600 mile service - can I do it?

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mrbreeze

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My 2011 has about 550 miles on it now. What about the 600 mile service? What's involved? Do I need to pay the dealer to do it?

 

tia

 
My 2011 has about 550 miles on it now. What about the 600 mile service? What's involved? Do I need to pay the dealer to do it?

 

tia
If you have a reliable dealer, I would suggest you get them to do the first service. Not because you couldn't do as good a job but because you want it to be their problem if there are issues related to initial assembly. For instance, some things such as oil pan drain bolts, oil filters etc. may have been tightened by a gorilla in the factory. Stripped oil pan threads are not unknown!

If, on the other hand, you do not have full confidence in the service department at your dealer, do it yourself if you have reasonable wrench-turning skills.

Ross

 
My 2011 has about 550 miles on it now. What about the 600 mile service? What's involved? Do I need to pay the dealer to do it?

 

tia
If you have a reliable dealer, I would suggest you get them to do the first service. Not because you couldn't do as good a job but because you want it to be their problem if there are issues related to initial assembly. For instance, some things such as oil pan drain bolts, oil filters etc. may have been tightened by a gorilla in the factory. Stripped oil pan threads are not unknown!

If, on the other hand, you do not have full confidence in the service department at your dealer, do it yourself if you have reasonable wrench-turning skills.

Ross
And keep all receipts for legal proof that it was done just in case! ;)

 
They say the 1st service is the most important one.

things like:

check pinch bolts on front forks

check caliper bolts

check rotors

check shock bolts

check both axles

check steering head

check clip ons

check triple trees

check all fasteners

check fuel and vapor lines for kinking etc

check mirrors

check levers

check all fluids

check tires for abnormal wear

change oil and filter

etc etc etc

this is not meant to be a comprehensive list. Just some of the things I remember from doing my Versys recently. I don't know that a dealership will do all the things listed in the owners manual and service manual that they are suppose to do. Maybe find out what it would cost first and decide from there?

 
Just had my first oil change done over the weekend at the dealer. My thought, since it’s brand new, it was important to bring it in to be checked over to make sure everything was tight and looked right. I also had in the back of my mind the stories I have read about the drain plug being too tight and I just didn’t want to deal with that headache if it was. My thought, right now, I’ll take it to the dealer for an oil change every other time.

 
I had my dealer do my first one, for the same reasons mentioned earlier. They charged me $150, and I rather doubt they did all the things that the manual specifies. I had to argue with them about changing the final drive oil, even though it's clearly called for. If your dealer is anything like mine, they don't get a lot of FJR experience.

 
It might be a PITA, but I'd have the dealer do the first service for all the reasons RossKean mentioned. Stripped drain pans seem to be popular. Once that first service is done, then cut loose on your own service later on. :D

 
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I had my dealer do my first one, for the same reasons mentioned earlier. They charged me $150, and I rather doubt they did all the things that the manual specifies. I had to argue with them about changing the final drive oil, even though it's clearly called for. If your dealer is anything like mine, they don't get a lot of FJR experience.
Actually what they do OR at least they are suppose to do is change for any bits of metal in any of the fluids.

 
thanks for all the replies

I think I have a pretty good service department here. They are going to do the work this Friday (the 13th :dribble: )

They quoted me $180.

 
I wouldn't argue with having the dealer do this for whatever support they might offer in the event of a warranty service down the road, but personally, I would do it myself. Basically an expensive oil and final drive fluid change. I own torque wrenches, and the FSM, I'm not afraid to use them. After doing service items like valve checks, coolant, plugs, CCT exchange, fork rebuild, steering head and pivot service, the first check seems pretty trivial, and is a low-risk opportunity to get to know the bike better. No harm in doing the service, and if you have any difficulty, put the wrenches down and ask questions or take it to the dealer.

The point about keeping a written checklist and receipts is a very good one. If there is a problem down the road, the burden of proof the bike was maintained according to manufacturer recommendations is yours. For the record, the torque spec on the oil drain bolt is ridiculously high, and you want to use some care with the final drive plug and filler bolts as well.

