When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scooter?

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When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scooter?

Post by pattomike »

I am sure there are threads already in place discussing this topic. But I am 1) too lazy to go look for them, 2) want opinions directly applicable to me and my scooter.

My PCX has 1400 miles on it now. I have ridden it nearly every day since getting it a few months ago. Lately I have been starting to cringe when I ride it because I don't know if it's overdue for its first maintenance. For some reason I don't trust the guy at the parts counter at the Honda dealer.

I prefer to hear it from people who ride PCXs.

Is my scooter overdue for maintenance? Thank you.
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Re: When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scoot

Post by Mel46 »

Yours is a 2017 version so I don't think it has the same requirements as mine, which is a 2013 version. On the 2013 model the first service is at 600 miles, but I think I read somewhere that the newer version doesn't have a service requirement until 4,000 - 5,000 miles. On ours the first service was done to change oil and check the valve clearance. The first oil change usually had small metal particles from engine break in, and the valves usually needed to be adjusted. After that though, almost nothing needs to be done aside from changing the oil ever so often... like every 3,000 miles or so. It is a Honda. They make them to last. Change your oil, check your valve clearance, and then just ride it.
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Re: When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scoot

Post by djbass »

Nothing critical will happen if overdue first service. It is necessary to change the oil 2 times in a short period to calm myself.
Terms of service: 1000km (600 miles) - 4000км (2500 miles) and so on.
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Re: When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scoot

Post by you you »

Change the oil if it makes you happy. It's the acorns that are a problem...
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Re: When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scoot

Post by homie »

What is the ACORNS! youyou?

Mike you are late for general maintenance but you've been busy on seat covers ... so there is that.
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Re: When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scoot

Post by easyrider »

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Say whaat ??
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Re: When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scoot

Post by iceman »

No owners manual with the scooter? Here are two comparitive schedules for service for pre and post '16 models. They were posted on this forum I believe.
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Re: When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scoot

Post by TheMaverick »

On mine the dealer changed the oil at 1000km and I've changed it at 4k, 8k, 12k, 16k, 20k, 24k, 28, 32k. That's more often than the book says it needs to be changed, but others have suggested that it's the single most important thing you can do to look after an engine. Right or wrong, that's what I'm doing.

Apart from that, I pretty much just treat the book items as a "mini warrant of fitness" after an oil change (do the tyres need changing? how's the brake wear? etc).

Because we ride them every day we get pretty tuned to anything that's not right - per the book, if there were anything wrong with the many of the items mentioned then we'd know about it anyway.

In my opinion, Honda are too generous to dealers in the frequency they recommend changing things. Spark plugs are the best example - why would a typical spark plug that does over 100,000km in a car need changing every 8,000km on a bike? (and before you answer, mine still goes just fine after 32,400km). I changed the air cleaner at 30,000km because it just didn't need doing when the book said.

By my observation they're a very solid and conservative design - and a LOT of money can be saved by NOT giving dealers a blank check to lower your bank account at regular intervals. If it's serviced by the book then it'll never have a problem - if you service it yourself you probably will have minor problems from time to time, but you'll be able to fix them yourself when they occur and save a lot of money as a result.
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Re: When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scoot

Post by WhiteNoise »

homie wrote:What is the ACORNS! youyou?
Me thinks oil drain bolt and oil filter cap/bolt (acorns=nuts)
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Re: When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scoot

Post by djbass »

EasyRider, photos service intervals replacement consumables for PCX. The first photo pictures of the parts and text in Thai language because I have PCX from Thailand :)
TheMaverick, do not neglect the recommendations of Honda replacement consumables for the PCX. Spark plug scooter 1 , but the car - 4, so the period is reduced, as for example in the mower or chainsaw, plus a scooter engine often operates at high speeds. The same goes for the air filter, which costs little money and should also be changed frequently.
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Re: When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scoot

Post by TheMaverick »

djbass wrote:TheMaverick, do not neglect the recommendations of Honda replacement consumables for the PCX. Spark plug scooter 1 , but the car - 4, so the period is reduced, as for example in the mower or chainsaw, plus a scooter engine often operates at high speeds. The same goes for the air filter, which costs little money and should also be changed frequently.
I disagree. If a spark plug NEEDED to be replaced at 8,000km then mine wouldn't still be going flawlessly at over 32,000km without even so much as being cleaned and gapped. If an air-filter NEEDED to be replaced at 16,000km then it would have started to restrict the airflow and affect the bike's performance by 24,000km - and my performance was just fine when I replaced it at 30,000km (and didn't change in any way after the filter was changed).

