7.5K service price £350+VAT+parts!!!!

[mecki]

Neither off which has to be done by a Kawasaki dealer to maintain the warranty it just has to be serviced/inspected in accordance with their procedures.
So having the bike serviced by a dealer every 3750mls but not changing the plugs at 7500 does invalidate the engine warranty.
Servicing the bike yourself and changing the plugs at 7500mls keeps the warranty valid

And how do you know this?
The Kawasaki Motorcycle Warranty Terms & Conditions say something different.
But maybe you can enlighten us?

[Kevin]

Servicing the bike yourself and changing the plugs at 7500mls keeps the warranty valid

While I'm not certain I am not at all sure that is correct. See my post in this thread (penultimate post on page 1).

Martin: Sorry, but I'm not buying it.

Kevin

[fred24]

And how do you know this?
The Kawasaki Motorcycle Warranty Terms & Conditions say something different.
But maybe you can enlighten us?

Was very simple even you could do it. I got the opinion of the only people that matter which is Kawasaki UK.

Who are very clear that DIY servicing does not invalidate the warranty.

[Kevin]

If you got that in writing it would be good if you could attach it here as a public service because that opens up the ability to use any competent mechanic and maintain the warranty.

Kevin

[keith]

I HAVE ASKED THIS QUESTION IN THE PAST REGARDING THE WARRANTY ISSUES AND MAIN DEALERS I WAS TOLD FROM A DEALER THAT AS LONG AS GENUINE KAWASAKI PARTS ARE BEING USED AND YOU ARE USING A COMPETENT / QUALIFIED MECHANIC THER ARE NO PROBLEMS,

[mecki]

I HAVE ASKED THIS QUESTION IN THE PAST REGARDING THE WARRANTY ISSUES AND MAIN DEALERS I WAS TOLD FROM A DEALER THAT AS LONG AS GENUINE KAWASAKI PARTS ARE BEING USED AND YOU ARE USING A COMPETENT / QUALIFIED MECHANIC THER ARE NO PROBLEMS,

No need to shout.
As any lawyer would tell you, 'that's hear-say and no evidence'.
So you talked to a salesman in a Kawasaki shop - big deal.
They are there to sell bikes and most of them get a commission if they sell you one.
They'll tell you anything you want to hear to do that.
And since when is DIY 'using a competent/qualified mechanic'?

[Kevin]

I HAVE ASKED THIS QUESTION IN THE PAST REGARDING THE WARRANTY ISSUES AND MAIN DEALERS I WAS TOLD FROM A DEALER THAT AS LONG AS GENUINE KAWASAKI PARTS ARE BEING USED AND YOU ARE USING A COMPETENT / QUALIFIED MECHANIC THER ARE NO PROBLEMS,

WHICH IS AT ODDS WITH WHAT...oh, sorry...my local Suzuki/Yamaha dealer told me when I asked them if they could also service the GTR.

Kevin

[Martin#30]

< snip > Kawasaki UK .... Who are very clear that DIY servicing does not invalidate the warranty.

Personally, and unfortunately, I think there is a big difference between this statement, and the assumption that Kawasaki will warrant a bike that has been DIY serviced.

If something that cost £20 to fix went wrong, chances are Kawasaki may not even bother checking service records.

Take the other extreme, and say the engine ran low on oil, siezed, and spat me off the bike injuring me and writing off the bike in the process. Now talking about £10k worth of bike, £20k worth of compensation etc. I think they will look more closely now, and dispute the warranty claim on the strength that DIY servicing may have contributed. How can I prove I did not underfill the oil?

My only course of action now would be to take Kawasaki to court, which will involve expensive legal teams, independent engineers, proof of my competence in servicing etc. It would cost a lot of money and time to do it.

In reality though, I think the chances of major failure are hugely slim. Speaking personally, I am likely to get my next service (20k) done at the dealer, but DIY from the expensive 24k service onwards. The bike will still have 6 months warranty left at this point.

Martin.

[Martin#30]

Martin: Sorry, but I'm not buying it.

