Hello guys

I've got to service (12,000 miles) and MOT my yamaha TT600RE, 03 reg.

now, this is my dilemma:

shall I take it again to the unfriendly, central london yamaha dealer (2 weeks waiting list).
rude guys who are never available for a chat nor questions,
and who don't show any interest / knowledge / appreciation for trail bikes.

or shall go to a local suzuki authorized garage, cheaper, no need to book, very friendly guy who seem to like TTRs and trail bikes?
although he may have problems with original yamaha parts?
(I could bring him a copy of the yamaha official service manual).

how important is it, in your opinions, to keep the bike serviced at a yamaha authorized garage?

thanks all in advance

Diego

Take it to the FRIENDLY GUY!
he will have NO PROBLEM getting parts......
he will have no problem talking to you
and most importantly YOU will have NO PROBLEM with him!

and at 5 yrs old its out of warranty from Yamaha anyway so Official Dealer servicing is no longer required.

Martyn

Find yourself a good independent motorcycle garage ask around see who other guys on bikes in your area use. I have found the Yamaha garages are only really interested in selling you a new bike and not really interested in the maintenance side especially on something like an XT. I also find that when it comes to my bike I need someone I can trust to mess around with it...........not some kid who has just left college and gets minimum wage.....no one wants a wheel to fall off at 70 mph!!!! I use a guy down in Bognor Regis who has been around forever he is very good and only has one other bloke who has worked with him for years. My only advice is to do your research and ask around other bikers.

I would not let a main Yamaha dealer in central London service my bike if possible.
Find an independent guy
I can recomend Banjax in East London or Southern Cross in Kilburn both shops will talk to you and can get parts, one guy at Banjax has had a few XTs and big trail bikes.
Some parts on the TTR are a problem if they have to be special order. I waited 5 weeks for a generator cover it did not turn and I finally found a second hand one.
The price of some parts are quite expensive Brembo front master cylinder £120 from Yamaha or £70 from Brembo.
Ohlins rear shock £1400 from Yamaha or about £600 from Ohlins.
Plastics are very cheap.

I think most Yamaha dealers get there spares through Fowlers of Bristol so your Suzuki man should be able to order from them.

If not Fowlers try Wemoto Home FAST delivery and always a great service, cant recommend em highly enough even for Overseas Delivery!

Martyn

most of the things to service a yamaha 595 are easy to do, and do not need special equipment or electronics. The suzuki mech is probably a good option, many ppl simply do maintanance by themselves in their garage.

The only special thing is when you open the crankcase, then you will need someone that did it before, to avoid problems.

All other maintenance operations can be done easily, main thing is that the mechanic is enough skilled and responsable.
For example, use of a torque key for oil filter cover screws, although not necessary, is a good idea.

Ah, last thing, forget original spare parts, and also new spare parts. Joking, but as said original spares are pretty expensive, so for some things (chain, brakes ) is good to buy NOT original, for other sometimes is better to search on ebay.

Well you have good advice there.

If you need another Yam parts supplier, south of London, there is:-

MoTo-WARD Ltd Website

They are very friendly over the telephone.


I believe things have changed in terms of warranties, so that when a bike is in its warranty period it need only be serviced with genuine parts by any garage with qualified mechanics - that's how I understand the situation to be, as a result of European legislation to "open up" the motor trade.
Does anyone know anything different?

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Dave

By and large is a service not just an Oil and Filter change that you would do your self ? the only thing slightly more involved I guess would be checking and setting the tappets ?

These Bikes should run for years with just regular Oil changes it's always being mentioned how agricultural these bikes are.

Am I missing something ?

Just a small point, I have 2 TTRE's and a TTR in my garage, look back on old posts and see how many people have managed to strip threads on this engine (XT etc). This includes me and I should know better!
Not every mechanic is aware of the delicate nature of the fasteners/casings on these bikes. Get a manual and do it yourself.....carefully of course.

Very Valid Point actually!
I too, am guilty of the Heinous crime of Hamfistedness on this particular Engine... ( Oil Filter Cover!)

Martyn

Fortunately I checked on here how to check the Oil levels before changing the oil and filter on my Bike when I bought it, I was very cautious when tightening the Oil filter cover put up with a slight leek at first I was that cautious but when I tried fitting the Oil line (braided hose thing) that runs from Oil reservoir to bottom of the Engine the dam thing was under tension and barely lined up it was really a two man job to fit a bloody pipe and I think I might of slightly cross threaded one of the threads it doesnt leek and will be aware of it next time.

Mines a 2004 TTRE so are these Bikes all made in Italy not Japanese parts assembled there ? I really love this bike it does what i bought it for but I have to say its the poorest quality Japanese bike Ive ever owned and I buy and sell Jap Bikes.

Ye gods, you've struck a chord there, for me anyway.

More or less as Leigh says above, you could look back in here and see the issues that I have had with a TT600R - including the one you describe here, but I don't think I bothered to recount that one in fact - it was a pretty minor thing for me compared with the top end oil leaks etc that I experienced (a 2001 TT600R with the 3AJ engine and very few miles).

I don't recall where the parts are made (some may be from France?) but, as you say, assembled in Italy.
Hopefully Leigh is having a better experience with 3 of them to maintain.

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Dave

You didn't show any sign in your question of wanting to DIY your bike; yes, if you are interested then the routine servicing is straight forward enough, as others have said, but you would do well to get a good manual for all of the correct advice, tolerance information and settings, and, you will need a few tools.
This may, or may not, be your cup of tea, but it does mean that you will know your bike much better than employing others to work on it.
You might even get to love your XT (better than you would do otherwise!)

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Dave

Thanks Dave, and to all of you guys, for the precious advise.

I'm a rather new biker (had my first bike, a TT600RE, for less than an year; done 14,000 km), and I am still learning.
Also, I have to say that i've always been a rather useless mechanic.

Although these bikes seem very simple, I'm still not that confident in doing things on my own,
and when a yamaha dealer told me that i need to service it every 6,000 miles... to me it's honestly still quite unclear what are the bike needs and periodical maintenances, and if I can do them myself or not...

All I've done so far is changing oil and filter, lubricating clutch, throttle cables and chain... but in just one year, the bike has always run perfectly.

I am willing to learn, and i like it, but I'm still gradually getting the right knowledge and tools (at the mo, even taking the tank off, in order to replace the spark-plug seems a big job for me!)

thank you all for your help!

Diego

Your willing to learn, that is the MAIN thing!
one good tip is this...... put a LITTLE and i mean a smear, of Copaslip on any screw or bolt that you take off the bike, especially on the engine casings, it stops the 'electrolytic' action of steel & alloy and stops the bolts siezing in and helping to strip the threads.

Martyn