As an old school "biker" whose formative years were spent with oily fingernails and spanners in my pockets I too was initially amused by the thought of someone taking their bike to a dealer to have the chain adjusted, but thinking about it I'm not so sure I'm not the one off the normal spectrum these days.

Time was when bikes (and cars, but bikes more so) were hugely maintenance dependent and you were as likely to be changing a piston or a valve at the side of the road as you were adjusting the chain. Bit by bit the manufacturers have removed the weak spots to the point where there's not much the average owner is expected, or really needs to know about the mechanical side of things. I suspect many "weekend" low mileage bikes don't need their chains adjusting from one service to the next and, like much of the rest of the bits under the covers, can be ignored.

Part of the problem with the "no user maintainable parts inside" approach is the old Colin Chapman (founder of Lotus cars!) quote of "if I made it adjustable they'd adjust it wrong". Adjusting a chain does actually require a reasonable knowledge base as well as a number of tools to carry it out. You have to know that "as tight as possible" isn't the correct answer but if you're starting from scratch why would you assume that it has to be slack but just not as slack as it is. Years ago you could probably have picked up a copy of Motorcycle Mechanics magazine who would have walked you through the procedure step by step but they saw the writing on the wall years ago and reinvented themselves as Performance Bikes. Not much chain adjusting info in the last copy I read.

Of course it's an ill wind that doesn't blow anybody any good and reducing the knowledge base requires to ride a bike as a weekend hobby does give the dealers some chance to pull back an income stream lost when fitting new Norton crankshafts and fixing Triumph oil leaks were day to day jobs. If you can adjust your chain, rebuild your wheels or weld up a new frame think yourself lucky to be able to, but what else could you have been doing instead.

Nah - privately owned and expensed.

Agree with all your points in your posts, but adjusting a chain ain't in the same ballpark as welding a frame or rebuilding a wheel (neither of which are in my skill set)!

The business models of BMW & Triumph (and the associated maintenance hassles) are why I ride a V-strom and Tenere.....

I just picked up a 2010 KLR650. The headlight beam is too high so I checked the manual to see which way was up with the adjusters. Manual says "let the dealer do it"

Sheesh!

Yeah, but did ya take it to the dealer??

Nope. Dealers here know less than anyone.

Plus I just bought a GSA so the KLR is gathering dust!

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk

The dealer de-skilling is a bit of an advantage to us if they change the designs to match. If their YTS McDonalds reject can get the oil out without burning himself or destroying either your bike or the workshop, doing the same in a layby isn't going to be impossible. If they seal the engine and we work out they've done it (they'll hide behind inspecting filters and other non-jobs) we can ignore the service intervals so long as we are prepared to walk away from the warranty.

The risk is rubbish like having the "safety" light disable the ignition every 2500 miles unless a dealer is called in to inspect and reset it. None have dared do this yet. Their attempts at special tools go back to the Victorians and always fail in the end. If they can make an 69/93rds bolt, we can make an 18.8 mm socket. Same goes for electronics, some teenager will break the code and sell you a phone app to reset the light.

Suzuki BTW are getting lower in my opinion. The Wee-strom is fine with 5000 mile oil changes. The threat of a cancelled warranty if I don't let their grease monkey inspect my air filter (how do you do that BTW, open the lid and should "oi, boss, is this it?") every 3500 miles drives me towards Moto Guzzi who don't seem to care less so long as someone drops the oil once a year. Suzuki policy is to double the dealer visits and cost by taking the tank off at 4000 to inspect the air filter then again at 7500 to change the plugs. I changed both at 5000 and will again at 15000. Putting new oil in a dirty filter is stupid. Our local dealer seems to be able to change the plugs with the tank still on according to the paint marks on peoples bolts, stamps in their service books and £400 invoices. I bet he uses X-ray vision to inspect the air filters too. That or the invoices just buy more warranty?

Andy

The cynic in me has wondered for some time how of the drive towards having essentially trivial maintenance tasks done by a dealer is part of an attempt to just give them something to do and keep them in business. All manufacturers must face the same issue, that they're making cars (mainly) and bikes more reliable, with less parts needing periodic attention (when was the last time you greased your propshaft ) so there's less need of a semi skilled dealer workforce making up for design deficiencies.

Maybe if Touring Ted picks up on this thread he could give us some inside info on what typical day in his workshop consists of but, accident repairs notwithstanding, I wonder how much of the routine stuff could be (almost) eliminated if BMW set their mind to it when their designers start on the next generation of cars and bikes. I suspect there's a fine line to be trod between making vehicles that don't need dealer attention (during the warranty period anyway) and giving them so much to do that a reputation for unreliability means no one buys them in the first place.

It wouldn't happen with a KTM; the manual even tells you how to change the light bulbs.

Of course, the solution is:-
"We have ridding from London to Everest Base Camp so far and with the Scottoiler on our F800GS we have not even adjusted the chain once. Can't fault the design and reliability. You can almost forget you have a chain on the bike. Through all the dirt, dust, mud and sand the Scottoiler has performed faultlessly"
Kevin Sanders – Co-Founder Globebusters
(taken straight out of the HUBB link -- http://www.scottoiler.com/uk/adventu...nlimited+Forum )

Isn't this the same guy who used to ride a shafty 1200GS?????

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Dave

I agree, but the fact that you're able to make the distinction shows that you've traveled at least part of the way along the greasy fingernails highway. Have you noticed any reduction in your skill set over the years as replacement bikes have needed less doing to them? Nobody sets two stroke timing with a dial gauge any more (well I do but that's another matter) but it was almost a daily ritual years ago. Chain adjusting is just another step on that journey.

My wife doesn't ride but she does drive and has zero knowledge of car mechanics - to the point where she doesn't know where the bonnet release catch is. She doesn't need to as BMW have engineered out the need for her to lift the bonnet. Nothing has gone wrong in two cars over five years and the service intervals are a couple of hours in the dealers' every two years. I could easily see her taking the car to a dealer to fill the windscreen washer fluid (were I not around to do it) - and complaining about how hard it is to do.

Bikes are not quite at that stage yet but they need a lot less hands on intervention than they did and it's a trend that's only going to continue - even the Italians have had to raise their game! You're meant to enjoy them rather than enjoy repairing them.