• NEW USERS: If you haven't received your Confirmation Email: There has been an ongoing issue with the forum's send mail function and many new users haven't received the email to confirm their registration. I've done my best to manually process these, so there's a good chance if you've signed up in the past 30 days that you've already been validated and can proceed with posting on the forum (don't forget to introduce yourself!). If you still can't get in, please use the Contact Us link on the bottom of any page to send me a message and I'll process you manually. Thanks for your patience! ~Jerk

Book rate for valve clearance

Finklejag

Well travelled
The dealer I bought my Himalayan from charges $410 for the 300 mile service. This is a USA dealer price. They said the book rate for the valve clearance is 3 hours and 1/2 hour for the oil change. Does that sound right?
 

Robert

Well travelled
Location
Holland
If the dealer takes three hours to check the valve clearance it will be done very, very thoroughly. It takes me half an hour, including removing the tank. Half an hour for the oil change is not excessive.

What else is he doing for the 410 dollars? An extensive service includes a lot, the first time also checking and adjusting spokes and lots of other things: see the manual where the points for the first service are described. All in all it might take a few hours.
 

puttbutt

Well travelled
Location
NY
Man! I had my first service done in Jersey where I purchased the bike. about $35 for parts, and $258 for labor. here's what was supposedly done.
 

Attachments

TN_twowheeladdict

Well travelled
Location
Tennessee
If I had to pay others to maintain what I own, I wouldn't own much. The Himalayan is such a simple bike. I'd wonder what that dealer charges to do service on a liquid cooled shim under bucket bike?
 

Roy Gavin

Well travelled
With modern oils and materials most modern shim and bucket bikes don't seem to need a lot of adjustment.
There is no need to strip to check , a pro mechanic will have a "stethoscope" and will be able to tell in a few seconds if they are ticking nicely.
My VFR didn't need any adjustment in 120,000 km , others report similar. So a lot will never have them done!
Then a dealer will usually have a lever / whatever which will let them depress the valve head and get the bucket off without removing the camshaft.
But he still might have 16 to do, and sometimes a fair bit teardown in the body etc, so 4 or 5 hrs is not unknown.
Just did the Hima for the first time since the 500 km service, exhaust was 7 and inlet a tight 2 at 36,000 km , so if you need to do it every 5000 km buy a better oil and keep the revs down!
 

TN_twowheeladdict

Well travelled
Location
Tennessee
With modern oils and materials most modern shim and bucket bikes don't seem to need a lot of adjustment.
There is no need to strip to check , a pro mechanic will have a "stethoscope" and will be able to tell in a few seconds if they are ticking nicely.
My VFR didn't need any adjustment in 120,000 km , others report similar. So a lot will never have them done!
Then a dealer will usually have a lever / whatever which will let them depress the valve head and get the bucket off without removing the camshaft.
But he still might have 16 to do, and sometimes a fair bit teardown in the body etc, so 4 or 5 hrs is not unknown.
Just did the Hima for the first time since the 500 km service, exhaust was 7 and inlet a tight 2 at 36,000 km , so if you need to do it every 5000 km buy a better oil and keep the revs down!
My point is that those who have to pay the dealer for service need to look at the overall cost of ownership, and not just the purchase price of the bike. Yamaha is up to 26,000 miles between valve checks on many models. Oil changes on some bikes range from 5,000 - 10,000 mile intervals.

I do my own maintenance, and have stripped down many a bike, and the Himalayan is among the simplest to service. My Moto Guzzi is also very easy with the valve check only requiring removal of the covers. The Harley is the easiest since it has hydraulic valve lash adjusters.
 

Roy Gavin

Well travelled
Done over half a million miles on my BMW Airheads too, and they seem to me to be a little simpler to work on than the Hima.
Not that I have done much, had to touch it for the first time when the carb started flooding, and getting access to the float needle took , er, considerably , longer than the two second job it is on the R80 G/S PD.
 
Top Bottom