Other than the obvious trouble Eric has been having at his dealership, I stumbled onto another reason to do your own maintenance...

There is an ad on the Albuquerque Craigslist offering a 2002 Ducati 748 for sale. The ad states that the 10,000 mile service was just completed. The bike got a new chain & sprockets, new brakes, new coolant tank, new front & rear lights, and new Dunlop front & rear tires. The service bill was $2,417!

I fell out of my chair! Assuming for a moment that the bike actually needed all of those parts, I figure I would have saved about two grand doing my own maintenace. And then there's the part that when I do it myself, I know it's done right! Damn, new headlights and taillights for a Ducati must be really pricey...

 

Ducati is always pricey[&:]

 

It's a Duc ...what do you excpect....They charge over 9 bills for a valve adjustment at fast by ferracci near me for a Monster 695 or whtever it is...my neighbor almost crapped the bed when he got the bill for his.....He also traded it in right after he got that bill.

 

thats just crazy

 

I recently had my tires changed at the dealer and when I got the bike the rear brake rotor had grease on it and they used a sloppy chain lube that flung all over the bike. Usually $ is not an issue , but the pain in the *** of having to clean the brakes and the rear end of the bike up was a pain. I will be doing all the work on my bike from now except for serious engine tear down type repairs. there always seems to be something not quit right when you get it back from the dealer.

 

Am I the only one here that has an awesome dealer that is easy to get into, fast to get the bike back and cheap to getwork done.....without an appointment?I feel sorry for anyone that has to go through bad dealers. + 1 millionfor my dealer.

http://www.papowerequipment.com/

 

My Honda dealer is great. Service is excellent. I buy all my tires from them as they mount it and balance for free as long as you bring them the rim. They always tell me that I need to leave the rim butthe owner always gets it done right then and ther for me.

As for the Ducati service bill, that's pretty discouraging as I was thinking of getting the new 2008 Hypermotard. I guess if I get it, I'll have to learn how to adjust the desmodromic valves...[&:]

 

No experience with my dealer for service yet, and I hope not to have one any time soon. That said, outside of major internal engine or gearbox work I prefer to do most of the service on my vehicles myself. I'm by no means a mechanic, but with a buddy and a good manual, it's really not that complicated. The main thing for me is labor costs.I guess I value acouple hours of my time after work or on a weekend a lot less than whatever the hourly rate is a dealer will charge. Plus, I get to know my bike, and if something goes wrong I know who did what/when, so I can retrace the steps to figure it out.

 

They like to be known as the Ferrari of m/c's. Paying crazy prices for service is built into pride of ownership.

 

Or ... maybe they actually have trained mechanics at EVERY dealership. What a concept that might be.

Ask Eric about his warranty issues with his KLX in the hands of some boneheads at his dealership. Borderline criminal.