Triumphrat

KuzzinKenny · 08-17-2004, 09:46 PM

i always thought the first 500ml service was free, WRONG !! it was £45.58 ***** !! i wasn`t expecting to pay for oil and a filter. if i new i had to pay for the oil i would have brought my own as i have 3gal in my garage. has anyone else payed for there 1st service !! ifso how much.

on a good note, every time im out on the Tiger it just gets better and better !!

KK

Diego · 08-17-2004, 11:05 PM

I expect we all paid for the 500 mile service except for those whose dealers may have done it as a freebie. Mine are good folks, but not quite that generous,

This topic keeps surprising folks, but it shouldn't. Here in the US, at least, the Tiumph standard sales contract has a separate block the customer signs, indicating he understands that scheduled services are not included in the purchase price or warranty.

djr · 08-18-2004, 09:09 AM

yep, you need to pay for the oil/filter. You should notice a huge difference now the dinosaur oil is out though.

Mutley · 08-18-2004, 09:42 AM

KK, the 1st service is parts only, only the labour content is free.

You should count yourself lucky, when I had my Aprilia RSVR's 1st service it cost £400

as its a big one valves shims etc, even though it is done at 600 miles, if there to tight its Bang time.

Mutley Silver 05

jackn · 08-18-2004, 12:51 PM

Servicing costs, that's what puts me off buying another new bike. I've been thinking about buying a new Tiger or a new Aprilia Caponord. But doing lots of miles means lots of extra expense with services.

I know it's been asked before but why are bike services at such frequent intervals? Car manufacturers are now quoting service intervals of tens of thousands of miles not 4/6000 miles.

How do our American friends cope? Some of them must live hundreds of miles from their nearest dealer. How do you manage to keep your service book up to date?

Mutley · 08-18-2004, 01:51 PM

Jack, I have an 05 tiger and I think its great, servicing is cheap compared to an Aprilia, The Caponord has a detuned Mille engine and hence will suffer the same expence with regards to servicing, plus they dont handle anywhere nearly as good as the Tigers today.

The other problem with the Caponord is spare parts, Aprilia are terrible at supplying parts, the worst Co I have ever dealt with, my Mille was off the Road for over 3 months last year waiting for bits after I got knocked off it, no excuse the Ities just dont have the same work ethics as the Japs or Brits IMOP.

Dont get me wrong the Mille is brilliant and I love it, but I would I buy another, probably not :???: until these issues are sorted.

Buy a new 05 Tiger, I have been very impressed with mine and I have done 5000 miles in 3 months :-D

Mutley

Bushwhacker · 08-18-2004, 04:35 PM

According to my dealer, one hour of labor in the first service is free.

On mine they did the first service, installed my Triumph Tank Bag (I had heard that there were issues with it's fit on the 05 so I wanted them to install it and if it did not fit I could get a refund), and slip the forks 20 mm. The total cost was $79.00. Absolutely the cheapest I have ever had to pay for any kind of motorcycle regular service.

Plus the Tiger requires service every 6000 miles. My Valkyrie required service every 4000 miles and I never got out for under $200-$400.

I am happy with the Tiger.

-

Diego · 08-18-2004, 04:39 PM

Mutley writes: >>> KK, the 1st service is parts only, only the labour content is free. >>>

"Happiness in the homeland," to quote Paul McC; assuming that he really is Paul. (Ah, the Sixties. Where are they now that we really need them?) Labour is the customer's responsibility over here, along with parts.

>>> The other problem with the Caponord is spare parts, Aprilia are terrible at supplying parts, the worst Co I have ever dealt with.... >>>

Very sorry to hear that, both for your own experience with the Mille and for my prospects of perhaps owning one someday. We finally have an Aprillia dealer in this area (meaning: only half as far away as my Triumph dealer). I have always been a little intrigued by them, and the sound of an Aprillia engine catches my ear almost as quickly as a Triumph's does.

An unreliable supply of spares is one consequence of continually teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, I suppose. (Triumph dealers in the US sweated the arrival of crucial parts many times in the late Meriden days.) I wonder if Aprillia will ever have it sorted out.

Diego · 08-18-2004, 05:27 PM

Jackn asks: >>> I know it's been asked before but why are bike services at such frequent intervals? Car manufacturers are now quoting service intervals of tens of thousands of miles not 4/6000 miles. >>>

Under the bonnet of a passenger car, an engine designer has a little more available space and is under a little less pressure to keep weight to an absolute minimum. That allows easier inclusion of self-adjusting valves, greater flow rates for water and oil, and other technological advantages to reduce stresses and otherwise minimize need for periodic maintenance.

Even the Rocket, with displacement comparable to many cars, fits both a 2300cc engine and gearbox into not much more volume than my old 1275cc MG Midget's engine alone. That's quite a feat.

As you may have read, Triumph found their initial 4000 mile interval for the Twin engines excessively conservative, and have gone to 6000/12 months now. The Rocket engine, which loafs along in street tune, is 10000/12 months. Those are much better numbers than the 1000 mile intervals for Royal Enfield.

>>> How do our American friends cope? Some of them must live hundreds of miles from their nearest dealer. How do you manage to keep your service book up to date? >>>

We Americans like to think of ourselves as rugged individualists, so many do their own service. After warranty, I expect I shall do likewise for the basic oil changes.

However, there is no substitute for also having someone work on it who: (a) doesn't see the bike day-to-day, and may therefore spot a slow developing abnormality that I've overlooked; (b) has been to Triumph classes, and should know more of the subleties of its inner workings than I do; and, (c) bears some legal responsibility for making right any mistakes that happened while it was in their custody.

Thus, Triumph ownership will always entail a certain amount of travel to dealers for most of us. On the other hand, it also means millions of Americans who live one or two or three hundred miles from the nearest dealership will never consider it a realistic proposition to own a Triumph.

jackn · 08-19-2004, 11:43 AM

Thanks for the replies. Regarding a new Tiger, the frame colour (silver) is crap. I like the Lucifer orange with the black frame. but on the new bike it looks like a 'bitza special'. The only other one that I've seen is the silver and that looks reasonable. Racing green is far to dull for me.

Also, the new chain adjusters. Why? The old (Kawasaki?) style eccentrics where much more elegant and simpler to use.

However, the whole Tiger package (centre stand, panniers etc) is a fantastic deal compared with the basic deal you get with the Caponord. My local Aprilia dealer will fit a centre stand F.O.C. (he has one in stock at £68) if I buy the bike (O.T.R. around £6750).