Tiger 900 Valve clearence service costs
Discussion
Just looking to commisterate with others in my position really.
Bought the Tiger 900 as my first bike, second hand with ~6000 miles on the clock.
Took it to France & Spain, Wales, and many days out, sunny commutes etc... Love it, does everything i want it to do.
Now at 12,000 miles and in need of its big service, the local triumph dealer are quoting £970 without the MOT!!
Local independant ~£750 with MOT, more than i had hoped and budgeted for, they are well reviewed so thats where I'll take it.
Wish I had looked closer before buying now, I dont think it would have changed my mind as I still love the bike but its considerably more expensive to run than i had hopped for. It will need one of these every two years at my current milage.
Anyway, I've got the ferry to Spain booked for September so I may do some trip planning to take my mind off the whole this blows in the budget.
Bought the Tiger 900 as my first bike, second hand with ~6000 miles on the clock.
Took it to France & Spain, Wales, and many days out, sunny commutes etc... Love it, does everything i want it to do.
Now at 12,000 miles and in need of its big service, the local triumph dealer are quoting £970 without the MOT!!
Local independant ~£750 with MOT, more than i had hoped and budgeted for, they are well reviewed so thats where I'll take it.
Wish I had looked closer before buying now, I dont think it would have changed my mind as I still love the bike but its considerably more expensive to run than i had hopped for. It will need one of these every two years at my current milage.
Anyway, I've got the ferry to Spain booked for September so I may do some trip planning to take my mind off the whole this blows in the budget.
Wow! certainly isn't a cheap hobby anymore.
I've just bought a Ducati Monster and the first service at 650 miles is due next week. Just an oil change and a check over, £260!!
Just had the same on my car and it was £160 and that included cabin filters and a courtesy car for the day.
Oh and they valeted it as well.
I've just bought a Ducati Monster and the first service at 650 miles is due next week. Just an oil change and a check over, £260!!
Just had the same on my car and it was £160 and that included cabin filters and a courtesy car for the day.
Oh and they valeted it as well.
Grazze53317 said:
Just looking to commisterate with others in my position really.
Bought the Tiger 900 as my first bike, second hand with ~6000 miles on the clock.
Took it to France & Spain, Wales, and many days out, sunny commutes etc... Love it, does everything i want it to do.
Now at 12,000 miles and in need of its big service, the local triumph dealer are quoting £970 without the MOT!!
Local independant ~£750 with MOT, more than i had hoped and budgeted for, they are well reviewed so thats where I'll take it.
Wish I had looked closer before buying now, I dont think it would have changed my mind as I still love the bike but its considerably more expensive to run than i had hopped for. It will need one of these every two years at my current milage.
Anyway, I've got the ferry to Spain booked for September so I may do some trip planning to take my mind off the whole this blows in the budget.
Labour rates have gone through the roof for bikes in the last few years, I'm guessing there's quite a bit of work involved here?
Can you get the bike there and back in a van etc, you could probably strip the bike far enough for the work to be done and save yourself a few hours labour.
In the future some/most dealers offer winter service rates as the workshops are generally quiet at that time of year maybe that's an option at the next big service?
Bought the Tiger 900 as my first bike, second hand with ~6000 miles on the clock.
Took it to France & Spain, Wales, and many days out, sunny commutes etc... Love it, does everything i want it to do.
Now at 12,000 miles and in need of its big service, the local triumph dealer are quoting £970 without the MOT!!
Local independant ~£750 with MOT, more than i had hoped and budgeted for, they are well reviewed so thats where I'll take it.
Wish I had looked closer before buying now, I dont think it would have changed my mind as I still love the bike but its considerably more expensive to run than i had hopped for. It will need one of these every two years at my current milage.
Anyway, I've got the ferry to Spain booked for September so I may do some trip planning to take my mind off the whole this blows in the budget.
Labour rates have gone through the roof for bikes in the last few years, I'm guessing there's quite a bit of work involved here?
Can you get the bike there and back in a van etc, you could probably strip the bike far enough for the work to be done and save yourself a few hours labour.
In the future some/most dealers offer winter service rates as the workshops are generally quiet at that time of year maybe that's an option at the next big service?
croyde said:
Wow! certainly isn't a cheap hobby anymore.
I've just bought a Ducati Monster and the first service at 650 miles is due next week. Just an oil change and a check over, £260!!
Just had the same on my car and it was £160 and that included cabin filters and a courtesy car for the day.
Oh and they valeted it as well.
Yes biking is a rather expensive if using main dealers. Mind you I sorted out my mums ride on mower service the other day and was shocked at the expense so it's not just bikes.I've just bought a Ducati Monster and the first service at 650 miles is due next week. Just an oil change and a check over, £260!!
Just had the same on my car and it was £160 and that included cabin filters and a courtesy car for the day.
Oh and they valeted it as well.
Something like a valve clearance check I'd deffo do myself if the bike is out of warranty, I wouldn't be paying that kind of money, surely it can't be that difficult.
