16,000 mile service ?

[stevec677]

I have a 2009 FJR with 13,000 miles on it. I purchased it new and have had all the services performed by a local mechanic. Today I stopped into a new (to me) Yamaha dealer near work to try to get a replacement screw for one I lost near my glove box. We got to talking and he asked me about my scheduled services. I told him I had the final drive fluid changed at 600 miles and have had regular oil changes (at 600, then every 3,000). He said that was good, but what about servicing the bike. After a few minutes, he explained that at 16,000 miles I needed a $600.00 service. Included in the service were a bunch of things, but the biggies were: re-packing steering head bearings, repacking swing arm bushings, sync'ing fuel injectors, adjust everything.

What do you think? Is in necessary? Is that a good price? This is from the best Yamaha dealer in the area.

 

[TCMike]

I passed the 16k mark earlier this year. The head mechanic told me that the steering head, and swing arm re-packing were unnecessary, and very costly. He did recommend re-torquing the steering head though.

 

[FJRay]

Sounds like somebody is looking for a payday. It's good to sync the injectors once in awhile but thats an easy one. Look for a tech day going on in your area and you can do it yourself. As far as the steering head bearings, retorque is a good thing once but some never do it. I think Skooter went 200k without doing it and the same with the swing arm bearings. I did mine at around 75k and they were fine. I think what you need is more miles on it.

 

[stevec677]

Thanks, thats what I was looking for. I will have the steering head bearings re-torqued and I will definitely get some more miles. Nothing big planned for the rest of this year before the snow flies, but 2 trips planned for next year. A 5 day trip to West Virginia (approx 1,800 miles) and a 9 day trip to either Auburn, AL or Panama City, FL. My bike has never seen the Gulf of Mexico, so I think it's time.

 

[Ignacio]

I will have the steering head bearings re-torqued and I will definitely get some more miles.

I think you'll find many on this forum either do their own work to begin with....or used to have the work done and now do their own work because of this forum.

I cringed at the price and think of it as one more good reason I'm glad I bought a steering head bearing tool.

 

[Burnspot]

Since purchasing my bike at the beginning of the year, most of the maintenance (mounting new rubber is the one thing I wussed on...though I did pull/install the wheels) has been done by me via information gleaned from these forums and the various tech sites for the FJR (many of the tech sites cover Gen I's, but are useful for Gen II's as well). It's not too tough if you're relatively handy with tools...the FJR is pretty maintenance friendly. My advice would be to save your money and learn about your bike's innards...study the process before taking a wrench to it so you have an understanding on how things are supposed to look and come apart....and how they go back together. Patience is key with many of the tasks associated with the FJR.

 

[Queensland Ken]

This forum has heaps of good info and it pays to get a Bible for the bike.

I never trust bike shops anymore, too many stories.

Do it yourself and you know it's done right.

One thing, make sure your suspension linkages are lubed.

Cheers

 

[RaYzerman19]

Sometimes it's good just to look at the maintenance schedule and decide based on knowledge gained here or your own personal comfort level, do those items. Some to me like lubing swingarm bearings look like they were designed to keep dealers busy, however, there is some merit to doing it at least that once so you know for certain it had a good lubrication to start with. Definitely lube the pivot points as mentioned earlier, I have seen one with some wear at 75k which might have been cured if it had been greased earlier in its life. Still it was not serious.

Same goes for valve adjustments, ya gotta do that first one somewhere to just see where things are, then decide how frequently you really want to do it.

Some things you will likely have to do to keep your warranty in good standing.....

I do my own maintenance, not always to the schedule, but I don't have a warranty to satisfy either. As mentioned before, learn your bikes innards and think about doing some of the easier stuff yourself.

 

[03HiYoSilver]

And if you do have to take it in to the shop, here is my Outline to protect yourself:

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=101026&st=0&p=381276entry381276

It seems to keep everyone on their toes... good ones understand.

 

[mpl173]

Interesting timing on this one. My bike is at the shop for a 16k mile service interval. The mechanic called me to say that whenever they go to repack the steering head bearings and swingarm bushings, it's not needed. He recommended every other 16k mile service interval. This is the 3rd time I've had my bike to this dealership and they seem like fairly decent folks.

As a side note: while perusing the 2010 UK Owners Manual I noticed they recommend the steering head bearing to be serviced at 12k miles and the swingarm bushings at 30k miles. Interestingly, they recommend that you change the oil every 6k miles and the filter every 12k. Has anyone heard of any changes or differences that would prohibit a 2008 US owner from following the 2010 UK Periodic Maintenance Schedule? Thanks folks. Here's the link for the UK bike.

https://www.ymenvom.nl/new/manuals/U1CYE0.PDF

 

[Peter Murray]

I passed the 16k mark earlier this year. The head mechanic told me that the steering head, and swing arm re-packing were unnecessary, and very costly. He did recommend re-torquing the steering head though.

At a minimum the steeringhead bearings should be inspected for lube and torque if not done when new..

The rear suspension bearings come almost DRY from the factory ,, these should have been greased when new.. The front reaction link bearings went to hell on my bike after 20K , they were greased by me at 4 K.