On days off from my paying job, I lend a hand at a Mom & Pop m/c repair
shop. (no news there)
They get calls almost daily from riders in need of a tire or oil change and
are amazed when they hear,
"When can you bring it? We might can do that while you wait." after being
told days or longer elsewhere.
We'll let' 'em watch us work, too - as long as they stay out of the way. I
have had to tell a repeat customer,
"Bobby, you're in the way. Sit HERE." =)
And when someone whines at the labor price of a tire change we show them
the $$$$ Snap-On changer and balancer.
Their rims won't get damaged and their bike gets a once over, checking
bolts for tightness, lubing pivot points, adjusting cables, etc...
A free tire change is worth what you pay for it sometimes.
eddie
> [Original Message]
> From: tony lehman
> To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com>
> Date: 9/14/2012 3:29:11 PM
> Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Re: O A S
>
>
changed, however, and not for the best. The consolidation of dealers and
the paucity of independent shops pushes one to do his own work. For
example: I don't particularly enjoy doing tire changes but in my area
Colorado Springs you usually have to wait a week or two before the
meg-dealership can do the job for you. It's less of a hassle for me to do
it myself not to mention the cost.>>>
>
> Yes I guess unfortunately I do all my bike work and most of my auto/
truck work. I won't even start on the competence issue. Actually I love
working on my bikes as long as i'm not in a huge rush. Dealers are
consolidating but yet most of the modern riders will say oh a week ok, The
Harley dealers here in northern Wy. run trailers and pick up bikes and
return them for oil and tire changes. There are a lot of riders that do
their own work and maybe part of that is the fact the dealerships don't
have a grip on it
>
Oh, my '59 Triumph 500 didn't like spinning the rear tire in grass and hitting pavement with it spinning. Broke the Transmission 2 times like that. And, sadly, I was prewarned by the Triumph Dealer about the weakness in the 500 trans. Oh Well, that taught me how to rebuild that transmisson in 1960 at 17 years old. LOL! Out of the 5 Harley's I had, the last one, a 1975 ( think ) Superglide was the most dependable cept for breaking the coil bracket on a run. The BMW's ( '95 R11GS; '97 R11R and the '02 R1150Gs ) were the easiest to maintain. No problems in the 125,000 miles I put on them. I think I was on the '02 when I met you guys in Southern Colorado coming back from Washington.
