Dealer service says they Never do throttle body sync.

[basstodave]

I inquired at the dealer about the cost for a throttle body sync. Service guy says why would I want that? They never do them. Ever.  I read the forums on every bike I have  owned about having tbs done. What should I think? Beside thinking that Tucson has no decent repair shops for Japanese motorcycles.
 
 

[kiwicanuck]

Ask them if they know what a service manual is
 
 

[angrygirafe]

That's part of the service interval, and if you're paying for it, they should be doing it.

[Cruizin]

Im not surprised at all to hear that. I explain the following about four times per year and hopefully save some of you money and hassles.
 
My brother was a service dept manager for a Yamaha/Kawasaki dealer for 8 years. Here is the deal.
 
In the USA, dealers pay their techs peanuts, horrible low pay. No thought is put into much training, just the few things that Yamaha sends them to have the techs read, and a few written tests. Most times, they are given the answers.
 
These techs are pushed to the max to crank out as many bike repairs and service work as possible ea day. The work quality is not good at most dealers, in fact often times it's scary horrible.
 
Bikes go out the showroom floor sometimes without oil and blow engines first day, before the owner even gets home. Bikes go out with loose bolts all the time, all over the country. It's often the newest kid tech making $9.00, with no experience, who does the final assembly on these bikes when they come out of the crate.
 
Service work? Warranty work? Scheduled service? Doesn't matter, it's whatever kid they have that gets paid $9.00 an hour to do much of the work. And these kids quit all the time, and new kids with no experience line up to take their place.
 
Prices? Lol, they are so over charged and marked up that only a sucker would pay a USA dealer to do scheduled maintenance. Shoddy work, for really high pricing.
 
The dealer above probably lost their one tech who actually read about how to do a throttle body sync. They probably have nobody on staff who knows how to do it so tell their customers "not needed", we've never heard of it! Cause they are the dealer and have a Yamaha sign hanging in the front, 60% of people will believe them. Especially people who have money, they believe everything and even take their bikes to dealers for simple oil changes. It's crazy.
 
My brother, he quit the dealer 15 years ago and started his own motorcycle shop. He was a factory trained tech and also builds race engines. He does very high quality work for half the price of what a dealer would charge. He has hundreds of bikers/riders built up as customers over the years who recognize that he does higher quality work for less money.
 
The secret is, there are guys like my brother in every city in america. They have privately owned shops and these guys come from race teams, they come from factory training, they come from Motorcycle tech school and have mega years experience.
 
And they do better quality work than the low paid dealer techs, for far less prices.
 
I don't let dealers work on my bikes. I don't buy extra warranties. MAybe a recall once in a while if its important, and even then I take my toolbox with me when I pick my bike back up from a covered recall visit, and I check all my bolts before riding off. And you know what, I have found improperly tightened, stripped or even loose bolts EVERY SINGLE TIME, and from MULTIPLE DIFFERENT DEALERS.
 
Find your local REAL motorcycle expert shop, with many years of experience online. Read the reviews, and then give that guy your business.
 
it's 2017 and we shouldn't have to buy from dealers anymore. It's basically federal laws that protect dealers that are to blame.
 
I would rather pay Yamaha online, order my bike the way I want it, and have it delivered to my door in the crate.
 
Most dealers are not very good at working on bikes. There are some exceptions, but not many.
 
Pay a REAL bike mechanic to do your throttle body sync's. They will do it correctly and charge you far less.
 
My mechanic does it for $65 and even washes the bike for you afterwards. In fact he has a service where when you buy a new bike from a dealer, for $35 he will go over it and fix the final assembly mistakes that the dealer made. Seriously. And myself and a lot of other riders swear by it. And he always finds things wrong, ALWAYS.
 
NOTE TO YAMAHA. I love ya, I am a total Yamaha homer. This isn't about you. But maybe, just maybe make your dealers pay their techs enough money so that they don't quit so damn often.
 
