New front tyre - then two other things to replace . . .

[iceman]

Had my bike booked in to fit a MCG to the front (asked them to order it) and they said come back in a while. Came back to find the new tyre they fitted was a Bridgestone Battleaxe and then advised me they could not get the MCG in time - so why not tell me that before changing it! I even mentioned fitting a MCG when I arrived.

They then said if I kept the brigestone on the front they would fit a new BS to the rear for free - but the rear has a fairly new MCG fitted (in great shape) so why would I change that - strewth. We then agreed to let them get the MCG, allow me to use the BS for a few days and come back Friday for the tyre and two other things to be done. The manager was not worried about three days wear and swap of the new front tyre as it was their fault, not mine.

The 1st extra bit of work is new steering races to be fitted as there was some play on mine - totally shot they said as with the bike raised from the ground and the steering pulled a bit to one side, it kept centering. Months ago I did try and find a 'notch' but all seemed fine - hope they did not have the scooter a but lopped sided when demonstrating it. Quoted approx £180 labor (2hr's) and parts - not sure they realise what needs to come off to gain access.

They also had my front pads off to show me they were almost worn, which is strange as they have not been on anywhere near as long as the originals and the reservoir was still showing a high level in the window when riding.

Bike has done 22,300 miles.

[87112]

I agree with you, stick with what work with tires. People will say all tires are the same they are just round and black. But not for me. I found the good old city grip to be better than what Pirelli's latest has to offer. The CG turns in easier, is just more fun to ride on.

[you you]

I don’t have a good feeling about this....

[iceman]

It's a main Motorcycle dealer that does CBT and motorcycle training, sells gear and does repairs on all kinds of bikes - all in one place.

They should have been honest about the tyre, although the bridgestone tyre gets good reviews, the pads I believe were my own ones not others they had lying around, and I can believe the bearings need replacing, just worried how they are going to do it without breaking lots of panels. I believe lots has to come off back to front, but they may have other plans.

[Coasting]

I've had constant battles like this with my dealer. Once may have been an accident - twice is a pattern. What do you call it when the odds just happen to fall in their favour about 8 times in a row now? I ask for a price and availability on a part - they call up a couple of days later to say the part has arrived. I specifically asked for an IRC tyre - they fitted a MCG (which I was actually happy about since it's by far the better tyre and would have ordered one except I thought they couldn't get them) (but they should still have let me known) - and on and on it goes. This seems petty but I'm almost at the point of putting what work is authorised in writing with a disclaimer that I'll not be paying for anything else unless by written agreement because they've done this to me so many times. About 50% of the time I do see a benefit to me - but what irritates me is 100% of the time I see a benefit for them.

Speaking of head bearings; mine too have a little bit of a "notch". The first time they adjusted it without me asking (along with some other work I didn't ask for) - had a chat to the owner about that and he agreed that they should have sought my permission beforehand. They said it was "unlikely to pass it's annual inspection" with it being like that but given the cost of the replacement I took a gamble and had them order the replacement parts but not fit them. Over 3 years later I've still got those parts and it's flown through 3 annual inspections. I find that a couple of minutes of moving it from lock to lock whilst on the centre stand helps.

The bearings can also get a bit loose which can be fixed by tightening the head - you mostly hear it as a "clunk" if you hit a pothole whilst the front is loaded (eg braking downhill). Dealer tells me that quite a few panels have to come off to adjust it though - so even an adjustment takes them an hour or so.

Not sure what the story is with pads - I've having a big difference between first and 2nd set - despite both being OEM. Parts like that I just order online and get them for 1/3 what the dealer would charge (for EXACTLY the same part) - then I get the dealer to fit them for stuff I don't want to do myself (I'm happy working on the CVT & doing oil changes but don't want to mess around taking wheels off etc).

So I'm just going to come right out and say it: I think we're probably being a bit naive if we think dealers are going to prioritise cost-savings for us at their own commercial expense. In my experience they want to get as much money as they can out of me but not to the point where it's blatantly obvious - which - unfortunately for them - it is blatantly obvious to me - hence the reason I plan ahead - replace parts on condition rather than a schedule - buy parts overseas - do what I can myself etc. It's saved me thousands of dollars (literally) and the worst that's ever happened is the bike had to be parked up for 24 hours waiting for a new tyre. Go figure.

[iceman]

So, took it back this morning and left it with them for tyre swap for the MCGt, new front pads (keep my spare ones for future use) and front steering bearing work. No call as promised so just turned up late afternoon.

Told all was done - hmm. Now have a MCG 2 fitted so ok, new EBC pads and the front brake lever now feels more like it did when new/ After I fitted pads and bled both reservoirs the front brake lever felt stiff after about 1cm pull so an improvement. Fluid level is maxed out in the reservoir chamber (top one).

