change the brake pads when you have the tires off, a couple of extra minutes. The price you paid is about right. I do the services myself too, however, shop around some of the independent shops for better prices if you have to pay someone to do it. around here 65 an hour to change a tire if I bring in the wheel, they charge an hour.

 

All those prices are rather expensive. First of all they should tell you how much this will cost or give you an estimate. Last year Worth H-D in Gladstone, MO charged me $50 per tire (on the bike) and washed it. I think the total out the door (new tubes, etc.) was about $400. I recently bought a Harbor Freight tire changer. Now all I have to do is have the tires balanced ($5) at the Kaw shop. I worked for Kaw/Suz in the late 70's and early 80's and I always told people and called them if I found something that needed done. I did NOT want to argue about the bill when they came to pick the bike up. My ADVICE is this: Get a manual. Invest in some tools. Get with other riders, if needed. They will help. Part of having a bike is the enjoyment of maintaining it. You will learn. I like to clean it while I'm working on it. The shop won't do that. If you are going to have a shop do the work then find one that will communicate with you. If you are unhappy with the work or the bill ask to see the owner and explain why you are unhappy. A shop stays in business two ways: good, fair service and good fair sales persons and I'll lump in the parts dept. too. If they don't do that then they don't need to be in business.

 

I was taking mine to an Indy for the services (1 and 5K); They were about $190 ea. I'm pretty good with tools, so it killed me to pay for $50 worth of fluids and filter. Just bought the service manual (or Harley Bible) and will do the 10K myself. Can't be hard. Some will say that the manual is the best thing you can buy, I'm sure I'll agree when I save all that money for services!

 

Sounds awfully steep to me Ron. But $100 per hour adds up pretty quick. (Local dealer here is $60 which is bad enough!) If you only ride a few thousand miles per year paying a dealer for service isn't too bad, because you only see them every couple years (still expensive per mile though). IMO for those that ride 10-12K and more, it's price prohibitive. Heck that'd be two services and at least one set of tires every year, at *those* prices!


I'll echo what the others already said, do what you can yourself. Heck with just the savings from the service you had done you could buy a $170 Sears lift, tire balancer, bead breaker, and a few other tools. And when you work on your own bike you're free to buy parts from whomever has the best deal. For instance I buy Mobil 1 V-Twin oil (which I believe is better than HD's oil) for less. Same with DP brake pads. Pick up tires from Dennis Kirk etc. As you know, tires are a major cost for motorcycles. I'll wager you save 50% doing them yourself. About $250 will buy a set, then one evening with your new lift to install them. A dealer will be every bit of $500.

 

Did they at least give you a cigarette afterwords?

 

yeah, im in the same boat, i did my 1K and many they charged me 60 for parts, and the remaining 2 bills in labor, that was insane.
Never going down that road again. I frankly dont care if it voids my warranty.
Im gonna buy the Bible, and do it myself.

Im good with cars. i can be good with bikes as well.

 

$100 an hour?I thought our dealer was high but not near that.

 

After looking at all the stuff they claim to do it would be worth the money,it has been my experiance that little more than change the oil and filter is done.Got my first Harley in 1975,didn't ever check the spokes,never adjusted the neck bearing,never worried about lifters or anything else and you know what?It ran 15 years with very little trouble,and nothing more than changing the oil and cleaning the filter a few times,spark plugs when it would start to miss.I don't worry about have the stuff they say needs to be done,adj.the clutch,primary,lube the cables,oil and filter,change the primary oil and tranny oil,spark plugs,clean the air filter,check tires you are good to go.You should be able to do these things pretty easy yourself,take the extra money and take the wife out to dinner.

 

I couldn't agree more, only people with too much money pay shops to check things just because the odometer says a certain number. Change oils regular, replace tires and brakes when they need to be replaced, adjust the clutch when the free play isn't right, same with the throttle cables, etc. Common sense still goes a long way.

 

What do you mean "tune up"? You mean oil change and spark plugs? I let the dealer do the first service(1K) and switched to synthetics in all three holes...it was $275...which is expensive to me. I've done the 5K and 10K stuff myself. BTW, it's $70 per tire for mounting at my dealer(in "season")...they get $49 per wheel in the winter. I bought the manual and now have a lift and have not spent nearly as much as they want for the services.