 

[duhs10]

...it's 2017 and we shouldn't have to buy from dealers anymore. It's basically federal laws that protect dealers that are to blame.  
I would rather pay Yamaha online, order my bike the way I want it, and have it delivered to my door in the crate.
 
Ok, rant over.
 

 
That would be awesome.. much like how Tesla sells its cars.

[Cruizin]

And close to how Beta sells their dirt bikes. You go on their website, build the bike the way you want it, with most any farkles you can think of, pay a deposit and pick up at dealer when it arrives from italy.
 
And Beta is pretty much quietly building the best dirt bikes in the world right now. KTM be warned.

[owle]

Mr cruzin i couldn't agree more with your post, i haven't bothered with these clowns for twenty years, after being gobsmacked at the incompetence from these so called experts.
 
 
I took my Tracer in to a dealer for it's first service, in case i don't keep it and need to move it on, a dealer stamp helps on a nearly new bike.
 
I watched through a window as the service was carried out, oil was changed ...... That's it nothing else no checks on anything, throttle body sync is listed on the first service  on European tracers, i new from the price quoted that this would not be carried out, i was ok with this because i did't want them removing anything to access the takeoff point.
 
I now have the recall letter, and i don't want to let said clowns near my bike with spanners. 

[thetruck454]

 
 
I now have the recall letter, and i don't want to let said clowns near my bike with spanners. 

 
 
This is my mindset exactly...

[crash]

My local dealer is great. They let you come back and watch them work on your bike. They answer any questions you have. Generally I do my own work but have no problem letting them take care of recalls and warranty work. The background I have in maintenance has made me pretty picky about how things get done on my bike but I have yet to correct them on any of the work they have done.

[britelitebob]

I now have the recall letter, and i don't want to let said clowns near my bike with spanners. 

This is my mindset exactly...

Hey ..... watch it there, at least clowns know what their doing. 

[hailwood]

Time to find another dealer.
 
The alternative is to do everything yourself.  In my experience that's the only true way to know that something is done the way you want it.

[martyl]

Throttle body sync is important. If the dealer ran you a b.s. Line then look at it as an omen to go elsewhere.

[betoney]

My local dealer is great. They let you come back and watch them work on your bike. They answer any questions you have. Generally I do my own work but have no problem letting them take care of recalls and warranty work.

Same here.  When I got the TBS on my last bike, they brought me back in the service area and showed me the procedure.  My local dealer isn't a super mega mall type showroom, they are a family owned dealer who know you by name when you walk in the door.
 

[Cruizin]

My local dealer is great. They let you come back and watch them work on your bike. They answer any questions you have. Generally I do my own work but have no problem letting them take care of recalls and warranty work.

Same here.  When I got the TBS on my last bike, they brought me back in the service area and showed me the procedure.  My local dealer isn't a super mega mall type showroom, they are a family owned dealer who know you by name when you walk in the door.

 
There certainly are good dealers out there. And they deserve praise. Just beware the bad ones!

[basstodave]

The dealer in Tucson has a lock on the market here. No other game in town and any repair shop might be worse. The one Yamaha shop asked why would I need a TBS. Their 2nd shop said, ok that's going to be this many hours labor, $300. I asked if I could watch. Hell no. I said good bye. I am going to ask instead if they can check the change in performance. Try that angle but I am sure they will say it's fine. I brought it in to same shop to check hard shifting under acceleration and they said it was because of my aftermarket levers. They took all the play out of the clutch and said 'fixed'.
Cruizin, I wish I lived in your town. Tucson is kinda' lame. The Triumph, KTM dealer and the Ducati, Aprilia Moto Guzzi dealers closed this year. Phoenix has 5 times the population and many more choices.
 
*update* I called the independently owned Yamaha dealer in Sierra Vista, AZ and the service manager chuckled when I told my story and said they do the TBS sync for about 3/4 hour labor. I'll take the 50 mile ride down there. Maybe I have found the gem in the pile of....
Wish I had a motorcycle trailer and something a little more utility than my Honda Fit. lol