Croyde how are you finding the Monster? I did try to get a test ride on one a while back but the dealer I went to treated my like a flee ridden dog, so thought stuff them. I might go to the dealer they have on the embankment
stu67 said:
Yes biking is a rather expensive if using main dealers. Mind you I sorted out my mums ride on mower service the other day and was shocked at the expense so it's not just bikes.
Something like a valve clearance check I'd deffo do myself if the bike is out of warranty, I wouldn't be paying that kind of money, surely it can't be that difficult.
Croyde how are you finding the Monster? I did try to get a test ride on one a while back but the dealer I went to treated my like a flee ridden dog, so thought stuff them. I might go to the dealer they have on the embankment
Loving it, brilliant handling, very flickable yet steady on the motorway and quick, even tho I'm keeping it under 6000 rpm until the oil service next week.Something like a valve clearance check I'd deffo do myself if the bike is out of warranty, I wouldn't be paying that kind of money, surely it can't be that difficult.
Croyde how are you finding the Monster? I did try to get a test ride on one a while back but the dealer I went to treated my like a flee ridden dog, so thought stuff them. I might go to the dealer they have on the embankment
Didn't enjoy my London thru London to London commute yesterday as the bike wanted to go. Never got out of second gear but I have it set to Sport for more direct throttle response.
I tried Urban today which is a much woolier feel but seemed to make gridlock traffic and 20mph zones a little more bearable.
Granted I've been on autos for the past 7 years. Vespa 300 and TMax, so a bit out of touch.
Mind you I was a dispatch rider in the 80s on my Kawasaki GPZ900R, so maybe I've become soft
You should look into attempting the checks yourself.
If you're not that confident when you've got it all stripped down then there is almost always someone local from one of the groups that will come and advise on the actual check.
There's not really any excuse to not be able to follow a manual to get to the point where you need to check - I admit adjusting them can be an entirely different kettle of fish however - if you can pass a bike test and work out how to post on a forum like this then partially stripping a bike down is not difficult.
If you're not that confident when you've got it all stripped down then there is almost always someone local from one of the groups that will come and advise on the actual check.
There's not really any excuse to not be able to follow a manual to get to the point where you need to check - I admit adjusting them can be an entirely different kettle of fish however - if you can pass a bike test and work out how to post on a forum like this then partially stripping a bike down is not difficult.
I have a Triumph Trophy, it goes 20k miles between valve services but I see other owners quoted over £1k for that service. There is a lot of labour involved just getting all the fairing off to get to the head in the first place. Sure you can save a couple of hundred quid if you find a specialist with a cheaper labour rate than main dealer, but the fact is its just a time consuming job and if the main dealer is £100 p/h easy to understand where they get the prices from.
My MV Brutale has the valves checked every 7k miles and has been £550 at the dealer but has no fairings to remove. It would be an expensive commuter bike but its ok for something I do 2k miles a year on.
What I dont understand is that the Triumphs are triples so surely have 4 less valves to check/adjust....they should be cheaper....right ?!
My MV Brutale has the valves checked every 7k miles and has been £550 at the dealer but has no fairings to remove. It would be an expensive commuter bike but its ok for something I do 2k miles a year on.
What I dont understand is that the Triumphs are triples so surely have 4 less valves to check/adjust....they should be cheaper....right ?!
Have you shopped around? That's revolting. My 800 Tiger (when I was looking at buying one before I found one with it done already) was quoted around £400 upwards.
Shop around and
...
Do they fail?
My DL1000 vstrom every one bangs on about it on forums etc but only twice when I challenged has the valves tightened/failed; one at 45,000miles and another ridden through the desert heavily.
I spoke to a couple of mechanics locally who said don't bother and another at a main dealer who said its very very rare.
Shop around and
...
Do they fail?
My DL1000 vstrom every one bangs on about it on forums etc but only twice when I challenged has the valves tightened/failed; one at 45,000miles and another ridden through the desert heavily.
I spoke to a couple of mechanics locally who said don't bother and another at a main dealer who said its very very rare.
My street Twin was due its major service (20k) plus valve clearances and Triumph Dealer quoted me £550-600. Local indy did it for £380.
He does quite a few triumphs and told me that the Tiger is a pig to do the clearances on, he had one in before my Twin and he said that the bill was almost double mine. All down to accessibility and how much they have to disassemble to get to valves apparently.
He does quite a few triumphs and told me that the Tiger is a pig to do the clearances on, he had one in before my Twin and he said that the bill was almost double mine. All down to accessibility and how much they have to disassemble to get to valves apparently.
Looks like a b
d of a job: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J0SxJQPnmg
Basically the whole top half of the bike off, cams out to do the valve clearances, cams back in and re-timed (which is adjustable), then reassemble all the st on top.
d of a job: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J0SxJQPnmgBasically the whole top half of the bike off, cams out to do the valve clearances, cams back in and re-timed (which is adjustable), then reassemble all the s
t on top.
Before I traded in my Tiger 800 it was due its 12000 service and that was quoted at around £700.
Not quite so easy as the old adjustable tappets as these all use shims to adjust clearance.
