Hi all.. Im glad I found you! I have a 2003, 52 plate f4i that i love and have had for a couple of years now. It is in desperate need of a service but unfortunately i have no faith in the local garage to carry this out for me as I've been ripped off there with my car. So its down to me. I am no mechanic. I have no past mechanical experience, and little knowledge of most parts of an engine. But I am eager to learn, and eager to keep the money out of under qualified mechanics pockets! Basicaly, I need to find out what tools I'll need for the job, and if there is anywhere I can buy a kind of 'service pack,' with all of the components i'll need to replace in it? Also, and this might sound really stupid, but what does anyone do with the old oil once its been replaced?

Huge thanks in advance if anyone can help at all, Sam

 

Hey there,
1st off, welcome. 2nd, not to upset any of the mechs on the forum, but an auto mechanic isn't necessarily qualified to work on a motorcycle, and vice versa, so if at all possible if you need to take a bike to a mechanic, always go with bike mech if you have the opportunity, IMO.
3rd, When you say it is need of service, can you elaborate? Depending what is needed will relegate the expertise and tools needed.

 

Really? Well then, I hope you don't need our help on anything....
Come on Ham, that's not a fair statement.

 

I think you are taking it out of context my friend.
Generally speaking I don't think that that an auto mech can speak as well to things as fork compression as a bike mech can. Conversely an auto mech can speak better to auto specific things.
I was making a generalized statement, not an indictment on one persons abilities over the other.
That's all I was trying to say.
If what I said was to be taken at face value, I should only work on tractors and airplanes as that is what I have the most mechanical experience.

 

I dunno what that fork thingamagig is.

Guess I'll get back to my beer and **** mag...

 

Sorry to have caused this disagreement! Well by 'in need of a service,' i mean Ive never serviced it or had it serviced. Since 2014. It sounds worse than it is as Ive had 18 months off riding as I have an 18 month old boy that has stopped me in my tracks. But I've dusted it off, cleaned it up, and it flew through the mot. I just now want to look after it properly as Im planning to ride it alot more.
Im unsure exactly what a service could entail more than plugs, oils and the usual but Im open to advice on what might need doing on top. Chain is fine, I gave that a good clean yesterday and oiled it up before taking it out, battery is gone though, had to start it with a starter, and when out, had to bump it. So will need to replace that. But when riding, it felt food as new! Sorry I cant elaborate more.

Thanks again, Sam

 

Hi Sam welcome to the forum, try having a look on You Tube for different aspects of bike maintenance , as for the waste oil its free to dump at the local council recycling plant

 

You could do worse than buying something like a Haynes manual for your bike.

It takes you through everything step by step, with pictures from simple stuff like an oil change, to more complex stuff, that I wouldn't want to tackle

I find it's nice to have the book to hand, so you can refer to it, if you get a bit lost.

On line tutorials are also a great resource and I would recommend you use both.

The tools you'd need would really not be much more than a basic socket set and a basic set of spanners, to start with.

There are plenty of on line suppliers of parts and oil. I use WeMoto, because they're just down the road from me and I can get the stuff straight away, without waiting for the post. But they sell on-line as do plenty of similar people on E-Bay.

Changing oil, oil filter, air filter and spark plugs is very simple, just take your time and it can be easily be done in an afternoon, by someone with no/little experience.

BTW fill in your user CP so we know where you are, you might be living down the road from a member who can help.

 

Thanks both, Il check youtube and a Haynes manual is a great shout. I'll buy one right away! Thanks again.. i'll be scouring ebay for hours now!