How much did your initial maintenance service cost? $525?

[skatin]

Hi all, my first post here.

I bought the 2009 People S 250 last month, just hit 600 miles on it.  They told me to take it easy the first 600 miles, then bring it in for an initial maintenance.

I called the dealer today, the manager looked up my scooter's maintenance schedule, and informed me several things.  First, he told me I missed the initial 200? mile service, which I was never told about.

He said they need to adjust the valves, change the oil, and I assume they will do other things.  They told me it will cost me $525, which seems like a LOT to me.  I'm in Southern California, the dealer is in Venice, which is a pricy neighborhood.  I'm thinking about calling other dealers in less expensive neighborhoods, but wanted to check here first.

So, how much did you pay for you initial (200? mile) and the second (600 mile) maintenance?

Thanks, I appreciate any feedback.

btw I love my scooter!!!!

[juice]

$5.00 worth of oil (at dealer price) and $520.00 in labor . Unless your scooter is performing poorly this seems absurd . Good luck .

[slugrocket rob]

yes, that seems crazy money for a valve job and oil change!

[juice]

If it actually needed a valve job , or even just an adjustment , the poor performance would make it obvious .

[skatin]

Thanks for the responses.

The bike runs perfectly, nothing wrong with it.  I'm very happy with it.

The guy was telling me he had a meeting with the Kymco rep recently, and the rep highly recommends doing valve adjustments on all new Kymco's.  I find it hard to believe a brand new engine would need it.

I think I'll pick up some oil, and change it myself.  The Driver's Manual says use SAE 10W40.  I think I'll grab a high grade synthetic.  I live in Santa Monica, the weather is in the 60's all year round, so no extreme temps here.

Thanks for everyone's input!

[roboscoot]

my advice to you is to stay as far away from this guy as possible....never heard of a bike needing a valve adjustment at 600 miles....nor do i know of any shop manual requiring it....if it was under warranty they would tell you its not needed.

you only bring your scooter to the dealer when you have exhausted every other option....my opinion......get yourself a shop manual stay connected to this forum and begin learning as much as you can about what you bought.....their goal is to get you in their service bay as frequently as possible ...they work hand and hand with the manufacturers...to do this,,,,although i like genuine scooters even they play this game.....when you buy a new scooter from them (under their warranty)...you must bring it in at the 500 mile mark (or before).....to maintain the warranty...which even i will admit is one of the best offered......

while dealers make money on scooter sales.....the real gold mine is in servicing....what they sell......god luck....

[bandit]

I did the 600 mile service myself on my 2009 people s250.It took me forever to get the plastic off. The valves didn't need any adjustment,the motor oil and gear oil change was easy. Only problem was adding the motor oil. I used a transmission funnel because a regular funnel wouldn't fit.
I think it's a little high for a mechanic that can do it in half the time that it took me.If you didn't run it like you stole it I wouldn't worry the valves.My valves were right where they need to be.

[Wil B.]

For my Yager 200, my 600 mile service from my local usually EXPENSIVE Honda/Kymco dealer was around $170.00 including a valve check.  Most ANY kind of motorcycle/scooter should have the valves first checked between 600-1000 miles.  Your initial service including the valve adjustment should not cost more than $200.00.

If you have any doubt about the frequency, consult the owner's manual and go with that.  After you have checked the valves a few times you can modify the schedule as needed.

I will be doing most of the servicing myself after this initial dealer service.  Keep in mind, any motorcycle/scooter is going to have shorter service intervals than a modern car.

Wil B.
Broadview, IL

'71 Guzzi Ambassador
'91 Nighthawk
'04 Kymco Super 9
'10 Kymco Yager 200 GT

[slugrocket rob]

I have been told by a good friend and motorcycle ace that the first valve job is very important as the new valves have a tendency to close. He went on to say that latter adjustments can be skipped based on how the scooter is running and your experience with that particulare scooter's valve behavior (ie do you need to adjust each time or do they go unchanged for a long time). As you know, a valve adjustment is easy! Have fun and I hope this is helpfull! (and yes... I still think the above price is a bit high)

[skatin]

Thanks for the replies.  All very informative, I'm learning a lot.

I recently spent hours reading thru many of the threads on these forums, and I'm not the first to ask initial maintenance questions (I know, I should've done that first DOH! sorry).

I learned I should use regular oil for the first several oil changes, to allow the engine to finish breaking in, then later switch to full synthetic oil.  I downloaded all the service manuals to my laptop, and have been reading them.  The english is pretty funny, but the illustrations are excellent, detailed enough for most people, so even though I'm a computer geek, I'm thinking of giving the whole mechanic thing a try... will probably spill oil on the cat...

I just had an idea!  Since other scooter owners have learned to do it themselves, maybe I should find a local scooter group in my area, and start riding with them.  There are probably several riders that offer to do the valve job at very reasonable rates... I like this idea a lot.  I no longer trust the dealer.  I did google for riding groups in my area, there are several motorcycle groups that welcome scooters, but no scooter groups, so I think I'll go ahead and change both oils this week, then join a group for a ride this weekend.  Hopefully I'll make some new friends, and after a few rides, find somebody that does side work on scooters.  I'll be careful to join for the right reason, to make friends, and not just to find a mechanic!  Since I'm new to this area, I need friends anyways, so this could be good

btw the whole speedometer thing being off was annoying at first, but I've gotten used to it already.  There is a permanent speed trap/radar indicator nearby, that flashes when people are speeding, the zone is 35 mph, when the scooter indicates 45 mph, the sign flashes 37 mph, so I know it's off.  Since I always ride with the flow of traffic (my speed racer days are over), I'm not too worried about an accurate speedometer.  There are replacements/add-ons you can get, but I don't need it.

Another thought, for the cost of a normal $200 maintenance session, I could probably buy some of the tools I need to do most maintenance on the bike.  I think I'll start a new thread, to determine what tools a noob should buy...

Cheers

[slugrocket rob]

Call these cats at the South Bay Scooter Club:
http://www.southbayscooterclub.com/southbaysc/home.html
They are good folks!
-rob