Service intervals - Can they be stretched as the bike ages?

[outlawtorn]

On average I clock up 1600 - 2000 kms per month, which means because I ride a Suzuki M50Z I have to have it serviced every 6000 kms. So I am at the dealership every three 3 months, and the roughly $350 - $450 it costs me for every service is killing me.

My mate rides a Harley and his service intervals are every 15 000!!
Why is the M50 every 6000? Can I stretch it out to every 8000, now that my bike has reached 62000 and is well out of its warrantee.

Any advice or feedback will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
John

[Nasty]

Now this may seem mad (and fine if it does) but I would have thought a bike getting older needs its regular servicing more to ensure it stays in top shape. its really a choice thing. Why don't you do as so many and learn to do some of the servicing yourself. I can now change oil do chain tensions etc. I am sure it saves me a bomb.

[davebullet]

Learn to do it yourself. I would guess 4/5 services are just oil and chain adjust (is M50 a belt? ), plugs and throttle body sync These can be done without major mechanical skills.

Sure if you need new cam chains, valve clearance adjustment you might want to leave that to a qual. mechanic.

The other thing you can do is use quality oils with quality filters and neodymium magnets on the filter (to keep any metal particles less than the filtration size in the filter). As long as the crud gets filtered out, a fully synth oil can last a lot longer.

Therefore you could probably greatly reduce the service cost and only need to slightly increase the interval to do it.

Triumph's are 10,000kms but not sure I want to stretch that far....

[p.dath]

Now this may seem mad (and fine if it does) but I would have thought a bike getting older needs its regular servicing more to ensure it stays in top shape. its really a choice thing. Why don't you do as so many and learn to do some of the servicing yourself. I can now change oil do chain tensions etc. I am sure it saves me a bomb.

+1. I would think the same. Have you shopped around to see if anyone else will offer a better deal for the servicing? Oil and filter change should be straight forward. I just got the manual for my bike and learnt myself.
Try searching You Tube for your bike. Someone is bound to have made a video of doing it already.

[cbfb]

The irony is that the older it gets, the more work it needs to keep it going properly. But people tend not to give a shit so much about an old bike coz they're not worth much, so don't bother so often.

Yeah learn to do the easy stuff like oil changes etc yourself.

[skinman]

some more info that the OP didn't put in.
The M50 as with the C50 is a liquid cooled, shaft driven v twin.
I would have thought that service interval would vary as to how hard you ride it.
I would have thought 8000 k services would be ok as long as you dont ride like rossi.
I may be wrong but wouldnt the coolant have to be changed on a fairly regular basis.

[skinman]

just checked manual & it says
6000k or 6 monthly oil change & lube pivot points, check air filter
12000k or 12 months as above & replace spark plugs
18000k or 18 months as above + change air & oil filter
24000k or 24 months as 12000 & check valve clearances
every 2 years replace coolant & brake fluid
every 4 years replace fuel & brake hoses

Of cause at every service the manual says to check everything

[AllanB]

What type of riding are you doing? If around town then I'd stick to the 6k but I suspect it is a lot of open road so you could use a high quality synthetic oil and extend it. Triumph for example run full synthetic after the first service and have 10k service intervals. Ditto Ducati I believe.

My Honda manual states 12k for oil & filter but when you buy one the shop will tell you 6 k ......... I don;t do a lot of kms (6k a year) so I do my own each Xmas. Merry Xmas Hornet :niceone: It had been a very good bike last year so I treated it to some stupidly expensive full synthetic for 2011. :rolleyes:


I suggest you do your own oil and filter changes - you'll save heaps and it is a easy task.

[yachtie10]

This is a question i ask myslf
Why is the service interval the same for a gsxr the same as for you bike or my bandit

Maybe its just a standard sukuki uses for all

Mine is now out of warantee so i wont be paying for expensive oil changes any more
but doing it myself
speaking of which time to do one

[Gremlin]

The interval would be there for a reason, oil, or whatever. You don't have to have the shop do it... but it needs to be done.

[jonbuoy]

350-400 for an oil change?? Do the oil changes yourself and take it in to the dealer for every other service if your worried.

[pritch]

The other thing you can do is use quality oils with quality filters and neodymium magnets on the filter

WOW! I'm not the only one so anal as to do that?

[sinfull]

just checked manual & it says
6000k or 6 monthly oil change & lube pivot points, check air filter
12000k or 12 months as above & replace spark plugs
18000k or 18 months as above + change air & oil filter
24000k or 24 months as 12000 & check valve clearances
every 2 years replace coolant & brake fluid
every 4 years replace fuel & brake hoses

Of cause at every service the manual says to check everything There ya go !

That should save you a grand in labour a year at least ! Only reason you should have to take it to a shop is to check clearances every 20 odd clicks ! Drop the oil and filter change to every 5000 k do it yaself and the lube points, well, there's a learn for ya to swat up !
Oh and tell ya mate with the harley to do his oil at 5k intervals too !

