Servicing

Bought my SV about a month ago, when it had done 950 miles. It a late 2004 bike.

Its only had one service at 400 miles, which was at the end of 2005.

Because the bike hasn't been used I'm not worried that its not had a service done for 2.5 years, but obviously it needs at least an oil change?

I'm going to be putting more miles on it now, so will get in sync with the regular service intervals, but what do you think I should do now?

I'm happy to change the oil myself, but should I consider getting a dealer to do it for the service record?

How much do oil changes cost at the dealer? How much do full services cost?

What oil and filter should I use?

Hi mate...

You are right, oil and filter change at least.

Because of the age, I think the book says coolant change, brake fluid change, as well as the usual checks and adjustments....

Why not try it yourself - for the money that dealers will charge, you can get all the parts, some tools and a haynes manual and still have some left over....

Depends if you really want that dealer stamp.... I dont think it will make much difference in value to a 2004 bike to be honest...

If you are stuck, give me a call, dont mind giving you a hand for the basics, am in Looe, Cornwall.

BB.

[yorkie_chris]

I'd strip the suspension and brakes too.

Thanks BB. Im alright with this kind of stuff so should be ok!

A decent Semi synthetic 10 40?

As for brakes and suspension, surely they'd only need stripping due to wear or corrosion? Bare in mind it had never got wet before I bought it.

Yep a decent 10-40 should be fine - there has been some talk on the forum about which type of oils to use if I recall, better do a search, but I always use bike specific oil...

Chris is right, the brakes and suspension could do with some attention Id imagine, even if its never been out in the wet - you will still probably find crud on the caliper pistons, and it can only help to give them a good clean out...


I think that theSV manual also recommends replacement of the brake lines at 4 years - best checknig though, and it depends on the condition of the existing ones...

You can download the SV workshop manual from the forum I think - have you got it? It gives all of Suzukis recommended works, dependant upon the age and mileage...

BB.

[Red Herring]

Personally I'd do the oil and filter and ride it a bit. See how the brakes feel, if they are still sharp then leave them alone. The pipes will be fine unless the bikes been left outside for all this time, but from what you are saying that doesn't sound the case.
Again with the suspension, if it is moving freely without any squeaks or rattles then don't worry to much. Provided there is some good antifreeze in the coolant that will still be OK, but check the levels and it might be worth a change before next winter.
Rather than try and do all these things at once as part of a major service "according to the milage" I tend to just keep an eye on things and do them as necessary. It's not a bad idea to pull the rear suspension apart every couple of years and grease up the bearings, just like changing the brake fluid every so often is good preventative care. Brake maintenance tends to vary with use, (bit obvious that) clearly track bikes will go through them faster than Sunday morning cruisers, so I tend to change the fluid with every third set of pads.
Might be worth having a good look at the chain as well, if it's been standing that long there might well be a tight spot in it.