How strict is the first service miles wise?
 

My SV has just hit 500 miles, the nearest garage is around 100 miles away so that takes me up to 600 miles for its first service. However I can't get a service for a few weeks and as the weather is getting better that's rather frustrating. I asked the garage and they said up to around 1000 miles for the service would be fine, I don't ride the bike hard and its run down to the garage will be a relatively gentle run down a dual carriageway. As it's a new bike and one I hope to keep for a while I don't want to cause any issues by delaying the first service a bit however if it's going to be alright then I'd like to get out on the bike!

Any thoughts?
John

Re: How strict is the first service miles wise?
 

I'd do it yourself then!

Re: How strict is the first service miles wise?
 

I had mine done at exactly 841 miles. I'm waiting to see how that pans out, but I wouldn't have thought it would have done anything too bad to it!

My garage also said that it didn't have to be bang on 500...but they probably told me this because they couldn't service it for two weeks as one of the technicians was on holiday or something, so who knows!

Re: How strict is the first service miles wise?
 

Doing it yourself will invalidate your warranty. As its a new bike with two years warranty I personally wouldn't take the risk. Besides, if I remember correctly the labour charge on the first 600 mile service is free. You'll only be paying for the new filter and oil.

Re: How strict is the first service miles wise?
 

tbh if i were looking at a bike that missed it's service by hundreds of miles it'd give the impression that the owner either didn't care about looking after his machine or was too stupid to look after it properly, and with as many SVs around as there are it's not hard to look elsewhere...

well kept service schedule and receipts shows someone who makes sure his bike is looked after

Re: How strict is the first service miles wise?
 

Doing it yourself will invalidate your warranty. As its a new bike and comes with a 2 year warranty, I personally wouldn't risk it. Besides, the first 600 mile service comes with free labour so you'll only be paying for new oil and filter.

Re: How strict is the first service miles wise?
 

OOps must stop repeating myself!

Re: How strict is the first service miles wise?
 

There's no question about the garage doing it, that's definitely going to be the case. If I'd realised there'd be such a delay in getting the service I'd have booked it earlier but you live and learn.

I can't say I'm too bothered about what other people think by missing the service schedule, as I said I'm planning on keeping the bike for a while and there's hardly any SV's around here so it's not so easy to look elsewhere. What I am more concerned about is whether it's going to affect the bike or not rather than the perception of the bike.

John

Re: How strict is the first service miles wise?
 

Have you seen the oil that comes out of a recently run in bike?

I wouldn't want that flying round the cams any longer than necessary tbh

Oh, and I didn't plan on keeping my SV long either...;)

Re: How strict is the first service miles wise?
 

Don't worry, it'll be fine. Just try and have it done before 1000 miles. It may surprise you to know that some knowledgeable people even go as far as to advise one to use mineral oil for the breaking in period as its supposed to hone down the bores and effectively seal them more effectively than using semi or fully synthetic oil. I'll pass on that one and just advise you to stick with your handbook recommendations, which is to use semi-synthetic oil.