| Author | Message | ||
     Reducati |
what does a tran and oil change w/ sin3 run you at the dealer? $$...and i was asked if i needed the primary done along with the transmission fluid changed? is that a different cavity, and how often should that be changed mileage wise? thanks, dan (Message edited by reducati on November 23, 2004) | ||
| Aldaytona |
I hope they meant primary chain adjustment along with the fluid change, if not seek another dealer. The oil is the same price at every dealer,the labor charge will vary. The owners manual will tell you the recommended intervals but most people do it more often. | ||
| Xb9er  |
what does a tran and oil change w/ sin3 run you at the dealer? Way too much (TIME, hassle and $$), without exception. Do it yourself. Mike. | ||
| Jasonxb12s  |
I did the 5k mile service today by myself with Mobil 1 syn fluids. Cost $40 and took 50 minutes. This included primary chain adjustment, clutch adjustment and inspecting brakes, seals, idle, throttle, etc....You will probably get a better service from yourself. Give it a shot. | ||
| Bigbuells |
Will the dealeer normally honor the 2 year warranty if oil changesn maintenance is performed by ourselves?I havent really confronted my dealer about this yet,but really,how hard is it to change your own oil?I've done it on cars hundreds of times. | ||
| Gentleman_jon  |
Once you get the hang of doing it, and find a good source of oil and filters, ( Walmart has the exact same filter for $2.07: Super Tech ST4967, and Mobil 1 15/50w oil for $4.00 a qt if you buy the 5 qt. bottles) you can change the oil and filter in less than a half hour and at a cost of $10. One must remember that the local Harley service department, (with a very few exceptions mentioned elsewhere on this site), is enemy territory. They can even screw up an oil change. Why give them the chance? | ||
| Bigbird  |
One must remember that the local Harley service department, (with a very few exceptions mentioned elsewhere on this site), is enemy territory. They can even screw up an oil change. Why give them the chance? The dealer I work at isn't one of those exceptions mentioned on this site. Am I the enemy? With an attitude like that I'll guarantee your local dealer will become enemy territory. If you consider the establishment I work for to be the enemy don't come in the door for anything, because you've already admitted you are a hostile customer who will never be satisfied with anything we do. In that case I'll refuse to do business with you. I see alot of complaining and b*tching about dealers at this website, and I agree that there are dealers out there who don't care about Buell business. But I am always baffled by the fact that some people expect perfection every single time, year after year. I'm not talking about good service, I'm talking about perfect service. The kind of person who gets the red carpet laid out for him, then the next time complains that the carpet is the wrong shade of red. What is so ironic about that is the person performing the service is a HUMAN. I don't know if you know this or not, but sometimes humans do make mistakes. I ask not to be judged by a standard of perfection. Instead I make sure my crew does the best job HUMANLY possible. If we do make a mistake (and we sometimes do) I only ask for the opportunity to make it right. I'm sure Gentleman Jon has NEVER made a mistake at his job, right? BTW we don't charge any labor for an oil change. You pay for parts only, and its the same price whether you buy them over the parts counter or the service counter. Basically about $20 for Harley oil and a factory filter, and you don't have to get dirty or drive your used oil & filter to a disposal center. A primary fluid change will run you about $13.20 in labor plus the cost of fluid. I know its an easy task, but really, is that such an unreasonable charge? | ||
| Nick |
That is a very reasonable charge. And you are right. My local dealer is very good. I went in with a 'cant find neutral' issue and after a few jokes about user error, the primary chain was adjusted there and then, a cup of coffee had and kicked a few tires before setting off with no more problems. I find the best thing to do is make a friend of your dealer. If you make no effort to do so then expect little effort in return. Such is life. | ||
| Bluebuellxb9r  |
Bribing them with doughnuts always helps !  As for doing your own service, spend the cash and get a manual, it will help you make sure waht you are doing is spot on correct ! | ||
| Darthane  |
