I nearly died tonight

[Geodude]

Originally Posted by Mrs Blue Pete

For what it's worth, I'm just glad he had the sense to stop. That way he came home safely, shaking or not. It could have been a far worse post that I make tonight. People make mistakes and things can go wrong, and it's easy to say until it happens to you personally. Once it's personal, it's a big deal.

Well said mrs bp, glad it turned out well.

well when it comes to your own bike,then theres only one answer to haveing a safe bike,do all the work your self,i don't pay some one else £50 an hour to do something on my bike when i can do it myself,and i havent paid for work on a bike for 30 years and about 100,000 miles apart from putting tyres on loose wheels.and lets face it, it aint exactly rocket science to service almost any bike or car for that matter,and a oil and filter change on my blade costs me less then £40 and 30 minutes and i normally source my parts cheaper than the bike shop charge ,eg castrol gpx i can get it about £10 cheaper than the local bike shop

[tonyk]

Originally Posted by suzukigt380paul

well when it comes to your own bike,then theres only one answer to haveing a safe bike,do all the work your self,i don't pay some one else £50 an hour to do something on my bike when i can do it myself,

Great for you, but people like me who have no idea and quite frankly would not mind paying someone to do my servicing for me, expects and hopefully think the mechanic would do the job correctly. That’s why when i find a good mechanic, I keep him, just like a good plumber.
Oh did I mention spanner man ?.

http://stewarts-motorcycles.co.uk/default.html

I do my own work, but even I am not arrogant enough to think that I know more than a good mechanic. There's the hard part - finding a good mechanic. Fortunately I have found one who rides the same bike, is fastidious about his own bike, has a good ear for it, and works on these bikes in his job so I am happy to send mine his way a couple of times a year, even if it is just for an assessment.

Also, there are far too many things for the average nob to stuff up... and there is a lot more to maintenance than just changing the oil and filter.

yer: adjusting the chain or replaceing chain and sprockets,adjusting cables,tyre pressure,changeing plugs,changeing bulbs, adjusting tappets,greeseing swinging arm and linkage,brake pads,fork oil and seals,air filters,like i said a half wit can do most of these,(or a 17 year old at your local bike shop)changeing the valve shims on my blade or vfr might get done by a garage but lets face it once these have been checked once they most likely wont need looking at for 20 or 30,000 miles.so for the vast majority of bikers that about 10 year rideing.my bandit 6 has got over 50,000 miles on the clock and they have only been looked at once,and the engine is as good as the day it rolled out of the showroom,unlike bikes from the 70s and 80s(single cam honda's) which you adjusted every time you serviced it,

[yorkie_chris]

I could rebuild an SV if you literally gave it to me in single component form. I know more about them than a lot of professional mechanics because I've done more on them than most. How much that applies to other bikes who knows, but no way would I be paying anyone else to do an easy job like that for me. Even if my time was worth more than that, the peace of mind is worth it.

Not knocking mechanics in general... but as you say paul, the average bike is ridden about 3 times a year, like a fanny, on sunny days. Most mechanics do not do all the little detail touches that save you a bloody fortune and a lot of skin on your knuckles if you were to do something as crazy as actually riding the bike! (and expecting to do that for more than 1 winter!)


But this argument is pointless when the bike belongs to the police force not you...