revtothelimit - motorbike forum

Dealers won't clear the "service me" light without actually servicing the bike?

What utter bastards!

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 4:52 pm Dealers won't clear the "service me" light without actually servicing the bike?

What utter bastards!

Or, to put it another way, I thought locking people in to 'manufacturer servicing only' was illegal. OTOH, expecting manufacturers to honour warranty if 'Sid Manyhammers' claims to have serviced a bike/vehicle is a bit Once the warranty period is over, game on.

Simpler to say, 'You can turn the service warning light off using this combination of button and key presses. No need for hooky plug-ins etc. Once you do that, none of our appointed service agents will touch the bike with a proverbial barge-pole, even if you sell it'.

The other option involves black electrical tape.

Supermofo wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 4:26 pm Interestingly my brother has just serviced his 2020 Ninja 1000SX with the TFT dash. Seems like you can't clear the service light without going to a Kawk dealer who want £50 to clear it, if they'll do it at all without them servicing the bike! He's searched on forums etc and doesn't seem to be a DIY way to clear it. Hate this type of shite, you've bought the bike and it's yours!!

Agree entirely, but it seems to be the way everything is going. I've always handed the bike back to the dealer for first service under warranty and taken the hit, then decide afterwards whether I go down the dealer route or DIY. As I tend to love my bikes long time, it doesn't bother me that the bike doesn't have a sheaf of receipts and dealer stamps, as by the time (if ever) I sell it, it's immaterial.

Current longest time served is 45 years for the LC, followed by 33 years for the Ducati, 28 years for the VFR, 17 years for the Falco and a paltry 8 years for the Duke 690.

Count Steer wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 5:25 pm

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 4:52 pm Dealers won't clear the "service me" light without actually servicing the bike?

What utter bastards!

Or, to put it another way, I thought locking people in to 'manufacturer servicing only' was illegal.

AFAIK thats the case, but they are under no obligation to turn the light off for you if you haven't paid for a service. Why would they?...the light says it hasn't been serviced

Locking non franchise dealers out of the light turny off functions is also banned AFAIK. But again no one is obliged to turn it off for you.

I had the service conputer stuff done on my old BMW car loads by independent dealers. BMW dealers could even see it in their master database thing.

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 6:25 pm

Count Steer wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 5:25 pm

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 4:52 pm Dealers won't clear the "service me" light without actually servicing the bike?

What utter bastards!

Or, to put it another way, I thought locking people in to 'manufacturer servicing only' was illegal.

AFAIK thats the case, but they are under no obligation to turn the light off for you if you haven't paid for a service. Why would they?...the light says it hasn't been serviced

Locking non franchise dealers out of the light turny off functions is also banned AFAIK. But again no one is obliged to turn it off for you.

I had the service conputer stuff done on my old BMW car loads by independent dealers. BMW dealers could even see it in their master database thing.

And that is, somehow, a GOOD thing?

If I buy and own a vehicle and choose not to have it serviced by a non-independent dealer or an independent I should have to live with a warning light forever?

I suppose caveat emptor applies. a) don't buy a vehicle that won't let you switch off the service light b) don't trust any s/h vehicle that lets you or might have a dodgy plug-in available that lets you c) if you do switch it off or buy one that might have been turned off with a dodgy plug-in don't expect any manufacturer support when that 50k recall comes in or the cams eat themselves etc etc

Vehicles have always carried more value if they've been serviced and even more so if they have been dealer serviced. I fully expect lots of people to say "Nah...it's based on condition or my own servicing, I don't trust those bastards anyway etc etc", but I bet you'd still put "FSH" on an advert to try and get a higher price

You're essentially complaining that it's harder to lie about it now.

You're also totally free to drive around in your non-serviced vehicle still. You just get nagged about it now

BTW aforesaid Beemer had two recalls in it's life, both for EGR system issues, and BMW had no quarrel with the non-dealer service history.

Used to be able to perform service resets on E30 BMWs with a piece of wire & pins 7 & 18 of the diagnostic socket!

As for having to get bikes serviced by a VAT registered business using spec parts/fluids to maintain the warranty - it annoys me. I've always done first service at the main dealer just in case, and often the second. But they've never done anything better than I can do myself and often quite a bit worse.

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 4:52 pm Dealers won't clear the "service me" light without actually servicing the bike?

What utter bastards!

Not quite what i said is it though! The issue is you can't clear the light, only Kawasaki can, regardless if the bike has been serviced. Apparently non Kwak places can turn the light off but only if they have a the right equipment. With car BMW independents the scale makes this worthwhile, the average non main bike dealer workshop not so much. At the end of the day it's easy to check if Kawasaki have serviced the bike or not, the light has no baring on that so why make it difficult other than being wanky.

I get my car serviced by a Japanese car specialist who update the Mazda service records but I can do what I like with the service light from in the car, it's no baring at the end of the day other than as a reminder.

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 7:31 pm You're essentially complaining that it's harder to lie about it now.

You're also totally free to drive around in your non-serviced vehicle still. You just get nagged about it now

Where is this serviced vs non serviced from?

Taff wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 4:20 pm I didn't know that Suzuki had a short plug life as well, or seems a bit pants to be shoving the service costs up by £50 replacing parts that should last many times the interval.

