[olhogrider]

At least have them do a service in the first few thousand miles. My dealer found a few things that I missed and covered them under warranty. Of course, that is a competent dealer. They also made some mistakes but that had more to do with being new to RE.

[Superchuck]

I live in Baltimore, MD and do all my own oil changes and troubleshooting on the sidewalk or between two parked cars under a streetlamp on the side of the road.  You can probably buy the filters from your dealer (wait you just said that), and if not, the least you can do is switch out the dirty oil, then once your filters come in the mail, just change the filter then and top it off.  Less than ideal, but the dirty oil is the main problem and your bike will thank you for it.

My dealer is 160 miles away but I'll be taking the bike to a shop some time this year to get a 'check-up' while it's still under warranty.  Like olhogrider said, i trust myself to do most of the maintenance, but there's probably something i've overlooked, what with being a total blundering novice and all.. 

best of luck!

chuck

[Ducati Scotty]

This is why I do my most of my own maintenance.  A full tune up on my old Ducati can cost around $800 and with labor cost considered that's not really unfair.  I did it for under $200 in an afternoon. 

You can do the RE yourself much cheaper.  I would say it's oil & filter, check the air filter, check brake fluid level, lube cables and chain, adjust chain if needed, and tighten all fasteners, check tire pressure.  Check the user's manual for whatever else it lists.  $200 is a lot of money but probably a fair NYC price for the hour or two of labor and parts/supplies needed.

There's nothing in the RE service that should be too hard if you've been around a wrench before and in NY most auto parts stores are required to take back old oil free of charge from non-professionals.  The one hitch (at least when I lived there) is that you have to have it in an approved collection container.  Milk jugs or the original oil bottles don't count so you need a sealable collection container, which they just happen to sell

If you can't do the first few services yourself the cost is a bitter pill to swallow since there are a few fairly quickly.  This applies to all motorcycles and they never tell you this when you're buying one.  Decide to take a day and do it yourself or pay the man and chaulk it up to the cost of living in one of the most interesting cities in the world.

Scott

[Arizoni]

At least with the RE you are not paying some service guy  $40 for 1/2 hours work just to take off and put on all of the plastic parts so he can work on the engine to do what is needed.

[john hut]

Anybody in UK tell me how long a 3750mile service takes?  We are tied down to Main Dealer service her in UK to comply with warranty.I did my own 2000mile service and changed the oil twice but need a service long before the warranty runs out.
The reason I,m asking is that it,s  a 60mile round trip and would hope that they could do it while I went for a long walk to look at the Iron Men on Crosby beach..
         John Hut

[GreenMachine]

At least with the RE you are not paying some service guy  $40 for 1/2 hours work just to take off and put on all of the plastic parts so he can work on the engine to do what is needed.

That true and I help my kid put the farings back on his 1000 RR and you got to get all those plastic pieces line up just right before u start screwing it in...Yeah it takes time and time is money..

[singhg5]

Hi all - I just past the 300 mile marker with my new C5 -- in just three days
 

Here are my concerns/issues -- and any input is greatly appreciated.Just so you know, I used to own a harley and do most of the minor service myself on it -- saved me a ton.

1) The dealer told me it would cost around 150 to 200...which sounds overly excessive IMO...  what do you think?

2) It appears that the 300 mile "tuneup" really is only about changing oil filter and oil?  Am I correct? or am I missing something???

3) In the event I do the oil & filter change myself...will that in anyway void my warranty??

Welcome Chris to the Forum and congratulations on your new bike C5.  

As you are a handy person, I think you can do your own oil change and 'service'.  To my knowledge, this does not void warranty but you can call CMW the importers of this bike and this website to confirm. If the dealer charges $150-200, ask him what will he actually do and how much time will he spend on bike. If he does some maintenance routine besides oil change then it may be worth it, unless you want to do it yourself. The advantage of doing it by yourself is that you will become more familiar with the bike.

An important aspect of maintaining RE, especially for the first few months, is to tighten EACH and EVERY nut or bolt that you can see or do not see. You also want to lube or/and adjust cluth cable and speedo cable, adjust chain, check battery voltage and electrolyte levels. Clean battery holder in case of any spills to avoid paint damage. Also, you want to spray bike with a protective coating such as ACF50.  

Some gas stations take dirty oil for disposal.

Here is a link to oil change for G5 on youtube. Your C5 has all the same parts, except that the oil filter cap has slightly different shape with three screws instead of two on G5. Basic method is the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo0IW8JVS_I

[SimonT]

My first service was free so that worked out well....

I think the main problem is keeping your warranty when servicing yourself. I made a deal with my dealer that i would take it back to them every second service, meaning i could do every other one myself. This meant i could still keep my warranty.

$12 for a filter and about $15 worth of oil sure beats the $150 odd they will charge me for a service

That said, this is the first vehicle ive ever got serviced by a 'professional'. Ive always done it myself, as i dont trust my bikes and cars with other people. They arent the ones that will be stranded on the side of the road, or crashed into a tree if something goes wrong.

[Ducati Scotty]

Getting the first service worked in for free as part of the deal is always a good idea.

Scott

[olhogrider]

I think the main problem is keeping your warranty when servicing yourself.

Doing your own will not void the warranty. That's federal law in the US. You may be asked to prove you did it, and if you overlooked anything, that may let them off the hook.

[SimonT]

hmm not sure how that works here in Aus.

[olhogrider]

Ah, I was afraid of that.

[SimonT]

i dont mind taking it back to them for ever other service... they are good guys, and hopefully they will check all the other stuff out too like tensioning the chain etc.

just the inconvenience of giving them my bike for the day.