Standard Service Schedule

[Nortoon_imp]

Oh, so this is confession time . . . When I buy a new bike, I carefully transcribe all the maintenance requirements into a table with check boxes for each mileage interval and maintain this table in Word format. I print the table each time a maintenance interval comes up, then check off each item and annotate as needed when I do the work. Since I have (currently) six motorcycles, it's important to me to document everything. I cannot possibly remember when I changed final drive oil on one of the BMWs . . .

Since I am a retired engineer who worked extensively in technical writing, I also revise each maintenance sheet as appropriate and give each one a revision level and date.

Now I've come clean . . .

I'm worse than you. I created an Excel database which not only contains the maintenance schedule, but it records each time I have maintenance performed (description, mileage, date, cost). So it not only tracks maintenance history, but it alerts me to the next required maintenance based on the manufacturer's recommended mileage or date intervals. It also tracks mileage history so I can view how much I'm using each vehicle and also determine maintenance cost per mile over the life of the vehicle.

I did that for the 3 years I rode my CB500XA. I was surprized how little I paid for each happy kilometer I rode. But was annoyed when I traded it in, and found that 3 years of insurance cost almost as much as the net cost of the bike. I am a senior citizen with 27 years of accident free riding experience.

Nortoon Wrote
... But was annoyed when I traded it in, and found that 3 years of insurance cost almost as much as the net cost of the bike. I am a senior citizen with 27 years of accident free riding experience.
+1 , cuz Ontario bike insurance RIPS OFF ALL OF US
My friend in Australia can stop insuring his bike in "winter times"...but Cormanus will have more precise details about bike insurance there, when he wakes up Monday morning, please

pb

We use to be able to do that. But I knew bikers who rode during the off months without paying for it. So now the cost is for the year, even though we only ride for 6 months.

Quoting the cost as a monthly payment also makes it seem cheaper. It's something like offering people cars for so much a week.