Would You Buy A New Bike If The Dealership Was Four Hours Distance?

[SportsterDoc]

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.

So very true, but I also like knowing exactly what was done.

It has only been the last few years (4-5?) that I have relegated certain repairs to a shop (thinking of 4 wheel vehicles):

Fuel pump on Jeep TJ

TPS and fuel pump/level sensors (yes, plural fuel level sensors) on Hyundai Santa Fe

[apex1_imp]

I would not. I do all the work on my bikes, except recall work. I live in a big city with almost all dealers here except Moto Guzzi, and the nearest Guzzi dealer is an hour and a half from me. I have been fortunate that I have not required major warranty work, but 8 hours of driving time to drop off a bike then 8 hours on the road (not counting unloading, loading, and time wasted waiting on them) to pick it up is far too much for me. So no, never. I also would like a place to buy parts other than mail-order.

[LongRanger_imp]

I'm going to change my response. As long as there was a dealer nearby, I'd travel 4 hours to buy a new bike if the deal was compelling enough. If there was no dealer nearby to provide parts and service, however, I wouldn't.

[decarmine_imp]

I drove from Tampa to North Carolina -- about 10 hours -- because the CB1100 was several *thousands* of dollars cheaper there than at either of my two local Honda dealers. But my wife has a sister in Raleigh, so I was able to sell the trip as "Hey, do you want to visit your sister? And while we're there, we might as well stop at..."

[4 Paws_imp]

Tough call, allure of the exotic new bike a half a day away or old faithful around the corner.
If it’s a bagger you want then get one. I rode the Triumph bagger because I could, never rode or saw the BMW. Not my first choice (style) but a decent brand.

Really only need to visit the dealership once every year or so, not convenient but you’d be getting the bike you want. Otherwise stay with what you already have.

[Mandrau_imp]

Thanks so much for the comments gentlemen. And thanks Norton for the sobering pragmatics. I am not a wrencher so there's that. I am planning/dreaming of heading to the west coast early next summer on a grand bucket list trip, solo. I will travel the road of my youth when I hitchiked to Tofino B.C. and spent a summer on the road. This is one of the reasons why I have been considering a new ride. The CB1100 has already proven itself to be reiiable and I have every confidence that it would be up to the task. To be more physically comfortable on another bike that is unproven Vs the peace of mind of riding a bike you can trust. Not to mention that a good dealer network would add to that peace of mind on such a journey.

[SCCBrider_imp]

I went over 6 hours away to pick up my CB. The price was too good to pass up. Charleston to Chattanooga.

I am considering getting a new ride and have tended to only consider bikes with a Dealership in Northern Ontario. However that limits the choice to Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Harley Davidson. I almost pulled the trigger recently on a 2018 Sport Glide but stepped back after reading of issues with the new Milwaukee Eight engines, deciding instead to wait for the 2019 models. In the meantime Indian has caught my attention but the nearest dealership is four hoiurs away in southern Ontario. That's also where the nearest Triumph and BMW dealerships are as well.

I have had such a good experience with the CB1100 that I think whoever said on this forum that the CB1100 can spoil you for other bikes might be right on. So why not just keep riding the CB1100 you might ask? Maybe it's a case of wander lust but I would like to try the cruiser/bagger experience. If I was younger I could easily wait and see what comes along but at this point every riding season is precious and I want to make the most of them while I can.

Got the coming winter to dream on this...
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[Cormanus]

I agree with whoever said they’d travel to get the bike if there was a good mechanic locally who could work on it post purchase.

[Houtman_imp]

Ken , did you buy your bike from Southern Power Sport in Chattanooga ?
That is where I bought my 2014 and 2017 , just because of price.

[GoldOxide_imp]

Buying the CB has you well on your way of hedging any serious work that you might otherwise experience. Routine work on the CB is trivial - consider doing it yourself. Tires and similar, yeah, a local mechanic who is set-up to do general motorcycle work orders - especially if there is much dirt bike interests nearby.