Rear Shocks

[DIGGER]

Took my Valkyrie in to dealer for new rear tire.........here the mechanic comes.......holding one of my rear shocks.....gromets/bushings in all bolt holes are waller ed out and almost gone...... I says........fix it.......he says I'll have to look up cost to fix it"......I says "don't matter...fix it"........

It's always something.....still cheaper to fix it than to have a monthly payment on a new bike that would be inferior to what I have.

[Chrisj CMA]

I cringe every time I hear those words. “Took my Valkyrie to the dealer”. I have worked on several Valkyrie’s that the last mechanic was a certified dealer and the list of things that were done wrong isn't short.

Dealers don’t know Valkyrie’s and I don’t trust them. You’ll pay too much and chances are your bike won’t be right. 

[Bighead]

Yep I would bring that bike home and get some progressive shocks.  And doit myself and for 1/3 the cost of what the stealer is going to charge.

[98valk]

compare the stealers price to redeye.

https://redeye.ecrater.com/p/18385698/rear-shock-bushing-kit-ver-2

[old2soon]

       I go to dlr fer Parts. I have a H/F lift and home made jack adapter. And a Full Set of Metric wrenches sockets and allen heads. And a Honda Valkyrie Factory manual. Sides when I twist her tail and take her past the ton It's My keester in the saddle. I REFUSE to trust a dlr with My Phatt Ghurl. RIDE SAFE.

[cookiedough]

this is not only with cycles, but vehicles as well.  Took my Hyundai in for a recall at local Hyundai dealer after 70K trouble free miles,  what that knock sensor installed was to do was to detect and prevent engine knock/shudder/vibration damage by going into limp mode.  Well,  I got it back and noticed it ASAP stepping on gas was more sluggish cutting power for a split second.  2 weeks later it went into limp mode badly cutting power stepping on gas not able to go over 55 mph and taking forever to get up to speed and cutting out power between 25-35 mph like stalling engine, was horrible cars bumper to bumper traffic behind me having to pass me nearly rear ending me.   Limped it back into Hyundai dealer ASAP and told them to fix what the screwed up.

Plus,  free oil change due to recall to took it.  NEVER again.  Not only did they leave 4-5 drips of oil on plastic cover of engine, but they also forgot to install the plastic snap in cover over the oil drain pan.  Brought that up to them next morning wasting even more time, and walla,  the cover the mechanic was laying back there yet he knew it was there yet did NOT contact me thinking a customer would never check their work or lack thereof.   A simple oil change and installing a knock sensor for a national recall both screwed up.  NEVER AGAIN.

[Chrisj CMA]

A specific problem with our bikes at a Honda certified dealer is the rear end. At the dealer near me there is only one “real” mechanic. They charge over $100/hr because of him but menial tasks like tire changes they let a lackey do. They still charge the big bucks because the “real” mechanic is supposedly supervising (ya right). So the lackey has no clue about how to grease and align the rear end so he just gets it back together and you pay through the nose only to have early spline failure.

The one time I had to have a dealer change the rear wheel, I took it apart as soon as I got home to grease and property aligned everything. I would do the same if I were you.

[hubcapsc]

There's two Mini Cooper dealers in South Carolina. My 2005 R53
with 200,000 miles on it has had all service done at one of
the two dealers... except for a couple of times when I had
emergency work done at incompetent mom-and-pop places
which had to be redone at the dealer.

For the last four or five years this fellow named Carlos at the
Greenville Mini dealer has been "my mechanic"... he's done
a bunch of that gnarly stuff you might have to do after a
couple of hundred thousand miles... new clutch... new
suspension... I smile every time I get in my car, it doesn't
look new anymore, but it drives like a new one...

I take my motorcycle wheels over to the local Suzuki dealer
now when I get new tires. I buy my tires from them too. I
like it there, he makes a little money on my business and
I get to watch the old tire pop off and the new tire go on
in seconds as if by magic  ...



If you have to take your stuff to be worked on, take it to a
good mechanic somewhere... you might find him at the dealer...

-Mike

[DIGGER]

There's two Mini Cooper dealers in South Carolina. My 2005 R53
with 200,000 miles on it has had all service done at one of
the two dealers... except for a couple of times when I had
emergency work done at incompetent mom-and-pop places
which had to be redone at the dealer.

For the last four or five years this fellow named Carlos at the
Greenville Mini dealer has been "my mechanic"... he's done
a bunch of that gnarly stuff you might have to do after a
couple of hundred thousand miles... new clutch... new
suspension... I smile every time I get in my car, it doesn't
look new anymore, but it drives like a new one...

I take my motorcycle wheels over to the local Suzuki dealer
now when I get new tires. I buy my tires from them too. I
like it there, he makes a little money on my business and
I get to watch the old tire pop off and the new tire go on
in seconds as if by magic  ...



If you have to take your stuff to be worked on, take it to a
good mechanic somewhere... you might find him at the dealer...

-Mike

I pretty much trust my dealer, Honda of Houston,  they have done satisfactory work on my Valkyrie so far.    Been using them for about last 5 yrs since the dealer where I bought my Valkyrie, Wild West Honda, refused to service my Valkyrie after It was 10 yrs old.      Wild West Honda doesn't work on motorcycles after they are 10 yrs old.....even if you bought it there new.....I will never spend another dime there.     My dealer I use now will call you if they see a potential upcoming problem while doing work on your bike.    They seem very knowledgeable and treat you very courtesly and their prices are in line with the work being done.

[Valker]

A specific problem with our bikes at a Honda certified dealer is the rear end. At the dealer near me there is only one “real” mechanic. They charge over $100/hr because of him but menial tasks like tire changes they let a lackey do. They still charge the big bucks because the “real” mechanic is supposedly supervising (ya right). So the lackey has no clue about how to grease and align the rear end so he just gets it back together and you pay through the nose only to have early spline failure.

The one time I had to have a dealer change the rear wheel, I took it apart as soon as I got home to grease and property aligned everything. I would do the same if I were you.

I agree with your post. Only final drive I've had go out was after a dealer changed the rear tire. Followup questions showed that the final drive wasn't even loosened during the process.
BUT, I'm not sure you understand how shop technicians (certified mechanics) pay works. Shops charge "Shop rate" which is usually around $100/hr. Of that amount the mechanic usually gets $25-$30/hour. The rest pays to the shop. That is just the way a business works. The shop has lots of expenses they have to pay for.

[mello dude]

I cringe every time I hear those words. “Took my Valkyrie to the dealer”.

Dealers don’t know Valkyrie’s and ----------- I don’t trust them.

I don't trust any dealer on any bike of mine ever to tighten a license plate bolt.

---> Been a moto geek wrench'n foole for decades...