Absolutely ... If they do what the service recommendations prescribe ... There are more than a few "pencil pushers" in the service world today ... unethical technicians whose mission is to fill out the form and move to the next work order ... I'm not suggesting that all are that way, so do your homework and get recommendations as to who in your area is a reputable dealer and has technicians who have skills and a conscience ... BTW the way, doing your own service, provided you have "mechanical skills" is definitely a plus ... On the other hand, in my years of automotive service I've made many dollars fixing what was damaged by a "anyone can do this" mentality

 

Changed my crank oil 3 x before I hit 1 K.
Tranny once and primary once before 1 K.

Always thought it a tad on the ridiculous side of things to take it to the dealer for a service at 1K.

Mine's never been serviced by the "dealer"

Ever heard of a car or pick up having to go in at 1K for a service?

 

I'm curious as to how many rear axle nuts are found to have slipped at 1k miles and the need for re-torquing to spec

 

I've worked in maintenance all of my life. I was a technician for 35 yrs for an offshore production company. I wrote most of the maintenance procedures for the company I retired from. During the latter part of my career while I was still working, I went up through the ranks, my last position, I became the manager of our maintenance operations for North America. I understand pencil pushers as I've had technicians who would just check off the box. Some times it came back to haunt them in a premature failure. On the other hand, I've had great technicians who would not only do a good job but go beyond.
I'm new to maintenance on Harley's but I I'll figure it out. I'm sure it is simpler to maintain than some of the complimented equipment I've dealt with through my life.

 

Pretty much what I was saying ... if you have the common sense and mechanical skills do it ... if not search out a competent alternative. :>)

 

One thing important to me is TAKE TIME TO DO IT. I don't wait until some interval to check my bike over. When I clean my bike, I like to get it up with the jack, put it on the dolly, and wipe down and pull/tug/check everything I can get my hands on. I have the bike in the center of the garage, well lit, and I am on my creeper seat going all around looking for something loose or needs attention. It's almost like "Something is loose here, and I am going to find it". The way these bikes shake, rattle, and roll, it's just going to happen. Shifter linkages, light bars, tires, oil levels, better take time to check it over, gang!

 

With a car or a truck you have a full cage around you and four wheels and tires. Your life is riding on two wheels on a bike and for me it is a little ridiculous to not have a trained professional put his hands and eyes on things to assure all is 100%.

I watched my first 1000 miles service through the shop glass and was amazed. The tech of course drained all three holes, put new oil and filter. He check the clutch and brake fluid on the handle bars and the lower rear brake fluid levels. He lubricated all moving parts including fold up pegs, and levers. He rotated the front and rear wheels, checked tire pressure, inspected the brakes, removed the saddle bags and slip ons and checked and tensioned the belt. He pulled the seat and checked the battery and connections and hooked his computer up to the bike. He went all around the bike and torqued all critical fasteners. I probably forgetting something. I was extremely impressed at how thorough he was inspecting the bike. A little over two hours later he rolled it out for a test ride, returned and spoke to me insuring all was good with the bike.

I learned a lot and yes I could and have done all that myself but I have also had techs find things that were covered under warranty that I may have missed.

 

The 1K was included with the purchase of the bike. The clutch switch pack went bad and I took the bike in for the warranty repair. I was busy with work and traveling so I had them do the 5K service. When I brought the bike home the water pump cover was dangling loose as I backed the bike into the garage. The next morning there was a oily spot on the floor underneath the bike. I investigated it to find that the rear master cylinder cap was loose. Not just loose but just sitting there and no threads of the screws engaged. I fixed both things and kinda just overlooked them as easy mistakes. A couple weeks ago I had the clutch actuator recall done. When I went to pick up my bike there was no clutch. Squeezed it and no resistance to the bar. I looked at the guy and said that the job is not finished. They took it back to the shop and I went to the showroom and waited. While I was waiting another guy pulled in and he had to shut down his bike to stop it. They fubarred his clutch actuator recall also. When I got home I looked over the two invoices. One for the 5K and the one for the recall. The 5K invoice shows that they billed me for 7 quarts of syn3 and $8 for brake fluid to bleed the clutch. The invoice for the recall said that they did a 3 mile test ride after the repair. That was not possible because the clutch would not work. So I checked the mileage on the bike and it was the exact mileage from the dealership to my house added to the mileage when I dropped it off.
Yeah I have a repair manual and I will find time to do my own repair work from here on out. If I am going to get hurt or die in a motorcycle accident from a faulty repair/maintenance at least it will be on me. Not some schmutz that doesn't give a ****.

 

why did he remove both slip-ons? Right side I understand, maybe, but I did it to get a socket on the axle nut because I didn't have the crows foot or dogbone, whatever special tool they have for it. I think you can also unbolt the shock and lift the bike to get to it without taking the muffler off. Or maybe I did it wrong?

 

I do my own maintenance due to the amount of riding I do. If I took it to the dealer every 5K it would be down 3 times a year at least. My bike is just over 19 months old and has 30K on it.

I cannot afford the down time or maintenance costs to have it in the shop waiting its turn! I take a day and go from top to bottom following the shop manual, not hard... just time consuming to be sure it is right. I actually bought another torque wrench to speed up the process, went to a digital since it adjusts much faster plus it has inch and foot pounds so I do not need to do the math like with my old wrench!