Servicing questions

**JR1** · 27th September 2010, 15:45

so, first bike had it for a bit over 6 months now and thinking its time to service it right?

but what exactly do the bike shops do, change the oil? i can do that myself? or maby im underestimating the work they do for a service.

and what sorta cost would i be looking at to do a fzr250.

thanks

**Gibbo89** · 27th September 2010, 20:44

Originally Posted by JR1

so, first bike had it for a bit over 6 months now and thinking its time to service it right?

but what exactly do the bike shops do, change the oil? i can do that myself? or maby im underestimating the work they do for a service.

and what sorta cost would i be looking at to do a fzr250.

thanks

they will do the oil and filter, i guess they will check the air filter. there is probably like a 30 point check they do so that your bike will pass a wof too.

they will top up the fluid the your bike uses. but i don't know a lot. someone else may shed some light on the matter. cost...? i would guess around the $150 mark? but thats kind of a guess and assuming you don't need heaps of things replaced.

**kevinthecarp** · 29th September 2010, 20:11

An early service won't be too elaborate. Parts used will generallly only be oil,filter,sump plug washer and maybe air filter. Other stuff will be mainly check/adjust i.e. Chain tension, lever play and lube. They May do carb / injector balancing.
You should be able to do most yourself. It's a good idea to research and keep a note of time to do things like valve clearances, fluid changes and pay for workshop time when these arrive if not confident.

**YellowDog** · 29th September 2010, 20:17

Download the service specifics off the web and away you go!

I do my own serviceing and only take it to the shop for the things I don't feel confident doing.

Make sure you document what you do and when you do it.

Godd luck.

**Jonno.** · 29th September 2010, 20:38

There's a few things may need doing:
-Fork oil
-Bleed brakes
-Oil + filter
-Valve clearances
-Radiator fluid
-Spark plugs
-Brake pads
-Lube cables
-Check bearings
-Clean/ new airfilter
-Fork seals
-Inspect hoses
-Chain tension/condition/sprockets

If you intend to keep the bike for a while half of those are worth doing and a lot of them are quite easy to learn and give a lot of satisfaction.

**SMOKEU** · 30th September 2010, 10:37

You might as well download a workshop manual for your bike and do it yourself. Even a 'basic' service on bikes like these, such as replacing spark plugs, engine oil and filter, fuel filter and cleaning the air filter could sting you $400 if you pay someone else to do it.

**JR1** · 30th September 2010, 16:26

shot for the info guys, sadly i got fuck all tools so im sending my bike to tss for a "b" service next week $400. ouch

**Gibbo89** · 30th September 2010, 16:31

Originally Posted by JR1

shot for the info guys, sadly i got fuck all tools so im sending my bike to tss for a "b" service next week $400. ouch

what does the B service involve?

**tigertim20** · 30th September 2010, 17:51

Originally Posted by JR1

so, first bike had it for a bit over 6 months now and thinking its time to service it right?

but what exactly do the bike shops do, change the oil? i can do that myself? or maby im underestimating the work they do for a service.

and what sorta cost would i be looking at to do a fzr250.

thanks

no idea of cost, that will depend on the state of the bike and where you go...
apart from oil and filter change, there are a myriad of other things that can be checked or need attention, fork seals, bearings, bushes, air filter, carbs could be in need of a clean/tune/balance, spark plugs, brake pads, brake discs, brake fluid flush, cables may be in need of a lube to name a few.

Most of these things you can do easily at home with basic tools, and I reckon every rider should be able to do alot of the basic stuff. The problem though, is that riding it from day to day, it can be hard to notice little things deteriorating over the course of 6 months or so, as you dont notice the tiny differences day by day.
You should do some reading up, and learn how to do some of this stuff.

**SMOKEU** · 30th September 2010, 17:52

A decent set of tools, like a socket set, allan keys and pliers will sting you less that $100. They'll pay themselves off on the first service.

**JR1** · 1st October 2010, 15:33

Originally Posted by tigertim20

no idea of cost, that will depend on the state of the bike and where you go...
apart from oil and filter change, there are a myriad of other things that can be checked or need attention, fork seals, bearings, bushes, air filter, carbs could be in need of a clean/tune/balance, spark plugs, brake pads, brake discs, brake fluid flush, cables may be in need of a lube to name a few.

Most of these things you can do easily at home with basic tools, and I reckon every rider should be able to do alot of the basic stuff. The problem though, is that riding it from day to day, it can be hard to notice little things deteriorating over the course of 6 months or so, as you dont notice the tiny differences day by day.
You should do some reading up, and learn how to do some of this stuff.

yeah i do ride every day, bikes in pretty good nick but i do need to learn how do do this stuff myself.

i dont exactly rember what is involved but there was an "a" service which was just oil and filter ($200 aprox). b which i chose just outa memory was oil, air filter, break pads, break oil, and some other stuff which i dont rember and general checking things. and then a "c" service ($800+) which was everything u could possibly think of

**SMOKEU** · 1st October 2010, 16:08

Originally Posted by JR1

i dont exactly rember what is involved but there was an "a" service which was just oil and filter ($200 aprox)

Are you joking about that cost?!

I pay no more than $60 for a 4L bottle of semi synthetic oil, and I use just over half a bottle per oil change so that's about $35 max worth of oil. The oil filter is around $12. Total cost = Under $50.

**Gibbo89** · 1st October 2010, 16:31

Originally Posted by SMOKEU

Are you joking about that cost?!

I pay no more than $60 for a 4L bottle of semi synthetic oil, and I use just over half a bottle per oil change so that's about $35 max worth of oil. The oil filter is around $12. Total cost = Under $50.

labours a bitch

**SMOKEU** · 1st October 2010, 16:41

Originally Posted by Gibbo89

labours a bitch

I'm anything but a competent mechanic and it takes me no more than 40 minutes of labour to do an oil change. That includes taking out the oil filter mechanism, stripping it down, cleaning it, putting away the tools, cleaning up etc. That equates to close to $300 an hour labour.

I leave the oil to drain for about an hour, but that's not classed as labour as I'm free to do other things during that time. I just rock the bike from side to side every 10 minutes to get out as much oil as possible during that time.

**JR1** · 2nd October 2010, 07:41

Originally Posted by SMOKEU

Are you joking about that cost?!

I pay no more than $60 for a 4L bottle of semi synthetic oil, and I use just over half a bottle per oil change so that's about $35 max worth of oil. The oil filter is around $12. Total cost = Under $50.

nah man, may have been a few other little things but yeah as per below labour's a bitch..pretty sure going rate here in welly is $100 an hour