Hey,
I thought it might be useful - given the amount of time I spent looking - to mention my experience this week having the 12k and annual service done for my F800ST.
I'd spent a lot of time finding out which dealers near me had good feedback - Reading is my location - and North Oxford Garage came back with the most/all positive feedback. Bahnstormer had hugely varying comments and I wasn't impressed by their quote and knowledge some weeks back so the decision was straightforward.
I had Monday and Tuesday off this week and took a ride up to the Oxford garage on Monday morning. After the service guy got off the phone he was most friendly and after discussing my requirements and concerns (squeaky front brake yo) said he could fit me in tomorrow and get me a courtesy bike. Having expected to have to wait a week for a slot I was most pleased.
I then expressed my interest in taking out the K1300S for a test ride. Unfortunately their demo bike was having its gearbox changed, however they had two sparkly 59 or 60 plates sitting in the showroom and agreed to let me take one of those for an hour. Wicked!
*Matt goes home, eats, drinks, sleeps, wakes up too early on a holiday*
I arrive Tuesday morning at about half 8 relatively dry and after swapping keys the service guy (another Matt) says I can have the K1300S for the whole day. That and their little coffee bar set-up made it a good morning.
As this thread is mainly about the dealership I won't bang on about the K1300S other than to say I loved it and need (want) one.
I got a call at about 2pm - during the one brief pit-stop where I managed to leave the K1300 alone for a moment - saying all was done. The chap went through what they'd done and mentioned that they'd replaced a couple of... rubber something-or-others on the airbox intake that apparently lose their strength and collapse in on themselves, massively restricting air supply. My rear disc was also 0.1mm below min thickness and pad on its last mm but I asked them to leave that (see below). He also commented on my tyres being about dead, which I am rectifying shortly! The front squeaking was sorted by stripping, cleaning etc.
Anyway, I picked the bike up and he spent a good while going through each item and discussing the awful piston slapping, engine corrosion etc that thankfully mine is free from.
I then received a courtesy call from the same guy yesterday checking that everything was fine after the service. I've not had this before (ok so maybe you wouldn't expect it at Skoda or Suzuki) and I thought it quite nice. He also explained why my idle was a bit uppity as they'd updated whatever software these things use.
All in all I am most pleased with my experience. Plus it's now running a fair bit smoother - for this engine! - and gave me even more magic mpg on the way home. Of course the K1300 has now tainted my perceptions and it feels as slow as a 1-legged horse, but that's for another day.
The End.
I've elected to try and change the rear disc and pads myself partly due to the £255 price for BMW doing it and partly because it seems like a relatively straightforward job.
Do you have recommendations for disc/pad brands to go for and where may be a decent place to shop for these? I'm trying to raid the F800 owners forums at the moment for model-specific instructions etc.
Many thanks,
Matt
I thought it might be useful - given the amount of time I spent looking - to mention my experience this week having the 12k and annual service done for my F800ST.
I'd spent a lot of time finding out which dealers near me had good feedback - Reading is my location - and North Oxford Garage came back with the most/all positive feedback. Bahnstormer had hugely varying comments and I wasn't impressed by their quote and knowledge some weeks back so the decision was straightforward.
I had Monday and Tuesday off this week and took a ride up to the Oxford garage on Monday morning. After the service guy got off the phone he was most friendly and after discussing my requirements and concerns (squeaky front brake yo) said he could fit me in tomorrow and get me a courtesy bike. Having expected to have to wait a week for a slot I was most pleased.
I then expressed my interest in taking out the K1300S for a test ride. Unfortunately their demo bike was having its gearbox changed, however they had two sparkly 59 or 60 plates sitting in the showroom and agreed to let me take one of those for an hour. Wicked!
*Matt goes home, eats, drinks, sleeps, wakes up too early on a holiday*
I arrive Tuesday morning at about half 8 relatively dry and after swapping keys the service guy (another Matt) says I can have the K1300S for the whole day. That and their little coffee bar set-up made it a good morning.
As this thread is mainly about the dealership I won't bang on about the K1300S other than to say I loved it and need (want) one.
I got a call at about 2pm - during the one brief pit-stop where I managed to leave the K1300 alone for a moment - saying all was done. The chap went through what they'd done and mentioned that they'd replaced a couple of... rubber something-or-others on the airbox intake that apparently lose their strength and collapse in on themselves, massively restricting air supply. My rear disc was also 0.1mm below min thickness and pad on its last mm but I asked them to leave that (see below). He also commented on my tyres being about dead, which I am rectifying shortly! The front squeaking was sorted by stripping, cleaning etc.
Anyway, I picked the bike up and he spent a good while going through each item and discussing the awful piston slapping, engine corrosion etc that thankfully mine is free from.
I then received a courtesy call from the same guy yesterday checking that everything was fine after the service. I've not had this before (ok so maybe you wouldn't expect it at Skoda or Suzuki) and I thought it quite nice. He also explained why my idle was a bit uppity as they'd updated whatever software these things use.
All in all I am most pleased with my experience. Plus it's now running a fair bit smoother - for this engine! - and gave me even more magic mpg on the way home. Of course the K1300 has now tainted my perceptions and it feels as slow as a 1-legged horse, but that's for another day.
The End.
I've elected to try and change the rear disc and pads myself partly due to the £255 price for BMW doing it and partly because it seems like a relatively straightforward job.
Do you have recommendations for disc/pad brands to go for and where may be a decent place to shop for these? I'm trying to raid the F800 owners forums at the moment for model-specific instructions etc.
Many thanks,
Matt
