Would you recommend 600 mile service at the dealership?

cambo

cambo

Avid Rider
I've logged 565 miles as of this morning and I guess it's about time to think about that 600 mile service. My questions is: Do I really need to go to the dealership to accomplish? Do they do anything special other than the oil change?

I've gone over jumb's instrucable (thanks jumb) and I'm fairly confident I can change the oil myself...which leads me to another question:

When they say "mineral oil", is that the same as your standard, non-synthetic oil? Or is there a, no kidding, type of engine oil out there called mineral oil. An amazon search doesn't bring up sh*t when I try to look for 'mineral oil'.

Thanks for the help- you guys rock as always!
 
JSP

JSP

Administrator
Just change the oil your self. All it really is. Just go over the bike and make sure no bolts are loose, etc. Dealer is a massive ripoff.

Not sure about mineral oil whatever that is. Use ANY MC oil your heart desires ;)
 
9 Lives

9 Lives

New member
If you look in your owners manual it will show what they supposedly check/do at the 600 mile mark. You can do everything yourself with very few tools. The only thing that you need specialty tools for is the throttle body sync but I personally think that is unnecessary at 600 miles unless its running poorly.
 
socal

socal

New member
cambo said:
I've logged 565 miles as of this morning and I guess it's about time to think about that 600 mile service. My questions is: Do I really need to go to the dealership to accomplish? Do they do anything special other than the oil change?

I've gone over jumb's instrucable (thanks jumb) and I'm fairly confident I can change the oil myself...which leads me to another question:

When they say "mineral oil", is that the same as your standard, non-synthetic oil? Or is there a, no kidding, type of engine oil out there called mineral oil. An amazon search doesn't bring up sh*t when I try to look for 'mineral oil'.

Thanks for the help- you guys rock as always!
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dude you only have 600 on it? it seems like youve had it forever
 
cambo

cambo

Avid Rider
socal said:
dude you only have 600 on it? it seems like youve had it forever
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lolol, it does feel like I've had it forever! I bought it right smack at the start of winter here and spent the entire winter modding lol.
 
T

thach1130

New member
Do the oil change yourself, it's super easy. Get a rear stand so you don't have to straddle the bike while it's draining. As a matter of fact, if you want the next one to be even easier then get a stahlbus oil valve to replace your drain bolt. If you need a filter i have some spare purolator pureone here. Bought them when they were on sale at advance auto.

Oil change done by yourself cost about $30 max. Dealer will charge you around 100+ with synthetic. I know that because i was too lazy to do an oil change for a Ninja 250 and i was ripped off for it.

On occasion i see some people doing car repair in walmart parking lot, sometime in advance auto parking lot too. If you want we could meet up and do the same for your bike.
 
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Glovik

Glovik

New member
I'll be the devils advocate and say.... Take it to the dealership. Or meet up with another ride that's knows his stuff.

Your owners manual has a list of all the stuff they check. Checks important nuts and bolts to make sure they're still tight from assembly, making sure everything's still running perfectly, calipers good, ect. I felt good about letting an expert check over my brand new investment, rather than being bum hurt over $100. I don't trust myself to notice something off on a bike I had only 600mi of ride time. And like you said, you've been doing tons of mods over the winter. Letting a professional pair of eyes go over your bike might not be a bad idea. For all you know you have a faulty kickstand barely hanging on. They will not only get it back on track, but lube it up too!

That's just my 2 cents though. I'm sure most of the people saying not to take it and to do a quick oil change yourself, are competent in what they're doing. You mentioned you had to look into how to change the oil. If you weren't sure of that, what makes you sure you know how to check over a motorcycle properly to ensure its safety to ride and carve. There's more to the 600mi service than just changing your oil and makin sure the wheels spin.

Again, just my 2 cents but I just don't trust myself with this stuff when it comes to a brand new motorcycle. Gotta play it safe. A $100 check up is nothing in compairison to what could happen if you don't catch something. I'm a worry wort!
 
cambo

cambo

Avid Rider
Glovik said:
I'll be the devils advocate and say.... Take it to the dealership. Or meet up with another ride that's knows his stuff.

Your owners manual has a list of all the stuff they check. Checks important nuts and bolts to make sure they're still tight from assembly, making sure everything's still running perfectly, calipers good, ect. I felt good about letting an expert check over my brand new investment, rather than being bum hurt over $100. I don't trust myself to notice something off on a bike I had only 600mi of ride time. And like you said, you've been doing tons of mods over the winter. Letting a professional pair of eyes go over your bike might not be a bad idea. For all you know you have a faulty kickstand barely hanging on. They will not only get it back on track, but lube it up too!

That's just my 2 cents though. I'm sure most of the people saying not to take it and to do a quick oil change yourself, are competent in what they're doing. You mentioned you had to look into how to change the oil. If you weren't sure of that, what makes you sure you know how to check over a motorcycle properly to ensure its safety to ride and carve. There's more to the 600mi service than just changing your oil and makin sure the wheels spin.

Again, just my 2 cents but I just don't trust myself with this stuff when it comes to a brand new motorcycle. Gotta play it safe. A $100 check up is nothing in compairison to what could happen if you don't catch something. I'm a worry wort!
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Great points Glovik! and actually this is why I started this thread, because I wasn't sure what exactly went into the 600 mile service. From a cursory search it seemed that break in oil change was all that went down, but once 9 lives mentioned an entire checklist they go through and something about balancing throttle bodies, I got all sorts of headaches, shat myself, and threw in the towel. Forget it, I'll let the stealership deal with this crap for 100 bucks.