All of these things have a margin that needs to account for the worst combination of many variables; I'm replacing my consumables when some kind of evidence suggests to me that they NEED replacing not because of a list that "conveniently" benefits the manufacturer with regards to part sales and affiliated dealer service division income.
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Re: When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scoot

Post by alx123 »

Ah, i don't give a big fuss about all of this. These consumables are really dirt cheap, I'll be happy to give my money to Honda, the benefits of enjoying the scooter is priceless.

Maintenance schedule are actually just a rough guide to help people remember when to check or change things. Theyre not absolute for sure.

the thing is, if you wait for things to be broken before you change them, you might end up pushing your scoot from the middle of nowhere..unless you carry spares with you all the time..
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Re: When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scoot

Post by you you »

WhiteNoise wrote:
homie wrote:What is the ACORNS! youyou?
Me thinks oil drain bolt and oil filter cap/bolt (acorns=nuts)

:D No :lol: The sky is falling responses.
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Re: When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scoot

Post by homie »

OH that's nice Honda changed the service schedule but not really anything on the bikes LOL. How do they justify that?

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Re: When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scoot

Post by TheMaverick »

alx123 wrote:Maintenance schedule are actually just a rough guide to help people remember when to check or change things. Theyre not absolute for sure.
Not really. Honda are a business; their objective isn't to be super-kind to us and give us information that will help us keep our scoots running at their overall most economical for us - their objective is to make as much money for their business as possible. Part of that means selling as many OEM supplies as possible, and at the highest possible markup, and getting as much maintenance revenue for the dealers who align their businesses with Honda. Keeping that in check however is competition from other manufacturers - so it all becomes a big game of chess. What can they get away with? - in terms of reputation (longer between services a better product reputation for low-cost running) - scooter reliability (longer between services gives potentially more wear and/or failures which MAY damage the reputation) - and in terms of the money dealers can make servicing the scooter (the more the better for the dealers, but obviously that has to be balanced against the perceived running costs for a customer considering a purchase) - and a whole lot of things like that.
the thing is, if you wait for things to be broken before you change them, you might end up pushing your scoot from the middle of nowhere..unless you carry spares with you all the time..
Yes and no - it's an exercise in risk management. I don't intend to be stupid about it, but when I read things like how the valve clearance should be checked every 8,000km and another dealership says it's just not necessary - and checks are well over NZD $100 per service (because Honda ensured that the bike has to be practically disassembled to get to it - co-incidence?) - I start thinking through the pros and the cons. If an air cleaner is supposed to be changed at 16,000km the bike isn't going to stop on the side of the road at 16,001 - or 17,000 - or as it turned out 30,000. If brake fluid is supposed to be changed after 2 years - but still looks OK because of my environmental conditions - what would happen if that's extended to 3 years? If a spark plug is still going fine at 32,000km then why not just change it every 32,000km in future? etc etc etc.

Honda would LOVE me to get all servicing done by a dealer and would LOVE it if I replaced everything when they say it should be replaced. I did some numbers on that and based on the milage I was doing and NZ servicing costs the cost of service & replacement parts was going to equal the price of the new bike in around 6 years! Doing my own service drops that dramatically. Changing parts intelligently reduces that significantly further (keeping in mind that parts here aren't necessarily cheap - brought in from overseas helps a lot, but postage can be a big issue at times).

My encouragement is for people to just take a step back and have a think about what really works best for them. If that's ultimately following the manufacturers recommended schedule then that's fine for them - and I'm not going to argue otherwise. I really just wanted to open eyes into why that schedule isn't created with our best interests at heart - and back it up with my own data - so they can make an informed choice accordingly if they want. I suspect that they try to create a certain perception as to what's needed that aligns better with their interests than ours. Nothing against Honda specifically - I love them dearly and they don't do anything differently to any other manufacturer in that respect - but I also keep in mind that they're not my "friends" and they're not trying to look out for my financial well being.

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Re: When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scoot

Post by alx123 »

Fair enough. i can see where youre coming from, things are expensive where you are.

