My bike has 10k on it and is over 2 years old (thats actually pretty good amount of miles for living here), and I'll definitely be doing some long road trips this year...Thing is I have NEVER had ANY work done at any shop before. Always did everything myself and honestly never owned a bike this long! Here is the list of things I need done:

coolant change
gap and install new plugs
oil change
throttle body sync
bleed brakes
mount/balance new tires and install 90 degree valve stem
repack steering head bearings, and lube swingarm and other pivot points


Honestly I can take care of everything myself, but the only thing that is foreign to me is the steering head bearings...looks like I'd have to support the bike and drop the forks to get to the bearings, and then repack them with a compatible grease. I don't have a safe way of lifting the front of the bike to do this. Some guys rig up a support system, but I am seriously thinking by the time I go through all that trouble I could just take it to a shop and let them do it.

I don't trust the shops for **** and I'm worried I'll end up paying $500 and have no way to even verify they changed the plugs and repacked the bearings...There is a potential chance I will do a serious road trip and I need the bike in top shape. How the heck can I trust the local shop to do it. I wish I could get them to snap a pic when they complete each task or something. Advice?

 

When you say local shop do you mean stealership? Or a local 2 wheeled performance shop...

If its the stealership and you don't feel comfortable and don't have a way to safely do it...(i.e. something other than 2x4's, jackstands, and a couple friends) i say go ahead and take it to them...you might get charged out the bunghole, however in the end you know it will get done.

 

Have you talked to other riders in the area? That's usually an easy way to find out what shops are reputable and do a good job, as opposed to those that don't know standard vs metric.

 

Honestly all of the guys in the area that are experienced riders do all their service work themselves. Actually there are a few fellow riders at work here that could probably help me to the steering head bearing job. That's probably the right thing to do.

I am too **** to trust anyone else to do the job, plus its going to be my *** riding out in the middle of nowhere so I better do it myself.

 

Having a shop do it comes with advantages if they mess something up they have to fix it if u do you get to fix it and have to pay more $

 

Why dont you do everything you have the ability to do and then take it to the shop and have them do the bearings? Best of both worlds!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 95 lude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why dont you do everything you have the ability to do and then take it to the shop and have them do the bearings? Best of both worlds!</TD></TR></TABLE>