I am coming up on 1K miles on my fatboy and am debating on doing the service myself or having the stealer do it (for $300). I can do it, this is not the issue but am concerned about having warranty problems later on where the dealer has an excuse to decline any warranty repairs due to not having the 1K service done at a service shop. I've searched and know many here have done their own service, but of these how many have needed warrantywork later on and have had a problem? TIA

 

You will get mixed replies, but I've always done my own service.
I keep a log of the dates, mileage, and services done.
IMO, the warranty thing is a non issue as long as you can show that you have met the MOCO recommended service intervals.

Some folks just don't like tinkering with the bike when they have time to ride, or just don't want to mess with it...no problem there either. An example for me is I like working on the bike, but I very seldom change the oil in my truck...its easier to let someone else do it while I have a sammich..

 

Yeah, $300 and $200 of that is labor. I do my own. My dealer has assured me that my warranty will not be voided by doing so.

Good Luck!

 

Man I had to check it out to make sure wew were talking about bikes. LOL!
Well I do my own and leave the big tech stuff up to my mechanic.
Get a book if you don't have one. Or you will be like me wondering around
the neighbor hood asking my neighber to show me where this and that is on there bikes.
Ther is a plus to that side of it. It gets you away from the wife for a couple of minutes.

 

I bring her out with me to help. She looks pretty hot, satisfies my needs, and always leaves me with a big smile on my face.









The wife is just as much of an inspiration.

 

It seems that every few weeks this question comes up. There is no legal way for anyone to void your warranty if you are keeping to the published service intervals and keep receipts, logs, and such.

You probably will do a better job of going over things yourself if you know what you are doing.

I don't even fully understand what I don't know yet, so I am letting a private custom motorcycle shop do the maintenance for me. Also, I wanted Amsoil in all three holes and HD shops don't offer that.HD hastheir own brand.

As long as you don't miss a maintenance item that ends up creating a problem that you present to HD later, you will be fine.

At my own pace, I'vehad stage 1 mods done and added my own accessories. I don't think twice about how any of it affects a warranty. $25k (or so, and counting) worth of putting my money where my mouth is.

 

I've been turning wrenches for over 40 years, Worked as an engine builder and Crew Chief for a major race team, and based on what I have seen at the local dealer, I wouldn't let them near my bike.

 

I agree with what others here have said. I do my own maintenance. the only tip I can offer other than keeping a log is to also keep reciepts of all of the parts you have bought ( oil, filters, ect ) Zerox the reciepts as the printing seems to wear off of them if left alone for a while ( still a mystery to me ).

The reciepts may not prove that you did the work, but they'll definately prove that you bought such and such items at the proper intervals. Perhaps even take apics of you work as you go along with a pic of the speedo at the time just for added insurance? I've never bothered to do that, but the way some stealers go out of their way to screw you, it might not be a bad idea.

 

Statistically, things typically break shortly after a product is put into service, or they tend to last (almost) forever. The oddball problems that show up in-between are outliers and more anomalous than telling of any trend. For that reason, I let the dealer do the 1000mi service. It was free on the first two bikes, minus synthetic. For the third, I used the indy referenced below. I let dealer/indy mechs do it so I had some degree of assurance they wouldn't try to blame someone or something else if a problem showed up.

For all other non-warranty work I don't DIY, I have a very good, and well-respected local indy. He has a good working relationship with the local dealer as well so its pretty much win-win for me. The dealer won't put up a fight when I tell them this guy did the work.

I created Word doc maintenance templates for each of my bikes. Every time I do work, I create a new maintenance record with details, date/mileage, part numbers, and misc notes. I usually have some digital pics to go along. I save the records digitally plus I keep a printed version with receipts attached. They are serialized and put into a separate 3 ring binder for each bike. For retained OEM parts and aftermarket boxes, I keep them, bagged or boxed, with date and mileage written on them for quick reference. Its all the same stuff you'd expect a good mech to keep track of for you.