Servicing costs - why so vague?

[Bassmatt]

And that's great. I often talk with buyers about what they'd like for a deal. Most would rather have a discount/deal on gear than a free service. But for sure I'll look at all of the above.



Yeah...and you ride your new house down the bumpiest street full of potholes you can find then get back to me about how many lose fittings you find.

But hey...no worries mate. You keep thinking you're being ripped off...makes no difference to me.

No, but my house is built to withstand the stresses its expected to encounter.
You are clearly stating that this is not the case for motorbikes

[bluninja]

I must admit that most motorcycle workshops (in the UK) I've dealt with have given me a fixed price for a service. If they find something not covered in the service as they are checking they let me know and give me a quote to do that work.

Mind you it's a long time since I took a bike to a workshop to be serviced.

Great for the people that got a free first service. I was happy with the deal I got, and taking the bike back to where it was purchased from for a service isn't practical.

[gijoe1313]

With my two new bikes, the first 1000km services were gratis (Botany Honda), just had my 24000km service and that set me back $383, got a printout of all the things they did, spoke to the mechanic and what things he did. All tickety-boo, if anything needs replacing that invovles $$'s, they always ask before they went ahead.

Depends on the shop on a case by case basis?

[Jay GTI]

I dont think we would find this acceptable practice with other products
eg: Here are the keys to your new house ( car,boat,carpet,computer,etc etc) sir! We will be back in three months to check the nails (bolts, carpet tacks, etc) are still holding everything together. Naturally this will be at YOUR cost,sir!
So why do we accept it with motorbikes?

Hmmm, my old riding buddy used to build houses, he would always have to go back to fix a few things once the house was lived in for a while. I had a new company car a few years ago, that had to go back to the dealer to have a couple of squeaks and rattles investigated. I’ve also had to send a near new laptop back to base for sorting, so issues with new products aren’t anything unusual. Bikes have a number of serviceable parts that need breaking in and the only way to do that is ride the thing, then check, so this is normal a well.

As for paying for it, yes it is normally covered in what ever warranty provided with what you’ve just bought, which is why in most cases bike dealers offer the first service for free, or at least labour free, so they can check the bolts, spokes, chain tension etc. at no cost to the owner.

[Crasherfromwayback]

No, but my house is built to withstand the stresses its expected to encounter.
You are clearly stating that this is not the case for motorbikes

No. I'm simply telling you motorcycles are a different kettle of fish, and require complete going over from new to be safe once things settle/bed in. If you'd like your bike to weight 500kg, it wouldn't be a problem. They could use nylocks nuts on everything...much bigger bolts etc. But then you'd cry like a little bitch that your bike was too heavy for you. Maybe you should stick to cars/tractors?

[Bassmatt]

Hmmm, my old riding buddy used to build houses, he would always have to go back to fix a few things once the house was lived in for a while. I had a new company car a few years ago, that had to go back to the dealer to have a couple of squeaks and rattles investigated. I’ve also had to send a near new laptop back to base for sorting, so issues with new products aren’t anything unusual. Bikes have a number of serviceable parts that need breaking in and the only way to do that is ride the thing, then check, so this is normal a well.

As for paying for it, yes it is normally covered in what ever warranty provided with what you’ve just bought, which is why in most cases bike dealers offer the first service for free, or at least labour free, so they can check the bolts, spokes, chain tension etc. at no cost to the owner.

Not really the same issue.
A: you shouldn't have had to pay in any of the examples you have listed
B: The problems you had are exceptions.

[SS90]

No, but my house is built to withstand the stresses its expected to encounter.
You are clearly stating that this is not the case for motorbikes

Putting all bullshit aside, the reality is that in this capitalistic world we live in, a motorcycle business is, quite frankly, a poor investment, and, if it somehow manages to make the 20% return that is required to be a viable entity, the returns just never seem to match the energy and commitment needed.

This concept is not just at dealership level, the manufactures see it the same too, excluding Lets look at the "Big Four"..... Two of those also produce cars..... The other two produce Boats, Aeroplanes, cranes , keyboards, flutes and fiddles.

Bikes just don't make money guys, either retail, or wholesale.

Margins in other products that offer free first services (or 2 years servicing) simply have bigger margins, so big in fact that the dealers can disguise these margins in the form of "free services"

[lakedaemonian]

Way down here at Rolling Thunder Harley we've switched to Menu Pricing for the simple and straight forward service work.

When you walk into a Burger joint and order a Double Cheesesburger the price should be fixed.....you don't get an "estimate of $5.32 to $7.25" from the girl at the counter to make you a burger.

The cost of a burger and the cost of a service(for that particular model/family) should be listed.

If you want fries and a coke...or if you want tires...you pay extra and those prices should be clearly listed as well.

It can be a pain in the ass to reduce the total number of prices displayed to the minimum necessary to avoid drowning/confusing customers in numbers......as well as preventing the fixed price of a service for a particular bike model from subsidizing the service of another particular model...but it can be done.

I reckon a big part of some customers negative perceptions of franchise dealer workshops is the anxiety of the unknown...not knowing what the bill is going to be....if you know upfront....it helps to prevent people from getting anxious and/or pissed off.

[Bassmatt]

No. I'm simply telling you motorcycles are a different kettle of fish, and require complete going over from new to be safe once things settle/bed in. If you'd like your bike to weight 500kg, it wouldn't be a problem. They could use nylocks nuts on everything...much bigger bolts etc. But then you'd cry like a little bitch that your bike was too heavy for you. Maybe you should stick to cars/tractors?

If at the 1000km service you find some bolts ( any bolt ) has come loose, what do you do to ensure it doesn't happen again after re-tightening it?

[Crasherfromwayback]

If at the 1000km service you find some bolts ( any bolt ) has come loose, what do you do to ensure it doesn't happen again after re-tightening it?

Cross our fingers.

[Crasherfromwayback]

Fixed that for you

Funnily enough mate...Harleys have very little come loose. They DO weight a ton.

[BurningPlastic]

If at the 1000km service you find some bolts ( any bolt ) has come loose, what do you do to ensure it doesn't happen again after re-tightening it?

Drop of loctite, or just keep an eye on it... Reminds me of learning to service British bikes with my Dad - dab of copperslip on the threads and depending on the bolt, a dab of loctite for good luck ;->

This thread sounds more like the service guy just didn't want to commit to a cost if something unexpected came up - seems more like a throwaway comment rather than purposefully vague...

[Bassmatt]

Cross our fingers.

And tell them to bring it back in another 1000k for a re tighten?

[Crasherfromwayback]

And tell them to bring it back in another 1000k for a re tighten?

Nah. Seriously...things normally settle down after the first going over. Spokes are the worst things generally. So if you don't have 'em...things are pretty straight forward.

[nodrog:Me]

Not really the same issue.
A: you shouldn't have had to pay in any of the examples you have listed
B: The problems you had are exceptions.

You are not paying for them to replace defective parts or remedy any problems. You are paying them to look for issues, whether they be manufactured or owner inflicted.

Any manufactured faults/issues will be covered under the warrenty (free of charge), provided you have followed proceedure and had your motorcycle serviced as per the manufacturers service agreement.