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Do your own bike service?

I agree with everyone about doing as much as possible by yourself - saves money and gives you an immense feeling of satisfaction and connection with your bike. However, let me bring up something that hasn't been discussed. If you're not as super mechanically inclined as some of the great, helpful folks on this forum, allow LOTS of time to accomplish a service that's more than a fluid change. If you're fairly new to this maintenance game like me, you certainly don't want to rush anything. Look at everything closely before you mess with it. Make a sketch or take a picture if you're going to disassemble something and put it back together later. Allow lots of time if you encounter something you need to post on the forum to get input about.

Basically what I'm saying is don't plan to do your whole 10,000 mile service the day before leaving on a trip or going out with a bunch of friends. Also, you don't have to do the entire service in one chunk. Do some and then go enjoy the fruits of your labor. Finish up at your convenience.
 
I just take it over to Glider's house since he lives nearby!:D

Actually, I do all the work on both bikes unless it requires special tools that I don't have. For one, I like doing it...it's therepeudic. Also, if something ever does go wrong while on the road, I'm more likely to have a clue as to what to do. And, I have no one other than myself to complain if something is not done correctly.
 
KingHeritage said:
I do all of my own work.I'm just as good at it as anyone else can be.At the end of the day I know all work performed was done right.Plus,when the job is done I can tip myself with a beer or two!!
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1+ for KingH as well as our moderators here...doing your own service, with your pals here at HDT...goes a long way to make you more "ONE" with your ride, and the benefits of knowing things are done right really qualifies you for that tip and beer at the end... :cheers
 
I do all my own work on all my bikes i was brought up that way
fist problems got help from my father later on got help from friends
i have done some full nuts and bolts restorations
but even with all my previous experience it takes me about a week to do a service correctly
read the manual on the task you are going to do at least twice
then go and do that task if something dosent seem right go back to the manual
system works like this come home from work, eat, walk dog, read manual.go in shed do task, switch on pc read latest on hd talking,
dont try to do it all at once if you rush you may miss something

Brian
 
I agree. I do everything myself (sometimes to a fault but I learn from my mistakes) and so when I ride my bike I feel confident that someone who cares did the work. Some dealer mechanics are great some aren't. My last two cents is ...buy the right tools for the job (George's garage makes awesome tools ) and get the manual and the parts book for your bike. Sometimes the parts book shows the blownup details you don't get with the manual. Has saved my butt alot of times. Also...digital pictures cost nothing? Take lots and look at them later if you are not sure. Lastly....buy a box of the heavy duty ziplock bags. 100 cost like $4. (wife gets mad when i steal hers). I put assemblies in them bags .. zip them then write what its for. Man saves a ton of time. Anyways. My 2 cents.:p
 
I like to do all my service and repairs. My bike has never seen a dealer/mechanic since the day I picked it up except for inspections. Do as much as you feel comfortable with and if you dont feel comfortable take it in to someone you trust.

For general maintenance a simple set of mechanics tools, a shop manual and parts manual is all you need. Go slow and plan ahead so you dont find you need something you dont have in the middle of the process.
 
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