I always take my bike to Essential Rubber.
wont go anywhere else! they do most things, as i dont have the tools at home, looking at getting a few bits to do easy things like brake pad changes, and oil changes, chain tightning etc things i should be able to do, used to sort my scoots out myself so it cant be that hard!
i trust essential 100%, good guys that knw what they are doing, plus they are very good on price too:D
Always the dealer when it’s in warranty. You need those stamps in the book in case you have a claim.
Then it depends on the difficulty and the number of special tools needed, have I already got one, how expensive the tools are, can I make something that will do the job, and so on. Then the biggy. First check the wallet, then,
Can I be ar*ed?
Good, now where abouts in kent are you, cos i want someone to service my bike…!!
Mark posting in your name Ang? Dead give away ;)
Il do it for ya! for a pint and a sausage roll.
i do it myself in my garage with the radio blasting and the neighbours complaining (bloody twats… if it aint my exhaust then its my music)
I’ve always done everything myself on my Moto-Guzzis and CBRs, but now I’ve got the VFR I’m not so sure, there’s an awful lot of diabolically clever Japanese widgets on them…
I think with the VFR you just have to ask it politely and it will sort itself out for you.
Once the warranty had run out I stripped the bike down almost to nuts and bolts no mean feat with a goldwing, and put back everything as it should be including all the allen bolts that the dealer had either put back in the wrong holes or left out altogether.
When you do it yourself you learn everything about the bike and dont have to worry about about a 16 year old on work experience with no idea what a torque wrench is, playing at mechanics.
I would never use another dealer and apparently if you can show that you are a competant mechanic and keep records of everything that you have done to the bike then the warranty still stands- unless I am wrong?
i like to have a go…
usually ends up with me with lots of pieces everywhere, and something else going wrong, but its a learning curve
I don’t trust any dealers enough to let them near my bike!
I do everything myself apart from getting B to fiddle with the suspension and getting Doug at Datum Performance to do any dyno type things. No one else goes within arms length of it with a spanner 
I’d like to learn do the simple maintenance jobs myself.
Helped (passed a couple of tools) a friend change the pads on his Fazer Thou yesterday - it took him 5 minutes!
pads really are easy garret…
its when the piston seizes in the caliper and your riding round filtering with no back brake for weeks its probs…
I did the mans share of the work fist though:P
Every car and bike I’ve ever owned has been serviced by me - back in the day i didnt have the moiney for it so i just watched others and went to bed with a copy of Haynes - now i know how easy it is I loather to part with my hard earned cash and give it someone else for something i could have done in half the time!!!
I do the service on my bike myself. I don’t have a fitted garage but I do have a bike lift, and an enclosed yard. so do the service in the dry warmer weather
Ian
Back brake? What on earth is that? Is that near the wheelie control pedal? :w00t:
Bin riding for over 33 yrs , on average that makes more than a bike a year and never had anyone else do anything other than mot’s and fit tyres.
I have had decent equipped workshops in the past but am back to side of the road/foot-path to our flat at the moment.
Put the head back on recently inc; doing the valve shims while dodging in and out of the bike cover cos of the intermittent hail and snow.:w00t:
Not me
Stevel. DIY and warranties. Your 50% right, depends on the manufacturer/importer. But I go with the get to know you bike properly route.
Someone mentioned widgets earlier. Now they are a problem.
I have a friend who is a a good, qualified motor engineer who now has to turn some customers away because he doesn’t have the particular Italian widget reader (say) to plug in to that machine. Nor is he going to spend £lots buying it for just one make/model.
Haynes manuals. Even they can’t cope with the widgets anymore. Still good on the rude mechanicals but more and more is beyond us home guys/girls.