No mention of the bearings on the receipt so I asked them and they said the bearings were ok, just needed adjustment so no point fitting new ones! I said the body work would need to come off for any of that work and they said it did but I am not too sure with 1.5hr's labour.

Also seem they did not take off the £30 deposit I originally paid. Total was £36.50 for the MCG 2, £12 for the EBC's, and £87.50 for labour - all + vat. If they did adjust the bearings then ok, but if not and with the deposit total cost was £192 which feels like I've been stung.

Ride home felt no different except the difference with the brake lever. In fact it felt a better ride with the Bridgestone than the MCG 2 - at present it feels a little slippery and insecure compared to immediate nice feel with the Bridgestone.

[Coasting]

Perhaps put it on the centre stand - sit on the bike - and turn the bars through the centre whilst feeling for any "nochiness". The other head bearing giveaway is a "clunk" when you hit a pothole when the front is loaded up. If both of those are OK then I'd say you're good to go. Dealer adjusted my bearing a couple of times now - I think it takes about an hour. Replacing them is a different kettle of fish.

They tell me that new tyres have a bit of a "coating" that makes them a bit slippery until it wears off - don't know how true it is. One thing I did do with my MCGs is spend 1/2 hour cutting off all those little rubber tag things from where it's held in the mold -- pleased to say the tyre looked considerable nicer after that.

[iceman]

>The other head bearing giveaway is a "clunk" when you hit a pothole when the front is loaded up<
I've been getting that for ages now - thought it was the front suspension as it is coming from the front.

Wonder what adjustments can be made? Thought it's roller bearings or such around the stem and it's tightened to the frame.

I try and miss all the pot-holes but the trouble with London contractors is that when they repair pot-holes or fill-in from doing work for gas/water etc, it's rare for them to properly level the road surface so you end up with bumps or dips all over the place Some are not too bad, others even at 20 gives a thunk sound if you hit them.

[Coasting]

Wonder what adjustments can be made? Thought it's roller bearings or such around the stem and it's tightened to the frame.

I don't know that area of the bike too well, but I assumed that it was - in essence - "play between a couple of races of bearings" that normally isn't apparant due to the way it's loaded.

That was my experience anyway when I mentioned it to the dealer. They've adjusted it twice now - but so far I've avoided the expense of having the bearings replaced - even though they're a bit clunky (again) and a bit "notchy". Luckily I only manage to make it "clunk" once every few weeks. I suspect that it's "clunks" that flat-spot the balls.

I've always imagined the adjustment being something that makes it bind if it's adjusted too tight - and "clunky" if it's too lose. Thought about adjusting it myself, but I didn't have the right tool to get the covers of the nuts - so chickened out at that point.

[iceman]

Since the steering bearing adjustment, there is something not quite right with the ride especially at pull off at low speed and riding 10-20mph. Noticed something as soon as I started to ride from the garage but with strong winds I wondered if that was the issue.

Reading up on bearing adjstment, it seems lots can go wrong. They can be done up too tight so the steering will not self-centre, they can be miss-adjusted in other ways causing the kind of problem I am seeing. Guess I will have to take it for another test ride and probably take it back.

Never had any issues in six years until they adjusted it or did work on it

[iceman]

Taking it the my usual place tomorrow to get the steering bearings / issue looked at and an MOT. Not local but not too far away.

Just looking at variator drive faces and shocked at the price difference here (UK) compared to US - and all the different part numbers across the years Honda use for what looks like the same part. Are there any real differences I wonder?

The Face, Moveable drive 22110-K36-A00 $15, 22110-K97-T00 $17.44, yet in the UK they want £76-85 for the UK version (2014-2017 LED)!

They are look the same and the drive face, boss and ramp plate and slide set all seem the same too.

[you you]

Taking it the my usual place tomorrow to get the steering bearings / issue looked at and an MOT. Not local but not too far away.

Just looking at variator drive faces and shocked at the price difference here (UK) compared to US - and all the different part numbers across the years Honda use for what looks like the same part. Are there any real differences I wonder?

The Face, Moveable drive 22110-K36-A00 $15, 22110-K97-T00 $17.44, yet in the UK they want £76-85 for the UK version (2014-2017 LED)!

They are look the same and the drive face, boss and ramp plate and slide set all seem the same too.

Remember we get shafted over here on this type of item.

[Coasting]

Just looking at variator drive faces and shocked at the price difference here (UK) compared to US - and all the different part numbers across the years Honda use for what looks like the same part. Are there any real differences I wonder?

