the way i look at it...from doing service work years ago...
you are not only paying me for WHAT i do, but also for WHAT I KNOW HOW to do.
if a 65$ service call takes me 15 minutes and you are back in business vs, you spending 5 hours and it still not work or maybe is working...what's it worth? To me, its work my 5 hours of attempting to fix it, learning how to fix it, fixing it, and the value of the experience that i just gained. But, some people are NOT gooing to do anything for themselves mechanically or otherwise...their choice. I choose to DIY other do not. I consider the auto repair service industry to be the biggest stealer. They charge you 100$ for a 25$ part then 60$ to install it. At least at the HD shop, they are charging you the same $$ for the part they you would pay if you were to take it home an install it yourself. But then add in shop fee, uniform fee, grease fee, disposal fee, coffee break fee, blowing my nose fee, etc, etc and they are making ther $$$$$$$ hand over fist!!!!

Bottom line....DIY or not...your choice.

 

Exactly right. Dealer gits lahk $500 fer the 5000 mile service on mah bike. Ah've looked at what it takes, an' frankly - it kin be done easily. The trick is to do it RIGHT - that means have the manual, USE it - an' do what it calls for. Means torque wrenches, loc-tite, specialty wrenches, etc. Ah've either got 'em or will buy 'em. When ah ran up mah figures, ah figgered out that by 15k miles, ah'll have MORE than paid fer the cost of mah Handy-Lift. All the other stuff ah'm usin' has already been paid for time an' again on other work ah've done with 'em. An' when ya git right down to it, the lift'll be paid fer when ah do the 5k service, 'cuz right now mah son's VTX1300 is on it with all the tins stripped. It got vandalized, an' what they paid ta have the stuff removed/replaced gave him 'nuff money ta git custom-painted tins AND put some money away. IIRC, they allocated sumthin' lahk 7 or 8 hours labor on it @ $75/hr....we've got 'bout an hour in it strippin' it down, likely 2 more ta put it all back together.

One other thing ta keep in mind when we complain 'bout labor rates. As part of that, they have to cover any "come-backs" without complaint. An' let's face it, no matter how hard ya try, sometimes things are jest gonna "happen" an' work will hafta be redone - sometimes it's a faulty part, sometimes an error in assembly. Either way, they hafta cover their "hard costs" or go outta business....

 

Pump the dealer with questions. I did that with my dealer and found out they had much better fluids for a price. Mine had Amsoil but they couldn't advertise it. They aslo had a better tranny fluid. It wasn't bring your own, but it wasn't syn3 either!!!

 

I'm sure some let you bring in your own. My shop let's you bring in your own parts, not sure about fluids though.
Personally, I don't buy into all the oil hypes.Clean oldfashion HD fluids, here.

 

Look.....changing your fluids is not IMHO wrenching, and if you can figure out how to post on this forum.....I know you can be taught to change your own fluids. Check out this video
As far as taking your own parts to the dealer for them to install for you....you have to check with them first.....some are cool with it.....some are not, but if you at least learned how to change your own fluids, you could still bring the bike in for the 5K and just tell the SR or SM that you have already changed you fluids, and you dont want them to do that part of the service. As long as the fluid you want to use meets or exceeds the required HD specs its fine and your a$$ is covered as far as warranty issues.....just save the receipts from the fluids, and be sure to keep explicit records as to exactly what you have done, and what the dealer has done.....save all paperwork!

 

We have two HD owners in town ... both let you bring in your own fluids... no big deal ....

 

?????? To my knowledge there are no H-D specs. for thier fluids except for recommended motor oil weights or emergency use of Oils for Diesels...then they specify which oil by SAE designation and then the weight. Otherwise they designate which H-D fluids to use and where.

Without getting into the Moss-Magnussen (sp?) act, H-D has their fluids manufactured/blended to thier specifications. These are tested by them in thier engines and other components and recommend them because they have been tested and meets thier approval. What's in them...probably proprietary. They dont recommend thier fluids for anything else other than their ownmotorcycles. Formula Plus is recommended for the tranny and primary....whats the oil weight? What other things does it contain? We can all speculate but unless a fluid manufacturing competitor has disassembled H-D's fluid.....there is nothing in print that I know of.
A little pricey.....thats Ok I will stay will H-D for peace of mind knowing that their fluids were made for my bike.

 

Sure you can bring your own oil in for them to put in your bike.

BUT....

How do you KNOW that they actually used it in YOUR bike????????

If you don't stay there and watch them, I could see them put in cheap stuff and take your oil and use it in their bike. I watched a car dealer do that with my car years ago. Tech took my case of oil out of the trunk, pout it on the bottom shelf of his station and took the hose from the c eiling to fill my engine. Since then, I either do my orn fluid changes, or stay and watch like a hawk until the job is done

 

Took the bike in for warranty work on the engine. They replaced both O ring seals at the cyclinder bases. Anyway, I also took in a gallon of Amsoil and a K&N filter. They had no problem using my oil and filter. My dealer is Latus Motors in Portland, OR.
Steve L.

 

the dealer should put anything you want in your bike they work for you.