Is my dealer trying to fleece me?

[Scheffy.G]

So I call the dealer today to see how much a valve check/adjustment is. He asks me how many miles are on it (about 14K) but I tell him I don't need a full service, just the valves. I can do everything else myself, just don't feel like paying $300 for a shim kit on top of doing the labor myself for a valve adjustment.
Anyway, he tells me that they can't do just valves. It has to be done as part of the full service, in my case the big 12K service, which is 6 hours at $85 an hour, plus parts. Now... has anyone else had this line fed to them? It seems pretty ridiculous to tell somebody that valve adjustments and, say, fork oil changes (both part of the 12K service) are inseparable and must be performed at the same time. At that rate it actually would be cheaper to buy a shim kit, and then I'd never need the dealer for anything...
To be fair to the dealership, the kid I talked to sounded like he was about 15 years old and had an IQ rivaling that of a particularly smart bucket of kitty litter, so hopefully I just lucked out and talked to their village idiot on that occasion. Every dealership seems to have at least one.

[Popeye the Sailor]

They is hosin' ya.


No reason whatsoever you can't do just the valves, except maybe that the dealer has a boat payment.

[somegirl]

Whereabouts do you live?  Perhaps members in your local group can recommend a good dealership or independent shop.

[Grappa]

I could understand if they insisted on changing the cam belts while doing a valve adjustment, but servicing the forks?  Sounds like they aren't being totally honest.

[printman]

I would make sure you are talking to the service manager, before ditching the dealer.

I could see why they would want to do the full service, and not just from an income point, but one where they know everything is complete.
However, they should be able to do just valves.

[Scheffy.G]

Yeah, I definitely wasn't talking to the service manager, just some mechanic who happened to be walking past the receptionist when I asked the question. He went so far as to say that checking valves without changing oil was impossible too. I got a mental picture of them flipping the bike upside down before opening the valve covers... I seem to remember talking to the service manager at some point and at that time it sounded like I could itemize what I wanted from the full service. Sounds like it was only the guy I talked to yesterday who seems to think it's full service or no service.
Thanks for the confirmation though everyone. I'll just give a call back and hopefully talk to somebody who knows a little more.

[krolik]

I'll just give a call back and hopefully talk to somebody who knows a little more.

Generally a wise policy, especially when you get an answer as fishy/stupid as the one you first received.

[dlearl476]

Some folks are unclear about the difference in meaning between "can't" and "won't".  Sounds like they figure it's not worth getting their hands dirty if they're not going for the whole enchilada.
OTOH, I could understand if you expected a 12k service stamp in your warranty book, but it doesn't sound like you're after that.  FWIW, I've worked out deals with my (good) dealership service depts where I do the grunt work, they do the technical stuff that at one time I didn't have tools or space to do, and they add 1/2 hour shop time to double check and stamp my book.
But I digress. They're attempting to shake you down.

At that rate it actually would be cheaper to buy a shim kit, and then I'd never need the dealer for anything...

There's a reason I now have all the tools I need to do all my own work, and that's exactly it. 

[Slide Panda]

I can see them saying the belts would/should be part of checking your valves.  A local Duc shop put on a valve adjustment clinic at an event and said that to do the check right, you really should have the belts off.

But as far as items like your oil change and fork work - not related at all and they should not *have* to do any work you do not request - or specifically stipulate you do not want them to do.

[Howie]

My guess is you wouldn't save much anyway.  The oil is draining while they adjust your valves, the air filter takes little time and the belts are coming off to do the valve adjustment anyway.  Some dealers include a brake fluid flush in the price of the service, some don't.  The throttle bodies still need to be synched after the valve adjustment.  Maybe you would save an hour or a little more on labor.  On the other hand, if you don't want the whole service they should oblige.  Oh, your fork oil isn't due until 18K miles, though doing it early doesn't hurt.

[mxwinky]

First, talk to someone "in the know" at your local dealership and see if you get the same silly story.  If so, find another dealer.  My local dealer has no problem whatsoever doing "valves only" as a service, nor should any other dealer.  It's irrelevant what regular service your bike is due for as far as indicated mileage goes.  The job of the shop is to do the service work requested by the customer, period.  It's nice to upsell a full service, but if you want a valve adjustment only, then they should comply.  Since I didn't have the shim kit for the DS motor, I had my local dealer do the valve adjust only on my Multistrada.  They were completely nice about it, no questions asked, and did it for a very reasonable price.  As we seem to learn time and again on these forums, some dealers are far better than others.  Good luck and keep us informed.

[Alex]

Just general tips regarding doing your own valves:

#1 If you buy MBP collets to replace your current valve half-ring keepers they will be more durable for the the long-term, and will compensate for the deformation of the old half-rings by being thicker in the short-term. Basically, if you put them in, you may not even need new shims since you can sand down anything that's too tight, and the MBP collets will likely compensate for any looseness that developed (and otherwise would have required you to get larger shims). You don't even need a shim kit.

#2 some dealers will sell shims individually, so you don't need a whole $300 kit, even if it comes down to you requiring different spacers, which you may not (see #1).

[Scheffy.G]

Just general tips regarding doing your own valves:

#1 If you buy MBP collets to replace your current valve half-ring keepers they will be more durable for the the long-term, and will compensate for the deformation of the old half-rings by being thicker in the short-term. Basically, if you put them in, you may not even need new shims since you can sand down anything that's too tight, and the MBP collets will likely compensate for any looseness that developed (and otherwise would have required you to get larger shims). You don't even need a shim kit.

Good info on the MBP collets. Was planning on doing those eventually anyway, so that may have just jumped to the top of my mod list.