How to save money while keeping the bike safe

[ZackAttack722]

So after paying for someone else to do my oil changes, I decided I should learn in effort to save money- Jeebus! I wish I had learned a long time ago. What are some other cheaper routes for maintaining/modifying your bike?, aside from doing your own oil changes. And when getting new chains/sprockets, do you order from a site, or purchase the parts at the mechanics, for those jobs that are hard for an amateur, like myself, to do?

If you can't tell- I'm broke (just finished school, yada yada yada), and my kat is my only ride- so any advice on how to keep my bike safe AND have money to fill the gas tank for weekend rides, would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

[crazyaussie]

You're off to a good start with the oil changes...I refuse to pay a shop $80 to do it. Other easy things to do that come to mind. Air filter maintenance, spark plugs, changing bulbs, fuses. As far as ordering parts, shop around and compare prices. Craigslist, Ebay and the forum are great tools to finding stellar deals. Tires are almost always cheaper to buy online...and remember to take the wheels of your bike yourself when getting them mounted at a shop (big cost saver here). When deciding to mod, be patient and a good deal will often come up. If you get too eager you'll prolly spend too much money.

If you are mechanically apt and a quick learner, you can learn how to do pretty much any repair/maintenance from this site.

[md86]

Tires are almost always cheaper to buy online...and remember to take the wheels of your bike yourself when getting them mounted at a shop (big cost saver here).

Or learn to mount them yourself . Not TOO hard once you figure it out .....

[diavolo]

Greetings Zack, as long as you are handy and have access to a basic assortment of tools, you should be able to complete most maintenance items fairly cost efficiently. First order of business would be to obtain the shop manual for the bike - if you do a search on this site, someone had posted pdf files for pre and post Kats. That will be a tremendous asset in doing your maintenance properly. Good luck!

[The CyberPoet]

Well, I carry most of the standard maint items cheaper than any dealer that I've ever found (including mail order dealers), such OEM oil filters, etc. Details here:

http://katriders.com/vb/showthread.php?t=58596

There is *nothing* in terms of routine maintenance that can't be done at home with a few specialty tools (tappet tool, torque wrench, oil filter wrench) plus standard tools (metric allen-keys sockets, plus standard metric sockets). Although the initial tool costs may be a little bit of a set-back (expect to pay around $200 - $250 for a great collection of tools with everything you'll ever need to do all the maintenance yourself), it still no more expensive than paying the shop to do you 7.5k maintenance on the valves and you'll only have to shell out for the tools once. There are threads here on KR with specific hardware recommendations in terms of what tools you'll want, where to score them, etc. If you ask nicely, you can usually find someone in your area who will help walk you through/train you on the first valve adjustment, and you'll learn everything you need. Plus download the manual...

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[ZackAttack722]

Well, I carry most of the standard maint items cheaper than any dealer that I've ever found (including mail order dealers), such OEM oil filters, etc. Details here:

http://katriders.com/vb/showthread.php?t=58596

There is *nothing* in terms of routine maintenance that can't be done at home with a few specialty tools (tappet tool, torque wrench, oil filter wrench) plus standard tools (metric allen-keys sockets, plus standard metric sockets). Although the initial tool costs may be a little bit of a set-back (expect to pay around $200 - $250 for a great collection of tools with everything you'll ever need to do all the maintenance yourself), it still no more expensive than paying the shop to do you 7.5k maintenance on the valves and you'll only have to shell out for the tools once. There are threads here on KR with specific hardware recommendations in terms of what tools you'll want, where to score them, etc. If you ask nicely, you can usually find someone in your area who will help walk you through/train you on the first valve adjustment, and you'll learn everything you need. Plus download the manual...

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

Yeah I found the download for the manual- it's awesome. My next maint. issues would be a new chain and sprockets- do you think I'll get a better price through you for that, also?
I see you've had over 17,000 posts- that's great! Glad to run into you on the forum
-Zack

[The CyberPoet]

My next maint. issues would be a new chain and sprockets- do you think I'll get a better price through you for that, also?

I don't carry them at this time. I may carry them in the future.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[md86]

HS2020 is a Sprocket dealer now ....

[arsenic]

I will second that HS2020 is an awesome person to deal with, I've dealt with him as much as I've dealt with the CyberPoet.

[AKA AllyKat]

Thinking of maintence. CP I'm going to need to get hold of you next week for an oem oil filter and wrench, magnet, and set of iridium plugs for an 05 750. Im just not sure how the pay pal thing works. Ims set up but have only used it once.