Hellloooo forum peoples!
It's great to have found this resource. In fact, this website is probably one of the main reason I purchased my s40.
It's great to be here!
Now for my story and question.
I just purchased my bike from a local dealership. It is an '07 and had 140 miles on it when I bought it. It had one prior owner.
I got a decent deal and according to the service records I asked for, they did an oil\filter change to her along with their 60 point inspection check (wink, wink) when she was traded in to them. It was backfiring like crazy when I left so I took her back in for them to check out. They looked it over and ended up saying the nuts from the head pipe were loose and gave it back to me.
I had already read here that these bikes do backfire often, but I took it back in anyway. I have since put a couple of hundred miles on her. It still backfires and I'm certain it needs some carb/spark plug/rejet love. It does have an aftermarket muffler (Jardine) so that may be some of it too.
I will be coming up on my 600mile checkup soon, and I'm not real confident that the dealership will do more than change my oil/filter with maybe a few common screws to tighten (although they apparently couldn't be bothered to check it out when the old owner traded it in. ie loose header pipe nuts).
Now to the meat and potatoes of it. Stay with me now!
They charge $250 to do the routine maintenance called for in the manual. $250 to change my oil/filter doesn't seem like much of a bargain!
Problem is I have 11 months left on the manufacturer warranty. As you all know if I don't have the routine maintenance done by them or a certified Suzuki mechanic I will void the warranty that is left on the bike.
I'm not an idiot and have the manual so I can tighten what needs tightening and can certainly change the oil/filter. I think the next routine maintenance is at 1500 or 2500 miles. 2x routine maintenance in the next few months (my primary mode of transportation). That's $500! (duh)
Worst case scenario: I do the maintenance myself and lose the manufacturer warranty. It locks up (all the manufacturer warranty covers I think) I have to buy a new engine. I imagine I could get one for a few hundred to five hundred dollars?
Best case scenario: I do the maintenance, learn a few things and all is good in 11 months.
Intermediate scenario: I pay the dealership $500 for the routine maintenance. Bike locks up or doesn't in the next 11 months and is then fixed or still running same.
What do you guy/gals think? Thanks all
I promise to never write such a long post again!