at my address 2 hours away... Got the cover several weeks later.

The mechainic's just didn't give a crap.

Had I not caught the headlight out (and had the experiance to know it should come on, the battery would have been toast shortly thereafter).. They just don't care and are in a hurry to get inventory moving (to make money). I understand thier time constraints/make money, BUT, when you pay for"set up", it should be set up correctly..

At another shop (local, same bike while under warranty) the bike got really hard to kick start. Brought it to the shop for warranty. They kept it several days, scratched the rt side cover kick starting it, said it was normal and that the bike DIDN'T HAVE a compression release (actually put it on PAPER/the invoice).

Bring the bike home, pull the valve cover. I find the little spring (see below) for the KARC (compression release) laying in a valley, undamaged, right there. (It holds the weights in opening the exhaust valve just slightly. Once started, the weights kick out against the spring and the bike has full compression). Re-installed it, kick started nice and easy as it should, rode it 28,000 miles before I sold the bike.... Humm, Kawasaki mechainic telling me it doesn't have a compression release(sh..t, its imprinted in the side of the head!!)

This is all with a BRAND NEW BIKE (see below).

Wonder why I don't trust most shops???

 

[Hellgate]

I think we need to clarify what a shop is.

The independent shops I work with are outstanding. 4 brand dealerships are terrible, and I don't consider them a shop, but a store.

The Aprilia dealer I work outstanding too.

So a blanket statement isn't accurate.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

 

[PFD023]

"Anyway, what's your main reason to do all the work by yourself ?"



Cause the beer tastes better while working on my bike.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I think we need to clarify what a shop is.

The independent shops I work with are outstanding. 4 brand dealerships are terrible, and I don't consider them a shop, but a store.

The Aprilia dealer I work outstanding too.

So a blanket statement isn't accurate.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

I did refer to MOST shops.

I do have one local, independant shop I have frequented for over two decades and trust them completly.

The issues I've had we're with a Honda/Yamaha shop and 2 Kawasaki shops. I won't own anything other than Japenese (owned a HD twice), so I can't speak for the other foreign bikes. I have personally worked on my friends Ducuti's and BMW's on occassion.

I know the local BMW dealer, most of the folks by name. If I owned a BMW, I wouldn't hesitate going there..

But back to the question, I trust myself more, wrenching on my bike than I do anyone else..

 

[PosterFZ6]

I'm doing the same. Everything , every-f****ng-thing. I've learned that lesson somehow hard way. One month after getting a bike, my wife completed MSF and we've got bike for from used bike dealer (not exactly dealership - more like boutique with used bikes).

They claimed they did all the service. Initially everything seemed ok, but after another month or so (as ours experience level up) I started questioning braking force and hanging throttle issues.

While braking issues were easy fix - flush black goo out of system, hanging throttle was long one. It took me almost a year to get to the bottom of it. Someone who was working on bike assembled choke lever wrong way and it was never fully closing choke bypass Easy to say now, but it was misassembled perfectly. You wound't tell if anything is wrong Those two things were wakeup call for me.

Now when I'm getting new bike every possible replaceable part goes.

EDIT: Oh, BTW: I've found also lo-jack draining batter after 18 months of having a bike

It's also an issue of safety for me. I need to be 100% sure that I can depend on the brakes.

I won't replace brake pads if they are okay, but usually I upgrade to SS brake lines and change to sintered brake pads for extra stopping power.

Also I learned the hard way to inspect and lubricate throttle lines. Once on my daily commute I ended up leaving my bike on the side of the road since the throttle cables broke.

My brother used to work as a motorcycle mechanic for a reputable shop in Brooklyn and I wouldn't hesitate to go to them. Alas I moved to Jersey and have a proper garage now so if I was so stubborn to work on a side of a street in front of my apt. building, having now a garage I would be damned if I would go to a shop to get something fixed up.

 

[Hellgate]

I did refer to MOST shops.

I do have one local, independant shop I have frequented for over two decades and trust them completly.

The issues I've had we're with a Honda/Yamaha shop and 2 Kawasaki shops. I won't own anything other than Japenese (owned a HD twice), so I can't speak for the other foreign bikes. I have personally worked on my friends Ducuti's and BMW's on occassion.

I know the local BMW dealer, most of the folks by name. If I owned a BMW, I wouldn't hesitate going there..

But back to the question, I trust myself more, wrenching on my bike than I do anyone else..

Trackin', got it brother. No need for caps and underscore. I was simply pointing out the difference between the two.

 

[yamihoe]

its not just money, I just dont trust anyone else to touch anything I have.

