If you don't mind picking up a spanner ie
Quote:

2) I'm hardly a mechanic, but I do like to do basic maintenance if I can.

then you'll be fine with the maintenance, including the shims.

Prior to getting my bike 2 years ago I hadn't done anything to a bike other than basic stuff, like changing the fluids etc.

Anyway, I considered letting the dealer do my shims (if needed) but the whole thing of taking it to the shop, waiting around, paying them for it etc etc amongst other things just didn't sit well with me.

So I read everthing I could on this place, bought the haynes manual and was given the Triumph manual, and with the help of my buddies here with answers to questions I had, I successfully changed the shims that required it, and was pretty happy with myself to boot.

So if you look at it like it's a challenge and you have a half descent setup with space and the required tools, you might just enjoy it like I did.

Beside saving money and the satisfaction of doing it yourself though, I much prefer to know what has been done and to know it's been done properly (I think ).

For instance the mechanic at the dealer near my place (same bloke, small dealership) said to me when I asked him if he could swap some shims, that it didn't matter if the valve gaps were larger than the specs by a little bit but not the other way round ie smaller gaps than spec.

Well I personally didn't like the idea of letting this bloke near my bike. Call me a bit pedantic if you want but if the manual says the valve gaps should be within certain tolerances, I adjust my gaps to within these tolerances.

Simple really and that way I know my bike has been serviced propely and better still, is running nice and smooth like it should be, and is.

Staintune Pipes, K&N Pods, 45 pilots, TBS needles and 145 mains.