7500 mile service

[xaindagger]

Hi, everyone I recently went down to my local dealership and asked how much it would be to bring in my bike for its 7500 mile service and they quoted me around 500$. I looked at the maintenence list for this service and it seems a little ridiculus. That is almost 10% of the value of my bike (new) just to have it serviced. I'm wondering what others have paid for this service. The reason why i wanted it looked at was it was making a slight ticking sound at idle after being ridden. The sound was consistent as i could count to 4 and it would do it again. I thought the valves might need to be checked. However i took my bike on a nice ride (local backroads)    and the sound seems to have disappeared. I have a 2002 GS500 with about 8500 miles. Thnx for any help

[aslam]

What's on the 7500 list again?

ASLAM.

[Turkina]

As everyone else is going to say, get a service manual, a set of tools (and a torque wrench), and do it yourself.  Any parts you need, get from BikeBandit, Ron Ayers, or some other online place.  Once you learn how to do things yourself, not only will it save money, but later maintenance intervals are free too  Make sure you lubricate everything well when you take them apart, so next time disassembly goes quick

Maybe the ticking is from the valves, and as the engine warms up and the weather gets warmer, the ticking stops.  If you're done servicing and the ticking is still there, well at least it'll cost less to work on that!

[denman]

dude get a manual and some tool's and go for it.    the clicking i think is the timing chain slap most likley.   others will give better info than i can.    im good enuf to keep my stuff going,with out delear help.   see ya.

[Frost]

are valve adjustments hard?...i gotta do it at the 4000miles interval...

[Rema1000]

I wouldn't say that valve adjustments are hard, but they are harder than on some other bikes.  But you only need to check the valves every 4k.  I think the soonest I've heard of them needing adjustment is 16k (JohnLA), and one of our long-distance riders didn't need to adjust any of his until 40k (gsjack).  I just did my first check (at 20k mi), and two valves are a little close, but still just barely OK.

The way I look at the 4k service list, it comprises some things you should only need to work on when you notice a problem:
-"check for fuel leaks": duh! you'll notice them when you get them!
-"set idle speed': you'll notice if your idle speed isn't right!

...and then the official service includes some things you should be checking regularly anyways:

-"check water level in the battery" (you need to do this regularly anyways)
-"change the oil and filter" (well, you gotta know how to do this anyways)
-"change the spark plugs" (really simple.  finger-tight plus 1/4 turn)
-"visually check the brake pads"
-"check the chain tension" (press on it with your finger )
-"check for bearing freeplay" (just do it when you change either tire)

Then the real meat of the 4k mi. check:
-"check valve clearance"

This requires pulling the tank off, so it will take longer than all the other checks put together.  For me, the most time-consuming part was carefully scraping-off the old valve cover gasket, being careful to keep the bits from going inside.

-"blow out the air filter" (once you have the tank off to check the valves, this is a 3-minute job)

I'll add to the 4k: once you have the tank off, you might as well sync the carbs too.

So I guess I'd say that the 4k mi. service is checking stuff you'd notice all by itself; or stuff you should be checking periodically anyways; and then the valve check; and then since you have the tank off, all the things you'd like to check more often, except that you can't get to them when the tank is there.

[Rema1000]

What's on the 7500 list again?

ASLAM.

Replace the air filter ($35) and plugs ($3) and check the shocks all 'round.  That's it (not much!).  Since  the stock filter is $35 and K&N is $35 (unipod) or $45 (OEM replacement), you really only need to pay the $35 once.