[jihwaan]

The dealer I bought my bike off is telling me if i change the oil myself it will void my warranty..
is this right? seems like a load of cr*p to me, but then i have never had a bike before...
Im in Australia too if that makes any difference..

 

[VeX]

Technically no. Around the 1980's the way car/motorcycle warranties work changed. If you are pulling a warranty claim NOW and the cause of the original problem can be traced to something the end-user did then the warranty is void for that repair. So If the timing chain breaks and the dealer says, "Oh, you changed the oil yourself the warranty is void!" then THAT is a lie.

Now if you removed the air-filter and engine detonated to the point where there was a catastrophic engine failure then that would not be covered...

So as long as you properly change the oil (It's not that hard) you have no worries. Most big dealerships will say things like that to sucker you into paying them a LOT of money for them to do work for you. When I bought my bike they tried selling me on everything and laid out how 'expensive' various repairs were and how I needed their service plan. When I brought up that they were flat out lying to me as the "$1,000 it normally costs to fix a fuel pump" didn't apply to my carbureted bike and $1,000 to fix a fuel pump was a bullshit number in itself I magically stopped getting jerked around. :evil6:

 

[jihwaan]

sweet thats what I figured.
Thanks Vex....no need to tell you that you and a few other guys on here offer invaluable advice for us new guys...

Oh, and Kkim, black ones are faster. all the lies about the green ones being quicker was just a marketing ploy so they could sell all the bikes in that god awful color..!!

 

[univox]

Actually it might, you'll have to look into your local laws.

VeX's post is absolutely correct if you're dealing with a bike in the US though.

 

[jihwaan]

what makes me really think it is a load of BS is the fact that it gives instructions on changing the oil in the owners manual and says nothing about making sure a dealer does the changes during the warranty period.

 

[xTKx]

Technically no. Around the 1980's the way car/motorcycle warranties work changed. If you are pulling a warranty claim NOW and the cause of the original problem can be traced to something the end-user did then the warranty is void for that repair. So If the timing chain breaks and the dealer says, "Oh, you changed the oil yourself the warranty is void!" then THAT is a lie.

Now if you removed the air-filter and engine detonated to the point where there was a catastrophic engine failure then that would not be covered...

So as long as you properly change the oil (It's not that hard) you have no worries. Most big dealerships will say things like that to sucker you into paying them a LOT of money for them to do work for you. When I bought my bike they tried selling me on everything and laid out how 'expensive' various repairs were and how I needed their service plan. When I brought up that they were flat out lying to me as the "$1,000 it normally costs to fix a fuel pump" didn't apply to my carbureted bike and $1,000 to fix a fuel pump was a bullshit number in itself I magically stopped getting jerked around. :evil6:

I'm new to motorcycle mechanical work, but not vehicle mechanical work, so I do have a bit of experience. Anyway, you must be against "maintenance programs" then, right? I'm just not 100% sure what I want to do. My local Kawi dealer offers a "pit pass" program which pays for all of your basic maintenance (including oil changes) for a monthly fee. Like I said, I do have a bit of mechanical experience (just not with bikes), do you think this would be a good investment for me? I heard it was something like $40/month or so. What do you guys think? Any opinions?

 

[univox]

Only basic? Then it's a blatant rip off.

Even if it includes bigger tune ups it's still a rip off.

Only way $40/month might be worthwhile is if you rack up a lot of mileage every year, talking 15k+ a year and they include major services.

 

[llenta]

Only basic? Then it's a blatant rip off.

Even if it includes bigger tune ups it's still a rip off.

Only way $40/month might be worthwhile is if you rack up a lot of mileage every year, talking 15k+ a year and they include major services.

yup, it only costs a few dollars for oil (not synthetic) and a few for a filter and o-rings. the oil change itself only takes about 15 minutes from start to finish, so if you fork out $40 a month, you better be getting like 3-4 oil changes a month or your 600 mile and 7500 mile service covered as well or its not worth it.

 

[shadows090]

3-4 oil change and service? You think that would cost $40 a month? Even two oilc hanges a month for $40 dollars would be decent. That's $20 an oil change. Go try to get someone to change the oil in your bike for $20. The oil and filter would add up to that alone.

 

[xTKx]

It sounds rather selfish, but my big concern is time. I work 50hrs a week (minimum) at my job, and my wife and I help teach the youth group at our church and we're really involved. Just those two things alone suck up almost all my time every week (not to mention other events during the week). It was sounding good to me for the sole purpose of being able to drop my bike off at the dealer and coming back later to pick it up.