The Face, Moveable drive 22110-K36-A00 $15, 22110-K97-T00 $17.44, yet in the UK they want £76-85 for the UK version (2014-2017 LED)!

They are look the same and the drive face, boss and ramp plate and slide set all seem the same too.

I'd look up the correct part number for your year of bike on a site like Parzilla or Bike Bandit - and then copy/paste it into BikerzBits website. For the two you mentioned I got:

22110-K36-A00
https://bikerzbits.com/genuine-honda-sp ... 6-a00.html

and

22110-K97-T00
https://bikerzbits.com/genuine-honda-sp ... 7-t00.html

No idea which are for your bike - but what I can say is that I've ordered from this site and parts arrived pretty quickly. They are saying that both are out of stock and that most arrive within about a week (for them) when they place an order with the manufacturer -- guess that in these covid times that could extend out (or it could be fine). Shipping from them to me took about 4 or 5 days off memory - and they most certainly looked like OEM parts (and are performing fine).

For what it's worth, if I ordered parts like that locally I'd expect to pay about a 400% premium. Had to do that with the belt and that was about 350% more.

In your situation I'd have zero hesitation in ordering from BikerzBits - and expect to see them within a couple of weeks to the UK - but I really can't speak on their behalf; only from using them twice but having a great experience each time.

[iceman]

Thanks for those links Coasting - my bike is a '14 Reg (1st UK LED version) so usually have to look for a 2015 US 150 version on Partzilla. What locale are you in - UK, Europe or other? Those prices seem great!

I have to do something soon as the noise is there all the time, I can hear it when not wearing earplugs at normal speeds, just more so when slowing down until low speed and it goes (near or at idle). Guess it's only when the clutch is engaged - not sure. But it's getting worse so expect some wear and tear now on the belt.

Re: the steering issue and MOT - I was not sure if the bearings had been adjusted too tight or badly but the main issue was the handlebars were about 4-5 degrees clockwise when going straight! Seems it was my fighting this that was the main issue - how could they adjust and leave a customers bike like that!

So, took the bike to my normal place that does MOT's (1hr away in peak traffic). Phoned them some hours later to be told it's almost ready, say 30 minutes so made my way back.

Expected at least 1-1.5 hours labour charge + £30 fixed MOT fee. When I arrived the guy said £30 for the MOT and no charge for adjusting the steering, and they had taken it on the road and tested it and thought it was fine now - and it is, perfect! What great service - gave the guy some cash to treat himself to a few drinks or whatever.

[Coasting]

Thanks for those links Coasting - my bike is a '14 Reg (1st UK LED version) so usually have to look for a 2015 US 150 version on Partzilla.

Yeah - mine was the last version before LED.

What locale are you in - UK, Europe or other?

Other (South Pacific)

Those prices seem great!

Yes - I was very pleased with them. Other places have had equally competitive parts prices but 3 or 4 times as much as BikersBits to ship them - that was the deal breaker. The BikersBitz ones were well priced for shipping - exceptionally well wrapped (needed a knife to get through many layers of bubblewrap) - and arrived in a timely manner. No complaints at all.

I have to do something soon as the noise is there all the time, I can hear it when not wearing earplugs at normal speeds, just more so when slowing down until low speed and it goes (near or at idle). Guess it's only when the clutch is engaged - not sure. But it's getting worse so expect some wear and tear now on the belt.

Yep - mine was exactly the same. It stopped as soon as the clutch disengaged as that's when the loads came off (starting and stopping). I too was worried about wearing the belt but it didn't look any the worse for wear. The good news is that it hasn't made a single squeal since I changed those parts - not one. I changed the boss too, but 99.999% certain that wasn't contributing to the noise (it looked fine).

Re: the steering issue and MOT - I was not sure if the bearings had been adjusted too tight or badly but the main issue was the handlebars were about 4-5 degrees clockwise when going straight! Seems it was my fighting this that was the main issue - how could they adjust and leave a customers bike like that!

So, took the bike to my normal place that does MOT's (1hr away in peak traffic). Phoned them some hours later to be told it's almost ready, say 30 minutes so made my way back.

Expected at least 1-1.5 hours labour charge + £30 fixed MOT fee. When I arrived the guy said £30 for the MOT and no charge for adjusting the steering, and they had taken it on the road and tested it and thought it was fine now - and it is, perfect! What great service - gave the guy some cash to treat himself to a few drinks or whatever.

Glad you've got that sorted. For some reason I'm always lead to believe that bikes will fail their MOT if there's any notchiness in the head bearings, but in practice it just hasn't eventuated - so I think it's more "strategy to get you to spend money" than anything safety related.