(10-25-2018, 02:39 AM)Nortoon_imp Wrote: When I was young, thin, flexible and poor; I used to do all of my own maintenance. I still have a chest full of Craftsman tools to prove it. But motor cycles were so much simpler to work on back then. There were no disk brakes, fuel injectors, electronic ignition systems, environmental devices, plastic shrouds, etc.

I could change the oil (no filters), use the old oil to boil the drive chain, add new oil, check the spark plugs, ignition points, and balance the carburetors in a couple of hours. Brakes were shoes with springs with an adjustable rod or cable to activate them. No bleeding required unless you nicked yourself on the bike. Four stroke engine valve adjusters were easily accessible studs and nuts that could be measured with a set of inexpensive feeler gauges.

After getting married, reaching middle age, and gaining 60 pounds; Penny and I rode on touring motorcycles. Heavy and complicated beasts. Except for oil changes, I let the dealership take care of them.

Things didn't get better when I returned to motorcycling after a 25 year hiatus. At 68 I now weighed 80 pounds more that the day I was married. Loved my CB500XA, but a valve inspection or spark plug replacement required removing a number of plastic shrouds, the fuel tank, a tray of electronic devices, and a spaghetti bowl of wiring. I stopped wasting my money on lottery tickets and put away $20 a week to pay to have the dealer mess with these more complicated tasks and save my sanity.

Did they always get it right? No! After a valve inspection, they had to lift the tank a second time to plug in the signal lights. After a spark plug replacement they had to pick me and my bike up an hour from my home. They were not aware of Honda's practice of snugging NEW spark plugs down twice. But neither was I until this happened. Apart from the inconvenience, they made things right with no further cost.

New tires from another dealer for my CB1100 EX worked well. They even shuttled me home when it started to rain when I went to pick-up my bike. We both agreed riding in the rain on slick new tires was not a good idea. The only thing I found wrong was the nuts on the wheel adjusters had not been tightened down. Fortunately the axle had been torqued down, and the rear wheel and chain were straight.

So while I am willing to do the simple stuff: oil and filters changes, winter prep and storage, etc. I will leave the more complicated stuff for them to do. This keeps my blood pressure down and avoids a lot of aggravation. Despite having the Shop Manuals I could probably make the same mistakes that they do.