Servicing Schedule

First topic message reminder :

I have a GSX-1250 FA with 60.000 km on the bike. 
I have been having it serviced my several different mechanics and dealers, and they all overcharge for the work being done. 
My service manual only specifies items to be serviced up to 24,000 km. What happens after that?Can anyone advise of the service schedule items after that?

Ulsterkiwi wrote:you change your jocks?

Yes mate, dont you 

last year.....I think.....

Turn them inside out and they're good for another year.

I agree with 2WA's logic.

My Bandit at 45,000Kms was due for a major service at I estimated $2K - $2.5K.

I traded for a new bike for $6K changeover price.

BTW The dealer did not ask for the service log book.

Ulsterkiwi wrote:I understand the manufacturer probably over specifies things a bit with servicing and how you ride or otherwise care for the bike will influence things too.
I got mine at about 5 months old so still a year and a half to run on the factory warranty. My attitude therefore has been to follow the schedule and let the dealer do the servicing, my thinking is if I have an issue that is covered by the warranty normally I don't want a missed service to be an excuse to avoid covering me. I use the bike 5 days a week and cover a lot of kms (for NZ anyway). I have strong memories of struggling with shitters of vehicles as a young fella now I am older I can do without the hassle and I know I am lucky I have the $$ to take this approach!

Whilst I agree in principal with this logic I will add that an example a collapsed wheel bearing will still be covered under warranty even if you've never changed the engine oil. An engine failure wont be but if you have changed your oil as specified and you can prove it (by having it tested if necassary) you're covered.

My new VFR will be going to the dealers for any servicing under warranty because they're complicated fkucers. After that I'll be doing oils (2) and filters myself and let them worry about the major stuff. Lucky services are at 12k

2wheelsagain wrote:

Ulsterkiwi wrote:I understand the manufacturer probably over specifies things a bit with servicing and how you ride or otherwise care for the bike will influence things too.
I got mine at about 5 months old so still a year and a half to run on the factory warranty. My attitude therefore has been to follow the schedule and let the dealer do the servicing, my thinking is if I have an issue that is covered by the warranty normally I don't want a missed service to be an excuse to avoid covering me. I use the bike 5 days a week and cover a lot of kms (for NZ anyway). I have strong memories of struggling with shitters of vehicles as a young fella now I am older I can do without the hassle and I know I am lucky I have the $$ to take this approach!

Whilst I agree in principal with this logic I will add that an example a collapsed wheel bearing will still be covered under warranty even if you've never changed the engine oil. An engine failure wont be but if you have changed your oil as specified and you can prove it (by having it tested if necassary) you're covered.

My new VFR will be going to the dealers for any servicing under warranty because they're complicated fkucers. After that I'll be doing oils (2) and filters myself and let them worry about the major stuff. Lucky services are at 12k

Yep, your argument makes sense. But if I was to get the oil tested to prove it was changed and all the hassle in between the overall cost of getting the services done might seem worth it then. I cannot predict what may go wrong. Warranties are basically an insurance policy, a statement of what they will do for you IF and ONLY IF you comply with certain conditions, in this case following the service schedule. Like insurance you pay for it (the servicing costs) and like insurance you actually hope to never test the extent of the cover! The factory warranty runs for two years unlimited kms. Since September I have run up a bit shy of 10,000kms. When the warranty finishes in April 2016 I think I will have tested the bike pretty well :-) After that the dealer will not be getting my $$ for regular services even though they will still be done.

My warranty ran out back in October. I still get the shop to do the servicing, why?

1. I can't be bothered!
2. I trust the service manager at the dealership.
3. A full professional service history is worth its weight in gold at resale.


My car on the other hand, that's another story, its lucky to get a wash once a year!

Oils ain't Oils - or so we are told.

I just checked the owner manuals for my Hyundai i20 car, my CBR650 and the GSX1250.

The manufacturers in each case recommend a minimum oil grade which in all cases is achievable with mineral oil.

Why do we seem to lean towards semi or fully synthetic oil. I reckon it is a clever marketing exercise.

My riding and driving style does not over stress the engine so sticking with the manufacturers recommendation should be OK. If I was using the bike to deliver pizzas with lots of stop/go riding I would think differently. 

Having said that, I must admit I have used Motul 5100 for my last 3 bikes only because it was recommended by the dealer and I am too lazy to reconsider the situation.

As for oil change intervals I cannot see why the Bandit has an oil change interval of 6,000Kms, The Honda VFR1200 and CBR650 an interval of 12,000Km and the Hyundai i20 an interval of 15,000Kms. Why the difference?

Bigger sumps with more oil Dave I'd say.

reddog wrote:Bigger sumps with more oil Dave I'd say.

