Sticker shock

Just went to the local Honda motorcycle dealer (the only one in the area) and inquired about the cost for the 24K service on the SWing.

$650, including labor and parts.

Went back through the factory service manual and decided I could do oil/filter, coolant, plugs and some other odds and ends, leaving the valve clearance checks and some other specialized stuff for the Honda dealer to do.

Criminy sakes! I support my local dealers...always have, even when I had other machines...but this seems a bit on the steep side to me. Guess I better get off my 3rd point of contact and get busy...

The labour makes up the bulk of the price and is the bulk of the dealer's profit. They'll charge you at least 2 hours to check the valves. To check the valves, first the seat, both floor skirts, and floor step have to come off. Then the cylinder head cover is next. Out come the spark plugs. Insert the homemade tensioner stopper tool. Once that's done it's just a matter of turning the variator nut with a socket to align the timing marks. Then in goes your feeler gauge between the lifter and cam lobe. Repeat on the other 7 valves. Wasn't that easy?
Seriously, if you have no qualms about changing your plugs, then valve checking isn't much more complicated, especially when you have the manual in front of you.
It's labour intensive, but costs nothing in terms of parts.

A service manual at times like that will pay for itself several times over.

Just a thought...I don't know whether it applies to a Silverwing or not, but it cost me a lot of anxiety, time, loss of hair, etc. On the Burgman 400, we have to remove the throttle body to get the valve cover off. Doing so, requires about 6-8 sensors to be unplugged. They all go in various places with different plug heads, so it would seem like you couldn't get them on wrong. I did.

I found the only two sensor plugs that were possible to swap...and swapped them! The bike would hardly run. My "friend" at work with a lot of small engine experience kept telling me that I bent a valve. To make a long story short, a week later, I found that I had put a gray plug on a black sensor, and a black plug on a gray sensor. Once put right, the bike ran like a top.

So if you have to do something like that on a Silverwing, take a few moments to mark those sensor plugs.

Chris

Excellent advice, Chris.

I don't about checking valve clearance. That seems quite a bit more detailed and appears to require specialized tools. The service manual suggests that plug change is no big deal...floor cover off, unplug leads, give a shot of air in and around plugs, remove and replace plugs, reassemble. Doesn't seem like a big deal...valves, I think, I'm going to leave to the techs...a man's got to know his limitations...

The key is learning to do the service yourself. I did all the service on BMW R1200RT. In the long run, I saved thousands and thoroughly enjoyed doing it myself.

keithb wrote:

In the long run, I saved thousands and thoroughly enjoyed doing it myself.

AND, most importantly, you knew the job was done CORRECTLY!

Actually, I'd say the key is getting over your fear of screwing things up. And I don't say that lightly.

I'm not a mechanic. But I am cheap. And being someone who commutes on their bike daily, I don't want to lose it for days, a week, or weeks at a dealership. If I have to take a car, it costs me $60 a week for the additional gas alone, plus double the time sitting in the parking lot commonly called I-5. (But on the scooter, I can go down the carpool lane and not be in the parking lot!!)

bigbird described the process pretty well. It is not hard when you break it down. The hardest part for me (well, almost hardest part) was getting the tupperware off to get access to things. After that, it was pretty simple. And if anyone here has made a tutorial on the process, that makes it even simpler.

You also have an advantage. You don't know my "friend" who kept telling me I bent one of my valves and now I need a new engine.

The hardest part for me on any of this maintenance, is getting started. Will I screw it up? Will I have to get the bike towed to a mechanic? Will I break something? I think you can add your own questions...fears.

But what I found with the first time I took off my CVT cover to change the final drive fluid, was that it wasn't that bad with the right tools. When I had to clean out the variator, that was just a little bit more than I'd done before...and I found I could do that too. I changed my sparkplug once, and found out where the engine was situated. Checking the valves is simply taking off a couple bolts that hold on the valve cover in the same area.

It's just one little step in each case more than you did before. And then you know a lot more about what makes your bike tick.

And when you finish, and you feel this wonderful bike you have just humming beneath you, there's a little bit of satisfaction knowing that you are a part of the reason it runs so well.

Chris

"AND, most importantly, you knew the job was done CORRECTLY!"

I have to say, I almost put the line (above) in my post.

I figure if, at least, I can do some of the basics, that will put me steps ahead and save some money.

That said, I think I'll take another look at the valve clearance check process in the service manual...Taking all that tupperware off is a pain, though...but that is, after all, in part why they're charging so much money...

Got a big church run this weekend up to Quincy and Chester and Lake Almanor in support of our residence and health facility in South Africa, so I'll get started next week.

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. Ya make me feel a lot more competent than I think I am....

The thing I find with servicing is;

If you do part of the work and still take into a dealer they will still rip you off.

If you do the full service yourself, the job is done as best as your abilities/tools allow. If a problem then ensues, I have found dealers, (UK anyway,) put you on the ' we'll do the work when we get round to it' pile. So will still cost; time + ££'s or $$'s as applicable!

On the other hand, if the dealer does the service, they will charge you their going rate and part of the dynamic of riding a maxi scooter is the labour costs involved with panel removal.

Nothing is straight forward in life.

But you can be certain it WILL cost!!

Choices - choices.

I looked at the pictorials and most of services look pretty straightforward. Good luck.