Went to the stealer today...

[biguglyman]

...because he's nearby and will do drive-in inspections.  He noticed my rear brake pads were hosed and quoted me a price of @60 bucks installed for the new pads.  Since he could do it today and the price seemed ok I told him to do it.  When I returned to pick up the Valk, he told me he mis-quoted the price and it should have been like $60 MORE because on Valks you gotta "drop the exhaust and rear wheel to do it".  Never having done this myself I'm just curious.  Is he correct?  He stood by his original quote so I got a $100+ brake job done for $62 (which included the inspection) according to him.  Standard with leather bags and cobra 6x6 exhaust.  I also noticed a very slight exhaust leak.  I'm thinking he didn't replace the gaskets.  I'm inclined to let him slide on that if the brake job was as he described.  Opinions?

[MP]

Neither is true.

[X Ring]

Nope.  He was wrong.  All you have to do is remove the pad pin plug then the plug and the pads slide out.  No more than an hour's worth of work and that's stopping for a couple of beers to relax.  

Go to http://valkyrienorway.com/download.html and download the scanned version of the service manual.  Go to pages 334 and 335.  Print it out and go back to the dealership and demand they correct their screwup.

Marty

[Chrisj CMA]

I will say it again........the best way to learn how to work on your bike is to take it to the dealer first.  Once they mess something up and you have to fix it you will never take it back there again.  

Absolutely wrong, (reality speaking) his book may say to drop the exhaust and remove the wheel, but its not needed at all.  easier with the wheel off sure, but I have changed rear brakes without taking the wheel off before.

Now Id be worried that the mechanic he had do the work didnt put the rear end together correctly.  In fact if it were my bike I wouldnt even ride it until I took the rear wheel off again and checked it all out and put it back on right.

The one time I had to have a dealer do my rear wheel, I indeed did take it off to check and it had no grease added and he didnt loosen the four bolts on the final drive.  The axle was torqued to well past 150 instead of 81 and so was every other fastener like shocks and the pin to the caliper plate.  I had to buy all new fasteners because they were deformed after I finally got them off and the left wheel bearing was bad (not sure if he caused that, but I do blame the overtorque)

[fudgie]

Well you gotta take the caliper off to drop the rear wheel so why couldnt they put pads on it then instead of removing the whole wheel? 

[fast black]

Chrisj , I went through two left rear wheel bearings in 45,000 miles, before I used less torque on axle nut.  I have 55,000 on the bearing now with no problems.

[GreenLantern57]

Must have done mine wrong. I pulled the saddlebag, unbolted the caliper, took the top off the master cylinder. Squeezed the pucks back into the caliper, put her all back together, and pumped the brake back to normal. New fluid in the brakes the last time so, it looked good. Even taking off the chrome cover and master cylinder cover, the whole thing was only 2 hours and 1 beer.  Of course that included cleaning a bit too!  Not my first time either.

[Robert]

My experience with the dealer has been the same as everyone elses ,bad. I have Jardine exhaust and hard bags on mine and if I want to change the pads I pull the caliper bolt loosen the axle and swing the caliper around to the back of the rotor. Takes all of 20 minutes start to finish.
  If the axle being loose is the thing that is making the bearing last longer then something is wrong. There is no stress on the bearings from the axle bolt when things are done right. All the stress is transmitted through the inner bearing carrier and the spacers not the bearings.

[valkyriemc]

Must have done mine wrong. I pulled the saddlebag, unbolted the caliper, took the top off the master cylinder. Squeezed the pucks back into the caliper, put her all back together, and pumped the brake back to normal. New fluid in the brakes the last time so, it looked good. Even taking off the chrome cover and master cylinder cover, the whole thing was only 2 hours and 1 beer.  Of course that included cleaning a bit too!  Not my first time either.

Just did mine Saturday, same as above. Then flushed the master cyl and line.

[biguglyman]

I wonder if they just do it the "easy" way but charge by their book for the "hard" way.  Wouldn't surprise me...

