Well tomorrow my bike goes in for the 16K service. Found a small garage just round the corner who is doing everything for £185. When chatting with him, he used to be the chief mechanic from Honda UK, this deffo filled me with confidence as i did have my reservations at a first glance.
agree. of all the bikes ive ever done shims on, honda motors are still usually bob on at 16k so imo its only a check. i invested in a hotcams shim kit with like a billion shims and reckon theres half a dozen used to date! saying that though, a rattly engine will 99% run better when its hammered.... the problem is when the clearance is too small from the valves hammering the seats. sounds like a bargain though at 185.... does that come with a stamp in the book?
About 13k myself so very interested to know how it goes, good or bad, but hopefully good. Where is he located?
Just to add, i can see a theme here. We're all local blade owners almost due a service. Group buy anyone?
You not considered running workshop days? Less mechanically minded owners are assisted in maintenance tasks, supervised by more capable spanner wielders.... It helps ppl gain confidence to do the stuff they normally wouldnt touch... Yeh i know you dont get the all important stamp, but when you consider that doing my own oil dropped my service from £113 to just £48 it makes sense.
Here's a full list of the service schedules. And a break down of the 16k service:- Fuel line - Inspection Throttle operation - Inspection Oil & filter - replace Spark plugs - Inspection (n.b. replace at 32k) Valve clearance - Inspection Idle speed - Inspection Coolant - Inspection (n.b. replace every 2 years) cooling system - Inspection Secondary air supply system - Inspection (I don't know what this is)? Drive chain - Inspection Brake fluid - Inspection (n.b. replace every 2 years) Brake pad wear - Inspection Brake system - Inspection Brake light switch - Inspection Headlight aim - Inspection Clutch system - Inspection Exhaust valve control system - Inspection Side stand - Inspection Suspension - Inspection Nuts, bolts, fasteners - Inspection Wheels & tyres - Inspection Headstock bearings - Inspection Now I don't know about you guys, but I already check most of those regularly anyway and my annual MOT checks some of the others. So the big one really is just the vave clearances. Can you tell if they're out when riding?
You can hear loose clearances as a light.tappet sound that increases.with rpm.... Fades a bit as the engine warms up. What you cant hear is tight clearance (or none at all) This.is.the.killer. Thats what burns valves! So even on a silent motor, its worth checking.
Good price that like considering I was £177 from my honda dealer for the parts but I did buy new plugs , coolant, oil, filter and air filters etc. Took all day to do it but I just paced myself and followed the haynes manual and did the valve checks all myself too. Lo and behold they were fine Certainly a confidence booster doing it though If I could just get the speedo reading properly now :/ lol
Used to check and adjust the clearances on my old MG Metro as a kid, quite easy on that as you have a bit of space to work with. Wouldn't mind checking the Blade but looking at these instructions Valve Clearance Inspection - CBF1000A DIY (given it's for a CBF1000) it's a little claustrophobic in there. Also I think my patience would have the better of me
Yeah it is just the value clearances I need checking at 16k can do everything else myself, might ask my mate if he can do as he does everything on his bike including values Save me a bit of money
Just been quoted £422 at my local Honda dealership - I'm 300 miles off needing the 16k service. Seems very steep to me... Where else around the Surrey/berkshire area could i try? Sam
sounds about right for a main dealer tbh. when you consider it's fairing off, tank & airbox off and all the other gubbins, that alone is not exactly a 5 minute job. its probably a hour+ just to get at the cover! then you've got 8 pairs of valves to time up and measure into a calibration sheet... so even assuming it's all within spec, it's probably still 3hrs work then put it all back together. if any shims do need changing, then it's tensioner off, top cam bearings off, cams out, replace shims as per sheet, then reassemble - easily another 2hrs on top - so in the price they will quote for the full job, rather than hit you with a surprise sneaky extra £150 (plus the cost of shims - about £7 a piece from a dealer) then when that's done, youve still got all the other service items in the schedule - oil n filter, plugs check (which is best done while it's apart!) and all the rest - so a 16k will more or less tie up a techy for the day & that's if they dont skip stuff. (as if they would!) usually on the parts breakdown (may be able to see this on http://www.ronayres.com/fiche ) the times billable for each task is listed. not sure exactly what the going hourly rate they charge now is, but it will be anything between like £40 - £70p/hr. & yes, ive done this shit before lol
Hey guys sorry for the late reply to this one. The mechanic did the full 16K service, the only thing with exception to fluids etc that needed changing were the plugs. He took pictures every step of the way to show me on collection. Brilliant service and yes I did get a stamp in the book. I'll Deffo be using him again in the future.
Which Honda dealer? If you don't mind travelling, Hatfields (in Crowthorne) might be cheaper as they are a smaller dealer. There's also Arthur here on the forums - personally I'd take it to him
