Best Sixty Bucks ever spent on your Harley-Davidson

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  Posted by BikerCrap February 25, 2013 - Filed in Working on Bike - 1,253 views
  

  The cost to maintain a Harley-Davidson motorcycle can be significant and gives good reason to learn a few basic maintenance techniques yourself.
  
  As costly as our coveted Harley-Davidsons, is the cost of maintenance to keep them on the road. Like anything mechanical, Harley-Davidson motorcycles require a certain level of attention to ensure their long life and reliability. Most Harley-Davidson owners elect to bring their bikes to the local Harley-Davidson dealership for maintenance while others have found a local bike shop that provides them great service at a more affordable price. But how about doing your own routine maintenance? It seems that only a small minority of Harley owners these days care to tackle motorcycle maintenance on their own, not for the lack of mechanical skills but because of the misunderstanding they have of routine maintenance on their Harley, which most seem to believe is highly technical and requires special training. Well I am here to tell you, this could not be further from the truth!
  
  Not long after the purchase of the BikerCrap.com company vehicle, a Harley-Davidson Road King Classic,  it was recommended to me, by a fellow Harley Rider, to invest in the Harley-Davidson Service Manual with the assurance that it would pay for itself the very first time I used it to perform routine scheduled maintenance. I took my fellow riders advice and purchased the Road King manual for roughly sixty dollars and along with all the 5000 mile maintenance consumables, I walked out of the dealership spending right around $100, a far cry from the better than $200 they were charging for a standard 5000 mile service.
  
  Returning home, I parked the BikerCrap.com company vehicle in the middle of the garage, broke out my new $60 investment and began to see what I had gotten myself in to. The more I read the more I scratched my head and wondered what the heck it was that had everyone believing how complicated the routine service and maintenance checks were on our Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
  
  Harley-Davidson produces a very good service manual for all their models that are easy to read, well illustrated and well organized.   Even for those who are not mechanically inclined can, they can muddle their way through the manual and perform the basic service and inspection on their Harley-Davidson motorcycle with little difficulty. Very few hand tools are required, and in the case of the BikerCrap.com Road King, no specialty tools were needed. You do need a bike lift however, but even bundled into the cost of a new service manual and maintenance consumables, the service manual still pays for itself on its very first use.
  
  There are a number of benefits in doing your own general maintenance on your Harley-Davidson motorcycle. For those who are already motorcycle repair savvy, the obvious reason is knowing the job was performed correctly and certainly the cost savings is a big plus. However, for those who are less experience in motorcycle maintenance, aside from the cost savings, doing your own motorcycle maintenance provides you with an opportunity to become more intimately familiar with your Harley-Davidson which could prove invaluable someday when you or one of your ridding buddies are broke down on the side of the road.
  
  The Harley-Davison service manual is by no means a replacement for skilled motorcycle mechanics however, as you gain confidence and improved your maintenance and wrench turning skills, with the assistance of the service manual, you may begin to undertake more extensive repairs on your Harley-Davidson motorcycle.