 
Do it yourself. That way you will know it was done right. I don't trust the 22 year old kid that races on weekends to do 1/2 of what's on the list. If they couldn't install the battery the correct way on my 750 King Quad I don't trust them on something that will be traveling at much higher sustained speeds. But hey, this is just my opinion.

 
No need to start a new thread so resurrecting this one to say I launched into my 600 mile service today and had fun. I had already done an extra early change of both engine oil/filter and rear gear oil at around 250 miles, but I noticed that the rear gear oil was still quite full of tiny shiny metal flakes this time around at 695 miles.

I used the Yamalube specified oil for the rear drive this time and will probably do that from now on for no particular reason. I did a finger tip consistency test between the Yamalube and the 75-90 weight Lucas Synthetic gear oil and noticed the Yamalube was actually much thicker, and seemingly more viscous. I'm no expert, it was just a noticeable difference.

That's all basic, but what I also did tonight for the first time was to remove my rear wheel and remove the pumpkin and lube all the gear splines. I bought the Honda Moly 60 and used it. Getting the wheel off was easy and removing the axle was easy. The factory had put very little grease on the splines. They weren't dry, but close to it. It's all buttoned up now and torqued to specs. Hardest part, which wasn't very hard, was getting the wheel splines to mate back up with the drive splines.

Later this week I will check the other things for the 600 mile service. I already checked the torque on the steering nut and it was good.

Man it feels good to maintain this machine. It purrs like a kitten, or more like a jet engine--I love the sound.

 
You did a lot more than the dealerships would if you had brought the bike in. Kudos to you and I'm sure your bike will appreciate the added attention.

FWIW I asked my dealership if they would have any problem with me doing the 600 mile maintenance, and mentioned that I had done all my own maintenance on my old '05. They said absolutely not, just keep your receipts and you're good to go.

 
No need to start a new thread so resurrecting this one to say I launched into my 600 mile service today and had fun. I had already done an extra early change of both engine oil/filter and rear gear oil at around 250 miles, but I noticed that the rear gear oil was still quite full of tiny shiny metal flakes this time around at 695 miles.
I used the Yamalube specified oil for the rear drive this time and will probably do that from now on for no particular reason. I did a finger tip consistency test between the Yamalube and the 75-90 weight Lucas Synthetic gear oil and noticed the Yamalube was actually much thicker, and seemingly more viscous. I'm no expert, it was just a noticeable difference.

That's all basic, but what I also did tonight for the first time was to remove my rear wheel and remove the pumpkin and lube all the gear splines. I bought the Honda Moly 60 and used it. Getting the wheel off was easy and removing the axle was easy. The factory had put very little grease on the splines. They weren't dry, but close to it. It's all buttoned up now and torqued to specs. Hardest part, which wasn't very hard, was getting the wheel splines to mate back up with the drive splines.

Later this week I will check the other things for the 600 mile service. I already checked the torque on the steering nut and it was good.

Man it feels good to maintain this machine. It purrs like a kitten, or more like a jet engine--I love the sound.
I can't remember who first posted this but it works for me - when mating the wheel with the splines insert the axle from the left hand side and use that as a guide. Keeps everything nice and secure while you are getting things lined up.

 
the oil pan bolt on my '05 was the worst biatch to take out the first time of any vehicle I have every owned. I was sure it was going to strip because it was sooooooo tight. But it did come out.

Sometimes the dealer does find something on that initial service but I too am skeptical that they do everything called for.

 
That's a great tip Donal and I wish I had thought of that before! Aligning the wheel gear with the drive gear is a 3 dimensional problem, and if I had done like you suggest I could have eliminated one of the three dimensions.

Did my daily commute this morning and was it just me, or did she ride a little smoother and quieter after that spline lubing with Moly 60? The factory grease felt really basic, and wiped off very easily, what there was of it.

 
Remember that the first service includes a TBS, not that many Gen3 bikes are out.

I had air within the brake lines, and the coolant within the system was low.

No grease on the suspension linkages.

Also, surprisingly the sump plugs were both ok, not over tightened, but the 4 acorn nuts were loose.

Steering head was loose.

 
did it myself and didn't check torque on steering bearings. Developed a clunk. Brought It to them anyway after that. Would they have checked torque? Dunno.

 
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