Why would I want to pay $90/hr for the dealer to *** up something that
I'm prefectly capable of screwing it up on my own?

I love working on my stuff, can't even add up all the money I've saved
over the years by fixing mechanical and electronic problems on my vehicles.
Once Youtube came around, it made a lot folks able to take on repairs that
they normally would never attempt on their own.
I'm amazed at all the good people that take a lot of time and effort to document
their fixes in video to share with the world.

I've managed to fix some very obscure electronic problems with the help of Youtube.

The best one was my old Delta88 that I sold to my son.
He said it was running very poorly, and got worse and worse to the point where
most of the electrical stuff on the car stopped working.
If he rolled down the power window, the car would stall sometimes.
Use the headlights, same deal. Any drag on the system would make it run like crap.
I found a video that had the fix!
Under the drivers door sill, if you take off the cover, there is a common ground bus
where everything gets it's ground. Just a bunch of wires attached to a metal plate
buried in the rocker panel down deep. The plate was rusty, and every tab was not making connection very good.
Simply cleaned up the metal, and added new tabs on the wires, and the car ran like new again, everything worked.
I know that's a long story to make a point, but without the internet, who could
ever fix a problem like that without knowing where the grounds were buried at?
I have many more storied just like that, but I'll spare you reading them all. haha

 

I get a lot of personal satisfaction working on my bike. Saving money is a bonus.

 

Go ahead and scream. Yes, it is advice and important - 90% of the questions asked about repair or service are addressed in the FSM and most respond they don't have one.

Using a Dealer or Indy on the road because you have an issue is completely different from doing it yourself at home. I have a shop full of equipment and tools, but only carry the basics with me. So at home I do all my own, unless I don't have time - never had an issue on the road, but if I ever do I'll stop at the Dealer and talk with the TECH before he touches it.

 

 

I started riding in 2014 on a 2002 Suzuki Savage. Moved up to a 2003 Sportster in 2015 and added a 2002 Electra Glide in 2016. None of them have ever been to a shop for any service. I do everything I can for most of the same reason listed above.

But I have a question for you guys with newer bikes. How much different are the DIY projects on a fuel injected bike vs a carbureted bike? Adjusting a carb is cheap and not too complicated. How tough/expensive is tuning a fuel injected bike?

 

The self-satisfaction you get from working on it yourself is the best part. As mentioned in all of the above responses, absolutely NO ONE will take better care of YOUR ride but YOU. Plain and simple. Start small and build confidence. Plus it's a blast!

Bonus: Find an Indie others trust and talk to them for those projects you aren't willing to tackle.

Quick story. Purchased new tires for the car and they came with a lifetime rotation and balance from a major chain throughout the US. Months later the normal shop I use was busy so I try one actually just up the road. Rotate and re-balance all 4 tires, "should have you done within an hour" they say. Cool!

Run across the street with the Mrs. and grab dinner. Come back and find car in a different spot. Must be done. Sign the paperwork - no charge but record keeping I guess.

Go out to my car and what do I see, same tires in the same location. How do I know? Different color valve stem covers!

Grab the manager and asks "what's up with that?" after explaining how I knew the tires where in the same location. Nothing but gibberish BS and lots of foot shuffling. Says to me, "well we can re-do them again if you'd like".

How about NO. Grabbed his name and filed a formal complaint.

Another reason to do **** yourself.

 

I do most of my own work. I like figuring out how everything works. And i like working on it. Its a good excuse to spend a saturday afternoon or after work at night, in the garage. and have a couple beers

 

The last bike I bought was from a dealer. Was told the techs were doing a once over on it to make sure it was all good. Even to put a charger on the battery for me (used bike and had a battery tender). Made it home with the bike...barely. Was leaking oil from the pan (loose bolts), shift lever (bad seal) and the battery was virtually dead (bad battery). Come to find out they did put a charger on it...but never bothered to check if the fuse was good (was bad). So it charged for 2 hours and did nothing. That was just the tip of the iceberg so to speak. I immediately called the dealer to let them know what i found and was politely told to "f*ck off". You bought it, warranty it somewhere else. So now I do EVERYTHING myself. Bike has never run smoother and aside from getting a bit of advice here and there haven't had any problems. Not saying ALL dealers are like that, but the 2 that I've dealt with I wouldn't **** on their buildings if they were on fire. The biggest thing I've come to learn with HD...anything with the logo is three times the cost. Love the bikes, hate the politics behind them. If you find a good dealer...stay with them to the end. You are one of the lucky. On the other hand, I do love to wrench and getting my hands dirty learning a new process or technique is fantastic. But it's frustrating when you look to the people you think are there to help...and aren't. If you want to wrench, get in with guys around you and learn. You'll be doing fluids easy enough and working up from there. Trust me...the first time you do something, you'll never want to stop lol

 

like everyone else said, i work on my own bike so i can learn about my bike and how to fix it next time something needs to be done. Nothing is worse than having a dealer do something to your bike, then it breaks down on the side of the road and you have no clue what to look for. Case in point, i installed ape bars on my bike and learned a ton about it in the process. If something stops working (blinkers, ect) then i know exactly what to look for because i am the one that tore everything apart. If you have an indy or dealer do all the work then you are at thier mercy everytime something goes wrong. Buy yourself a manual, read it for fun and start small (changing your oil, changing all the fluids, adjusting the throttle cables, adjusting the clutch) you will save yourself a ton of money and be able to fix little things on the fly instead of having to schedule time to bring it in. And the saying is true, no one will ever care more about your bike than you. Even the best techs get busy, and forget to tighten things or fill things with oil ect. My bro in law took his bike for an oil change last year to a really good indy. The guy forgot to put oil in after draining the oil and replacing the filter. He drove away and the engine siezed up within the hour. The techs would not admit to forgetting to put oil back in it. Flat out refused to admit it. He wound up having to junk the bike (yeah it was an 80s POS honda) but still, its not hard to figure out when you check the oil and there is NONE in there an hour later that they forgot to put oil in it.

 

Another example: Before i bought my current fxstc i took it to the dealership to give it the lemon check. This is always something ive done myself previously, thought this time id leave it up to the dealership. When i called them i asked how the oil looked, they said it looked great! bike was in perfect shape...so i bought it. I looked at the oil myself after the lemon check and it was blacker than night and 2 quarts low. Yep, that was on me. Taught me that the techs there i believe didn't even look at my bike. Charged me $100 bucks and didn't even look at it. I could have checked the oil myself but i didnt, figured the techs would of course do that (its on the list of things they check for the lemon thing) also once its warm it does the typical hard start, which wasnt mentioned...which means they didnt even ride it around. dont trust anyone but yourself.