Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Does doing your own Maintenance void the Warranty?

Hi All, was hoping someone could tell me whether or not doing your own maintenance would void the factory warranty? The 12000 mile service is coming up (includes valve lash) and I was exploring the possibility of doing it myself, due to some frustrations with the local dealers. The dealership in Pensacola told me they don't do maintenance while you wait, that I'd have to trailer my bike to the Shop, then leave it for however long they see fit, and then I'd have to drive my happy @$$ back to Pensacola to pick it back up. As for the Dealership in Hattiesburg, I'm a little suspicious of their work ethic, so that's the two dealerships within a 100 mile radius. If anybody has insight on this, I'd greatly appreciate it!! Thanks

No way!
There is a law (someone will tell you the name of it) that covers this exact scenario. The bike is warrantied, nowhere does it say you have to do the prescribed maintanence at a dealer. I do all mine except I let the dealer do the first 600 mile check up, I did the oil myself though.
I am now out of warranty, never needed it either!
Do it yourself, nothing to it. And don't bother buying the Trump backlash tools, a pair of 4mm allen wrenches or a couple 4mm bolt will work fine for the backlash. I got 2 little retainers that member BUDWEISER sent me and they are just 4mm screws with the tops cut off and one end filed down slightly narrower that the other. Simple 10¢ parts. If you want Here's a picture of them, very easy to make yourself with a drill and a file.



Again, Thanks to BUDWEISER for the tools!

Appreciate the insight, and thanks for the pics, they'll be invaluable when I do my valve lash adjustment.

As long as you can get some dealer to stamp your service book, you are OK. A decent dealer service manager will take a look to see that the work was done properly (maybe a fee involved) and stamp away.

My dealer doesn't even have a stamp! They have offered to initial it though.

As stated earlier, in the US the Federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act prevents manufactures from turning down warranty claims just because you do your own maintenance. Just keep your receipts for the parts.

To be safe you'd need to keep good records: Parts receipts, notes about work done, valve clearance measurements, etc. Then I think you'd be on firm ground in case of a warranty dispute.