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6000 miles service

2K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  Raff 
#1 ·
Hello everone, I am new here at the boards, I own a Vulcan 800B I am getting close to the 6000 miles services mark, should I take to the dealer and have them do the service or I should I do it myself, I have no trouble servicing my truck so I am thinking that doing the bike shouldn't be no problem. Any advice from the more experince riders?
 
#2 ·
Raff said:
Hello everone, I am new here at the boards, I own a Vulcan 800B I am getting close to the 6000 miles services mark, should I take to the dealer and have them do the service or I should I do it myself, I have no trouble servicing my truck so I am thinking that doing the bike shouldn't be no problem. Any advice from the more experince riders?
First Welcome RAff . Your dealer won't do anything that you can't do your self. They inspect nuts an bolts ,chain ,change the oil.Plus look at anything that you point out or have a question about. The one thing that you might have them do if you want is check the valves. the manual says to have it done at 6000 mi. I had mine done at 7500mis. You could probably do it your self, but if you need a shim then you hope that the dealer has one. I had two exhaust valves that needed adjustment. It shouldn't cost more than about a 100 bucks to do the adjustment so ask ahead. One member on here ,a couple of months ago got a price of $600 to do the adjustment. I told him Run don't walk away from that stealer. After 15,000 mis. thats the only thing that I've paid for maintence wise. An have the new tires mounted. It's your bike get familar with it.
 
#3 ·
Welcome Raff;
I agree with Woodchucks. Get your owners manual and follow the recommended service. Most of that stuff is basic, so if you can do the maintenance on you truck, you can do it on your 800. The valve adjustment, if you're a decent wrench you can do it, but if you feel more comfortable to have the dealer(stealer) do it, get a written quote. Like Woodchucks said, it shouldn't cost more that $100.00
 
#4 ·
Welcome too! I at first was gonna let the dealer do my maintenance but the more I read my shop manuals and get familiar with my bike, the more I am feeling comfortable doing. Since I've done all my own bolt on mods, with the exception of the Jet kit, My fear of working on a bike is diminishing. Sure, I've needed to buy a few tools like the 27mm socket for taking off the tripple tree bolt but I really enjoy doing it myself. Besides, the more money I save on maintenance the more I can spend on CHROME!
 
#5 ·
spok said:
Welcome too! I at first was gonna let the dealer do my maintenance but the more I read my shop manuals and get familiar with my bike, the more I am feeling comfortable doing. Since I've done all my own bolt on mods, with the exception of the Jet kit, My fear of working on a bike is diminishing. Sure, I've needed to buy a few tools like the 27mm socket for taking off the tripple tree bolt but I really enjoy doing it myself. Besides, the more money I save on maintenance the more I can spend on CHROME!
Chrome HE**LL, you got luggage an a backrest to buy now! :grin:
 
#6 ·
Hi and welcome Raff:
I agree with Woodchuck. You could do whatever your dealer is going to do. In fact at least, IF YOU DO IT YOURSELF, you know it was done. Its easy for a dealer, because of his mechanical ability, to LISTEN to the engine and possibly NOT THINK THE VALVES NEED ADJUSTMENT AND NOT DO THEM. Buy the shop manual from Kawasaki. Buy a feeler guage. No matter what have to buy, its gonna be cheaper than paying for the service at the dealer and you will always have the tools in your box.
 
#10 ·
Thanks everyone for make feel like home.

knightrider, the engine sounds normal, I don't think that the valves need to be adjust at this time, last year I bought a set of spark plugs accoriding to the manual I was suppose to replace them, but when I took them out the plugs look just fine it was no need to replace them, I just clean it up and put them back.

Wood chuck800
the manual says to have it done at 6000 mi. I had mine done at 7500mis.
thanks for the info, I was thinking that I should go by the book if the bike is running fine, right now the Vulcan has 5280 miles on it and I don't see the need to adjust the chain the chain looks brand new still.

Thanks everyone for the info, I am still a new into the motorcycle world and I need an advice thanks again.
 
#11 ·
Welcome Raff, I can't tell you anything that these guys haven't said already. I agree that you should do the maintenance yourself. I have an 800 myself and plan to do all the maintenance on it. Hope you enjoy yours and this forum. :grin:
 
#12 ·
BRlawman said:
Welcome Raff, I can't tell you anything that these guys haven't said already. I agree that you should do the maintenance yourself. I have an 800 myself and plan to do all the maintenance on it. Hope you enjoy yours and this forum. :grin:
Thansk BRlawman, I look at it that way too, the more time I spend on my Vulcan the better, I really like this forum better since everybody has a Vulcan people here know what I am talking about, I have another question, when do you get rid off the little white bottle on the button of the frame? :grin:
 
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