oasysco wrote:
>> oasysco wrote:
The headlight problem was, indeed, the JBox as a couple of folks
>>>>> thought. Thankfully, I found one on eBAY and the guy lived within 30
>>>>> minutes of me. A nice cheap $7.50 fix compared to $180 the local
>>>>> repair chop we sometimes use quoted. Seems they have a minimum charge
>>>>> of $80 to hook up anything electrical, except a battery.
>>>> Performing your own repairs can be rewarding at times. A pain in the butt
>>>> quite often, but sometimes satisfaction sets in.
>>> I'm getting more daring and this from someone who doesn't change car
>>> oil. One thing thta really bothers me, though, is how much you have to
>>> remove from sport bikes to do other stuff. All those fairings and
>>> having to remove the tank to get to the air filters and other normal
>>> stuff that for the most part, Honda makes it a little easier to get
>>> to.
>>> I have a lot of respect for folks who can tear down their bikes to fix
>>> thigs or modify them.
>>> If I can just get to the point of checking the valves on my bike, i
>>> will feel like i arrived and yet I know there's a repair world well
>>> beyond that. But at least I could save myself 85% of the time of
>>> having to take it to a dealer.
>> Buy both the Haynes and Chilton manuals for your bike. In areas where
>> one of the two lacks, the other one picks up the slack.
>
> We've got the OEM mtc manual for my son's ZX, but it is seriously
> lacking. I'll need an aftermarket manual for his bike. I have all the
> Honda manuals (common service, bike specific) except for the parts
> manual, which I can get online with fiche.
Don't forget http://www.zedder.com for the parts cross-reference. Well
worth the money.
> The headlight problem was, indeed, the JBox as a couple of folks
> > thought. Thankfully, I found one on eBAY and the guy lived within 30
> > minutes of me. A nice cheap $7.50 fix compared to $180 the local
> > repair chop we sometimes use quoted. Seems they have a minimum charge
> > of $80 to hook up anything electrical, except a battery.
> Performing your own repairs can be rewarding at times. A pain in the
> butt
> quite often, but sometimes satisfaction sets in.
I'm getting more daring and this from someone who doesn't change car
oil. One thing thta really bothers me, though, is how much you have to
remove from sport bikes to do other stuff. All those fairings and
having to remove the tank to get to the air filters and other normal
stuff that for the most part, Honda makes it a little easier to get
to.
I have a lot of respect for folks who can tear down their bikes to fix
thigs or modify them.
If I can just get to the point of checking the valves on my bike, i
will feel like i arrived and yet I know there's a repair world well
beyond that. But at least I could save myself 85% of the time of
having to take it to a dealer.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
My Concours has a fairing that has to come off for the air cleaner and oil
changes. My Nighthawk was very easy to maintain. Naked bike, hydraulic
valves, spin-on filter. Chain drive though.
Checking the valves isn't really hard, but it's something you don't want
to screw up. Ending up with burnt valves because they were adjusted too
tight would not be good.
Manuals talk about maintaining a lot of other things, but learn how to
change the oil and filter, change the plugs, adjust the drive chain,
replace brake pads, adjust valves, and you've taken care of most of your
maintenance. Take care of that and you're taking care of just about
everything. You can do it in your sleep once you've done it a few times
and figure out the routine that is easiest for you. Attack tire
replacement if you care to deal with getting the wheels off.
You get a feel for working with bolts and wrenches overtime, gaining the
background that lets maintenance go faster. Rebuilding the forks on my
Concours was a first for me so it went slow, but that's not a biggie in my
case as I have a winter to do it in. I think it's important to take your
time when performing new tasks like that.
The main benefit doing my own maintenance is that I save a little money,
but I also don't have to shuttling the bike back and forth to the dealer.
Robert
oasysco wrote:
> The headlight problem was, indeed, the JBox as a couple of folks
> thought. Thankfully, I found one on eBAY and the guy lived within 30
> minutes of me. A nice cheap $7.50 fix compared to $180 the local
> repair chop we sometimes use quoted. Seems they have a minimum charge
> of $80 to hook up anything electrical, except a battery.
$80 is not out of line for many shops. Most shops have a 2/1 labor
policy, at least in the Northeast: If it takes less than 2 minutes, no
charge; more than that, 1 hour labor.
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