No offence RedDog but I don't think that is the answer. Consider the table below

Vehicle                   Oil capacity      Oil change interval
Hyundai i20             3.3 litres          15,000Km
VFR1200/CBR650     2.9 litres          12,000 Km
GSF1250                 3.5 litres            6,000Km

I also looked up a few other bikes.
Hayabusa (2012) and GSX-R1000 (2011) - 6,000Km.
Kawasaki ZX1400 (2012) - 12000Km
Yamaha FJR1300 (2013) - 10,000Km
Ducati Superbike 1198 (2011) - 12,000Km

It would seem that Suzuki have a much shorter oil change interval than the other manufacturers.
Now I am puzzled

BanditDave wrote:

reddog wrote:Bigger sumps with more oil Dave I'd say.

No offence RedDog but I don't think that is the answer. Consider the table below

Vehicle                   Oil capacity      Oil change interval
Hyundai i20             3.3 litres          15,000Km
VFR1200/CBR650     2.9 litres          12,000 Km
GSF1250                 3.5 litres            6,000Km

I also looked up a few other bikes.
Hayabusa (2012) and GSX-R1000 (2011) - 6,000Km.
Kawasaki ZX1400 (2012) - 12000Km
Yamaha FJR1300 (2013) - 10,000Km
Ducati Superbike 1198 (2011) - 12,000Km

It would seem that Suzuki have a much shorter oil change interval than the other manufacturers.
Now I am puzzled

No puzzle there Dave, they sell the bikes cheaper and make the money up in the service dept.

Whilst I'm not an oil expert, I'd say the Bandit oil looks pretty used at 6,000km. I wouldn't want to run it to 10 or 12k.

Ewok1958 wrote:Whilst I'm not an oil expert, I'd say the Bandit oil looks pretty used at 6,000km. I wouldn't want to run it to 10 or 12k.

Totally agree, and not only that, I will change oil every 6 months regardless.
Even with synthetic oils, I don't think much has changed since I was at trade school in the early 80's and learnt that oil like most other fluids will absorb moisture over time, so no matter how clean it may appear it can be water contaminated just from sitting in the sump. My Bandit spent a lot of time in the carport resting while I was renovating this year, I stretched that out to 8 months but it had only done 2500km since the last service.
$50 for a oil change or potentially mega $$$$ damage to a engine, the choice is yours.

Chook wrote:

Ewok1958 wrote:Whilst I'm not an oil expert, I'd say the Bandit oil looks pretty used at 6,000km. I wouldn't want to run it to 10 or 12k.

Totally agree, and not only that, I will change oil every 6 months regardless.
Even with synthetic oils, I don't think much has changed since I was at trade school in the early 80's and learnt that oil like most other fluids will absorb moisture over time, so no matter how clean it may appear it can be water contaminated just from sitting in the sump. My Bandit spent a lot of time in the carport resting while I was renovating this year, I stretched that out to 8 months but it had only done 2500km since the last service.
$50 for a oil change or potentially mega $$$$ damage to a engine, the choice is yours.

+ 1 on both posts 

If I were in the market for a second hand bike ,& was faced with two similar moderate mileage examples with similar general appearance etc, one with an up to date service history  (dealer , or competent  owner )which  would tend to make you think the previous owner looked after his purchase ; and the other bike only coming with the verbal comment " the owner rode it carefully  & took good care of it ,but sometimes may have stretched some service intervals well beyond what is recommended " , I think I would be leaning toward the first example to spend my hard earned on.

BanditDave wrote:

reddog wrote:Bigger sumps with more oil Dave I'd say.

No offence RedDog but I don't think that is the answer. Consider the table below

Vehicle                   Oil capacity      Oil change interval
Hyundai i20             3.3 litres          15,000Km
VFR1200/CBR650     2.9 litres          12,000 Km
GSF1250                 3.5 litres            6,000Km

I also looked up a few other bikes.
Hayabusa (2012) and GSX-R1000 (2011) - 6,000Km.
Kawasaki ZX1400 (2012) - 12000Km
Yamaha FJR1300 (2013) - 10,000Km
Ducati Superbike 1198 (2011) - 12,000Km

It would seem that Suzuki have a much shorter oil change interval than the other manufacturers.
Now I am puzzled

I'm not suggesting that manufacturers recommendations be ignored however, let me add another vehicle

Suzuki Alto 1.0 (2012) with an oil change interval of 10,000Kms.

It seems to me that only Suzuki motorcycles have a recommended oil change interval of 6,000Kms whereas lots of other manufacturers, including Suzuki motor cars are recommending intervals of 10,000Kms and more.

Why would Suzuki motorcycles be so different?

Maybe some bias has crept in Dave.  At the opposite end of the scale: Nissan Patrol 4.2litre TD (and non-TD): 5,000km oil and filer change (that's 11 litres of oil and 2 filters).

BanditDave wrote:

BanditDave wrote:

reddog wrote:Bigger sumps with more oil Dave I'd say.