Definitely rather expensive, or so I thought until I booked my watch in for service at a cool £800!!! Did temper it a bit when they told me it was worth about £20k...... Could get a very nice bike for that
Not quite so easy as the old adjustable tappets as these all use shims to adjust clearance.
Definitely rather expensive, or so I thought until I booked my watch in for service at a cool £800!!! Did temper it a bit when they told me it was worth about £20k...... Could get a very nice bike for that
Krikkit said:
Looks like a bd of a job: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J0SxJQPnmg
Basically the whole top half of the bike off, cams out to do the valve clearances, cams back in and re-timed (which is adjustable), then reassemble all the st on top.
Surely that’s just bad design that costs the end user more to get round? This sort of stuff really bugs me. I know they need to make money somewhere but regular servicing should be accessible. d of a job: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J0SxJQPnmgBasically the whole top half of the bike off, cams out to do the valve clearances, cams back in and re-timed (which is adjustable), then reassemble all the s
t on top.My triumph explorer was about £400 (I think) by a mobile mechanic called muddy sump, he essentially travels about the uk servicing Triumphs at about half the cost of main dealers.
I'm one of those people who likes a professional to look at this stuff despite having some ability myself. Mostly due to safety, a mechanic with years of experiance may pick up on something i wouldn't.
Due to the costs, which given my milage I could be paying out every other year, theres a reasonable chance i may trade it in next year.
The bikes in good condition and stil worth alot so I'm going to get the service done by the independant and keep the service history just incase i do trade it in.
If i've still got it in two years time when its due its next service, assuming it doesnt sound like a bag of bolts, i'll almost certainly 'extend' the valve clearance serivce interval by 6,000 miles/1 year.
I did briefly toy with the idea of doing it myself until i read ClipperTri's and Krikkit's comments, poured cold water all over that!
Thanks all for your comments.
R.e. muddy sump, his websites not been updated since the late 2010's, is he still trading?
Due to the costs, which given my milage I could be paying out every other year, theres a reasonable chance i may trade it in next year.
The bikes in good condition and stil worth alot so I'm going to get the service done by the independant and keep the service history just incase i do trade it in.
If i've still got it in two years time when its due its next service, assuming it doesnt sound like a bag of bolts, i'll almost certainly 'extend' the valve clearance serivce interval by 6,000 miles/1 year.
I did briefly toy with the idea of doing it myself until i read ClipperTri's and Krikkit's comments, poured cold water all over that!
Thanks all for your comments.
R.e. muddy sump, his websites not been updated since the late 2010's, is he still trading?
I have a Tiger Sport, the older 1050 one. It has 68k miles on it now and has been checked a few times (including shortly before Christmas last year) and all within spec. It's never once needed adjusting. I paid just over £800 at that visit (local indie), including the MOT, though a chunk of that was spent welding up 3 or 4 cracks in the exhaust headers. To be fair, that was the first 'gulp-sized' bill it's thrown in the 9 years I've had it.
Checking the clearances is a time consuming, but apparently not especially difficult job. But if you find they do need adjusting, that's much more involved work - it means taking the cams out completely.
Checking the clearances is a time consuming, but apparently not especially difficult job. But if you find they do need adjusting, that's much more involved work - it means taking the cams out completely.
Grazze53317 said:
I'm one of those people who likes a professional to look at this stuff despite having some ability myself. Mostly due to safety, a mechanic with years of experiance may pick up on something i wouldn't.
Due to the costs, which given my milage I could be paying out every other year, theres a reasonable chance i may trade it in next year.
The bikes in good condition and stil worth alot so I'm going to get the service done by the independant and keep the service history just incase i do trade it in.
If i've still got it in two years time when its due its next service, assuming it doesnt sound like a bag of bolts, i'll almost certainly 'extend' the valve clearance serivce interval by 6,000 miles/1 year.
I did briefly toy with the idea of doing it myself until i read ClipperTri's and Krikkit's comments, poured cold water all over that!
Thanks all for your comments.
R.e. muddy sump, his websites not been updated since the late 2010's, is he still trading?
When I saw your post I was going to mention Muddy Sump. Check his Facebook page - all fairly current Due to the costs, which given my milage I could be paying out every other year, theres a reasonable chance i may trade it in next year.
The bikes in good condition and stil worth alot so I'm going to get the service done by the independant and keep the service history just incase i do trade it in.
If i've still got it in two years time when its due its next service, assuming it doesnt sound like a bag of bolts, i'll almost certainly 'extend' the valve clearance serivce interval by 6,000 miles/1 year.
I did briefly toy with the idea of doing it myself until i read ClipperTri's and Krikkit's comments, poured cold water all over that!
Thanks all for your comments.
R.e. muddy sump, his websites not been updated since the late 2010's, is he still trading?
Grazze53317 said:
R.e. muddy sump, his websites not been updated since the late 2010's, is he still trading?
Muddysump updated his facebook page about a year ago, but I think he's winding it back a bit. The website does have prices 'updated for 2023' so I'm pretty sure he's still going.Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff