Reliable Honda Dealer In SoCal

My 2007 VFR800 is right at the 15k major service interval. I want to have my VTEC valves inspected.

I live in South Orange County, in California. Over the years, I've heard of other owners speak of screwed up jobs from a few dealers, which makes me really nervous. There is one place in South O.C. that has been highly recommended for Japanese motorcycle service and modification work and that shop is called Mach 1 in Costa Mesa. Does anybody in here know if MACH 1 is capable of doing the VTEC valve inspection/adjustment on a 6th Generation VFR? I called them up and of course the guy was confident they can and have done it in the past. However, I wanted owner testimonials if any.

Any other reputable dealers in South Orange County? Here is my experience with local dealers:

Mission Motorsports, Irvine, CA - ???
Huntington Beach Honda, HB, CA - ???
Champion Honda/Kawasaki, Costa Mesa, CA - Bad, know of two Honda owners who got their bikes messed up.

Mach 1 always had a good reputation when I lived down there.

On a side note, unless you have been riding that bike at a race pace for 15k miles, I doubt the valve check is worth the time. The money would not be an issue for me if it needed to be done, but I doubt they are out of spec. Don't flame me, just giving my $.02

The 16K service on my 2005 VFR was done by Orange County Honda in Anaheim, and the service was okay although when the job was finished they tried to charge me more than the original quoted price. I can't remember all the details, but the original service quote didn't estimate enough labor hours for the job, and then they tried to add something like 4 additional labor hours to the bill. I wasn't real impressed with how the service manager handled the problem...he acted as if his mistake was my fault...so based on my experience I'm not sure if I want to recommend them.

I skipped the 32K service, and when I hit 48K I had Mach 1 in Costa Mesa do the valve adjustment back in 2009. The service was good...no problems to report...although with any shop the final price depends on how many shims will need to be ordered/replaced.

I can also vouch for Mission Motorsports...although they're a multi-brand dealer I've had them work on several of my bikes with no problems. As far as Huntington Beach Honda, I tried to buy a bike from them in the past but wasn't impressed with their sales techniques, plus a while ago I had a backorder problem with the parts department and they were no help at all. So although I've never had any service work done there, I just don't get a warmy and fuzzy feeling about the dealership as a whole.

I used to bring my 4G to Mission Motorsports, no complaints. plus they will take you right into the shop area if they need to show you anything on the bike. They complained one time that it took longer than the standard 4 hours to do the valve check that they quoted me for. But still only charged me for 4.
Although its been a few years since I've used them.

Now I go back and forth between doing it myself and bringing it to Escondido Cycle Center that I like quite a bit (although probably too far for you).

Paul
94, 94, 95, 97, 97

[image: View Post]Rogue_Biker, on 13 January 2011 - 04:48 PM, said:

My 2007 VFR800 is right at the 15k major service interval. I want to have my VTEC valves inspected.

I live in South Orange County, in California. Over the years, I've heard of other owners speak of screwed up jobs from a few dealers, which makes me really nervous. There is one place in South O.C. that has been highly recommended for Japanese motorcycle service and modification work and that shop is called Mach 1 in Costa Mesa. Does anybody in here know if MACH 1 is capable of doing the VTEC valve inspection/adjustment on a 6th Generation VFR? I called them up and of course the guy was confident they can and have done it in the past. However, I wanted owner testimonials if any.

Any other reputable dealers in South Orange County? Here is my experience with local dealers:

Mission Motorsports, Irvine, CA - ???
Huntington Beach Honda, HB, CA - ???
Champion Honda/Kawasaki, Costa Mesa, CA - Bad, know of two Honda owners who got their bikes messed up.

Thanks guys.

My only experience with Mission Motorsports service is when I totalled my '01 VFR. They took care of all the insurance needs, but that was it.

I went ahead and scheduled the Valve inspection at Mach 1. They seemed real friendly and eager, plus, they have been around a long time run by the same person.

NVR2L8, how much did you pay Mach 1 in 2009? I just want to get an idea. Thanks.

[image: View Post]NVR2L8, on 14 January 2011 - 01:51 AM, said:

I skipped the 32K service, and when I hit 48K I had Mach 1 in Costa Mesa do the valve adjustment back in 2009. The service was good...no problems to report...although with any shop the final price depends on how many shims will need to be ordered/replaced.


I thought about skipping the first but....for my own peace of mind I figure I would get it done.

The bike has been mostly babied. I don't beat on my bikes or cars. I tend to take real good care of them and run them hard only occassionally.

[image: View Post]Rogue_Biker, on 14 January 2011 - 11:35 AM, said:

NVR2L8, how much did you pay Mach 1 in 2009? I just want to get an idea. Thanks.


I don't have the service receipt handy, but I think it was about $650 for the valve adjustment (with 3-4 shims), plus I had them sync the throttle bodies while they had it apart. Pretty typical cost for this area I think...

That's what I thought. I will have them sync the....isn't it called the "Starter Valves"? Not sure why it's called that by Honda but i could be mistaking this name for my 5th Generation.

Thanks.

[image: View Post]Rogue_Biker, on 14 January 2011 - 03:18 PM, said:

That's what I thought. I will have them sync the....isn't it called the "Starter Valves"? Not sure why it's called that by Honda but i could be mistaking this name for my 5th Generation.

Thanks.



Yea...you're right. I was the one thinking of an old term. :wacko: