[skviknaraj]

Hello Folks,

Back in April-2025, I had completed about 10,000 kms on my Transalp. I was on the way back to my native when I noticed that the braking was not great. So when I reached my home, upon checking the front brake pads, I noticed they were totally shot. Guess commuting with the bike in Sports mode (min. engine braking mode) is not economical for the brake life. So by the time I could get back to Chennai and get the new parts installed, I had covered another 450 kms. Since the 12k kms oil change was due in the next 1000 kms, I decided to get it done along with the Brake pad replacement. So the total damage has come to Rs.23015/- of which parts cost of the brake pads ( Front 2 pairs + 1 Rear Pair) has come approx to Rs.10k/-







GST of 28% on Brake pads has made me wiser and now currently using the bike with full engine braking

[Entsurgeon]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Ya the final amount doesn't sound surprising - Tiger service towards my later years of ownership wasn't exactly cheap, although never as eye watering as the Ducati Desmo service of course.

Was this just one service or every service in later years? Desmo is once very 25-30k. No fixed time duration.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Entsurgeon

Was this just one service or every service in later years? Desmo is once very 25-30k. No fixed time duration.

I know the Desmo is every 30k kms but even their regular service isn’t cheap by any measure. My point is if Ducati and BMW are at one end of the expense curve then Triumph isn’t dramatically cheaper in comparison. Their service and part costs both have become a little more on the ‘expensive curve’ over time.

In terms of maintenance costs, I think Suzuki and Honda are still notably cheaper.

[Entsurgeon]

Originally Posted by Axe77

I know the Desmo is every 30k kms but even their regular service isn’t cheap by any measure. My point is if Ducati and BMW are at one end of the expense curve then Triumph isn’t dramatically cheaper in comparison. Their service and part costs both have become a little more on the ‘expensive curve’ over time.

In terms of maintenance costs, I think Suzuki and Honda are still notably cheaper.

In India, the dealerships charge a lot for service labour and that kind of offsets lot of price difference between the Europeans and Japs. I feel its a misconception that Japs service is markedly cheaper. If you compare bikes from same segment, price band and same engine size/output, the difference gets lower and lower. People compare the service costs of N650 and CBR650 with S1000RR or V4R. The fair comparison is between, lets say africa twin and tiger 800/900.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Entsurgeon

People compare the service costs of N650 and CBR650 with S1000RR or V4R. The fair comparison is between, lets say africa twin and tiger 800/900.

I don’t know which people you are referring to while responding to my post but I certainly wasn’t comparing N650 with S1000RR.

I was writing based on my personal ownership experience of four bikes across three of these brands - a Street Triple 765 S (2017-18) compared to the progressive ownership cost of a Tiger 800 (2018 - 2023) where I could visibly see service cost gradually climb the ladder; a Multistrada 1200S which I owned for two years (2022 - 2024) which included normal routine upkeep service as well as one Desmo service and now the 1300 GS.

Admittedly I have not owned a Jap first hand so to that extent, my information is anecdotal from direct friends and fellow rider owners from my group.

These data points include a 2018 Striple RS owner who himself mentioned that Triumph service and upkeep cost has notably increased over the years and other riders in my group who across them own Africa Twins (old gen as well as new ATAS), couple of CBR 650s, and some S1000RRs (other than the usual Tigers 800/900 and GS 850 / 1250s or similar.

[Entsurgeon]

Originally Posted by Axe77

I don’t know which people you are referring to while responding to my post but I certainly wasn’t comparing N650 with S1000RR.

Sorry if you felt i am pointing you out. My comment was about general public's perception of 'japs easy to maintain, europeans expensive '.

In India, maintaining any vehicle in ASC is expensive. It seems our SVC centres across all brands have decent knowledge of paying capacity of the owners of a bike. Whatever cost we might save on maintenance, is eualised by various expenses the service cetres seem to charge us. This means theres not much of a difference in routine maintenance of similar bikes from various brands. Routine service costs of Busa vs 10R vs S1000RR would be a good study. A Z900vs Duc scrambler would be another. But somehow, riders still go by that old adage which might have been true for western countries.
By the time most Euro and US brands came to India, they have become pretty reliable. Unlike a Ferrari, engine of a European bike need not be taken off for a clutch plate change or requires half a day for an oil change.

[RohanDheman]

Don't know about other brands, but i can pitch in with my 2 cents on service costs for Triumph and BMW.

I had my 765RS for 4 years and it was always serviced by Triumph Delhi. The routine service cost was INR 11-12k including air filter change. Once i moved to the BMC filter, this came down to INR 9k. I think there are posts by me earlier on this.

I have had my S1000RR for a little over 3 years now and all services have been at the BMW dealer only. From what i recollect, the average service cost has been INR 11K without the air filter. With the air filter and brake bleed (done every 2 years) the service cost is around INR 17k, which honestly is very reasonable in my opinion. Of course, when the time comes for valve check, it will be expensive but it is something i am prepared for.

What i have seen and observed is that the basic service at the OEMs is only slightly more expensive than getting the basic oil change done at a third party workshop. I am ok to bear that additional cost for the peace of mind it brings with respect to having a complete service history of the bike. BMW has been particularly good with warranty (goodwill included) simply because the bike was serviced with them throughout. A friend got a brand new engine for his S1000RR with the bike being out of warranty by a year or so.

The only thing that as owners you have to do is be well aware of what the bike needs and not let the service guys run free. Most service schedules are available online, so take the time to know that and your machine and dictate what happens at the service.

[SnS_12]

Back in March did the annual service on the Busa and below is the list of jobs carried out and the cost of the same.

Service cost 5,000

Consumables

Engine Oil 3,000

Brake Oil 500

New Battery 2,280

Total cost 10,780

I have stopped servicing the Busa at the Suzuki dealership as they don’t carry out the work to my satisfaction. A simple brake oil bleeding itself was a challenge with them and it’s something that is carried out on my bike on every annual service including bleeding the clutch oil and servicing the clutch slave cylinder. This is something most owners would do every two years but I prefer the annual schedule.

The battery is from SF Sonic and costed a fraction of the Tata/Yuasa cost which was changed back in Dec 2022. The SF Sonic is the same battery as on my 848 and has been performing flawlessly since the past 18 months.

Finally, I haven’t included the cost of the oil filter in the above breakup as we didn’t change it as the bike had done only 300 kms since the last service.

Hope the above is helpful.

[Torq-D]

Having owned Zx10R in past for 3 years and currently S1000RR in its 3rd year, all I can say is ,BMW is not at all expensive for routine planned maintenance. In fact, I found BMW slightly cheaper than KAWA ZX10R when you consider annual oil change routines.
Owner has to pay attention for all add ons ASS do during oil changes. For example, one can refuse Chain cleaning/Lube, Washing. These 2 add ons will cost around 1.5k whereas one easily get these jobs done for around 500/600 outside and better than ASS.

[dkaile]

For the detailed 5th year (3rd Service) service report of my 2020 BMW R1250GS Adventure, kindly refer here - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/super...ml#post5972140 (BMW R1250GS Adventure Pro MY2020 - Style HP - The Comprehensive Review)

Here is the Total Service Cost I paid and all the parts charged -



A sum total of Rs. 12,771/- (add Rs. 3300/- for the rear brake pads procured by me). Not bad BMW, not bad at all!! -



Cheers...