Skub wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 1:52 pm

Supermofo wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 10:21 am I'd have thought that the only issue you might have running a Ducati over winter/lots of mileage is potential re-sale values. Other than that I've not heard of them being particularly unreliable.

Good point. I can't imagine many potential Duke owners wanting a cosmetically challenged one,no matter how cheap.

It's a vehicle for getting me to places.
I keep my bikes for a long time and put milage on them so I can't worry too much about resale value, it's a fact that after a year or two it's not going to be in showroom condition. If I did worry about the value I would have to commute by car and put up with being stuck in traffic like everyone else, and I really really don't want to be doing that.
Having said all if this, my tiger sold for about £3k iirc with over 60k on the clock so there is a buyer for everything.

This was the video that made me mention resale of a 950 multi

Supermofo wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 7:47 pm Apparently non Kwak places can turn the light off but only if they have a the right equipment.

I suspect "The Right Equipment" is a lot less specialised than you might think. If you're a bike mechanic in 2025, working on vaguely new bikes, and you can't do OBD stuff etc. I'd say your days might be numbered.

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 8:02 pm

Supermofo wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 7:47 pm Apparently non Kwak places can turn the light off but only if they have a the right equipment.

I suspect "The Right Equipment" is a lot less specialised than you might think. If you're a bike mechanic in 2025, working on vaguely new bikes, and you can't do OBD stuff etc. I'd say your days might be numbered.

No idea, I'm only going off what my brother said from what he'd read on the SX forum. Either way the bikes just has oil/filter/AF/and plugs so it's had a service.

Funnily enough the service before was done by On Yer Bike in Aylesbury who are a Kwak dealer. They damaged one of the calipers changing the pads, it's what put him off and convinced him to do it himself. They over torqued one of the caliper bolts leading to the actual caliper itself to have a chunk crack off.

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 7:31 pm Vehicles have always carried more value if they've been serviced and even more so if they have been dealer serviced. I fully expect lots of people to say "Nah...it's based on condition or my own servicing, I don't trust those bastards anyway etc etc", but I bet you'd still put "FSH" on an advert to try and get a higher price

You're essentially complaining that it's harder to lie about it now.

You're also totally free to drive around in your non-serviced vehicle still. You just get nagged about it now

BTW aforesaid Beemer had two recalls in it's life, both for EGR system issues, and BMW had no quarrel with the non-dealer service history.

You misunderstand. I have had my vehicles (bikes + cars) serviced by brand or other reputable service agents with access to brand databases. I expect that to be reflected in their s/h or trade-in value.

The only thing I object to is accepting a lower trade-in or s/h value and still not being able to disable annoying warning lights.

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 8:02 pm

Supermofo wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 7:47 pm Apparently non Kwak places can turn the light off but only if they have a the right equipment.

I suspect "The Right Equipment" is a lot less specialised than you might think. If you're a bike mechanic in 2025, working on vaguely new bikes, and you can't do OBD stuff etc. I'd say your days might be numbered.

Not so sure about that. I took my 690 Duke to BSD Performance for a re-map 2 or 3 years after I bought it, and Andy was unable to write the modified maps back, as they were all write-protected. This isn't simple OBD stuff, but a much higher level of protectionism. A year later, when he had got hold of some updated software that could defeat the write protection he was able to give it a full re-map. And Andy is a widely respected remapper who spends all his days from March to October remapping race bikes, so he has the best kit.

This 'protection' is on the same level as track packs and other add-ons that are present on the bike, but can only be activated by factory-supplied kit.

I wouldn't consider remapping to be normal servicing, in fact I'd expect some degree of tamper protection.

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 8:17 pm I wouldn't consider remapping to be normal servicing, in fact I'd expect some degree of tamper protection.

'Tamper protection'! It's MY bike/car/tractor if I've paid for it! It doesn't still belong to the manufacturer for heaven's sake. I know you work for a manufacturer but...you aren't actually elected to be the nanny state y'know.

Except the manufactures (even VW!) are legally obliged to meet certain emissions standards, ABS reliability standards etc etc and the ECUs form a critical part of that. I wouldn't let people poke around in them either.

Think about the implications of a FBW throttle going wrong, then consider if you want to let the public loose on it.

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 8:25 pm Except the manufactures (even VW!) are legally obliged to meet certain emissions standards, ABS reliability standards etc etc and the ECUs form a critical part of that.

When they roll off the production line.

Count Steer wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 8:26 pm

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 8:25 pm Except the manufactures (even VW!) are legally obliged to meet certain emissions standards, ABS reliability standards etc etc and the ECUs form a critical part of that.

When they roll off the production line.

No, for a long time after too - hence the diesel claim thing for example.

And like I said there are much more fundamental safety concerns too now.,

Count Steer wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 8:22 pm 'Tamper protection'! It's MY bike/car/tractor if I've paid for it!

I suppose fundamentally - people say this, but they don't actually want to live by this rule If heaven forbid your ABS just failed nad you had no brakes, or your FBW throttle slammed you into the back of a truck, you'd drop the "it's my bike and I can do what I like with it" attitude pretty damned quick There's two sides to it.

I don't think things like service indicators, diagnostics etc should be locked down, and indeed they're not, but there is a line where the OEM has to say "you can't touch that" IMO. If you know what you're doing and you have all the relevant info, you'll be able to get the right kit.