Mark's service school

[Antares]

Hi all!
Just had service school done with Mark Barrett from Marksmcparts and just wanted to let everyone know it was an absolutely fantastic time and a good learning opportunity, we went through pretty much the whole bike and did some serious work (front forks full service, balanced  both wheels, cleaned all calipers, serviced steering head bearing, checked and adjusted valve clearances (all exhausts were on the bottom limit at 28.5k), adjusted ignition timing (my cams were out of phase a tiny bit), adjusted and inspected clutch pack, new spark plugs, oil and filter, air filter, coolant change, rear shock linkages were inspected and greased (bearings and bushings are going out in all of them, the ride height link to the frame, the bearings were basically completely gone, but greasing them restored almost smooth operation, we didn't have bushings on hand but I'll replace them on my own at a later date) and then we have done a lot of small bits and bobs like drilled holes in the fuel tank's baffle so I can actually bloody fill the fuel tank, fixed things like the ECU being loose in it's bracket, and lots of other bits and bobs.

The bike turned out amazing, actually absorbs bumps now, dead smooth even at high speeds, a LOT of engine noise is gone, shifts smoother, idles smoother, throttle doesn't jerk anymore, brakes are fresh and sharp, and just general peace of mind.
I only wrote out this full list of service items so you can appreciate how worthwhile it is doing this.

Mark lives in Anglesey so it's a beautiful area to visit, I was there for 3.5 days and to our credit, we spent almost a day on experimenting and trying to fit the S1000RR preload adjuster to work with the XR forks, and we've managed to come up with a solution however we didn't have the tools necessary to complete it as you have to shorten the damping rod and its using non standard threads.

So all in all this amount of work could be done in 2.5 days or so. For these 3.5 days, parts and an extremely nice accommodation, plus food I paid a grand total of £600. So just to sink the point in even further, a 4 day holiday, in a beautiful area, having a good time working on bikes, for less than what BMW is STARTING to quote for an 18k service that doesn't cover half of what we've done here.

If that's not absolutely bargain I don't know what is, anyway, massively recommend it. If anyone has some bigger work coming up on their bikes here is Mark's email if you're interested:
mark@marksmotorcycleparts.co.uk

Have a good day everyone!

[brickit]

My experience exactly.
I went up to Anglesey and did similar to you in July, covering most of the 18k service items and a few extras with Mark.
Can't over- praise the whole concept of working on your own bike under expert supervision. To do it for less than the cost of a standard service with parts and top quality accommodation thrown in, makes the whole idea a no brainer really.
The extended warranty on my XR just ran out, so if any major mechanical issues crop up from now on, I might just have to trek all the way up through Wales again. A great excuse for a very decent ride-out.
If you have to fork out money to keep the bike going, might as well get some enjoyment out of it and learn a bit as well.

[Spooch]

What a brilliant idea. I'm more than happy to spanner on my bikes for the basic maintenance but I find that I can lack confidence when the more complicated (for me) servicing is needed. Got a few miles to go before I get to the 18k service but will certainly be checking Mark out nearer the time.

[Sthap]

This is awesome, I wish we had an option in the states
BMW refuses to sell a service manual for the gen 2 and I could use the help