I wanted to give a big thanks to an east coast shop for all the work they did. I have had some issues with my 1098 and they never seem to stop......granted my luck isn't as bad as HeMan's
but i do have some small curse following me around sometimes. It was time for my bike's 15k mile service and i had a couple of options to choose from. First up was Gold Coast Motorsports where i got my work done before. They had been good to me and their prices fell in line with everybody else's. Another option was supermoto italia in st james they were the closest to me and actually a lot cheaper at $850 for the service compared to $1100 from everyone else. The other option was European Cycle Services up in middletown, NY. I have only heard good things about these guys and their price was fair but the downside was that it was almost a 3 hour drive for me.
I ended up choosing ECS for the service for a couple of reasons. First off is the great reputation they have as a shop and the fact they do suspension work on 1098s and i intended on going there anyway so why not kill two birds with one stone. When i called i immediately was asked for my email to send a break down of the actual costs to me. On top of that i was told not only could i hang out and watch the work being performed and ask questions, showing they are confident in their work, but they could get the service and the suspension done in one day! So despite the drive i took a day off from work and went up there.
I got up there a little after 8 and around 8:45 jay showed up and helped me get the bike out the truck. He immediately set to work on it and began to tear it apart. It was really cool to see the work being performed in front of my own eyes. The desmo valve system is something you have to see for yourself sometime but here is a pic for those who haven't, sorry for the cellphone pics.
Here she is torn down to the bare essentials, the dirtiest Duc Jay has ever seen
While Jay took care of the belts and valves Shawn got my suspension in order. Replacing the stock rear spring with something a little tastier.
And bringing the front fork oil to the right levels along with adjusting the shim stacks on the compression. I have to say the second i sat on the bike i could feel the difference. It was night and day! Along with this work they also put a case saver in for the chain, a new front sprocket and a new chain. My bike was perfectly sorted for the season! Or was it?
Early in the morning Jay is working on the vertical head and his expression went from happily working to shock. He says "this is funny" and proceeds to pull out 2 bolts from the vertical head. Turns out that on the last service at Gold Coast they had put bolts in the oil drain holes in the head to keep anything from falling in there while working. They apparently forgot to pull them back out so i was riding around for 7500miles taking the risk of the vertical head overheating. I didn't know what to say i'm still in shock about it and will be heading over to Gold Coast to talk to them immediately.
However despite this Jay assured me that everything in the engine looked fine despite there being numerous valves out of spec, more than he had ever seen. Once again making me question dealerships considering the valves on the 1098 motor stay in spec more often than not. The whole day was great Jay answered my constant questions and so did Shawn. I learned a lot of small things to watch for on the bike that i never would have known otherwise. And i also learned of some reasons behind certain parts and why i should be looking into them. Steve was also there and told me about a couple of extended warranty options for the bike that they could accept. This is something i had been considering for a while and will definitely be checking out due to my bike's history.
I took the bike out on Saturday with a buddy of mine and the front end is amazingly stable now and the rear no longer shoots me off into the atmosphere when i hit a bump. The suspension is perfect and the engine has never ran better. It is going to be a good season at the track and on the street i could not be happier. I can not thank ECS enough for the awesome work they did and the time they spent with me during the day making sure everything was done to my liking. At this point i will never be bringing my bike anywhere else except to ECS. Any place that allows me to watch the service puts a whole lot of confidence in that i can trust them as a shop and my bike is in good hands. A big thanks to Jay, Shawn and Steve keep up the great work!
