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[Twolanerider]

2014 and later do NOT have a grease zerk for the steering head.  I believe the service interval for the steering head bearings is 25,000 miles, and it requires removing the forks and bearings.

Jerry

Which we know that everyone is going to do.

I am still very surprised no one in the aftermarket has come up with a sealed bearing retro kit.  Lose the races and new sealed bearings?  Maybe so few actually think about the parts they never see there's just not a market.... ?

[bad00serg]

It's definitely hard to know what to follow in the manual and what not to.  I certainly do not believe that taking your bike to the dealer for such a service means they are going to do everything in the manual - no way.

My sons race Kawasaki KX65s, and if I were to follow the manual on those the things would be apart more than they are ever ridden, and my parts bills would be double the cost of the bike annually.  Forget actually having the dealer do it, the bikes would be there every week!

[fastfreddy]

for me i think its along the line of SET UP fee they charge when you buy new... its all BS, change the oils and ride on. they (dealer) aint going to do you a solid and make something better by charging you 500 bucks....hell they cant even fix sh!p when it is broke    i feel better now

[ultrafxr]

for me i think its along the line of SET UP fee they charge when you buy new... its all BS, change the oils and ride on. they (dealer) aint going to do you a solid and make something better by charging you 500 bucks....hell they cant even fix sh!p when it is broke    i feel better now

I totally agree.  I just pulled the service manual and reviewed the 10k service checklist.  Other than fluid change nothing but check this and check that.  No doubt they do need to be checked but I am attentive to my motorcycle and check this chit all the time not just at 5k and 10k intervals. 

[grc]

I totally agree.  I just pulled the service manual and reviewed the 10k service checklist.  Other than fluid change nothing but check this and check that.  No doubt they do need to be checked but I am attentive to my motorcycle and check this chit all the time not just at 5k and 10k intervals.

       Perhaps back in the 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, and 60's it was necessary to constantly check things like fastener security, but any vehicle built in this century that has fasteners that come loose during normal operation is a poorly designed and assembled POS.  By keeping all those bogus checks on the checklists, I guess Harley is admitting their quality is not up to present day standards.  Of course most of us already knew that.  The real reason for those checklists is to make the service intervals seem more important, more involved, and therefore something the owner should always have those factory trained ( ) technicians at your local dealership perform, for your own safety.

Here's the one I really love.  The factory is paid to bolt everything together properly, since we aren't buying a kit but rather a fully assembled product.  Then they send it to a dealer who is supposed to install the few pieces that get shipped loose and then do an inspection checklist of fastener security and vehicle operational items.  Then the customer is supposed to return the bike at 1000 miles, which for some is just a few days, and pay that same dealer to go back over the exact same items he was paid by Harley to check during setup and prep.  All I can say is, if anyone finds loose critical fasteners after all of that, many someone's at Harley and the dealership need to be fired for incompetence or fraud.

As Jerry (ultrafxr) said in his post, much of the "filler" in those checklists are simple basic things we should be checking before every ride, such as the operation of all lights and controls.  It makes no sense to pay a dealership $500 to turn on the ignition and cycle all the lights and controls.  What would that equate to, about $30,000 per hour?  Pretty good labor rate (for the dealer).

Jerry

[ultrafxr]

      Perhaps back in the 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, and 60's it was necessary to constantly check things like fastener security, but any vehicle built in this century that has fasteners that come loose during normal operation is a poorly designed and assembled POS.  By keeping all those bogus checks on the checklists, I guess Harley is admitting their quality is not up to present day standards.  Of course most of us already knew that.  The real reason for those checklists is to make the service intervals seem more important, more involved, and therefore something the owner should always have those factory trained ( ) technicians at your local dealership perform, for your own safety.

Here's the one I really love.  The factory is paid to bolt everything together properly, since we aren't buying a kit but rather a fully assembled product.  Then they send it to a dealer who is supposed to install the few pieces that get shipped loose and then do an inspection checklist of fastener security and vehicle operational items.  Then the customer is supposed to return the bike at 1000 miles, which for some is just a few days, and pay that same dealer to go back over the exact same items he was paid by Harley to check during setup and prep.  All I can say is, if anyone finds loose critical fasteners after all of that, many someone's at Harley and the dealership need to be fired for incompetence or fraud.

As Jerry (ultrafxr) said in his post, much of the "filler" in those checklists are simple basic things we should be checking before every ride, such as the operation of all lights and controls.  It makes no sense to pay a dealership $500 to turn on the ignition and cycle all the lights and controls.  What would that equate to, about $30,000 per hour?  Pretty good labor rate (for the dealer).

Jerry

Totally agree.  Here is what a friend experienced after a dealer service:   Rear tire, back brakes and 25000 mile service.... Bolts were not tightened on the brake assembly. One vibrated out and the other finger tight.



This scares the chit out of me.  This is what you get for $100 / hr labor rate.