No worries, I am not selling anything  ;D  Genuinely interested to hear why you think the short service intervals are in place however.

Did you get the wings yesterday by the way?

Martin.

[Rusty]

This topic has certainly generated some interesting views, which I think is healthy, .... Martin says ( and I don't know how to highlight someone elses' text like you clever IT boys do ! ) but he wrote " chances of major failure are hugely slim " and I think that is spot on. We are talking about modern precision engineering at it's best and especially with an engine, a physical bit of metal working together with other bits and pieces  the chance of catastrophic failure is just very slim .... but where electronics and chips and processors are involved then that's a different story !

[Kevin]

No worries, I am not selling anything  ;D  Genuinely interested to hear why you think the short service intervals are in place however.

<g>. You're not supposed to ask questions like that because it's much easier for me to knock someone else's hypotheses than it is to come up with one of my own! The only answer I can suggest is because it's always been that way for big Kawasakis and they obviously don''t consider changing it as something their customers are clamouring for. In my case they are wrong and I'd like to say it's a big factor in my buying decision but I've bought two so it's obviously not that big a factor. I do find it very annoying though  (even more annoying than that stupid 'Fuel Low' warning!). It's not the money, it's the inconvenience.

Did you get the wings yesterday by the way?

Bugger! Sorry Martin I meant to post a 'Thank you' when I was on here earlier and I completely forgot. Yes they did arrive thanks. I'll fit them over the weekend once I've got the FJR back together.

Kevin

[Martin#30]

... and I don't know how to highlight someone elses' text like you clever IT boys do !

That will be that small button at the top right of every post labelled "Quote". Use that instead of reply, and bingo.

Martin.

[BigAlan]

Just my 2p worth, the last two Triumph Sprint ST's i had i got my mate to service for me, just as the schedule from Triumph said it should be and saved a fortune, i actually wrote in the book what had been done and what had been used, all genuine Triumph parts as well, then the rear suspension mounting snapped in half AND the fuel tank imploded with a vacuum problem.

Got it taken to the Triumph dealer and they had no problem in doing all the warranty work at all, never asked a question at all, but i know the salesman knew i had the sevicing done by another beacuse i told him in a previous conversation.

My GTR has had the 700 mile service, it will go back to the dealer around the 5000 mile mark for another but after that its down to me and my mate (who owns a garage business and knows bikes).

Alan

[Kwikasfuki]

This is what the OFT has to say about servicing cars.

Would that apply to motobikes also?

[fred24]

Personally, and unfortunately, I think there is a big difference between this statement, and the assumption that Kawasaki will warrant a bike that has been DIY serviced.

If something that cost £20 to fix went wrong, chances are Kawasaki may not even bother checking service records.

Take the other extreme, and say the engine ran low on oil, siezed, and spat me off the bike injuring me and writing off the bike in the process. Now talking about £10k worth of bike, £20k worth of compensation etc. I think they will look more closely now, and dispute the warranty claim on the strength that DIY servicing may have contributed. How can I prove I did not underfill the oil?

My only course of action now would be to take Kawasaki to court, which will involve expensive legal teams, independent engineers, proof of my competence in servicing etc. It would cost a lot of money and time to do it.

In reality though, I think the chances of major failure are hugely slim. Speaking personally, I am likely to get my next service (20k) done at the dealer, but DIY from the expensive 24k service onwards. The bike will still have 6 months warranty left at this point.

Martin.

If the engined seized because the oil was low Kawasaki or any other manufacturer would be in within their rights to refuse to repair the bike under warranty as it was not caused by a manufacturing defect unless there was a sudden major oil leak that occured while you where on the bike as every manufacturer states that you have to check oil levels

I agree that unless you have a major warranty claim then who services the bike isn't relevant but if you do have a major warranty claim and Kawasaki claim the failure was due to poor maintenance then they are probably within their rights not to honour the warranty as the problem was caused by you or the dealer who serviced the bike - good luck trying to get the dealer to admit liabilty for a failure that was caused by bad workmanship by their mechanic.