Maintenance and breakdowns.

How many people on here buy bikes and then find they have a problem affording the maintenance or repairing breakdown faults. Even going to the expense of fitting aftermarket cans,mini indicators and small number plates as a few of the add-ons but sacrificing the routine maintenance.
Many of us maintain our bikes ourselves,because we have the knowledge,like fiddling and want to know that it has been properly done.
We are even willing to impart that know how to others who wish to learn and do their own basic servicing
On a bike the simplest thing when riding can be a hazard,so having a machine that is 100% sound is utmost on my priority

Reason for the question and comments being the recent tyre,brake and Mot threads and what appears to be the condition of some of the bikes that are being ridden in every day use.

Parts do wear out and break,needing replacement but surely this is part of the operating cost of owning a bike,not just the purchase costs, insurance and fuel.

[Mr Speirs]

Nope, I bought my bike )and my car) fully aware that my arm and my leg are going to be sacrificed in order to keep them in tip top condition...maybe I should stop buying Italian?????? Haha just kidding.

[dizzyblonde]

my bikes are blingy.
But I do not skimp on maintenance, in fact I am very very nitty picky about it. Even the slightest issue to me is investigated, or I throw a strop!

Bikes aren't just for buying, and then thinking you can leave them alone, it is a very expensive hobby. I've spent a fortune between both of them. Some people really slate me for hom much money has been thrown at them, but I prefer my bikes to look good, work well, and not to be held together with gaffa tape thinking its a quirky gimic to talk about.

[G]

Maintenance always comes first for me. Otherwise I sit and wonder... oooo what happens when I am having a blast and the chain snaps... or having a blast and the engine goes.

The result in most cases would be pain.

My front brakes worry me at the moment, maybe I'm just not used to them as its been a while but they seem to be to good, loads of power that I'm not used to and I am braking way to early.

Possibly due to loosing the front end under braking is now making me psychological worried about using the front brakes to hard.

[yorkie_chris]

Suspension, brakes, chain, engine. Rest will be right.

If I had time to fettle everything to perfection I would, but generally I've got better things to do.

I try and get every issue sorted as soon as possible, but this dosn't always mean straight away...it depends. Binding brakes get done pretty quick, a dry, dirty, corroding chain will be attended to instantly (wouldnt want one snapping on me!), oil changes are completed within a time "window" (actualyl, a milage "window") and other things are done as part of yearly maintinance

Every time I clean my bike (every couple of weeks) I have a good look around and see if there are any issues developing (corrosion, leaks, loose parts) and either sort them myself or find someone who can

Purchasing a motorcycle is, IMO, the cheap part (depending on how many miles you use it for!). In a popular and sensationalist weekly motorcycling publication, they once worked out the cost of a CBR600 if you brought it all as spare parts...

...something in excess of £25,000

[Bri w]

Used to do it all myself but in recent times I leave it to the garage for full on maint - I definitely don't have the time. I give it a good check once a week-ish - tyres, brakes, chain. I also find that by me cleaning it/polishing it regularly I get to see/check lots of stuff.

i find the maintinace costs arnt that bad but i do most things my self, tires can hurt the bank but fuel does more

the costly part of bike's is if you fall of the bloody things

Use of any vehicle is expensive. More so (generally) for us younglings because of insurance, road tax, petrol plus your general maintenace/repairs.

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by Bri w

Used to do it all myself but in recent times I leave it to the garage for full on maint - I definitely don't have the time. I give it a good check once a week-ish - tyres, brakes, chain. I also find that by me cleaning it/polishing it regularly I get to see/check lots of stuff.

You got time to clean it but not to maintain it?