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Why don't some people service their bike at all?

I'm no mechanic, so I only have had dealer maintenance on my Harleys. I think they keep a data bank. Maintenance for me is not just oil changes, but regular inspections and adjustments, too.

When I sold my wife's BMW (car) to a local dealer, she was blown away that I had only dealer maintenance and it was all current. Not very common, apparently, even on high end vehicles.
 
Not surprised. There are better places for service work that don’t cost as much.
 
Often it's more about the person selling the object than the object itself.

OP you are running across motos that are being offered by folks you would not like to buy from or deal with - identify that & move on. There are good motos offered by good folks out there.
 
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I copied a friend who uses a G-doc to record maintenance and mods. It's been nice to access it from any computer or phone when I update it.

Is this sort of thing folks would accept for records? Some bikes I mostly take to a shop, but some of them I do most of my own work. I'm not really that detail oriented, but this is easy to keep up and since I copied the form it was super easy.

I like to see some sort of record even if it's just notes in the manual. My NX650 came with a mix of receipts and hand written notes in the manual that were a treasure trove of information dating back to the original purchase. It was really nice to see the history of my 37 year old bike when I bought it.

I save all the receipts from service. My FJ Cruiser file is so freaking thick after 15 years of ownership - 95% are dealer records and it runs like new with 190k on the clock.



example
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Cabrito said:
I copied a friend who uses a G-doc to record maintenance and mods. It's been nice to access it from any computer or phone when I update it.

Is this sort of thing folks would accept for records? Some bikes I mostly take to a shop, but some of them I do most of my own work. I'm not really that detail oriented, but this is easy to keep up and since I copied the form it was super easy.

I like to see some sort of record even if it's just notes in the manual. My NX650 came with a mix of receipts and hand written notes in the manual that were a treasure trove of information dating back to the original purchase. It was really nice to see the history of my 37 year old bike when I bought it.

I save all the receipts from service. My FJ Cruiser file is so freaking thick after 15 years of ownership - 95% are dealer records and it runs like new with 190k on the clock.



example
View attachment 594251
Click to expand...
I would be ecstatic to get records like this for a bike I was buying. For me, there are three things I like to see: 1) the bike is clean, 2) what has been done, and 3) a seller who cares. Records show 2 and 3, and they don't need to be perfect. I have talked to sellers whose records were as dirty and disheveled as the bike they were trying to sell. I don't buy from "trust me, bro."
 
I do the majority of my maintenance (valve adjustment on the SuperDuke was farmed out, hate doing valve adjustment)and am guilty of poor record keeping.
I keep my bikes for a long time ( at least 10 years for the drz and Duke, bad record keeping😁)
I’m lazy but the bikes are well maintained.
 
I'm always workin on my bikes. Maybe they don't have tools or can't afford to work on them. I know those BMWs are hard to work on. They require special tools and computers. It's why i don't own one. I remember I changed the rear sprocket on a F650GS twin and I didn't know that they use torque to yield bolts. So basically when you torque the bolts down they stretch and should only be used once and they came loose on my buddies bike.

I don't buy a bike that I wouldn't be able to do the majority of the maintenance on the bike myself and I own a service manual or have a digital copy of it for all my bikes. I torque every bolt to spec if I can.
 
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