Bigbird - no offense meant to your dealership or any of the others that regularly are involved on this board, but quite frankly the 'generalization' is correct 95% of the time. No, I don't expect perfect 100% of the time. Everyone's human. Christ, I don't know how many times I've been working on my bike and forgot something and had to backtrack and fix it. What I do expect (and it's not unreasonable on our part either), is that it will get done right the first time MOST of the time, and if not, that the dealer will stand up, admit responsibility and fix it - free of charge. Too many of us have had dealerships forget to put bolts back in, mar our bikes, etc (hell, people have actually had them forget to put OIL IN THE BIKE!) and then try to screw us out of fixing something that was clearly their fault, on top of being treated worse than the •••• on their shoes to begin with. On the whole, we've found it's easier, less of a headache, and cheaper to simply do it all ourselves, and tend to steer other people in the same direction unless they happen to live near a dealer that we KNOW has a good rep with Buells. | ||
| Bigbird |
On the whole, we've found it's easier, less of a headache, and cheaper to simply do it all ourselves, and tend to steer other people in the same direction unless they happen to live near a dealer that we KNOW has a good rep with Buells. And perhaps that is where I differ from the average dealership employee. Despite the fact that I am employed as a Service Manager I still encourage DIY and will happily answer technical questions for my customers, provided they don't treat me like crap or bad mouth me or my employer on the internet. I want my customers to be happy with their motorcycle and their supporting dealer. So happy, in fact, that they would never even consider purchasing a bike from my competition. I want them to feel like the help and support I provide is worthy of some loyalty. That loyalty will always pay off in parts, accessories, and motorcycle sales even if it doesn't pay off in the form of service. I'm here to cultivate relationships with customers for the dealership, not just for the Service Department and/or my own personal gain. I won't bore you with the stories, but I can refer to several examples of the way we stand behind our work and try to go the extra mile for our customers. One such customer is a regular here, and has even posted in this thread. While XB9er's bike was at our shop for completely unrelated issues, I noticed his drive belt was starting to seperate, and got it taken care of even though the bike was out of warranty. Why? Because I didn't want him to get stranded somewhere with a broken belt if I was able to prevent it from happening. I didn't get rich off of the job, but I sure felt good about it. Some of you are quite capable with a wrench in your hands. Some are not. For those who are, I applaud your efforts, and only ask that you not bash the concept of seeing a dealer for service because those who are not so capable may need us. I don't want them automatically distrusting me as they walk in the door. Besides that, for those who don't possess Buell specific knowledge, isn't 20 bucks for an oil change and a professional tech eyeballing your bike a good deal? You might be surprised at the number of things we find that customers weren't aware of. | ||
| Reepicheep  |
Hey Bigbird... Is this you? (Cincy Ohio BattleTrax last year)...  | ||
| Bomber  |
Bird --- bless you for doing good work! There are a number of good service deparments/dealers out there (I'm bless with a couple in my neck of the woods) -- it's unfortunate, but true, that it's easier to make sweeping generalizations, like, oh, I dunno, "all bikers are scum," than it is to make accurate, specific statements its sad that the good dealers get tarred with the same brush as the others -- thanks for being stand-up, and taking care of your customers | ||
| Bigbird |
Hey Bigbird... Is this you? (Cincy Ohio BattleTrax last year)... Why yes, in fact it is! Nice camera work, BTW | ||
| Reepicheep |
Thought that profile pic looked familiar... Well then...   And remember this guy?  Ummm... buddy, I think you missed a cone there...  | ||
| Bigbird |
Great shots - the guy with the Kaw was hysterical. A good rider too. | ||
| Chainsaw  |