[bsasuper]

Yikes, that dealer must have a smile a mile wide every time he sees you ride in.Suzuki engines are very high quality and usually just an oil and filter change is all thats needed at a service, $60 should do it(doing it yourself).The other $290 must be going towards keeping the bike lift employed.A mate of mine has owned a gsxr1000 from new, he takes it to a dealer for services,they dont mind taking his $$$, he dont mind paying, but even the dealer told him they only do oil/filter change as thats all it needed.(he insist they check valve clearance every 25,000, NO adjustment needed,even at 75,000)

[Mully]

.A mate of mine has owned a gsxr1000 from new, he takes it to a dealer for services,they dont mind taking his $$$, he dont mind paying, but even the dealer told him they only do oil/filter change as thats all it needed.(he insist they check valve clearance every 25,000, NO adjustment needed,even at 75,000)

Mmm, I've just had the '14 in for it's 42k service - it was a minor one, but I got the local mechanic to do it just to give it a once over. The next service (48k) is a big one (valves and whatnot, even though everyone says not to bother), so I'll get him to do that one and then I'll do the minor ones myself.

[CookMySock]

6000k or 6 monthly oil change & lube pivot points, check air filter
12000k or 12 months as above & replace spark plugs
18000k or 18 months as above + change air & oil filter
24000k or 24 months as 12000 & check valve clearances
every 2 years replace coolant & brake fluid
every 4 years replace fuel & brake hosesExcessive IMO. Designed to put money in the stealerships pockets.

[outlawtorn]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the amazing feedback and advice, very much appreciated.

I have decided to give it a bash at servicing it myself and take it into the dealership when major services or changes are required.

So I've ordered the Haynes manual and will go shopping for oils and what-not this week and give it a crack on Saturday!

Thanks again everyone!
Cheers
John

[p.dath]

I have decided to give it a bash at servicing it myself and take it into the dealership when major services or changes are required.

So I've ordered the Haynes manual and will go shopping for oils and what-not this week and give it a crack on Saturday!


If you don't mind the trip to Takapuna, go to Cycletreads:
http://www.cycletreads.co.nz/
You can get your oil and filter there. You might also need a tool to remove the oil filter if you don't have one (and you can get that there as well).

Your next big decision will be what kind of oil, mineral, semi-synthetic or fully synthetic ...

[outlawtorn]

Bugger, didn't realise what kind of oils are out there! What would be the best for 80km daily commute and heaps of weekend riding? I don't hoon around heaps but I do sometimes forget about the speed limit! :rolleyes:

Or is oil like petrol ,each one has their own preference but they all do the same job?

[sil3nt]

Or is oil like petrol ,each one has their own preference but they all do the same job?^This

People will argue for 20 pages on here. Same shit different label.

Any oil is better than no oil.

I'm happy spending the extra money for castrol if i have it. I'm also happy to throw the cheapest shit i can find in there if i don't have the money.

[Smifffy]

Bugger, didn't realise what kind of oils are out there! What would be the best for 80km daily commute and heaps of weekend riding? I don't hoon around heaps but I do sometimes forget about the speed limit! :rolleyes:

Or is oil like petrol ,each one has their own preference but they all do the same job?

If you have the job sheet/invoice from one of your previous services, it could well be itemised to the brand/type of oil they used. Then you could just match that if you wanted to.

[firefighter]

You might also need a tool to remove the oil filter if you don't have one (and you can get that there as well).

Or you could leave your vagina inside and un-do it with ya hand! :lol:You know a bit of elbow grease........failing that, groove joint pliers will do if it's been swung on too tight, well, so long as you are replacing the filter too. No need to waste money on an oil filter wrench.

[Swoop]

I got the local mechanic to do it just to give it a once over.
Just out of interest, who do you use out west?

[STUFF]

Oil should be changed in time, as they say in the instructions. Regulation is the thing seriously,!
... Without much explanation about the oil and filter change is very short.
I am a regional dealer MOTUL and qualified!

Engine oil becomes unusable due to oxidation! Not due to mechanical loads! Other oil withstands different engine load. Synthetics - less friction, more power, better facilities, less carbon. (If the run is not a big 5-40 rather than 10-60, additive viscosity is strongly oxidized, carbon build-up more, but very well protected from the critical friction)
Semi-synthetics - the middle. but depends on the quality and the set of additives.

Mineral oil is already out of favor, it's the last century.
Low base number! That means the engine is not washed! Few modern additives.
If the engine has a lot of speed, it absolutely can not use!

Mineral oil for the old, not powerful enough engine speed!
Or if you really do not care what will happen to the engine.

personally I use for my bike with 4 cylinder engines 10-40 MOTUL 300V Factory line. This is not something to what we should save.

As an old Russian proverb,"God protects the one who saves himself! ... nun said, putting a condom on a candle":innocent:

[scracha]

I'm gonna disagree with nearly everyone on here. Yeah mate, stretch the service intervals out as the bike gets older. My TDM gets its oil changed twice a year if it's lucky. It's "big" 38K service was due over a year ago. It's now at almost 60K. Hasn't missed a beat.

My TDM850, VFR750, XJ550, XJ600 and GPX600 all got treated in a similar fashion. Most were owned over 3 years and all went strong for years afterwards. Don't rev em too hard when they're cold and you'll be sweet. Official service intervals are there to make bike shops dollars. Put it this way, should the worst happen, the money I've saved would more than pay for a new engine on my bike.

[over5tayer]

...... My TDM850, VFR750, XJ550, XJ600 and GPX600 all got treated in a similar fashion. Most were owned over 3 years and all went strong for years afterwards ....

Someone remind me to never buy a bike off this guy...

[scracha]

Someone remind me to never buy a bike off this guy...
Your loss. Lotsa guys change their oil + filter religiously yet think nothing of doing clutchless gear changes and rev the tits of their bike from cold. I know who's engine will be in better condition.