A pleasant surprise.

My SW is [finally] approaching the 600 mile mark, and I'm getting local estimates on the initial service.

Unlike the initial service for my PCX, I was surprised to see in the SW maintenance schedule no valve clearance check at 600 miles. It's not due until 16,000 miles!

Buy the Factory Service Manual (FSM) and do the job yourself. Save your receipt for oil and a filter so that you can document your DIY service --write the odometer mileage on the receipt. Quite realistically all "the wrench" is gonna do is change the oil & filter, check the tire pressure and give the scoot a look over. Maybe tighten a loose screw or bolt if it is glaringly obvious to him. Yet the dealer is going to charge you an outrageous amount.

Then you'll have the FSM for the rest of your time with the scoot and you can change the drive belt when that service interval comes up too. Easy peasy. C'mon Bash, you've been a member here for long enough to realize that very little goes wrong with Silverwings. And if something does we are here to advise & help.

Tim

"Kindly come to terms with your a$$ for it bears you", Fra Junipero Serra c1749

Thanks for the encouragement, Tim!  I do have a FSM.  And I appreciate all the knowledgeable and helpful folks here.

However, you don't know about my gross lack of mechanical ability.  For example, there was the time I was replacing the gas tank on a bike and managed to get a wooden chopstick stuck in the tank (long story).  $80 and great embarrassment at the dealer required to get it out.  Or the time I messed up supposedly fool-proof electrical connectors and blew out an expensive two-way radio.  Believe me, in my case it's cheaper and more efficient to have somebody else do it!

Bash On! wrote:

Thanks for the encouragement, Tim!  I do have a FSM.  And I appreciate all the knowledgeable and helpful folks here.

However, you don't know about my gross lack of mechanical ability.  For example, there was the time I was replacing the gas tank on a bike and managed to get a wooden chopstick stuck in the tank (long story).  $80 and great embarrassment at the dealer required to get it out.  Or the time I messed up supposedly fool-proof electrical connectors and blew out an expensive two-way radio.  Believe me, in my case it's cheaper and more efficient to have somebody else do it!

Mwahahaha A man with the same mechanical aptitude as me!! Nice one Bash :lol!:

Bash I'm with you, It is very easy to waste a lot of money trying to save a little. Yes to change oil and filter for sure. Maybe valves aren't difficult but a person could really make a mass here.

True the dealer will rake you over the cooals any more. Bikes are a slow sell these days, there is a red F6B 2014 and 2 Valkyries at give away prices setting on the local dealers show room floor. No takers! So maintenance is the big cash drawer these days.

When I was a lad, my friends and I used to do all the work on our cars up to and including re-boring the engines.
We went on to build dragsters of our own and crew for other racers, both with cars and bikes.
That, of course, was very different from lying on our backs in the gutter changing clutches!

I vowed at the time that as soon as I could afford to have my cars serviced and repaired in a professional car-repairers, I would ........ and did.

Maxiscooters came along much later but my vow was applied to them, too.

I have no garage or workshop now so even non-mechanical stuff such as fitting top boxes and extra power sockets is inconvenient; of necessity all my tools are stored a few minutes ride/drive away in a storage unit in a secure compound.
That in itself is frustrating but I'd still leave specific mechanical work to the professionals, not least because both car and bike businesses are very, very good, caring for me as a person, my vehicles as something important and charging reasonable rates.

Apart from the saving of money involved, there is a certain satisfaction in knowing that servicing of your machine has been done correctly because you did it. You know the filters are clean you know the oil is fresh and correct grade, you know the spark plugs are clean and correctly gapped. You know the tyres have been checked and pressures correct. When I do my 16000ml service shortly I will know a new belt has been fitted and Dr Pulley sliders are in and all torqued up correctly. Maybe just me ,but, when my life depends on everything working right I only trust myself:)

Actually, I'd be paranoid that I did something wrong to screw it up!

Though I understand your point about doing something yourself when one's life depends on it is good, where do you stop?  

My life depends on the brakes working properly on all the vehicles around me, that the bridge I travel over is properly maintained, that the plane I take to a conference won't have its engines fall off, that my drinking water is properly treated, and that my doctor prescribes the correct medicine for my illness.  My life depends on all that and much more.  

I'd have to clone myself to ensure all these potentially life-threatening conditions were fully controlled.  Then again, they would be clones of my mechanically challenged self, so I'd be worse off!

Well I can see how taken to extremes you have a point. I personally have always serviced my own vehicles whether two wheels or four. If I travel by other transport I can have no input . I am quite happy with mechanical, electrical, plumbing and building work. Some people are, and some are not, that is the way it is. If you are not confident by all means pay someone to do things for you. As I average 10000mls a year on my Silverwing, riding most days, it would be very expensive for me.

Hey, Bash On, I can see where you are coming from. I am not so mechanically inclined myself but I have taken on some small projects on my bikes and surprised myself in completing them. My biggest fear is that I get into something complicated and don't have the knowledge or the tools. Calling a mechanic at that point becomes expensive because they have to tow your machine to the shop, $$$$.
But what I do do is look into what the job would involve and when the time comes for discussing with the mechanic I can follow where he's going; and more importantly, whether it tallies with what I've read. It pays to be knowledgeable about the work, even if you can't do it yourself.
Jay.