In Thailand, that's not really a problem. I guess aftermarket parts get more money than OEM here.
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Re: When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scoot

Post by PCX150Rider »

I did my first Engine oil change at just over 600 miles. I did my first Final Drive oil change at just over 1000 miles. Final Drive oil should be good for a couple of seasons but I wanted to get fresh oil replaced early for obvious reasons. . .and yes there was some very fine shiny gold colored particles reflecting in the sun from the original factory oil after break-in.
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The replacement amount of Engine oil is a whole discussion in itself. For the most part it takes about 800 ml (or about .8 qt) but the SM indicates if you disassemble the engine or clean the strainer screen it should take a quart. I did that and ended up having to remove some oil because it was overfilled and I tried to get out every drop of oil I could when I drained it. Some oil hides in cavities and you never get it all out. So be careful when you drain and refill your Engine oil and just fill it up to the top line of the dipstick (when not screwed in) IAW the procedure in the manual (you need to run the engine for a few minutes to warm it up first). Measure it several times to be sure.

My 2017 PCX was made in Vietnam and has the U.S. Owners Manual stating that the valve clearance needs to be done at 600 and 2,500 miles and then every 2,500 miles after that. The Service Manual I got from the dealer which was printed for 2013 - 2015 models had been re-identified in inventories with new stickers making it applicable up through 2017 and said the same.
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I haven't done a valve clearance check on it yet and don't plan to until 4,000 miles. The manual that comes with the newer PCX models in the U.K. lists the first valve clearance check to be done at 4,000 miles. Why there is a difference between manuals on one side of the pond and the other side of the pond I don't know. That being said my PCX runs fine and valve noise is consistent. . .no changes there. . .no quieter. . .no noisier. Performance has only improved as it's now breaking in and I just turned 1,300 miles on it the other day. I do recommend checking the tire pressure daily. . .just give the tires a squeeze (like on a bicycle) to see if they seem OK. At least once a month put a tire gauge on them and top off the pressure. . .don't be surprised if they drop a pound or two over a month. Also ambient temperature and seasonal changes effect the tire pressure. Always check them before you ride when they are cold.
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Re: When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scoot

Post by TheMaverick »

PCX150Rider wrote: The replacement amount of Engine oil is a whole discussion in itself. For the most part it takes about 800 ml (or about .8 qt) but the SM indicates if you disassemble the engine or clean the strainer screen it should take a quart.
I'm told that if you clean the strainer you need to tip the bike to the left considerably to get that extra oil out. I normally don't bother with the strainer (when I did check it it was 99,99999% clear) so these days I just drain the oil from the sump - measure it (so I can track oil burn) - then refill with 800ml. I don't even bother with the dipstick. When I change it again in 4000km usually 730 to 740ml comes out.
I haven't done a valve clearance check on it yet and don't plan to until 4,000 miles. The manual that comes with the newer PCX models in the U.K. lists the first valve clearance check to be done at 4,000 miles. Why there is a difference between manuals on one side of the pond and the other side of the pond I don't know.
Manuals are written around what's best for manufacturers bank balances with all things considered - not what's best for the longevity of our bikes. My valves were checked at 1000km and never since (coming up on 33,000km now). For me it would cost well over $100 a time to get them checked as the bike has to practically be disassembled to do it. We sought advice from a non-affiliated dealer and the advice that came back was "it's not a particularly high-performance or high-revving engine so don't worry about it unless there are signs it needs it". So far I've saved about $600 following that advice and the bike doesn't go any different to when it was new.
I do recommend checking the tire pressure daily. . .just give the tires a squeeze (like on a bicycle) to see if they seem OK. At least once a month put a tire gauge on them and top off the pressure. . .don't be surprised if they drop a pound or two over a month. Also ambient temperature and seasonal changes effect the tire pressure. Always check them before you ride when they are cold.
I recommend fitting a FOBO tyre monitor system so it sends alerts to your phone ANY time the pressure drops below prescribed limits (I've had 4 flats in 2 years and that would have helps on more than 1 occasion). I've got one and I wouldn't be without it now. Few things have impressed me as much as that product and the support surrounding it.
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Re: When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scoot

Post by you you »

homie wrote:OH that's nice Honda changed the service schedule but not really anything on the bikes LOL. How do they justify that?

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Re: When and what should be my FIRST maintenance of my scoot

Post by springer1 »

I recommend fitting a FOBO tyre monitor system so it sends alerts to your phone ANY time the pressure drops below prescribed limits (I've had 4 flats in 2 years and that would have helps on more than 1 occasion). I've got one and I wouldn't be without it now. Few things have impressed me as much as that product and the support surrounding it.
Did you rebalance your tires to compensate for these or is their weight not consequential ?
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