No offence RedDog but I don't think that is the answer. Consider the table below

Vehicle                   Oil capacity      Oil change interval
Hyundai i20             3.3 litres          15,000Km
VFR1200/CBR650     2.9 litres          12,000 Km
GSF1250                 3.5 litres            6,000Km

I also looked up a few other bikes.
Hayabusa (2012) and GSX-R1000 (2011) - 6,000Km.
Kawasaki ZX1400 (2012) - 12000Km
Yamaha FJR1300 (2013) - 10,000Km
Ducati Superbike 1198 (2011) - 12,000Km

It would seem that Suzuki have a much shorter oil change interval than the other manufacturers.
Now I am puzzled

I'm not suggesting that manufacturers recommendations be ignored however, let me add another vehicle

Suzuki Alto 1.0 (2012) with an oil change interval of 10,000Kms.

It seems to me that only Suzuki motorcycles have a recommended oil change interval of 6,000Kms whereas lots of other manufacturers, including Suzuki motor cars are recommending intervals of 10,000Kms and more.

Why would Suzuki motorcycles be so different?

I don't know , but it may have something to do with making their vehicle sound cheaper to run ..............similar to ducati  to help combat huge servicing costs extended their service intervals. No doubt metallurgy & improved oils contribute to longer intervals , but as has been stated by Ewok, after 6000 km the oil in my Bandit is definitely past its use-by date in both impurities and how it performs, ie , gear changes etc.I think the cost per km is pretty dam cheap for the added insurance and over all feel of my bike for the cost of the oil and filter.

Ewok1958 wrote:Maybe some bias has crept in Dave.  At the opposite end of the scale: Nissan Patrol 4.2litre TD (and non-TD): 5,000km oil and filer change (that's 11 litres of oil and 2 filters).

Spot on, that is common with a lot of Diesels.
My Mazda Tribute has recommended 10,000 km intervals, unless it does 10.000 km in 6 months its gets it's oil changed every 5,000 (the last 3 have been 10,000 @ approx 4-5 months, before that the previous 3 were at 5,000

I even treat my son's 1991 Subaru Liberty the same but at least that is $12-$15 for 4 litres of Gulf Western 10W-40 instead of 5.5 litres of fully synthetic 5W-40 for the Mazda

Don't buy a vw if you are worried about oil cost. 5l of oil and a filter cost about $105 an oil change when you use certified oil. Last service at a stealership cost over $600, I do them myself these days and fill in the service book.

Having done a little research and heard a number of other people's opinions my conclusions are:

1. The Suzuki engines, Bandit, Hayabusa, GSX-R1000 are every bit as good as any other brand

2. The Suzuki 1200/1250 Bandit has been around since 1995.

3. Other manufacturers have changed bike model names and numbers and new specifications have been published.

4. The Suzuki documentation has been "cut & pasted" from previous models and thus retained its 6000Km oil change interval.

5. I see no reason why the Suzuki Bandit engine would require and different treatment to any other motorcycle engine.

BanditDave wrote:Having done a little research and heard a number of other people's opinions my conclusions are:


2. The Suzuki 1200/1250 Bandit has been around since 1995.

I'm afraid I'd question this one Dave.  The 1250 engine is not an evolution of the 1200 motor.  The 1200 motor was an evolved GSX1100 motor, but the 2007 1250 Bandit release was an all new motor.

But I can where you're coming from.

Oooo a service thread....

I do my oil AND filter every 5000km-ish; last one was 6000km cos I was away.

After all, it is the life blood of the bike, right? My bike has 103,000km on it now, and it is running smoothly....

Haven't looked at the plugs since I've had it (20,000km fso far), might do that soon....

Air filter is a k&n pod thing, I clean that irregularly... might be time to have a go today.
what else? chain and sprockets should last what 40,000km depending on how you care for them and ride.
tyres.

brakes / clutch fluid? what service regime here do people recommend?

Oh by the way, I saw a special deal at the shop the other day: for every bottle of indicator fluid purchased, 50% off brake pad grease.

What shop was that special at? My brakes are squealing.

Did the plugs - changed them for a set of NGK Iridium (CR7EIX) that I got from the UK - delivered to the door still cheaper than getting down the street.

Now I know there was going to be a bit of hassle with the raditor cap housing so was prepared for that, however it took me half an hour to work out how to get the coil packs clear of the bike frame for the two outside plugs, there was just no way there was enough room.  

Finally cottoned on that if you turned them 180° so the connector is facing the front of the bike, then the two end packs can slip up past the notches in the frame.



I originally had them at 90°, something not mentioned in either the factor or Haynes manuals - maybe I have a wide motor or a skinny frame

Well at least it gave me a chance to clean off the gasket sealastic I smeared on the PAIR plates when I installed them.