Terrific write-up and great photos. The effort to outline this work is to be commended. But in my mind, it makes it an even easier decision for me to have someone perform this work that would NOT be doing it for the first time on an M8 (namely myself). Given the special tools needed, unless you planned on doing this work on other bikes, it seems hardly worth it vs having a professional do the work that has done it many times before.

That being said, there are many things in life I've done for the first time that would have been more "easily" done by a professional but not nearly as satisfying as knowing I did it myself. At least up to the point I found myself making a phone a call from the side of the road!

 

This is exactly why I said earlier I was more than happy to pay the $180 labor it cost me to have this same job done. I could probably do it just fine but for the time and money spent on the tools, $180 seemed like a no brainer to me.

 

deleted

 

Some of us just like doing it, and don't care to justify a damn thing to anybody as to why we spent the money on the tooling, even if we don't touch another M8 as long as we live.

Keep the pics and experiences coming, OP.

 

Just to clarify, I meant no disrespect to the OP and the hard work he put into this post, that's not how I roll! I totally get the satisfaction of wrenching on a bike yourself. Guess my point of saying I gladly paid to have it done was more in line with I'm not confident that I could have done a flawless job myself, zero disrespect to anyone here or the OP for doing this job on your own!

 

And that’s what makes this thread so cool. For the guy that really wants the satisfaction of doing the job themselves, the cost of tools and shop equipment is somewhat irrelevant. And it makes the pics, insights and avoidance of potential trouble spots.... priceless. Good luck to anyone deciding to tackle this job. You’ll ride with some special satisfaction knowing that you did it yourself.

 

Dude, $180 to do all that work is a smokin' no brainer. I paid $500 the first time.

 

Yes sir, I thought the same, outstanding indy, 3 hours @ $60 per, saved me some stress and probably a few less grey hairs! LoL

 

out of curiosity, what do you charge for this job?
great write up btw.

 

Thanks for taking the time. Awesome write-up.