[Ricky-D]

Chrisj , I went through two left rear wheel bearings in 45,000 miles, before I used less torque on axle nut.  I have 55,000 on the bearing now with no problems.

Blaming your bearing problems on too tight an axle is misdirected and obscuring the true cause of the bearing failure which is most likely poor bearing replacement practice.

Good that you finally got it right however.

***

[Dougs2000IS]

I wonder if they just do it the "easy" way but charge by their book for the "hard" way.  Wouldn't surprise me...

I know for a fact that car STEALERS do that. And one would think that a cycle STEALER would do the same. My first step to a valk was a 88 goldwing. I took it in to get a rear tire put on. I laugh now because it took them 3.5 hours. I can have my back tire off take someplace and have a new tire put on, then go home re-assemble everything, OH and GREASE everything and have ready  to go in under 3.5 hours. Thanks to all the VRCC members for there wisdom.

[old2soon]

I will go to the stealer for their service-when someone stands on my neck and holds a gun to my head!! Took me WAY too long to get my alt installed but be that as it may i DID NOT leave any $65.00 an hour fees on their counter. This very board of ours is the very reason i'm not above tackling my own maintenance. And up to this point in time any job i started i've been able to finish-with the help of this board. RIDE SAFE.

[biguglyman]

I AM determined to do most of my own repairs and maintenance.  This was a "perfect storm" of needing the inspection done by 4/30 and them having the pads and the time to do it that day.  If they had quoted me the expensive price I probably would have taken it home and done it myself.

[olddog1946]

There really isn't any routine maintenance that can't be done by most anyone with some common sense and the ability to read. Save that ridiculous labor fee for BLING and go juice.

[Ricky-D]

Defaming the dealers is wrongheaded and doesn't recognize, nor give credit to all the good dealers and people that make up the complete dealer network.

I guess you also call the dealers that help keep this forum alive STEALERS too!

Impugning the reputation of others is absolutely wrong.

***

[Gryphon Rider]

I guess you also call the dealers that help keep this forum alive STEALERS too!

I didn't know any Honda dealers currently contribute financially to the VRCC.

[Chrisj CMA]

Defaming the dealers is wrongheaded and doesn't recognize, nor give credit to all the good dealers and people that make up the complete dealer network.

I guess you also call the dealers that help keep this forum alive STEALERS too!

Impugning the reputation of others is absolutely wrong.

***

Ya, maybe saying dealers in general are bad is defaming or impugning in an over general way, but from experience many deserve the impugning (at least when it  is in reference to work on Valkyries), but you dont seem to mind calling VRCC members stupid for doing things on their bikes differently than you would.  Perspective is everything

[jmann]

+1 on Chrisj's comment. 

[John U.]

I don't mean to add fuel to this fire, and I certainly don't want to disrespect any dealers undeserving of disrespect, but having read and heard reports of (SOME) dealers using and selling non-OEM brake pads, I would be checking to be sure of what they installed.
Having to buy a replacement rotor prematurely due to aftermarket brake pads would sure dampen the warm feeling of getting a good deal on those new brake pads.

[JC]

Ok, I am just as guilty, and calling them stealers might be a bit harsh, but the kids (young men) behind the counter at my local Honda dealership didn't have any idea what a Valkyrie was (that's a clue!). That in itself is enough to make me turn and run away as fast as I can from their service department.

It took me a while before I felt comfortable doing much work on the girl, and I am certain that the reason my drive flange is so worn is due to letting the dealer change the rear tire for me, instead of doing it myself. When I did finally get the bike lift and courage enough to try it myself, I kicked my own @$$ for not doing it sooner. I found a poorly maintained and somewhat worn rear-end, and realized that doing the work was much easier that I had expected. Since I have done my own maintenance I have seen no further wear on the splines.

To my dealer's credit, they have loaned me special tools on more than one occasion (not common), and will do their best to match the HDL prices, so they continue to be a valuable resource for me, and I continue to give them my business when it makes sense. I just don't let them work on my bike anymore.