Yes.
Bought not only to ride, but to get "intimate & interactive".

Love working on them!

 

Always. No one but my husband or I even touch my bike or his.

 

Yes, I have found some disturbing "oversights" on my bike.

Just completed my 10k maint and ride with comfort knowing "I changed it, I assembled it , I checked it, and I fukin trust it".

Add to that, if I launch my carcass off a corner it was human error and not "somebody else's fault".

God I hate people who point fingers.

 

Do my own maintenance? Yes I do.

Why? At $75.00 an hour for labor plus the retail costs for parts and fluids, a 10k service is beyond $500.00 at the dealer.

Besides, if my ride acts up somewhere on US 95, between Las Vegas and Reno, I want to be able to get it going myself if at all possible. It gets darn lonely outside of Mercury, Nevada at 2:30 AM.

 

I do my own too. One of the first things I buy for the bike is a shop manual. Used to by the HD ones but now I get the Clymer manual its a lot cheaper, and I like it more.

 

Do my own maintenance? Yes I do........................
........................It gets darn lonely outside of Mercury, Nevada at 2:30 AM.

Awman.......had to mention Mercury, Nevada.

............had a situation on or thereabouts, hehe.....


For another time!

 

Awman.......had to mention Mercury, Nevada.

............had a situation on or thereabouts, hehe.....


For another time!

It's another time...... inquiring minds want to know!

 

of course, who else?

 

I do it all... unless it's warantee stuff that I don't feel like doing and I decide that I trust the apes at the dealer that day.

got my tank and carb off right now to clean out the crud that appeared in the float bowl.

 

I do all my own installs, But for some unforseen reason, I decided to buy a service contract this time. I have never done this before, and I find myself checking to see if they did what they were supposed to...so why did I waste the money? Hell if I know! I just gave me a warm fuzzy at the moment...damnit, I hate it when I live for the moment....nahhhhhhhhh! Normally I don't!

 

I do my own. I bought the service manual when I got the bike. I want o know what has been done to my bike at all times.

 

Doing my own wrenching increases my level of appreciation for the bike immensely. I'd take it to a dealer to for anything requiring engine disassembly, but everything else can be done myself provided I have the right tools and know how to use them.

 

Always do it myself. Then I know it is right.

 

I think the answers may be a little misleading...I don't think the guys who use the dealer are willing to admit it openly. I do all my own but when I did a survey a while back only half or so did their own.

http://harleydavidsonforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5341&highlight=maintenance

 

I do most of my own...

barring stuff like pressing cranks together and some machine work, but I have to say that I used to be a shop mechanic, and there's about two and a half rollaways worth of tools in the garage. About the only thing I really need is a lift, and when I get some of the junk out of the way, I'll get some steel and fabricate one of those. One of the next things I want to get is one of those home machinist's lathe and mill units. Then I'll be able to do a lot more.

I think everyone ought to do their routine maintenence if possible, you notice little things that are warnings to keep an eye on, you can take the time to do a fine job, 'cause you're not trying to beat the flat rate book, and like the man said, when you break down halfway between Bumfk and nowhere, you've half a chance of fixing it and bringing it home alive. Mo' betta' learn what makes the works work in the comfort of your own garage than somewhere along 40 East of Barstow.

Bestwishes

Andrew

 

I try to do all my own. I got a service manual and a few friends that can help out in "WTF is that?" situations. If we can't figure it out, we scratch our heads a few times, take a break and go after it again. If that dosen't work (hasn't happened yet), off to the shop it goes.

 

with my '91 softail, i had the dealer do the maintenence at the required intervals and i was glad. i had 14,000 miles on it one month after the one year warranty was up and the base gaskets started leaking very badly. the service manager at motown HD (tom sonderhouse i think) knew that i had had the work done in-house. he got the MOCO to pay for the repairs, not once but twice. at 17,000 it had started to leak again at the base gaskets. they did it with no problem. i have since done all my own work. there are many people that choose not to do their own work either because they dont want to or know they are not capable. this is not an insult, this is just common sense. if you knew that you couldn't do brain surgery, would you do it anyways?

 

'03 and warranty = stealer for now. I do check after them and after the warranty, it's on me. Aready got the Repair and Parts manual........

 

this is not an insult, this is just common sense. if you knew that you couldn't do brain surgery, would you do it anyways?

Just tracking this thread, couldn't help myself kromepony and monkeyboy...

 

if you knew that you couldn't do brain surgery, would you do it anyways?

Just tracking this thread, couldn't help myself kromepony and monkeyboy...

 

I do all of my own work. Completely rebuilt this current bike from the groung up last winter. Internal wiring through the frame, and polished and ported my own heads. The only thing I had done outside the garage was valve job, and cylinder boring. Now that its done I kinda want to get another bike so I can start over.

 

I put my own gas in myself, and every few times I do the gas I will also put my own air in the tires.

That is about the extent of my mechanical expertise.

 

I do all of my own work unless we're talking splitting the cases or machine work...(or when under warranty...then I still have to re-do that occasionally !) As others have said, I want to know what makes my motorcycle tick *no pun intended

 

with my '91 softail, i had the dealer do the maintenence at the required intervals and i was glad. i had 14,000 miles on it one month after the one year warranty was up and the base gaskets started leaking very badly. the service manager at motown HD (tom sonderhouse i think) knew that i had had the work done in-house. he got the MOCO to pay for the repairs, not once but twice. at 17,000 it had started to leak again at the base gaskets. they did it with no problem. i have since done all my own work. there are many people that choose not to do their own work either because they dont want to or know they are not capable. this is not an insult, this is just common sense. if you knew that you couldn't do brain surgery, would you do it anyways?

I recently purchased the brain surgery manual and am available for anyone who needs any head work. I am somewhat limited in the tool department but i can save you big dollars. Because I am just breaking into the business, I will work for $100/hour until I establish my practice.

 

We work on our own, Hubby is the main mechanic, I'm just mechanic's helper.