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No Guzzi riders in your area that do or can help with a tech day and your service? Dealers are a rip in your wallet.
Since they have seen hundreds or thousands and know what they are looking at, I want that. I would pay the $500-$600 for that if I had to.
It's just as likely the guy handed the routine first service has seen about 5 of them, is being paid flat-rate which means he makes more the faster he can do it (because he can get onto another job quicker), and that he won't see anything that could "devolve into a problem."At some point you have to ask yourself if you trusted the dealer to prep the bike properly or not. If they did, what would they miss. If they didn't, why would they find something now?*Break-in services are the vestigial tail of the powersports industry. They are there for dealer profit combined with a CYA for the OEM. In comparison our new $75k Defender's first service is still 18 months away. *Note: I'll answer my own question there. The OEM cya is if a dealer actually finds something that has started to come undone on the first few hundred miles. Rare, but in theory possible if something was put together wrong or is defective. The cya is that perhaps a dealer tech would spot a potential developing safety issue at that point. It's a widely cast net that very rarely brings in a single fish.
It would be very interesting to be a fly on the wall in most shops to see if and what they actually do on the 1st service. I'm betting a lot of the time you aren't getting what you think you should.
On top of items you mentioned as part of the first service, I would add the following checks; -Clutch operation - steering head bearing for free play - swingarm pivot for free play - brake operation/ fluid levels - All lights and directionals - ECU checked for stored faults - general check of fasteners
I remember when you bought a new motorcycle the first and maybe second service calls where free. The dealers you bought it from treated you as a valued customer and your bike was special and warranty service calls went to the front of the line. Now it is like going to the grocery store and buying a can of peas, what brand should you buyAnd how big a can.Now you have to make an appointment get in line to pay for 30-50 dollars worth of shop supply’s and a good look over. Shows you how long it has been since I bought a new bike, at least 40 years. A motorcycle dealer in Iowa ( name I won’t mention ) dropped Guzzi after the Piaggio buy out, commented that he would sell a customer a Moto Guzzi and they would never come back.Indeed, I couldn't tell you how many times I have heard guys brag about NEVER having to take their bike to a Guzzi shop!
From the manual, the items for the first service are: Inspect steering bearings and clearance. Diagnosis by tool, I'm sure this is PADS or whatever is being used now. Inspect brake pads and discs for wear.Replace engine oil filter and oil. Inspect general vehicle operation. Adjust valve clearance.Inspect braking system, lights, safety switches, brake fluid, tire pressure/wear, and loose nuts/bolts.Adjust the clutch clearance. On my previous post my iPad autocorrected me to say that isn't about what I was quoted when I meant to say that it was about what I was quoted. As you can see from the list, most of the stuff that's scheduled for the first service is just inspection. I elected to change the oil/filter myself, gave the bike a good once-over, and adjusted the valves. I don't have a diagnosis tool to turn off the maintenance reminder or do anything with the computer but the bike was running fine. I eventually took the bike in to have the maintenance reminder reset because it drove me nuts. Final drive and transmission fluids are not on the schedule until the 18k mile service, although I'll probably change mine at the 6k mark. I already bought a liter of the stuff so I'm set to go. For my first service I was probably in for $30 by doing it myself; $15 for the filter and then 2 quarts of oil. Everything else was just getting familiar with the bike. I simply could not afford $600 so I was motivated to do it myself, granted I've adjusted the valves on a big block Guzzi before so the process was somewhat familiar but there are plenty of videos and other resources out there to help you out if you're so inclined.
I got a quote from OC Motorcycle (where I bought the 2019 V7 III) last December and it was around $450 for the first service and includes those items listed on the owner's manual. I then checked Pro Italia and their price is about the same.I would most likely use OC Motorcycle and check with them and see if I can get some sort of discount since I bought the bike from them. The only issue is that they are around 36 miles away and to check valve clearance the bike needs to be cool. I am not going to wait in their shop for 6 hours, so I am planning on doing the valve clearance myself and let them do the rest.I don't mind paying them for the service, as long as they actually do what the book says and do them right. When I go there, I would just casually mentioned that my past experience with the motorcycle dealer service was that they only did oil and filter change and nothing else, but charged me for everything. After I get the bike back, I would check if they actually tighten the clutch and throttle cables, lube the levers, correct oil level, and tire pressure. If any of these does not satisfy me, I will let the owner know and not going back to them again.
However, most of that stuff is easy. Except perhaps the head bolts. Next, pull valve covers and alternator cover and find crankcase nut (usually 24-27mm). Remove spark plugs and rotate motor counter-clockwise if looking towards motor from front of bike. Now if you have to do the head bolts, you probably have to remove the rockers.