Took my bike into Dobles today for its first service (I bought it brand new from them) and the service cost me £71…
I was under the impression that a first service on a brand new bike was always free, but having checked all of my paperwork and their website, I can’t find any mention of the first service being free - did I just dream it, of have Doble Gnomes come and nicked my paperwork in the dead of night???
To add insult to injury, it took them 17 days from calling them to getting it serviced, so instead of having the service at 600 miles, had it at 1380 miles - the 2nd service is due at 2500 miles so I might as well call 'em tomorrow to book it in!
Was toying with the idea of going to a good local independent recommended by Buttonmonkey but not sure how having a non-Honda mechanic doing the service would affect warranty / resale value???
Cant even remember if I had to pay for my first service. Have you looked at the invoice. It may well be that the service its self was free in that they didnt charge you labour but that you were charged for consumables i.e. oil, plugs etc. 71 quid does seem extremely cheap for a service anyways. My last one cost me in the region of 500 notes. So gonna make use of all the wisdom and advice to be found on this here forum and all the good people that love biking which make it what it is, to do it myself. I might well feel differently if like you the bike was new and still under waranty tho.
Just found this post above from another forum (sorry but was worried :unsure:) anyway saves having to call Honda UK up. Seems if your bike was bought after 1st Jan 2009, labour is no longer free
Thats sucks! Stevie check the manual you have just incase you got given an old type service booklet! you could get some of your money back (probably if you kick up a fuss)
Dobles better not pull a fast one on me and charge me for my service seeing i did buy mine in Aug 2008 (have a funny feeling they will rip me off)
I bought my busa in February from Geoge Wrights. The first service was £45 which was oil, filter etc. Labour was free. I don’t know if this is a Suzuki policy or George Wrights though, because I was told if I took the bike to any other Suzy dealer for the first service I would be charged labour.
Cheers devsTa - had a look at the service book - nah - no mention of a free service so looks like it’s legit, just a booger :DIf nothing else - it’s given you a heads up to be aware of this when you take yours in
thing is any decent shop is fully booked and first services not free now well honda not anyway . best anticipate and book things early . a good shop is a victim of its own success
I am an advocate of learning the skills to service your own bike as I long ago lost all faith in mechanics. On the rare occasion that I have ever let any loose on my bike I just despair at the cost cutting/lazy/inept ‘work’ I’ve witnessed. Spend your ‘servicing money’ on tools and a few classes and you will be riding a bike that you know has been properly looked after.
About 80% of bike servicing is really easy - oil, air, plugs, coolant, filters etc are all a doddle and can be learnt with only a little coaching and practice.
Yeah - my brother-in-law is a mechanic (and only lives 3 doors down :D) but wanted it done by Honda for the sake of the service book when I come to sell it… if it was a 2nd hand bike I’d have no problem getting stuck in…
the supplying dealers 1st service labour charge is free with all bikes exept honda who changed their scedule jan 1st 09, if you look into it the service scedule it states its either miles or months whichever comes first to keep the warranty valid, i"v never kept to the arrangement and never had a issue !!
Assuming this is on a 125 as they only charged for 1.1 litres of oil. If its like my Cityfly, there is no oil filter, just a little wire gauze strainer that you need to clean. Still seems a bit of a pisstake charging £3.50 for disposal of 1 litre of oil.
I understand what you’re aiming for Stevie Ramone, but charging (over) the top dollar for the oil and then charging £3:50 for the disposal of the oil is taking the p**s.
Checked with a garage owning guy I know. He no longer gets paid for old oil, but providing he has 200 litres or more, he still gets it collected for free.
(200 litres is less than a weeks work in a busy garage. Twice that is common in a car garage.)
This is far from the first comnplaint about Doble’s charges on this site.