So yeah, I had already decided to get the first one knocked out from the dealership for the exact reasons you brought to light...it's more involved than a simple oil change and I'm, by no means, a motorcycle expert. Once things get too crazy for me (and that line is never too far) I'll be the first to hand it off to someone else to take care of it, lol, just ask Rabbitman! But it's because I want things done right and I know how much of an idiot I am sometimes and I don't need to be experimenting on my motorcycle!! Mountain bike, sure...motorcycle, no!

you da man!
 
M

MikeC

Weekend Rider
cambo said:
Great points Glovik! and actually this is why I started this thread, because I wasn't sure what exactly went into the 600 mile service. From a cursory search it seemed that break in oil change was all that went down, but once 9 lives mentioned an entire checklist they go through and something about balancing throttle bodies, I got all sorts of headaches, shat myself, and threw in the towel. Forget it, I'll let the stealership deal with this crap for 100 bucks.

So yeah, I had already decided to get the first one knocked out from the dealership for the exact reasons you brought to light...it's more involved than a simple oil change and I'm, by no means, a motorcycle expert. Once things get too crazy for me (and that line is never too far) I'll be the first to hand it off to someone else to take care of it, lol, just ask Rabbitman! But it's because I want things done right and I know how much of an idiot I am sometimes and I don't need to be experimenting on my motorcycle!! Mountain bike, sure...motorcycle, no!

you da man!
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I wasn't exactly ecstatic or jumping for joy about letting the stealership take me for $200 bucks on my 600 mile maintenance, but it DID buy me peace of mind, and "first change security" so that if something goes bad, I can say I did my first one there! I guess and I didn't really regret it afterwards either. There are situations where i do my own stuff, and just never feel totally confident about it.

With that said, my fz8 won't be going back to the dealership for a LONG time since changing your oil is such a piece of cake.
 
Glovik

Glovik

New member
Each schedualed maintenance/oil change (600, 4000, 8000, ect). Has its own daunting checklist of stuff that dealerships go over for you. I'll probably keep mine going there for a while. Built up good report with the mechanics and staff and have gotten hook ups from time to time like a free tire mount and such, so I don't feel like they're screwing me toooo bad, or at least it doesn't hurt as bad lol. I like to tinker on the bike and such, but I figure I ride her so hard that she deserves her checkups :).

Speaking of oil change, what kind are you thinking? I went normal yamalube my 600, then switched to synthetic at 4000. It's a good debate how early you should go synthetic. Some switch at 600. I decided to play it safe and wait till 4000 at the maintenance. I might have switched it myself a little earlier, but I got lazy and never felt like it. Not like the yamalube is killing it.
 
cambo

cambo

Avid Rider
Glovik said:
Each schedualed maintenance/oil change (600, 4000, 8000, ect). Has its own daunting checklist of stuff that dealerships go over for you. I'll probably keep mine going there for a while. Built up good report with the mechanics and staff and have gotten hook ups from time to time like a free tire mount and such, so I don't feel like they're screwing me toooo bad, or at least it doesn't hurt as bad lol. I like to tinker on the bike and such, but I figure I ride her so hard that she deserves her checkups :).

Speaking of oil change, what kind are you thinking? I went normal yamalube my 600, then switched to synthetic at 4000. It's a good debate how early you should go synthetic. Some switch at 600. I decided to play it safe and wait till 4000 at the maintenance. I might have switched it myself a little earlier, but I got lazy and never felt like it. Not like the yamalube is killing it.
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I think I'll switch it myself at the 3000 mile marker to synthetic. But at this 600 one I'll let them run their recommended oil.

Michael- I'm really really hoping they don't ring me up for 200 bucks, geesus!!
 
JSP

JSP

Administrator
cambo said:
I think I'll switch it myself at the 3000 mile marker to synthetic. But at this 600 one I'll let them run their recommended oil.

Michael- I'm really really hoping they don't ring me up for 200 bucks, geesus!!
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You will be that or more...

Most dealerships dont even do what is on the list. I've had them lie about doing valve adjustment on my bike after I put clear nail polish on certain spots and on the valve cover to see if it was even taken off... nope. After all of that, I do not believe they do anything unless I can PHYSICALLY see it was done. Trust yourself.

Maybe just my bad experiences that tainted me. But I see no reason to take it. Warranty is not affected. Just keep a log book that you did the service and date/any receipts for oil/filter, etc.

It is an opportunity for you to learn your bike and you are the only one you can truly trust that it was done.

Do you have a service manual?
 
Rabbitman109

Rabbitman109

Lumen Junkie
Ty, if you need help, just ask, I did my own service on my FZ6R, and it really is easy. Just going through the owners manual and checking all the stuff it says that needs checked isn't that hard. If you want to come up, I can help you, so you know how to do it in the future.
 
Glovik

Glovik

New member
This video shows a guy doing an inspection to an fz8 in awesome detail. He explains each step super clearly.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxN-tDmOfAU&feature=youtube_gdata_player]Henk schraubt sich Einen - 20000er Inspektion an einer Yamaha FZ8 - YouTube[/ame]
 
cambo

cambo

Avid Rider
Guys, really appreciate all this. JUST got off the phone with Battley Cycles (where I bought my Yamaha). 180 bucks?? Get the eff outta here! It's not the price that offends me, it's the fact that my dealership is trying to rape me! At least wine and dine me first you know? lmao

Glovik...yeah I'm doing this myself- I have to. It's about principal now! If I get stuck, there's some local guys that I'm sure could be great, immediate help. (Rabbitman, DJK, Noob, Thach).

I don't have the service manual...waiiiiit waiiit...now I do! Thanks google. lolol
 
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