Daily Slideshow: Wrenching Your Own Bike Versus Paying a Shop
A decent set of tools and a service manual can be bought for about the same price of one or two routine services. Not only will you feel a great sense of satisfaction from being self-reliant, but you will also have the ability to maintain and customize your own bike and, as an added benefit, you'll save a ton of money, too.
1. It's just parts
A motorcycle, like anything else, is just a collection of parts that are welded, bolted, plugged or snapped together. Once you realize that, things get a little clearer. With the proper tools, a good service manual, and the self-confidence to do it, you can be wrenching on your own bike and save yourself a lot of money. Another added benefit of doing your own work is the benefit of being able to fix your bike on the side of the road if necessary. Being your own wrench also brings with it the respect and admiration from other bikers, being more desirable to the opposite sex, the confidence to customize your bike or even build that custom scooter you've always dreamed about.
2. Shop pricing
First, let's take a look at some basic services and what they will cost you at the local shop. Now, this isn't intended to bash the MoCo or its dealers, they are good at what they do and all of their services are backed up by 115 years of operation. Harley-Davidson has a network of over 850 dealers, just here in the United States alone. With numbers like that, you should be within an hour drive of a dealer, practically anywhere you might be. If you are the kind of rider that loves doling out money for things that you can accomplish yourself, then this article may not be for you. But, if you are inclined to save a few bucks and do it yourself, keep reading.
As you can see from this picture, pricing for services ranges from over $100 for an oil change to over $300 for a scheduled service. All of these services are detailed in your owner's manual and, with the use of an officially authorized service manual, the procedures to complete them are as simple as following basic instructions.
3. You'll need some basics
The official Harley-Davidson Service manual is an absolute must-have. If you don't have one of these, you should. Even if you have no plans, or desires, to perform any of your own maintenance or repairs to your bike, you should still have this book. Understanding how your bike works is an absolutely essential part of riding the thing. These used to run between $55-$65, but Harley-Davidson just increased the pricing (after decades at that price, it was time) to $129.
Now, before you start scoffing about the $130 price tag...let's do some math. Let's say you ride a Sportster and you average around 5,000 miles a year. You will need to have two scheduled maintenances performed for a minimum combined cost of around $640. Take $130 out of that for the book, and approximately $100 for the oil and filters and that still saved you over $400. But, I know what you're thinking, "that book doesn't come with the tools!" That's true enough, but we're not done yet.
4. Good quality hand tools
While this isn't a plug for any particular brand, I like Craftsman tools. Mainly because they are, relatively, inexpensive and they are of good quality. Pair that with the fact that they can be purchased in "kits", like this mechanic's kit, and you have just what you need to do most basic repairs. Now, just because this is a "mechanic's tool set", the tools in it can obviously be used for any other project, it's just that for the mechanics kit, the folks over at Craftsman put together the most common tools used by mechanics.
You can usually catch a deal on a, relatively large, set like this for anywhere between $150-$250. We saved over $400, right? Let's take off the higher of the price range ($250) for the tools...that still leaves you with over $150. Still not bad...especially when you consider that you would be spending that $640 every year, but by doing it yourself, you're only going to be making an initial, one time, investment on the tools and equipment. Speaking of equipment...you are going to want to pick up at least one more thing.
5. A good jack
Again, I'm not trying to sell you on any particular brand, here...I'm just using the Craftsman as an example. A good motorcycle jack will cost you around $80-$90. You can get them fancier or even cheaper depending on what brand or where you get it, but whatever you decide on, make sure you get one that is good quality- don't skimp on this one. Your motorcycle weighs anywhere from 500 lbs on up to 900 or more...you don't want to get a cheap jack and end up underneath a thousand pounds of dead weight. Now one other option, if you have space in your garage or shop, is a motorcycle lift table. These can be really useful if you have a big project, but for the beginner wrench, let's keep it simple.
So, you had about $150 left over, so now you have a little better than $50...and a shop, garage or shed full of gear that you can use to do your own work. Not bad, right?
6. Now put those tools to use
The service manual will take you, step-by-step, through every procedure that you want to do to your bike. It has illustrations, tool recommendations (including H-D part numbers if there is a need for a specialty tool) and torque specifications. And don't worry...if you're the person that can take something apart but has trouble remembering how it goes back together, the manual tells you, step-by-step, how to do that too. The service manual that you buy from the parts counter at your local dealer, is the same book that the technicians back in the shop use.
Even though Harley-Davidson wants to charge you hard on their labor rates, they are one of the very few manufacturers that will readily sell you the same manual and tools that their certified techs use so that you can perform the work yourself. That, in my opinion, is pretty damn cool of them. Here, you can see that a Sportster project is underway. This bike was in pretty rough shape, but with the use of all of the things mentioned in this article, it didn't stay that way.
7. You can do it
As you can see here, that little Sportster is back together and looking better than ever. Now, that's not to say it's done because, after all, is a project ever really done? The only things needed to turn this little Sporty into a cool, good looking little boulevard bruiser from it's former crusty, corroded, barely running beater state, was the desire to do it, the confidence to turn a wrench and the ability to read a book. If this bike had been taken to the dealership to do this project, the final price would have probably been more than the bike was worth.
There are plenty of reasons why you should take your bike to the dealer...but none of them are to save money, gain invaluable knowledge of your machine or increase your riding confidence.
Take a look at your bike, your budget, and your garage. Chances are, you already have most of the things you need to wrench on your own bike stuffed in there under the lawn furniture, kids bikes, and inflatable pool toys. If you do nothing more than performing a couple of oil changes a year, you'll be ahead of the game. Once you get started though, chances are good that you might start perusing the classified ads for a little project bike for yourself.
For help with your maintenance and repair projects, please visit our how-to section in the forum.
