Why do it yourself unless you are not happy with WOT all the time...

 

I've noticed that many Sportster owners tend to customize their bikes and a lot of that work they do themselves. Of all my friends who own touring bike some will add store bought accessories but nothing else. Most have the dealer do all the work, some will use another bike shop

I do most of my maintenance because I ride so much that I could not afford to pay a dealer or bike shop to do it. I have bike shop that over the years I have developed a great relationship with. They do my tires, state inspections, and anything that I simply don't want to do. For example, my 96 Heritage had a bad base gasket and rocker gasket leak and after putting it off for months I simply dropped it off and a few days later it was done. Also, I do a lot of long distance riding and participate in rallies (scavenger hunts) that last from 8 hrs to 11 days (Iron Butt Rally). I cannot afford to have something go wrong on these rides. From doing this work I can do almost anything I need to on my 2006 Sportster. During the 2017 Iron Butt Rally I replaced my stator and regulator in a friend's garage over the 4th of July and lost one day. Had I had to have a dealer do the work I may have been out of the rally since no one had both parts in stock and it's not likely they would have installed the regulator out of my friend's bike.

I am considering the purchase of a new Heritage or Sport Glide next year. If I do, I will likely have the scheduled services done at the dealer because I simply cannot save paperwork no matter how hard I try and don't want to be in a position of having to come up with some documentation to show scheduled maintenance was done to have a warranty claim covered.

 

I've been working on cars, trucks and tractors since I was probably 7 years old or so, started out being a "flashlight holder" for my dad. Eventually the lead mine he worked at went under so things got a little tight money wise. My first cars all came from the local junk yard and usually required me spending a lot of time working on them. While I had rode friend's dirtbikes and motorcycles here and there, I didn't get my first motorcycle till I was 23 and it was an 18 year old Honda dirtbike. I worked on that one a little, though I didn't have any motorcycle specific knowledge. Got my 17 year old Virago that I did a little work on, nothing major. Now that I'm a little older, and make a little more money, my time is more precious to me. Time is the only resource we have that is constantly deteriorating. I still do some of the wrenching on my bike, but I take it in and let somebody else do it from time to time, depends on my schedule and how hot it is outside. (I don't have a garage). As far as cars go, I've only taken things into the shop twice in my life. The first, I had to have a junkyard transaxle for a Ford Probe given the once over as that was beyond my expertise, but I still did the swap myself ..... and like an idiot didn't replace the clutch while I had it torn apart on a 100,000 mile plus car so I got to pulll the damn thing a couple months later and put in new clutch plates. That was when I was in the Navy and we had a base mechanic shop with all kinds of tools to use. The only other time I paid somebody to do mechanical repair work on a car of mine was probably about 7 years or so ago when I broke a coil spring on my old '97 Mustang GT. At first I was just going to rent/borrow the tools to fix it but when I went to order the parts the shop gave me a quote for the labor to do it that easily seemed worth my time so I probably dropped the car off and then went out and rode my Sportster while they worked on it.

I just lost the clutch on my Wide Glide this past Sunday, but I'm going through a merger at work and a lot of my time is taken up by that right now so its getting repaired at the dealer.

 

Easy solution for your bookkeeping. Just scan your receipts & store them on your computer or cloud file.

 

Easier said than done for me. One must remember to scan them in Some end up on my desk, some are left in my car, some are left in my pocket and get washed ...

 

I've only recently begin DIY'ing in recent years. I think it started with a rental property and owning a 2005 Dodge Magnum RT. The more success I had, the more emboldened I was to do more. Now, I have ESP and I'm terrified to look at my 103 funny without voiding the warranty. At least I can refurb the free Harbor Freight jack stand a friend bought me.

If you get bored, check out the Jennie's Garage channel on YouTube. That guy will tackle any project and he's fun as hell to watch.

 

Wrenching? Why not? One thing HD does better than any other motorcycle manufacturer (IMO) is Factory Service Manuals. In hardcopy no less. With electrical gatefolds. In color!



Every nut and bolt has a torque callout right in line with the instructions rather than in the back somewhere. Given car manufacturers move toward online PDFs available only for a (substantial) subscription fee, HD's manuals are a godsend.

 

"Hello, Mr. Dealership Owner."
"I'm applying for a "service tech" position within your dealership."
"No vocational schooling. Everything I learned by watching youtube..."

Yeah, that conversation will likely end abruptly.

However, I have heard of people using youtube's "How To" videos to help guide them during their own services/operations. This, I like. Own use? Yes.

 

And the factory knows all that. They also know that that's what will net them another few thousand dollars more out of each customer that buys a new bike. And in the end if something major does happen they will still fight you tooth and nail to try and have it not covered under the warranty. They will tie you up with inspection after inspection and review after review. Probably fly in a specialist from the factory to look at your motor or whatever is the source of the problem who will then not be able to identify the root cause and the item will have to be shipped back to the factory for the post mortem which will lead to...- on an on ad nauseum.

 

Fortunately if it comes to a major issue I am friends with the GM at my dealership so I'd have help getting it resolved