My last dealership experience was terrible. Brought my Buell (under warranty) in on the morning of Oct. 5th with a bad stator. Dealership called on Oct. 9th to report bike has a bad stator. Dealership did not actually order the stator until Oct. 28th (According to Buell CS) Dealership put stator in on Nov. 6th, says I need the new updated clutch and inspection covers and gaskets (originals are not leaking) I get the bike back Nov. 16th. They hand me back my left mirror. "It just fell off". The bolt that holds the engine lever onto the shifter spline was also missing, along with a rubber washer. They charged me the $50 warranty deductible, $38 for unneeded gaskets, and I had to buy a new set of mirrors for $47 and change (From Dave!). So after being Buell-less for 6 weeks, I'm $135 out of pocket for a bike that has less parts on it than when I left it there. They charged Buell $310 on top of that. I called the service dept on 11/18/04. The service manager is supposed to call me back to rectify the situation. Have yet to hear from him. I don't intend to paint a bad picture of all dealerships, but I'm with Darthane on this one. A service manual, tools and a jack will be well worth the price. You can't get screwed if you don't give them the opportunity. | ||
| Bigbird |
I don't intend to paint a bad picture of all dealerships, but I'm with Darthane on this one. A service manual, tools and a jack will be well worth the price. You can't get screwed if you don't give them the opportunity. I agree with everything you are saying here, except you must consider the fact that depending on one's mechanical knowledge/apptitude they might just wind up screwing themselves! We have had plenty of "bike in a box" situations come through our doors from people who get in over their heads. Once again if someone wants to do it themselves I'm all about it. My SO and I own 6 bikes, two quads, a Volkswagen TDI and a Chevy Silverado. Only one of those 10 vehicles is a product of the motor company. The others range from German (3 BMWs) to Italian (one Moto-Guzzi) to Japanese (both quads and a bike). We couldn't afford to pay someone to service, repair, and maintain all of these vehicles. I own service manuals, a ridiculous toolbox from a previous career, OBDII cables & software for reading codes with a laptop, etc., and I use this stuff on a regular basis to keep all of our vehicles properly maintained and in good working order. Despite the fact that I am a 3 times recertified Master Technician, I am all too aware that all of the mechanical ability in the world doesn't make up for hands on experience with a particular machine. When I take something apart for the first time (such as the timing belt I recently replaced on my girlfriend's VW TDI) I do so with the understanding that if things go horribly wrong the vehicle might wind up on a hook to the dealer, and I'll have to pay the price to put it back together. Luckily that's never happened to me yet, but I have received multiple cars, transmissions, engines, motorcycles, etc., in many pieces during my careers in both businesses. The funny thing is people still bitch about the price to reassemble the items they screwed up and couldn't figure out how to put back together! I'll never forget the All Wheel Drive Mitsubishi transmission a guy carried in to me in 3 boxes when I was a Mitsu tech. He took it apart with the intention of installing a heavy duty center differential, viscous coupler, etc., but he had no idea where to start. Normal labor to overhaul an assembled carry in unit was 8 hours. That time was based on disassembling the unit and replacing any failed components. However this moron had knocked every bearing cup and shim out of the cases and mixed all of the parts up. He wanted to pay only 4 hrs to put it back together, assuming that he saved me 4 hours by taking it apart himself. When I heard this I started carrying the boxes back out to his car. He said "what are you doing?" I said "Sorry, but you've made such a mess of this unit I'm going to need 4 hours to clean, measure, re-shim, etc., before I can even start reassembling all of the gearsets and synchronizers." He thought I was trying to rip him off. I said "its your choice. I can load the parts up for you, or you can pay what is required to do the job." He agreed to pay the price, then I found him bad-mounthing me on the internet a couple of days later. I guess you just can't win with some people. Anyway, the point I'm making is this: Wrench away! I hope you save yourself money and enjoy doing the work. Just be realistic about things if you have a mechanical failure and your dealer needs to see service records before warranty coverage can be confirmed, or if you take something apart yourself and can't put it back together don't get angry with your dealer when they quote you a price for repairs. You always have the option of trying to figure it out yourself, or you can go get a second opinion. Just don't trash on the dealer for a situation they didn't create |
