650 Dakar questions.

[Mercenary]

Hey folks. I've prit near decided that my next bike will be the Dakar. However, because I live so far from a dealer I was wondering what the maintenance schedule is like. How long can I ride before I have to bring it back to the dealer for servicing?

[BMWNut]

The first service is approx. 1,000KM, next service 10,000KM, 20,00KM etc. Depending on riding habits suggest an oil change at the 5,000KM between the services.

Oil changes can be done by anyone, valves are shim over bucket with first check at 10,000KM, only thing you really can't do is fault check the computer. I put ~60,000KM on Dakars and never needed a valve adjustment, just run them hard and you'll probably never need to adjust them.

[Mercenary]

I've heard that the first service can be a pricey one. Any idea on how much it can cost?

[BMWNut]

$150 Labour plus oil, filter, washers, and maybe a little bit of shop supplies, plus all applicable government funding.

[Mercenary]

Well heck, that isn't bad. I wonder why folks thought it was so expensive....My KLR first service ran me 300 bones, but that was checking the valves as well.

Any dealer recommendations? SM cycles in Victoriahas the Dakar listed at a full 850 more than Pacific Yamaha BMW in Richmond. I suppose SM would need to chuck on a few bucks due to the higher shipping costs aasociated with being on the island, but 850? That's a little steep.

[BMWNut]

The SM Cycle one is at list price. It just includes ABS brakes, and yes you can disable them for off-road.