 

[stink989]

Because I'm a qualified motorcycle mechanic :thumbup: :ban:

 

[agf]

i' m with Pete on this a local mech you trust is worth their weight... the yammy dealer that did the 1st service did the job , but i still dont know who was on the tools the bloje i deal with now i talk to him, not a receptionist not the apprentice but the guy with the smarts some stuff i can do and have time to do other stuff i trust to the guy i trust Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner and it works every time !

 

[Smersh]

First and foremost, I like to tinker. It's probably in my blood - both of my grandfathers could repair anything. My dad is a diesel engineer and when I was a kid, he would always bring me whenever he was working on our car. One time we literally had to take our car apart (after an accident), had the frame repaired by body works guys, and then re-assemble. Fun times, but we didn't have a choice - in Russia at that time buying a different car (even used) was out of the question. I did not follow in my parents' footsteps and ended up getting a degree in business (albeit with tech concentration), but need for tinkering is there still.

Second, somewhat related reason - to learn - I'm curious about how things work - anything from a 3-pin lock to UP 3985, and motorcycle to me is one of the pinnacles of mechanical thought - it's a darn engine on two wheels!
It also amazes me how little some people know about how things around them operate. I realize we live in a more specialized society, but I think we should not lose at least some understanding of what machines around us do. Anyways, that's my thought, I just hope to pass it on to my future kids.

Third reason - it's cheaper. This one somewhat arguable if you take into consideration write-offs on "learning experience" and some tools that I get, but who's looking at that, right?

 

[scottm]

Why pay a shop to do things you can do yourself? I work for a large motorsports dealer, and will have them do the harder jobs.:thumbup:

 

[kenh]

First and foremost, I like to tinker. It's probably in my blood - both of my grandfathers could repair anything. My dad is a diesel engineer and when I was a kid, he would always bring me whenever he was working on our car. One time we literally had to take our car apart (after an accident), had the frame repaired by body works guys, and then re-assemble. Fun times, but we didn't have a choice - in Russia at that time buying a different car (even used) was out of the question. I did not follow in my parents' footsteps and ended up getting a degree in business (albeit with tech concentration), but need for tinkering is there still.

Second, somewhat related reason - to learn - I'm curious about how things work - anything from a 3-pin lock to UP 3985, and motorcycle to me is one of the pinnacles of mechanical thought - it's a darn engine on two wheels!
It also amazes me how little some people know about how things around them operate. I realize we live in a more specialized society, but I think we should not lose at least some understanding of what machines around us do. Anyways, that's my thought, I just hope to pass it on to my future kids.

Third reason - it's cheaper. This one somewhat arguable if you take into consideration write-offs on "learning experience" and some tools that I get, but who's looking at that, right?

OK, I have to admit that I had to do a quick search on "UP 3985" and the one thing that constantly amazes me about this Forum is that it is comprised of members from all over with vastly varying degrees skill, know how and experience. But the key to the question posed is, why not? Everyone has had a less than positive experience with someone else working on their bike, cage or whatever and that incident might have been the catalyst that sparked the mantra that "I can do this myself." The motorcycles of today are much more sophisticated than when I last worked on my dirt bikes back in the '70's, but with all the help that is available through this Forum, manuals, etc., it does not bother me to get my hands dirty and the self satisfaction that is realized is priceless, albeit to me.

 

[yamihoe]

call me weird but I don't consider anything to be "hard" when working on any bike or car anymore, there are just things that require different levels of time.

 

[Gelvatron]

call me weird but I don't consider anything to be "hard" when working on any bike or car anymore, there are just things that require different levels of time.

time and past experience usually the right set of tools And confidence can speed it up by great statement At least in my opinion

 

[CADMAN]

Because I don't have any friends!!!!!!

*Tear ...

My sentiment exactly (JK ).

I voted no friends or money. Having recently moved to AZ, didn't really trust any stealership, and with the love of tinkering, have owned a 92 S10 Blazer, 4.3L V6, for 18 years, with 265K+ miles. As read here, upon purchase in 96, I went through everything, fluids, filters, brakes, plugs, vacuum lines and all, and have done all maintenance myself. I have rebuilt a 2000 Kawi ZR-7 following a crash to better than new spec and ride quality.

I felt I could research, read this forum and Factory Service Manual, and ask more experienced people for advice. Though I voted no friends, I met, rode and talked with this guy, Ssky0078, he's got a lot going on.

And asked lots of questions from this guy:

I don't like paying someone to do something I can do myself.

Assistance here has helped me replace a water pump that was about to fail, clean and adjust the chain, and t general entertainment reading the threads of this forum.

Thanks folks.

 

[SweaterDude]

"shops around here suck" option not available......

 

[FIZZER6]

To save money, to know the job was done right and because it's a great feeling of accomplishment to do things yourself.